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Twins turn to Santana to end skid

Jul 28, 2007 - 1:29 PM Minnesota (51-51) at Cleveland (60-43) 7:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - The Minnesota Twins hope Johan Santana is the key to ending their current funk.

Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Twins visit the Cleveland Indians on Saturday in the second game of a three-game set.

The defending American League Cy Young Award winner, Santana (11-8, 2.94 ERA) has traditionally been the stopper for the Twins but he's coming off his worst start of the year.

The lefthander was uncharacteristically pounded for six runs, including four home runs, in Monday's 6-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Santana has lost both starts against Cleveland this year and has a 3.86 ERA in those games, a span of 14 innings.

Jake Westbrook (1-6, 6.20) gets the start for the Indians, whose 36-18 home record is tops in the AL. In six starts since returning for the disabled list (abdominal muscle strain) on June 24, the righthander is 0-4 with a 4.97 ERA.

Jhonny Peralta hit two home runs and had five RBI to lead the Indians to a 10-4 victory in Friday's series opener.

The win kept the Indians undefeated against the Twins this season. Cleveland has won all six meetings between the teams by a combined score of 46-17.