GAME THREAD: AL: MINNESOTA (67-64) at CLEVELAND (73-57)

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">AL AT CLEVELAND - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY TORII HUNTER SCORED JASON TYNER.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J BARTLETT ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 5
CLEVELAND 6 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J MORNEAU (.286, 1-FOR-4, RBI)</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 3 0 0 0 2 5 13 2
CLEVELAND 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 x 6 7 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: MIN - BOOF BONSER, CARMEN CALI (8TH), PAT NESHEK (8TH) AND MIKE
REDMOND

CLE - JAKE WESTBROOK, RAFAEL PEREZ (7TH), RAFAEL
BETANCOURT (8TH), JOE BOROWSKI (9TH) AND VICTOR MARTINEZ

HOME RUNS: MIN - BRIAN BUSCHER (1) OFF JOE BOROWSKI IN THE 9TH, 0 ON

CLE - TRAVIS HAFNER (19) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
GRADY SIZEMORE (23) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 3RD, 0 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 3 0 0 0 2 5 13 2
CLEVELAND 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 x 6 7 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: MIN - BOOF BONSER, CARMEN CALI (8TH), PAT NESHEK (8TH) AND MIKE
REDMOND

CLE - JAKE WESTBROOK, RAFAEL PEREZ (7TH), RAFAEL
BETANCOURT (8TH), JOE BOROWSKI (9TH) AND VICTOR MARTINEZ


WP - JAKE WESTBROOK (5-7)
LP - BOOF BONSER (6-11)
SAVE - JOE BOROWSKI (38)

HOME RUNS: MIN - BRIAN BUSCHER (1) OFF JOE BOROWSKI IN THE 9TH, 0 ON

CLE - TRAVIS HAFNER (19) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
GRADY SIZEMORE (23) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 3RD, 0 ON


TIME: 2:49 ATT: 24,784

PROBABLES: MIN - JOHAN SANTANA (14-9, 2.97)
CLE - C.C. SABATHIA (14-7, 3.38)</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">MINNESOTA (5) VS CLEVELAND (6) - FINAL

MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Tyner lf 5 2 4 0 0 1 1 .300
J Bartlett ss 4 1 2 1 1 1 1 .281
T Hunter cf 3 0 1 2 1 0 4 .300
J Morneau 1b 5 0 1 1 0 1 3 .285
M Cuddyer rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .277
J Kubel dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .257
M Redmond c 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .285
B Buscher 3b 4 2 3 1 0 0 0 .276
N Punto 2b 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 .198
a-R White ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .155

Totals 37 5 13 5 2 5 15

a-popped out to shortstop for N Punto in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - M Cuddyer (24, J Westbrook); J Bartlett (19, J Borowski). HR - B
Buscher (1, 9th inning off J Borowski 0 on, 0 Out). SF - T Hunter. RBI - J
Bartlett (38), T Hunter 2 (93), J Morneau (95), B Buscher (2). 2-out RBI - J
Morneau. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Morneau 2, M Redmond 1, T
Hunter 1. Team LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Tyner (8, 2nd base off J Westbrook/V Martinez).

FIELDING: E - J Bartlett (21, ground ball); B Bonser (3, throw). DP: 1 (J
Bartlett-N Punto-J Morneau).


CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 .279
A Cabrera 2b 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 .302
T Hafner dh 3 2 1 2 1 1 2 .257
V Martinez c 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .304
R Garko 1b 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 .303
J Peralta ss 3 0 0 1 0 2 2 .274
K Lofton lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .299
T Nixon rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .256
F Gutierrez rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .264
C Blake 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .265

Totals 30 6 7 6 2 6 10

BATTING: HR - T Hafner (19, 1st inning off B Bonser 1 on, 1 Out), G Sizemore
(23, 3rd inning off B Bonser 0 on, 1 Out). SF - J Peralta. RBI - T Hafner 2
(77), G Sizemore (70), A Cabrera (8), R Garko (48), J Peralta (65). 2-out RBI -
A Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - T Hafner 2, K Lofton 1.
GIDP - R Garko. Team LOB - 4.

FIELDING: Outfield assists - T Nixon (T Hunter at 2nd base). DP: 1 (J
Westbrook-R Garko).


