Indians 6, Twins 2: Dingers aplenty

Mere hours after Jose Ramirez helped bury the Twins with a two-homer game, Lonnie Chisenhall stroked a pair of dingers into the gloomy night sky. His offensive output led the Indians to their third straight win this weekend, and brought Cleveland into first place in the AL Central by a game.

The Twins found a way to take the lead for once, as Joe Mauer doubled in Byron Buxton to open the scoring in the 3rd. But in the top of the 4th, the homers began -- Austin Jackson hit one out to left-center, and two batters later, Chisenhall would put one over the right field wall.

With the score 2-1 Indians, Mother Nature called time, and the game -- which was already a make-up for a previous rainout -- went into a rain delay. The inclement weather interrupted and abridged the outing of Adalberto Mejia, who had gone nearly five full innings and had given up just the two solo home run balls.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, the game resumed, and so did Cleveland’s hitting. Lonnie Chisenhall blasted a three-run shot into right and made it 5-1 Indians. It was Chisenhall’s third career multi-homer game, and he ended it with 4 runs batted in.

In the bottom of the 6th, a nearly neck-high fastball marked the beginning of the comeback for Minnesota, as Brian Dozier’s 12th homer of the year was deposited into the left field bleachers to lead off the inning. Later in the same frame, Eddie Rosario came up representing the tying run, but grounded out on the first pitch, effectively ending the comeback bid.

Alan Busenitz made his major-league debut in the 7th inning and immediately struck out Jose Ramirez to begin his career. The only blemish on his ERA across two innings of work was yet another home run, this time off the bat of Francisco Lindor.

The scoring would stop there, and Andrew Miller worked a very quick ten-pitch 9th inning to give the Indians the win, and the division lead. Back at it tomorrow! Hopefully, with less rain.

Studs:

Brian Dozier (1-for-4, solo HR)

Joe Mauer (1-for-4, RBI double)

Duds:

Tyler Duffey (1.1 IP, 3 ER, 1 HR)

Notes: All six Cleveland runs came on homers. Miguel Sano hit three hard fly balls to left, two reaching the warning track, but came away with jack squat.

Robot Roll Call: