By: Brian Hall
MINNEAPOLIS – Nelson Cruz hit his 16th homer, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 7-5 on Sunday to complete a sweep of their weekend series.
Marwin Gonzalez, Ryan Jeffers and Josh Donaldson also connected, helping Minnesota win for the 10th time in 12 games. The Twins have multiple homers in six straight games, including 11 in the series against Cleveland.
The Twins stayed one game back of AL Central-leading Chicago, which beat Detroit 5-2 on Sunday. The Twins visit the White Sox for the opener of a four-game series on Monday night.
Caleb Thielbar (2-0) got the win, recording two outs in relief of Michael Pineda. Sergio Romo earned his fourth save by striking out Franmil Reyes and retiring Tyler Naquin on a fly ball to center after allowing two hits in the ninth.
Indians rookie Triston McKenzie (2-1) struggled for the first time in his fifth career start. McKenzie gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings, despite surrendering just three hits. He struck out seven, issued one walk and hit a batter.
Cesar Hernandez and Carlos Santana each had three hits, but the Indians dropped their sixth straight game.
*Courtesy Associated Press