----------------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA - 000 030 002 -- 5
CLEVELAND - 201 010 02x -- 6
----------------------------------------------------

MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
B Bonser (L, 6-11) 7 5 4 3 1 6 2 4.72
C Cali 1/3 1 2 2 1 0 0 5.28
P Neshek 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.49

CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
J Westbrook (W, 5-7) 6 2/3 10 3 3 2 4 0 4.38
R Perez (H, 10) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.70
R Betancourt (H, 25) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.43
J Borowski (S, 38) 1 3 2 2 0 1 1 5.64

IBB - G Sizemore (by B Bonser). HBP - V Martinez (by C Cali).
Pitches-strikes: B Bonser 99-65; C Cali 14-8; P Neshek 7-5; J Westbrook 104-68;
R Perez 2-2; R Betancourt 16-10; J Borowski 18-13. Ground balls-fly balls: B
Bonser 6-9; C Cali 0-1; P Neshek 1-1; J Westbrook 8-6; R Perez 0-1; R
Betancourt 0-3; J Borowski 0-2. Batters faced: B Bonser 27; C Cali 4; P Neshek
3; J Westbrook 30; R Perez 1; R Betancourt 3; J Borowski 6.

UMPIRES: HP--Bob Davidson. 1B--Hunter Wendelstedt. 2B--Sam Holbrook.
3B--Randy Marsh.
EJECTIONS: MINNESOTA's Gardenhire by Wendelstedt (5th).
T--2:49. Att--24,784.
Weather: 80 degrees, clear. Wind: 6 mph, in from
center.</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
MINNESOTA 5
CLEVELAND 6 FINAL</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (5) AT CLEVELAND (6) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CLEVELAND 1ST: G Sizemore safe at first on error by shortstop J Bartlett.
A Cabrera grounded into fielder's choice to second, G Sizemore out at second.
T Hafner homered to right center, A Cabrera scored. V Martinez struck out
swinging. R Garko flied out to left. (2 Runs, 1 Hit, 1 Error) MINNESOTA 0,
CLEVELAND 2.

CLEVELAND 3RD: C Blake popped out to second. G Sizemore homered to center.
A Cabrera flied out to center. T Hafner struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 3.

MINNESOTA 5TH: B Buscher singled to right. N Punto flied out to center.
J Tyner singled to right, B Buscher to third. J Bartlett singled to right
center, B Buscher scored, J Tyner to second. T Hunter singled to right,
J Tyner scored, J Bartlett to third, T Hunter thrown out returning to first.
Minnesota's Manager R Gardenhire ejected by H Wendelstedt. J Morneau singled
to left, J Bartlett scored. M Cuddyer flied out to center. (3 Runs, 5 Hits,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 5TH: K Lofton singled to right center. T Nixon flied out to
center. K Lofton safe at second on throwing error by pitcher B Bonser. C Blake
struck out swinging. G Sizemore intentionally walked. A Cabrera singled to
right, K Lofton scored, G Sizemore to third, A Cabrera to second advancing on
throw. T Hafner flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 1 Error) MINNESOTA 3,
CLEVELAND 4.

CLEVELAND 8TH: C Cali relieved B Bonser. G Sizemore flied out to center.
A Cabrera singled to center. T Hafner walked, A Cabrera to second. V Martinez
hit by pitch, A Cabrera to third, T Hafner to second. P Neshek relieved
C Cali. R Garko singled to left, A Cabrera scored, T Hafner to third, V Martinez
to second. J Peralta hit sacrifice fly to center, T Hafner scored. K Lofton
grounded into fielder's choice to second, R Garko out at second. (2 Runs,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, CLEVELAND 6.

MINNESOTA 9TH: J Borowski relieved R Betancourt. B Buscher homered to
right. R White hit for N Punto. R White popped out to shortstop. J Tyner
reached on bunt single to third. J Bartlett doubled to left, J Tyner to third.
T Hunter hit sacrifice fly to center, J Tyner scored. J Morneau struck out
looking. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, CLEVELAND 6.</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (5) AT CLEVELAND (6) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minnesota Starting Lineups -- J Tyner LF, J Bartlett SS, T Hunter CF, J Morneau 1B,
M Cuddyer RF, J Kubel DH, M Redmond C, B Buscher 3B, N Punto 2B, B Bonser RHP.

Cleveland Starting Lineups -- G Sizemore CF, A Cabrera 2B, T Hafner DH,
V Martinez C, R Garko 1B, J Peralta SS, K Lofton LF, T Nixon RF, C Blake 3B,
J Westbrook RHP.

Umpires -- Bob Davidson (HP), Hunter Wendelstedt (1B), Sam Holbrook (2B),
Randy Marsh (3B).

Gametime Weather: 80 degrees, Clear, wind in from center at 6 mph.


MINNESOTA 1ST: J Tyner singled to center. J Bartlett struck out swinging.
T Hunter lined into double play, pitcher to first, J Tyner out at first.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 0.

