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Escobar homer in 10th gets Twins past Tribe

May 6, 2014 - 4:08 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Eduardo Escobar's 10th-inning solo homer was the only meaningful offense in the contest, and sent Minnesota to a narrow 1-0 victory over Cleveland in the opener of a four-game series.

Sam Fuld collected two hits for the Twins, who have won three straight including the final two in a home series win against Baltimore this past weekend.

"Really good pitching on both sides. A big home run by Escobar," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire.

Mike Aviles hit safely twice for the Indians, who stumbled to their eighth loss in their last 10.

Escobar greeted John Axford (0-3) with a long blast to right which landed several rows back in the bleachers to give the Twins a 1-0 edge. Brian Dozier walked and Fuld's single moved him to third, but Dozier was erased at home on a Trevor Plouffe grounder. Chris Colabello flied out and Marc Rzepczynski induced a groundout from Jason Kubel to keep it a one-run margin.

Glen Perkins fanned two in a scoreless home half to earn his eighth save. Caleb Thielbar (2-0) held down the fort in the ninth for the win.

"I want to go out there the next day, next game and get the job done. Erase what happened the day before," Axford said.

Minnesota had runners on the corners in the fourth, but the rally ended when Kurt Suzuki flied out to left, then Cleveland stranded Carlos Santana at second in the home half thanks to Asdrubal Cabrera's fly to left.

The Twins also wasted a two-on, two-out situation in the seventh as Brian Shaw relieved Zach McAllister and induced an inning-ending groundout from pinch- hitter Escobar.

Aviles was caught leaning while trying to steal second in the eighth.

Game Notes

McAllister fanned eight over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, walking one and giving up five hits ... Minnesota counterpart Kyle Gibson walked three and served up two hits over seven full frames ... Cleveland suffered its first 1-0 defeat since June 25, 2011 at San Francisco ... Prior to the contest, the Indians placed designated hitter Jason Giambi on the disabled list with a right calf strain and activated catcher Yan Gomes from the paternity list.