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Indians go after series win in Minnesota

Apr 19, 2015 - 2:32 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Cleveland Indians go after a series win on Sunday when they close out their three-game set with the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

Cleveland opened the year by taking two of three in Houston, but responded by getting swept by the Detroit Tigers and splitting a two-game affair with the Chicago White Sox. It didn't look good for the Tribe on Friday when they lost the opener of this set in 11 innings, but they bounced back on Saturday with a win to even the series.

Danny Salazar was electric in his first start of the season yesterday, and batterymate Roberto Perez went 3-for-4 with a home run to help Cleveland to a 4-2 win.

"I said (Friday) I have things to prove," said Salazar, who began the season in Triple A following a lackluster spring training. "I've been working. I know this is my first game that I've thrown in the big leagues this year, but you can see the results. They are better than in spring training."

Salazar halted Minnesota's three-game win streak by outdueling Phil Hughes (0-3), who was touched for four runs and eight hits over 6 2/3 innings to drop his third consecutive start to begin the season.

Getting the call for the Tribe on Sunday will be lefty T.J. House, who was putrid in his first start. House couldn't get out of the second inning on Sunday against Detroit, as he was pounded for six runs and six hits in just 1 1/3 frames.

"TJ's got to throw strikes and throw strikes down and work ahead," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "Just right from the very beginning, it seemed like it was tough. He was leaving some balls up arm side and falling behind."

House, though, is 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA in four starts against the Twins.

Minnesota, meanwhile, will counter with righty Trevor May, who was also unimpressive his first time out. May gave up five runs and eight hits to Kansas City over 5 1/3 innings on Monday. He split two decisions against the Tribe in 2014, but yielded nine runs in 9 2/3 innings of those outings.

Cleveland had the upper hand in the head-to-head series in 2014, going 11-8 against the Twins.