GAME THREAD: AL: MINNESOTA (51-50) at CLEVELAND (59-43)

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Lewis relieved R Perez.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 4
CLEVELAND 10 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J Cirillo (.269, 0-FOR-0)</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 4 10 2
CLEVELAND 0 0 6 0 2 2 0 0 x 10 16 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: MIN - BOOF BONSER, RAMON ORTIZ (3RD), JUAN RINCON (6TH), MATT
GUERRIER (8TH) AND JOE MAUER

CLE - PAUL BYRD, RAFAEL PEREZ (8TH), JENSEN LEWIS (9TH)
AND KELLY SHOPPACH

HOME RUNS: MIN - JASON KUBEL (9) OFF PAUL BYRD IN THE 7TH, 1 ON

CLE - JHONNY PERALTA (15) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 3RD, 2 ON
JHONNY PERALTA (16) OFF JUAN RINCON IN THE 6TH, 1 ON</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 4 10 2
CLEVELAND 0 0 6 0 2 2 0 0 x 10 16 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: MIN - BOOF BONSER, RAMON ORTIZ (3RD), JUAN RINCON (6TH), MATT
GUERRIER (8TH) AND JOE MAUER

CLE - PAUL BYRD, RAFAEL PEREZ (8TH), JENSEN LEWIS (9TH)
AND KELLY SHOPPACH


WP - PAUL BYRD (9-4)
LP - BOOF BONSER (5-7)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: MIN - JASON KUBEL (9) OFF PAUL BYRD IN THE 7TH, 1 ON

CLE - JHONNY PERALTA (15) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 3RD, 2 ON
JHONNY PERALTA (16) OFF JUAN RINCON IN THE 6TH, 1 ON


TIME: 2:59 ATT: 37,292

PROBABLES: MIN - JOHAN SANTANA (11-8, 2.94)
CLE - JAKE WESTBROOK (1-6, 6.20)</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">MINNESOTA (4) VS CLEVELAND (10) - FINAL

MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
L Castillo 2b 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 .306
L Rodriguez 2b 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .190
J Tyner rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .274
J Mauer c 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .308
J Morneau 1b 3 1 2 1 0 0 2 .296
T Hunter cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .294
J Kubel lf 4 1 1 2 0 0 1 .247
R White dh 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .211
a-J Cirillo ph-dh 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .267
B Buscher 3b 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 .500
N Punto ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .215

Totals 33 4 10 3 2 4 15

a-walked for R White in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - J Tyner (9, P Byrd). HR - J Kubel (9, 7th inning off P Byrd 1 on,
1 Out). SF - J Morneau. RBI - J Kubel 2 (42), J Morneau (87). Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - N Punto 1, L Castillo 1, J Kubel 1. GIDP - T Hunter,
J Morneau, J Mauer. Team LOB - 5.

FIELDING: E - B Buscher (1, throw); N Punto (7, throw). DP: 1 (B Buscher-J
Morneau).


CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 2 1 1 0 2 1 1 .275
a-F Gutierrez ph-cf 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .308
K Lofton lf 5 0 3 1 0 1 4 .307
V Martinez 1b 4 1 0 1 1 0 4 .312
T Hafner dh 4 2 2 0 1 1 2 .258
J Peralta ss 5 2 2 5 0 1 1 .278
C Blake 3b 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .269
M Rouse 3b 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .119
T Nixon rf 4 1 3 0 1 1 0 .251
K Shoppach c 5 0 0 0 0 3 5 .294
J Barfield 2b 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 .255

Totals 39 10 16 9 5 9 18

a-singled to left for G Sizemore in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - T Nixon (15, R Ortiz); J Barfield (16, R Ortiz). HR - J Peralta 2
(16, 3rd inning off B Bonser 2 on, 1 Out, 6th inning off J Rincon 1 on, 0 Out).
RBI - V Martinez (78), J Peralta 5 (55), J Barfield 2 (48), K Lofton (24).
2-out RBI - J Barfield, K Lofton. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - T
Hafner 1, K Lofton 2, C Blake 1, K Shoppach 1. GIDP - J Peralta. Team LOB - 10.


BASERUNNING: CS - G Sizemore (6, 2nd base by B Bonser/J Mauer).

FIELDING: PB - K Shoppach. DP: 3 (J Barfield-J Peralta-V Martinez 2, V
Martinez-J Peralta-V Martinez).


----------------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA - 000 000 220 -- 4
CLEVELAND - 006 022 00x -- 10
----------------------------------------------------

MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
B Bonser (L, 5-7) 2 2/3 9 6 4 2 3 1 4.72
R Ortiz 2 1/3 4 2 2 1 2 0 5.27
J Rincon 2 3 2 2 1 3 1 5.89
M Guerrier 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.79

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
P Byrd (W, 9-4) 7 10 4 3 2 1 1 4.40
R Perez 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.03
J Lewis 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.45

P Byrd pitched to 3 batters in the 8th.

