Cleveland 4, Minnesota 3
When: 12:05 PM ET, Thursday, September 20, 2012
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Temperature:
64°
Umpires:
Home -
Andy Fletcher, 1B -
Joe West, 2B -
Mike Muchlinski, 3B -
Sam Holbrook
Attendance:
12331
By SportsDirect Inc.
Indians 4, Twins 3 (10): Casey Kotchman delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th as host Cleveland avoided a three-game sweep by beating Minnesota.
Shin-Soo Choo led off the 10th with a double and moved to third on a groundout before the Twins elected to intentionally walk both Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley to load the bases. Kotchman made sure the plan backfired, chopping an 0-1 fastball from Anthony Swarzak (3-5) back up the middle and into center field.
Esmil Rogers (3-1) picked up the win in relief for the Indians, who moved back into a tie for fourth place in the American League Central with the Twins.
Trevor Plouffe gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead in the sixth with a solo homer to straight-away center field. The ball ended up well over the fence but center fielder Michael Brantley lost it in the sun and stopped in front of the warning track, leading Plouffe to believe it had been caught as he stopped between second and third and turned for the dugout. The umpire gave him the good news.
Jack Hannahan singled through the middle in the bottom of the sixth to knot it up at 3-3.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Twins 1B Joe Mauer went 0-for-4 to drop his batting average to .321. Mauer still has an outside shot at the AL batting title, currently ranking fourth. … Cleveland activated DH Travis Hafner from the 15-day DL on Wednesday but did not play Thursday, with Santana serving as DH. … Plouffe’s blast (his 23rd of the season) was the third this month for the utility man, who had only one in August and three in July after a hot June.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Minnesota |
|
Cleveland |
|
Esmerling Vasquez |
Player |
Corey Kluber
|
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
5.2 |
IP |
6.0 |
|
0 |
Strikeouts |
5 |
|
6 |
Hits |
5 |
|
4.76 |
ERA |
4.50 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Minnesota
|
7 |
1 |
12 |
.189 |
14 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Cleveland
|
10 |
0 |
12 |
.286 |
14 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
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