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Mauer, Plouffe lead Twins past Tribe

Jun 3, 2012 - 4:31 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Joe Mauer went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and three RBI as the Minnesota Twins took a 7-4 win over the Cleveland Indians in the second of three from Progressive Field.

Trevor Plouffe hit a solo homer and two-run single while Ben Revere had a pair of hits and scored twice for the Twins, who have won four of their last five.

P.J. Walters started on the mound, but left with one out in the fifth inning after he gave up four runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Brian Duensing (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

"Duensing was fantastic in a very tough part of the lineup when he came into the ball game," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Michael Brantley drove in a pair of runs while Jason Kipnis had two hits and scored twice for the Indians, who have lost six of eight.

Josh Tomlin (2-3) was touched for five runs on 10 hits over six innings of work to take the loss.

Minnesota jumped out to 4-0 lead in the first inning. Denard Span, Revere and Mauer led off the game with three straight singles to score a run. After Josh Willingham popped out, Justin Morneau singled home Revere. Ryan Doumit then walked, but Brian Dozier hit a ground out that saw Mauer forced out at home. Plouffe, though, came through with a two-run single.

"I tried to make good pitches, they put good swings on them and hit them. That's the summary of that first inning," Tomlin said.

Cleveland got one back in the first on a run-scoring ground out from Brantley and Asdrubal Cabrera's RBI single in the third made it a 4-2 game.

The Indians continued to chip away at the deficit in the fourth when Lou Marson's ground out plated Johnny Damon and Brantley singled in Kipnis in the fifth to tie the contest.

The tie was shortlived, though, as Plouffe hit a one-out solo homer in the sixth to give the Twins a 5-4 advantage.

Mauer's home run with Revere on base in the seventh extended the lead to 7-4.

After Brantley's single, the Indians managed just one more hit on Shelley Duncan's one-out single in the ninth. Matt Capps retired the next two batters for his 11th save of the season.

Game Notes

Despite the loss, Cleveland has still won 11 of the last 13 games against Minnesota, including three of four this season...Cleveland left seven men on base...Scott Diamond pitches for Minnesota and will be opposed by Justin Masterson in the rubber match on Sunday.