WP - B Bonser, R Ortiz. Pitches-strikes: B Bonser 71-42; R Ortiz 44-30; J
Rincon 34-22; M Guerrier 11-6; P Byrd 101-73; R Perez 10-8; J Lewis 21-18.
Ground balls-fly balls: B Bonser 2-2; R Ortiz 4-1; J Rincon 0-3; M Guerrier
0-2; P Byrd 12-8; R Perez 0-2; J Lewis 0-1. Batters faced: B Bonser 19; R Ortiz
11; J Rincon 10; M Guerrier 4; P Byrd 30; R Perez 3; J Lewis 3.

UMPIRES: HP--John Hirschbeck. 1B--Laz Diaz. 2B--Wally Bell. 3B--Bill Welke.

T--2:59. Att--37,292.
Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, in
from center.</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
MINNESOTA 4
CLEVELAND 10 FINAL</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (4) AT CLEVELAND (10) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CLEVELAND 3RD: J Barfield safe at first on throwing error by third baseman
B Buscher. G Sizemore walked, J Barfield to second. K Lofton reached on bunt
single to pitcher, J Barfield to third, G Sizemore to second. V Martinez
grounded into fielder's choice to first, J Barfield scored, K Lofton out at
second, G Sizemore to third, G Sizemore scored on throwing error by shortstop
N Punto. T Hafner singled to center, V Martinez to third. J Peralta homered to
left, V Martinez and T Hafner scored. C Blake singled to right. T Nixon
singled to center, C Blake to second. K Shoppach grounded into fielder's
choice to shortstop, T Nixon out at second, C Blake to third. J Barfield
reached on infield single to shortstop, C Blake scored, K Shoppach to second.
K Shoppach to third, J Barfield to second on wild pitch by B Bonser. G Sizemore
walked. R Ortiz relieved B Bonser. K Lofton flied out to left. (6 Runs,
6 Hits, 2 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 6.

CLEVELAND 5TH: T Nixon doubled to deep center. K Shoppach struck out
swinging. J Barfield doubled to center, T Nixon scored. G Sizemore struck out
swinging. K Lofton singled to left, J Barfield scored. V Martinez grounded
out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 8.

CLEVELAND 6TH: L Rodriguez at second base. J Rincon relieved R Ortiz.
T Hafner walked. J Peralta homered to center, T Hafner scored. C Blake flied
out to right. T Nixon struck out swinging. K Shoppach struck out swinging.
(2 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 10.

MINNESOTA 7TH: J Morneau singled to center. T Hunter flied out to right.
J Kubel homered to right center, J Morneau scored. J Cirillo hit for R White.
J Cirillo walked. B Buscher flied out to right. N Punto flied out to left.
(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, CLEVELAND 10.

MINNESOTA 8TH: F Gutierrez in center field. M Rouse at third base.
L Rodriguez singled to left. J Tyner doubled to deep right, L Rodriguez to
third. J Mauer walked. R Perez relieved P Byrd. J Morneau hit sacrifice fly
to right, L Rodriguez scored, J Tyner to third. T Hunter struck out swinging.
J Tyner scored, J Mauer to second on passed ball by K Shoppach. J Kubel popped
out to second. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 10.</div>

 

Peralta's power bat leads Indians past Twins

<h3>CLEVELAND 10, MINNESOTA 4</h3>Todd Krepop
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Jhonny Peralta helped make sure KennyLofton's return to Cleveland was a victorious one.

Peralta had two home runs and five RBI to lead the Indians to a10-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins, on Friday night.

Lofton had three hits and an RBI in his first game back withCleveland since the end of the 2001 season.


Lofton, who was acquired earlier in the day via a trade withTexas, is making his third stint with Cleveland. The Indiansall-time leader in stolen bases played for the Tribe from1992-96 and 1998-2001.


The Indians fans welcomed back their former leadoff hitter witha standing ovation before his first at-bat. Lofton tipped hishat twice to the crowd before striking out.


Lofton's second at-bat, as well as most of the Indians, wasbetter as the Tribe sent 12 men to the plate in a six-run third,highlighted by Peralta's three-run homer.


Josh Barfield led off the third by reaching on third basemanBrian Buscher's throwing error. After a walk to Grady Sizemore,Lofton laid down a perfect bunt off the plate to load thebases.


Victor Martinez followed by hitting what looked like a doubleplay ball, but Lofton went hard into second base forcingshortstop Nick Punto to make a wild throw, allowing another runto score.


After a Travis Hafner single put runners on the corner, Peraltablasted Twins starter Boof Bonser's 1-1 pitch into the leftfield bleachers.


Cleveland tacked on another run in the inning on KellyShoppach's groundout to make it 6-0.


