Jimenez, making his fifth straight quality start, pitches into the seventh inning as the Indians beat the Twins, 7-6, Friday night at Target Field.
View full sizeUbaldo Jimenez allowed one earned on five hits in 6 1/3 innings on Friday night at Minnesota.MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — It wasn't the hard-hitting Texas Rangers, but Ubaldo Jimenez continued his streak of good pitching Friday night against an injured but pesky Twins team that has tormented the Indians in the recent years while dominating the American League Central Division.
Jimenez, making his fifth straight quality start, pitched into the seventh inning as the Indians beat the Twins, 7-6, Friday night at Target Field. Jimenez is 3-1 with a 2.78 ERA in those five starts.
MLB's spotlight was not on this game between two teams whose seasons were upended by injuries. The Indians entered with eight losses in their previous 10 games. The Twins were even worse, losing 10 of their previous 11.
Jimenez, 4-2 with a 4.55 ERA since coming to the Indians on July 31 from Colorado, allowed one earned on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked three.
In his past five starts, Jimenez has 30 strikeouts and 14 walks in 32 1/3 innings. He's allowed 23 hits and 10 earned runs.
The Indians' offense, after a three-game beating at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, surfaced in the cooler temperatures of Minneapolis. It was 56 degrees at Target Field for the first pitch. On Tuesday, when the Indians opened a three-game series against the Rangers, it was 101 degrees.
Jim Thome and Carlos Santana each homered as the Indians finished with 10 hits. Rookie third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall singled three times and drove in two runs.
Thome, playing at Target Field for the first time since the Twins traded him to the Indians in August, homered with two out in the ninth. It was the 603rd of his career and the second since the deal.
Santana started the offense with a homer in the second off Kevin Slowey (0-6, 6.51). It was his 24th of the season, one shy of matching Victor Martinez's franchise record for a switch-hitter with 25.
The Indians made it 2-0 in the third when Chisenhall and Lou Marson singled to put runners at the corners with no one out. Chisenhall scored when Kosuke Fukudome hit into a 3-6-3 double play.
Thome's leadoff single in the fourth started a three-run rally. All three runs came with two out.
Slowey retired Santana and Grady Sizemore after Thome's single but hit Shelley Duncan with a pitch. Chisenhall followed with his second straight single to score Thome and send Duncan to third. Chisenhall continued to second on center fielder Ben Revere's off-line throw to the plate.
Marson followed with a two-run single to make it 5-0.
Slowey did not come out for the fifth. He allowed five runs on seven hits. He's 6-3 lifetime against Indians and usually gives them fits, but he's fought injuries this season. Slowey has lost six straight decisions.
Jimenez, 10-11 overall, lost his shutout with two out in the fifth. Rene Tosoni, pinch-hitting for injured Jason Kubel, sent a line drive to center field. Sizemore ran it down at the warning track, but the ball appeared to go through his glove. The former Gold Glove center fielder was charged with an error as two runs score to make it 5-2.
In the last three seasons, Sizemore has made two errors.
Chisenhall made it 6-2 in the sixth with his third straight single. He drove a ball into center field to score Santana from second with two out.
The Twins scored twice in the seventh to make it 6-4. Joe Benson tripled for his third straight hit off Jimenez to start the inning. After Jimenez retired Drew Butera, Tony Sipp relieved. Sipp, who has struggled to retire the first batter he faces, did it again as Ben Revere singled home Benson.
Sipp complicated matters by making an errant pickoff throw to first. Revere sprinted to third on the error. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Pouffe.
Thome's homer off Joe Nathan added some much-needed insurance as Indians closer Chris Perez made things interesting in the ninth. Perez, making his first appearance since Sept. 10, allowed consecutive doubles to Benson and Matt Tolbert and an RBI grounder by Revere to make it 7-5. Plouffe followed with a two-out RBI single to score Tolbert before Perez struck out Tosoni for his 33rd save.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158
On Twitter: @hoynsie
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/09/carlos_santana_goes_deep_to_le.html
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