Indians blast Twins

Cleveland Indians' Travis Hafner, right, congratulates teammate Carlos Santana after he hit a two-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Saturday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Santana hit his 25th home run and Jeanmar Gomez pitched effectively into the seventh inning before leaving with an injury Saturday as the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 10-4.

Gomez (4-2) won his fourth straight start since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 30. He allowed two runs and seven hits over 6 2-3 innings, sending the Twins to their seventh straight loss.

Gomez was one out away from getting out of the seventh when he appeared to injure his leg trying to make a play on Ben Revere's bouncer up the middle. Gomez walked off the field unassisted and was relieved by Josh Judy.

The Indians made it easy for Gomez, scoring seven early runs off Anthony Swarzak (3-7). Minnesota has lost 12 of 13.

Already up 3-0 in the second, Cleveland got a two-run triple from Jason Kipnis before Santana lined a 3-2 pitch from Swarzak an estimated 414 feet into the right-field seats. Santana has four homers in his last five games.
Lester Oliveros relieved Swarzak and gave up an RBI double to Matt LaPorta before the Twins finally got out of the inning.

Chris Parmelee had three RBIs and three hits, including a two-run homer in the Twins eighth that made it 8-4. Cleveland added two more runs in the ninth on singles by Asdrubal Cabrera and Lonnie Chisenhall.

With Swarzak chased early, the Twins found some for starters Francisco Liriano and Brian Duensing, who both fell out of Minnesota's rotation because of injuries.

Liriano, who went on the disabled list last month with a shoulder strain, pitched two scoreless innings in his first action since Aug. 25. Duensing made his second relief appearance since sustaining a strained oblique earlier this month and threw a scoreless seventh.

NOTES:Minnesota used a season-high eight pitchers. ... Cleveland GM Chris Antonetti met with reporters before the game and reiterated the team's disappointment with not making the postseason. "That was our goal at the start of the year and unfortunately we were unable to accomplish that, but I think when you step back from it and look back at the year as a whole, there were a lot of positive things that came from it," Antonetti said. "I feel like we're a step closer at the end of this season than we were at the end of last season." ... Santana's 25 homers ties Cleveland's record for most by a switch-hitter ... The Indians go for the three-game sweep Sunday when they send Justin Masterson to the mound. Masterson is 11-10 and makes his 33rd start of the season. Minnesota counters with Carl Pavano, who is 8-12 this season. Pavano is 1-0 with a 2.11 ERA against Cleveland this year.