Lofton's RBI single in the fifth stretched the Indians lead outto 8-0 and Peralta followed an inning later with a two run-homerto center off Juan Rincon.


It was the third multi-homer game of Peralta's career and hisfirst multi-homer game since July 4, 2006 against the New YorkYankees.


The run support was enough for Paul Byrd (9-4) as therighthander gave up four runs - three earned - on 10 hits inseven innings.


Byrd held the Twins scoreless through the first six inningsbefore giving up a two-run homer to Jason Kubel as the Twinsclosed within 10-2.


The win kept the Indians undefeated against the Twins thisseason. Cleveland has won all six meetings between the teams bya combined score of 46-17.


Bonser (5-7) was knocked around for six runs - four earned - in2 2/3 innings. The righthander gave up nine hits in hisshortest outing of the season.


Buscher provided a bright spot for the Twins as he collected hisfirst major league hit with a single in the third.

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (4) AT CLEVELAND (10) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minnesota Starting Lineups -- L Castillo 2B, J Tyner RF, J Mauer C, J Morneau 1B,
T Hunter CF, J Kubel LF, R White DH, B Buscher 3B, N Punto SS, B Bonser RHP.

Cleveland Starting Lineups -- G Sizemore CF, K Lofton LF, V Martinez 1B,
T Hafner DH, J Peralta SS, C Blake 3B, T Nixon RF, K Shoppach C, J Barfield 2B,
P Byrd RHP.

Umpires -- John Hirschbeck (HP), Laz Diaz (1B), Wally Bell (2B), Bill Welke (3B).

Gametime Weather: 79 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from center at 7 mph.


MINNESOTA 1ST: L Castillo grounded out to shortstop. J Tyner grounded out
to shortstop. J Mauer flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0,
CLEVELAND 0.

CLEVELAND 1ST: G Sizemore singled to right. G Sizemore caught stealing
second, catcher to shortstop. K Lofton struck out looking. V Martinez flied
out to right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 0.

MINNESOTA 2ND: J Morneau singled to right. T Hunter grounded into double
play, second to shortstop to first, J Morneau out at second. J Kubel flied out
to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 0.

CLEVELAND 2ND: T Hafner flied out to right. J Peralta struck out swinging.
C Blake reached on infield single to second. T Nixon singled to right,
C Blake to third. K Shoppach struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 0.

MINNESOTA 3RD: R White grounded out to shortstop. B Buscher singled to
right. N Punto bunt grounded out to first, B Buscher to second. L Castillo
struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 0.

CLEVELAND 3RD: J Barfield safe at first on throwing error by third baseman
B Buscher. G Sizemore walked, J Barfield to second. K Lofton reached on bunt
single to pitcher, J Barfield to third, G Sizemore to second. V Martinez
grounded into fielder's choice to first, J Barfield scored, K Lofton out at
second, G Sizemore to third, G Sizemore scored on throwing error by shortstop
N Punto. T Hafner singled to center, V Martinez to third. J Peralta homered to
left, V Martinez and T Hafner scored. C Blake singled to right. T Nixon
singled to center, C Blake to second. K Shoppach grounded into fielder's
choice to shortstop, T Nixon out at second, C Blake to third. J Barfield
reached on infield single to shortstop, C Blake scored, K Shoppach to second.
K Shoppach to third, J Barfield to second on wild pitch by B Bonser. G Sizemore
walked. R Ortiz relieved B Bonser. K Lofton flied out to left. (6 Runs,
6 Hits, 2 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 6.

MINNESOTA 4TH: J Tyner singled to center. J Mauer lined out to shortstop.
J Morneau grounded into double play, first to shortstop to first, J Tyner out
at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 6.

CLEVELAND 4TH: V Martinez walked. T Hafner singled to left, V Martinez to
second. J Peralta grounded into double play, third to first, V Martinez out at
third, T Hafner to second. T Hafner to third on wild pitch by R Ortiz. C Blake
grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 6.

MINNESOTA 5TH: T Hunter flied out to center. J Kubel grounded out to
second. R White reached on infield single to third. B Buscher singled to
right, R White to third. N Punto grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 6.

CLEVELAND 5TH: T Nixon doubled to deep center. K Shoppach struck out
swinging. J Barfield doubled to center, T Nixon scored. G Sizemore struck out
swinging. K Lofton singled to left, J Barfield scored. V Martinez grounded
out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 8.

MINNESOTA 6TH: L Castillo reached on infield single to second. J Tyner
lined out to shortstop. J Mauer grounded into double play, second to shortstop
to first, L Castillo out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0,
CLEVELAND 8.

CLEVELAND 6TH: L Rodriguez at second base. J Rincon relieved R Ortiz.
T Hafner walked. J Peralta homered to center, T Hafner scored. C Blake flied
out to right. T Nixon struck out swinging. K Shoppach struck out swinging.
(2 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 10.

