Ervin Santana did not have the chance to face the Indians the last time the Twins ran into their division rival. In a 4-0 win over the Tribe on Sunday afternoon, Minnesota’s rotation leader turned in the kind of outing that will have Cleveland hoping it can avoid him in the future, too.
Behind six effective innings, Santana picked up his 10th win of the season, guiding the Twins to a three-game sweep of the Indians at Progressive Field, and helping Minnesota back into first place in the American League Central. It felt like a little payback for last weekend, when Cleveland swept the Twins over four games in Minneapolis to temporarily gain control of the division.
“Well, it was a really fun series,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “I was confident that we would play well, but you’re never sure how games can turn along the way. It was just one of those things where we came in here, all the games were tough, I don’t think you ever feel comfortable. You know how they can swing the bats and what we witnessed last weekend. But to win three games, you gotta feel good about it.”
Santana bent (nine hits allowed), but the right-hander never broke against an Indians lineup that went 1-for-23 with runners in scoring position over the past three games. In those three Twins victories, Minnesota’s rotation surrendered 15 hits and issued nine walks, but limited Cleveland’s offense to one run in 15 2/3 innings combined.
“[Our pitching staff] had a lot of traffic throughout the series, but we had a lot of big pitches at big times,” Molitor said. “You know, Ervin, was a lot better than a couple previous outings. He had to kinda battle a little bit, pitch count got up there, but he did what he does. He makes those pitches to get us off the field.”
Santana’s effort was backed by some early offense against Josh Tomlin, who was charged with four runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Tribe. Jason Castro powered the offense with a pair of doubles — one plating two runs in the second and another that knocked in one in the sixth. Eddie Rosario also chipped in, belting a solo homer (his 10th shot of the year) in the fourth.
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