CLEVELAND 1ST: G Sizemore safe at first on error by shortstop J Bartlett.
A Cabrera grounded into fielder's choice to second, G Sizemore out at second.
T Hafner homered to right center, A Cabrera scored. V Martinez struck out
swinging. R Garko flied out to left. (2 Runs, 1 Hit, 1 Error) MINNESOTA 0,
CLEVELAND 2.

MINNESOTA 2ND: J Morneau flied out to center. M Cuddyer grounded out to
second. J Kubel singled to left. M Redmond grounded out to second. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 2.

CLEVELAND 2ND: J Peralta grounded out to shortstop. K Lofton flied out to
left. T Nixon grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0,
CLEVELAND 2.

MINNESOTA 3RD: B Buscher singled to right. N Punto struck out looking.
J Tyner struck out swinging. J Bartlett walked, B Buscher to second. T Hunter
grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 2.

CLEVELAND 3RD: C Blake popped out to second. G Sizemore homered to center.
A Cabrera flied out to center. T Hafner struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 3.

MINNESOTA 4TH: J Morneau grounded out to second. M Cuddyer doubled to deep
left. J Kubel grounded out to shortstop. M Redmond grounded out to shortstop.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 4TH: V Martinez singled to right. R Garko grounded into double
play, shortstop to second to first, V Martinez out at second. J Peralta struck
out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, CLEVELAND 3.

MINNESOTA 5TH: B Buscher singled to right. N Punto flied out to center.
J Tyner singled to right, B Buscher to third. J Bartlett singled to right
center, B Buscher scored, J Tyner to second. T Hunter singled to right,
J Tyner scored, J Bartlett to third, T Hunter thrown out at returning to first.
Minnesota's Manager R Gardenhire ejected by H Wendelstedt. J Morneau singled to
left, J Bartlett scored. M Cuddyer flied out to center. (3 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, CLEVELAND 3.

CLEVELAND 5TH: K Lofton singled to right center. T Nixon flied out to
center. K Lofton safe at second on throwing error by pitcher B Bonser. C Blake
struck out swinging. G Sizemore intentionally walked. A Cabrera singled to
right, K Lofton scored, G Sizemore to third, A Cabrera to second advancing on
throw. T Hafner flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 1 Error) MINNESOTA 3,
CLEVELAND 4.

MINNESOTA 6TH: J Kubel lined out to second. M Redmond flied out to right.
B Buscher grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3,
CLEVELAND 4.

CLEVELAND 6TH: V Martinez flied out to left. R Garko grounded out to
second. J Peralta struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3,
CLEVELAND 4.

MINNESOTA 7TH: N Punto struck out swinging. J Tyner singled to center.
J Tyner stole second. J Bartlett grounded out to shortstop, J Tyner to third.
T Hunter walked. R Perez relieved J Westbrook. J Morneau popped out to third.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, CLEVELAND 4.

CLEVELAND 7TH: K Lofton flied out to left. T Nixon struck out swinging.
C Blake flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, CLEVELAND 4.

MINNESOTA 8TH: F Gutierrez in right field. R Betancourt relieved R Perez.
M Cuddyer flied out to left. J Kubel flied out to left. M Redmond lined out to
second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, CLEVELAND 4.

CLEVELAND 8TH: C Cali relieved B Bonser. G Sizemore flied out to center.
A Cabrera singled to center. T Hafner walked, A Cabrera to second. V Martinez
hit by pitch, A Cabrera to third, T Hafner to second. P Neshek relieved
C Cali. R Garko singled to left, A Cabrera scored, T Hafner to third, V Martinez
to second. J Peralta hit sacrifice fly to center, T Hafner scored. K Lofton
grounded into fielder's choice to second, R Garko out at second. (2 Runs,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, CLEVELAND 6.

MINNESOTA 9TH: J Borowski relieved R Betancourt. B Buscher homered to
right. R White hit for N Punto. R White popped out to shortstop. J Tyner
reached on bunt single to third. J Bartlett doubled to left, J Tyner to third.
T Hunter hit sacrifice fly to center, J Tyner scored. J Morneau struck out
looking. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, CLEVELAND 6.</div>

 

Rookie Cabrera helps Indians survive shaky outing from Westbrook

<h3>CLEVELAND 6, MINNESOTA 5</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Jake Westbrook was not sharp, but rookieAsdrubal Cabrera had his back.


