Recap: Cleveland vs. Minnesota
Sports Network | September 17, 2008
Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Victor Martinez's three-run homer off Joe Nathan in the bottom of the 11th handed the Cleveland Indians a 12-9 win over Minnesota, in the second of three games with the Twins.
Nathan (0-2) came on in the tie game to send it to a 12th inning, but gave up a leadoff single to Franklin Gutierrez. After Ben Francisco sacrificed the runner to second, Nathan walked Jhonny Peralta.
Martinez came up next and got a high fastball from Nathan, drilling it over the fence in center field to end the game. It was just the fifth homer Nathan has given up this season in 62 appearances, and it was the first game- ending homer he has allowed in his career.
Martinez finished 3-for-5 with a walk and double, while Ryan Garko went 2- for-3 with a three-run homer of his own and four RBI overall. Asdrubal Cabrera and Grady Sizemore each added a solo homer for Cleveland, which has won the first two games of this series.
Zach Jackson was roughed up in his start for the Indians, allowing seven runs in 5 1/3 innings. But the Cleveland bullpen combined to allow just two runs in 5 2/3 innings, and Martinez's homer made a winner of Tom Mastny (2-2), who tossed a scoreless top of the 11th.
Carlos Gomez finished 2-for-6 with three runs batted in for Minnesota, which has tumbled in the AL Central standings with its third consecutive loss. The Twins now trail the first-place White Sox by 2 1/2 games, after Chicago beat the Yankees, 6-2, earlier Tuesday.
Francisco Liriano was touched for eight runs -- four earned -- on six hits in a 2 2/3-inning start for the Twins. But the Minnesota bullpen, excepting Nathan, tossed 7 1/3 innings of one-hit ball.
Michael Cuddyer's RBI single in the first inning gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead, but Cleveland went on to establish a big lead.
Martinez walked with one out in the second and was followed by a Kelly Shoppach single. Garko then blasted a three-run shot over the right-field wall. Cabrera later added a solo shot to make it 4-1, Indians.
In the home third, some Twins errors helped kickstart another big inning for Cleveland. Gutierrez led off with a single, and advanced to third during the next at-bat when Punto had a throwing error on Francisco's grounder. A Liriano wild pitch then allowed Gutierrez to score and Francisco to go to second.
Martinez later doubled, and an intentional walk to Shoppach loaded the bases for Garko, whose sacrifice fly brought another run home. Andy Marte's RBI single chased Liriano from the game and brought Boof Bonser to the mound. But Cabrera greeted him with a run-scoring single before Bonser got out of the inning.
However, the Indians couldn't hold on to their 8-1 lead as the Twins came back to take the lead. An RBI double from Gomez, run-scoring singles from Matt Tolbert and Joe Mauer, and an RBI groundout from Justin Morneau brought the Twins within 8-5 after the fifth inning. Gomez's two-run single in the sixth off Juan Rincon made it an 8-7 game.
The Twins then took the lead in the top of the eighth against Rafael Betancourt. The new Cleveland pitcher issued walks to Denard Span and Mauer, and Morneau then roped an RBI double to center. Delmon Young later added a sacrifice fly to put Minnesota in front at 9-8. But Sizemore's one-out solo homer, off Eddie Guardado, in the home half tied up the game again.
It was the first career game-ending homer for Martinez, and just his second homer of the season...The Twins stranded 13 runners, while the Indians left seven on base...Bonser threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings...Sizemore's homer was his 32nd of the season...Morneau's double was his 45th of the year.
