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Diamond pitches Twins past Indians

Jun 4, 2012 - 12:47 AM Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Scott Diamond did not allow an earned run and the Twins' lineup came to life in the team's 6-3 win over Cleveland in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Diamond (4-1), making his sixth career start, went seven innings and allowed three runs -- all unearned -- in the win. He gave up seven hits and no walks as he lowered his earned run average to 1.86.

"We were mixing it up," Diamond said. "I think me and [Twins catcher Ryan] Doumit did a really good job of working in and out today and we kept a lot of hitters off-balanced and moving their feet a lot."

"We couldn't get anything offensively going against Diamond," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He kept our guys off-balance the whole day with that cutter that he was throwing inside to right-handers and changeups and that fastball against our righties."

The bottom three hitters in the Twins lineup were productive throughout the day. Brian Dozier picked up two hits, while Trevor Plouffe added three in the win. Alexi Casilla, who hit ninth, did not pick up a hit, but he did plate two runs with a pair of sacrifice flies.

Justin Masterson (2-5) struggled throughout his six innings. He gave up seven hits and walked three, while striking out three, in the loss.

"A lot of balls in the infield," Masterson said. "They laid down some nice bunts. I really don't think anyone can get to those."

The Twins scored in three of the first four innings to build a 3-0 lead.

Denard Span drew a leadoff walk to start the game. After stealing second base, he scored when Joe Mauer grounded a single through the right side to get the Twins on the board.

Masterson walked Mauer with two outs in the third before Josh Willingham doubled to put runners at second and third with one out. Justin Morneau then broke his bat, but the ball hit off Masterson's leg for an infield single to make it 2-0.

Dozier led off the fourth with a bunt single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Plouffe then reached base with a perfect bunt before Casilla lofted a fly ball to center field to score Dozier.

"We manufactured some runs the first part of the game," Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Putting some bunts down, dropping some drag bunts down and getting around the bases okay."

Cleveland scored twice in the fourth after Jason Kipnis reached base to start the inning on Dozier's throwing error. The Indians then successfully executed a hit-and-run to put runners on the corners with no outs. Jose Lopez followed with a sac fly to get the Indians on the board. Two batters later, Shelley Duncan delivered a two-out single to pull Cleveland within a run.

The Twins got the two runs back in the seventh inning. Willingham roped a line drive down the third base line for his second double of the day, scoring Ben Revere. Two batters later, Doumit made the score 5-2 after he hit a hard ground ball to third base that Lopez was unable to play.

An RBI double by Lou Marson cut Minnesota's lead back to two in bottom half, but Plouffe doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly in the eighth, giving the Twins a 6-3 lead.

Glen Perkins and Matt Capps, who picked up his 12th save, kept the Indians off the board in the final two frames to preserve the win.

Game Notes

Mauer left the game in the eighth inning...Minnesota relievers have allowed one run in 18 innings against Cleveland this season...The Indians lost three straight series for the first time since July 22-31, 2011...Michael Brantley extended his hit-streak to 12 games...Chris Perez has held opponents scoreless in his last eighth appearances.