Westbrook labored through six-plus innings, but Cabrera hit ago-ahead single in the seventh inning as the Cleveland Indiansposted a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore each homered for Cleveland,which has won four straight and leads Detroit (71-60) by threegames in the American League Central. Detroit is currently atKansas City.


With the game tied at 3-3, Cleveland's Kenny Lofton led off theseventh with a single and advanced to second on a one-out wildthrow on a pickoff attempt. After Twins starter Boof Bonser(6-11) issued a two-out intentionally walk to Sizemore, Cabreralaced a single to right, plating Lofton, who barely beat thethrow home from right fielder Michael Cuddyer.


Cleveland loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, and RyanGarko provided an insurance run with an RBI single and JhonnyPeralta added a sacrifice fly for a 6-3 lead.


Westbrook, who entered the game 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in his lastsix starts and leading the AL in with a 1.50 ERA in August, is abig reason the Indians have won nine of 12.


However, he struggled in this one and let a 3-0 lead slip awayin the fifth, allowing a leadoff single to rookie Brian Buscher.Jason Tyner hit a one-out single and Jason Bartlett cut thelead to 3-1 with a single to center. Torii Hunter drove in arun with a single to right and Justin Morneau tied the game at3-3 with a single to left.


Given a 4-3 lead, Westbrook (5-7) retired the side in order inthe sixth but left after putting runners on the corners with twoouts in the seventh. Tyner singled to start the inning, stolesecond and advanced to third on a ground out. Westbrook thenwalked Hunter, but rookie Rafael Perez got Morneau to pop outand end the threat.


Westbrook allowed three runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings withfour strikeouts and two walks.


Rafael Betancourt worked a scoreless eighth and closer JoeBorowski allowed two runs in the ninth but struck out Morneaulooking with the tying run on second for his 38th save in 43chances.


Hafner put Cleveland up 2-0 in the first inning by blasting hisfirst home run since August 6. Sizemore extended the lead to3-0 with a solo shot in the third.


Tyner had three hits for Minnesota (67-65), which had won fourof five, but fell 7 1/2 games behind the Indians (74-57) in theAL Central.


Bonser, who has only one win in his last 14 starts, limited theIndians to only five hits in seven innings, but was hurt by thelong ball early on.


Hafner's two-run homer in the first gave the Indians an earlylead. Hafner blasted Bonser's 1-0 pitch 429-feet into the rightfield seats.


It was Hafner's first home run since August 6 at Minnesota. TheIndians slugger has been in a season-long slump, but is showingsigns of breaking out. In his past three games, Hafner has hadfive RBI. Sizemore added a solo home run in the third off ofBonser to increase the Indians lead to 3-0.

 

Rookie Cabrera helps Indians survive shaky outing from Westbrook

<h3>CLEVELAND 6, MINNESOTA 5</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Jake Westbrook was not sharp, but rookieAsdrubal Cabrera had his back.


Westbrook labored through 6 2/3 innings, but Cabrera hit ago-ahead single in the seventh inning as the Cleveland Indiansposted a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore each homered for Cleveland,which has won four straight and leads Detroit (71-60) by threegames in the American League Central. Detroit is currently atKansas City.


With the game tied at 3-3, Cleveland's Kenny Lofton led off theseventh with a single and advanced to second on a one-out wildthrow on a pickoff attempt. After Twins starter Boof Bonser(6-11) issued a two-out intentionally walk to Sizemore, Cabreralaced a single to right, plating Lofton, who barely beat thethrow home from right fielder Michael Cuddyer.


Cleveland loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, and RyanGarko provided an insurance run with an RBI single and JhonnyPeralta added a sacrifice fly for a 6-3 lead.


Westbrook, who entered the game 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in his lastsix starts and leading the AL in with a 1.50 ERA in August, is abig reason the Indians have won nine of 12.


However, he struggled in this one and let a 3-0 lead slip awayin the fifth, allowing a leadoff single to rookie Brian Buscher.Jason Tyner hit a one-out single and Jason Bartlett cut thelead to 3-1 with a single to center. Torii Hunter drove in arun with a single to right and Justin Morneau tied the game at3-3 with a single to left.


Given a 4-3 lead, Westbrook (5-7) retired the side in order inthe sixth but left after putting runners on the corners with twoouts in the seventh. Tyner singled to start the inning, stolesecond and advanced to third on a ground out. Westbrook thenwalked Hunter, but rookie Rafael Perez got Morneau to pop outand end the threat.


Westbrook allowed three runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings withfour strikeouts and two walks.


Rafael Betancourt worked a scoreless eighth and closer JoeBorowski allowed two runs in the ninth but struck out Morneaulooking with the tying run on second for his 38th save in 43chances.


Hafner put Cleveland up 2-0 in the first inning by blasting hisfirst home run since August 6. Sizemore extended the lead to3-0 with a solo shot in the third.


Tyner had three hits for Minnesota (67-65), which had won fourof five, but fell 7 1/2 games behind the Indians (74-57) in theAL Central.


Bonser, who has only one win in his last 14 starts, limited theIndians to only five hits in seven innings, but was hurt by thelong ball early on.


Hafner's two-run homer in the first gave the Indians an earlylead. Hafner blasted Bonser's 1-0 pitch 429-feet into the rightfield seats.


It was Hafner's first home run since August 6 at Minnesota. TheIndians slugger has been in a season-long slump, but is showingsigns of breaking out. In his past three games, Hafner has hadfive RBI. Sizemore added a solo home run in the third off ofBonser to increase the Indians lead to 3-0.

 

Rookie Cabrera helps Indians survive shaky outing from Westbrook

<h3>CLEVELAND 6, MINNESOTA 5</h3>CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Jake Westbrook was not sharp, but rookieAsdrubal Cabrera had his back.


Westbrook labored through six-plus innings, but Cabrera hit ago-ahead single in the seventh inning as the Cleveland Indiansposted a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

"Asdrubal got a big hit for us," Indians manager Eric Wedge said

Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore each homered for Cleveland(74-57), which has won four straight and leads Detroit (71-60)by 3 1/2 games in the American League Central. Detroit lost atKansas City.


With the game tied at 3-3, Cleveland's Kenny Lofton led off theseventh with a single and advanced to second on a one-out wildthrow on a pickoff attempt. After Twins starter Boof Bonser(6-11) issued a two-out intentional walk to Sizemore, Cabreralaced a single to right, plating Lofton, who barely beat thethrow home from right fielder Michael Cuddyer.


Cabrera, who started the season at Class AA, has been asparkplug for the Indians since being called up on August 8. Hehas scored 10 runs in his 15 games and is 4-for-8 with runnersin scoring position and two outs.


"(Cabrera) has been a big boost for us," Wedge said. "Not onlydoes he get big hits for us, but he also creates for us too."

Cleveland loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, and RyanGarko provided an insurance run with an RBI single and JhonnyPeralta added a sacrifice fly for a 6-3 lead.


Westbrook, who entered the game 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in his lastsix starts and leading the AL in with a 1.50 ERA in August, is abig reason the Indians have won nine of 12.


"I've been more consistent with my delivery," Westbrook said."Previous four or five outings I have been locating all mypitches and keeping the hitters off-balance. Hopefully I canride that to the end of the season."


However, he struggled in this one and let a 3-0 lead slip awayin the fifth, allowing a leadoff single to rookie Brian Buscher.Jason Tyner hit a one-out single and Jason Bartlett cut thelead to 3-1 with a single to center. Torii Hunter drove in arun with a single to right and Justin Morneau tied the game at3-3 with a single to left.


"I got too much of the plate that inning," Westbrook said. "Ineed to do a better job of making pitches that inning. I didn'tand they strung some hits together to tie it up. I didn't havemy good stuff tonight."


Given a 4-3 lead, Westbrook (5-7) retired the side in order inthe sixth but left after putting runners on the corners with twoouts in the seventh. Tyner singled to start the inning, stolesecond and advanced to third on a groundout. Westbrook thenwalked Hunter, but rookie Rafael Perez got Morneau to pop outand end the threat.


Westbrook allowed three runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings withfour strikeouts and two walks.


"I got some help tonight," Westbrook said. "The offense was bigtonight. I had a three-run lead and I gave it up, but they gaveit right back to me. That's a sign of good team."

Rafael Betancourt worked a scoreless eighth and closer JoeBorowski allowed two runs in the ninth but struck out Morneaulooking with the tying run on second for his 38th save in 43chances.


"As long as we save it, that's all I care about," Borowski said."The bottom line is we won."


Hafner put Cleveland up 2-0 in the first inning by blasting hisfirst home run since August 6. Sizemore extended the lead to3-0 with a solo shot in the third.


Tyner had four hits for Minnesota (67-65), which had won four offive, but fell 7 1/2 games behind the Indians (74-57) in the ALCentral.


"It's tough," Hunter said. "This is a very important series andwe've lost two of them. Those games are in the past. We can'tthink about it tonight. All we can do is go have a Bud Lightand get ready to go against C.C. (Sabathia). But I don'tdrink."