MINNESOTA 7TH: J Morneau singled to center. T Hunter flied out to right.
J Kubel homered to right center, J Morneau scored. J Cirillo hit for R White.
J Cirillo walked. B Buscher flied out to right. N Punto flied out to left.
(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, CLEVELAND 10.

CLEVELAND 7TH: J Barfield popped out to second. F Gutierrez hit for
G Sizemore. F Gutierrez singled to left. K Lofton singled to shallow left,
F Gutierrez to second. V Martinez flied out to left. T Hafner struck out
swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 2, CLEVELAND 10.

MINNESOTA 8TH: F Gutierrez in center field. M Rouse at third base.
L Rodriguez singled to left. J Tyner doubled to deep right, L Rodriguez to
third. J Mauer walked. R Perez relieved P Byrd. J Morneau hit sacrifice fly
to right, L Rodriguez scored, J Tyner to third. T Hunter struck out swinging.
J Tyner scored, J Mauer to second on passed ball by K Shoppach. J Kubel popped
out to second. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 10.

CLEVELAND 8TH: M Guerrier relieved J Rincon. J Peralta flied out to center.
M Rouse struck out swinging. T Nixon walked. K Shoppach flied out to right.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 10.

MINNESOTA 9TH: J Lewis relieved R Perez. J Cirillo struck out looking.
B Buscher flied out to left. N Punto struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 10.</div>

 

Peralta's power bat leads Indians past Twins

<h3>CLEVELAND 10, MINNESOTA 4</h3>Todd Krepop
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Jhonny Peralta helped make sure KennyLofton's return to Cleveland was a victorious one.

Peralta had two home runs and five RBI to lead the Indians to a10-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Lofton had three hits and an RBI in his first game back withCleveland since the end of the 2001 season.


"It was pretty cool," Lofton said. "I didn't know what to expectin getting my nerves to calm down. It was very touching to getit out of the way and show the fans of Cleveland that I havesomething left.


"Hopefully we can keep the good time going here and hopefully wegot something special going."


Lofton, who was acquired earlier in the day via a trade withTexas, is making his third stint with Cleveland. The Indiansall-time leader in stolen bases played for the Tribe from1992-96 and 1998-2001.


The Indians fans welcomed back their former leadoff hitter witha standing ovation before his first at-bat. Lofton tipped hishat twice to the crowd before striking out.


"It was a little emotional at first with all the fans cheering,"Lofton said. "I was trying calm myself down before the firstat-bat, but I was excited about it."


Lofton's second at-bat, as well as most of the Indians, wasbetter as the Tribe sent 12 men to the plate in a six-run third,highlighted by Peralta's three-run homer.


Josh Barfield led off the third by reaching on third basemanBrian Buscher's throwing error. After a walk to Grady Sizemore,Lofton laid down a perfect bunt off the plate to load thebases.


Victor Martinez followed by hitting what looked like a doubleplay ball, but Lofton went hard into second base forcingshortstop Nick Punto to make a wild throw, allowing another runto score.


"Anytime you feel something like (Lofton's ovation) in thestadium, it's going to do a lot for this ballclub," Indiansmanager Eric Wedge said. "Kenny's a big time player and heresponded to it. He was a big part of this win."


After a Travis Hafner single put runners on the corner, Peraltablasted Twins starter Boof Bonser's 1-1 pitch into the leftfield bleachers.


Cleveland tacked on another run in the inning on KellyShoppach's groundout to make it 6-0.


Lofton's RBI single in the fifth stretched the Indians lead outto 8-0 and Peralta followed an inning later with a two run-homerto center off Juan Rincon.


"(Lofton's) a good guy," Peralta said. "He brought me good lucktoday. Hopefully he brings good luck for the team."

It was the third multi-homer game of Peralta's career and hisfirst multi-homer game since July 4, 2006 against the New YorkYankees.


"I have been working a little bit with my bat," Peralta said. "Ihave been swinging a little high and today I was swinging alittle lower."


The run support was enough for Paul Byrd (9-4) as therighthander gave up four runs - three earned - on 10 hits inseven innings.


Byrd held the Twins scoreless through the first six inningsbefore giving up a two-run homer to Jason Kubel as the Twinsclosed within 10-2.


"It helped that we got a bunch of runs early," Byrd said. "Ithelped me relax out there."


The win kept the Indians undefeated against the Twins thisseason. Cleveland has won all six meetings between the teams bya combined score of 46-17.


"It's getting embarrassing," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said."It's one thing to get beat. It's another thing to getembarrassed. That doesn't happen here. That's what I told theteam."


Bonser (5-7) was knocked around for six runs - four earned - in2 2/3 innings. The righthander gave up nine hits in hisshortest outing of the season. Buscher provided a bright spotfor the Twins as he collected his first major league hit with asingle in the third.