The Twins gained ground in the chase for the second American League Wild Card spot for a second straight night, as Phil Hughes tossed five scoreless innings and Brian Dozier homered in a 4-2 win over the Indians on Wednesday at Target Field.
With their second straight victory over the Indians, the Twins (78-73) moved to within one game of the Astros (80-73) for the second AL Wild Card. It left Cleveland (74-76) 3 1/2 games back of Minnesota and 4 1/2 games behind Houston.
“We picked up a couple games in a couple days and we’re even in the loss column so we’re back to having a chance,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “Tomorrow we’ve got a chance to come out here and possibly finish off Cleveland before we head off on a tough road trip.”
Hughes, making the start because lefty Tommy Milone was scratched with shoulder fatigue, was sharp, scattering four hits with four strikeouts. It was his second start since missing five weeks with a herniated disc in his lower back. Neal Cotts and Casey Fien combined for three scoreless innings in relief before Glen Perkins gave up a two-run homer to Carlos Santana with two outs in the ninth.
Hughes outpitched Indians ace Corey Kluber, who went a season-low 3 2/3 frames, allowing four runs on five hits. All of the damage was done in a four-run fourth keyed by Dozier’s homer and big hits from Joe Mauer, Trevor Plouffe and Eduardo Escobar.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
