Indians 5, Twins 2: Encarnacion leads Indians to sweep

Kyle Gibson did a good job of keeping us in the game today. The first run he gave up came in the 4th inning off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. He launched a ball into the upper deck in left for a solo HR.

The Twins had a chance to score in the 2nd inning, but Max Kepler was thrown out at the plate after Eddie Rosario singled.

In the 6th, Jose Ramirez walked and then Encarnacion hit another HR into the upper deck in left field to make it 3-0, Indians. Gibson would limit the damage to that, though, and complete 6 innings with 3 ER, a quality start. His final line was 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.

Tyler Duffey came in to pitch the 7th, having given up a 3-run homer yesterday. With 1 out, Jason Kipnis reached on a dropped third strike. Ramirez followed with a single, advancing Kipnis to 3rd base. Encarnacion hit a sharp single to left, scoring Kipnis. Duffey struck out Lonnie Chisenhall and Taylor Rogers got Bradley Zimmer to ground out to end the threat.

The Twins had been stymied on offense by Trevor Bauer to this point, but they finally broke through in the 7th. After two strikeouts, Bauer hit Kennys Vargas, sending him to first. Eduardo Escobar hit a double, scoring Vargas. Rosario singled, scoring Escobar, but Eddie got caught in a run down for the final out. The score was 4-2, Indians after 7.

Minnesota threatened to score in the 8th, but Miguel Sano flew out to right to end the 2-on, 2-out threat. Sano was 0-4 on the day.

Cleveland picked up an insurance run in the 9th on Encarnacion’s 5th RBI of the day, a sac-fly.

Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless bottom of the 9th, completing the sweep. To look at the bright side, if you call it that, the Twins didn’t have Ervin Santana or Jose Berrios pitch in this series. That might be little consolation but suffice it to say the Twins were not at their best.

The Indians seem to be waking up, which is bad for the rest of the division.

Studs:

Eduardo Escobar: 1-3, BB, R, RBI, 2B

Eddie Rosario: 2-4, RBI

Kyle Gibson: I guess.

Duds:

The players on the Twins not named “Ed” were: 1-22, 2 BB

Robot roll call: