Twins shut out Indians with Miguel Sano's home run, Ervin Santana's pitching

CLEVELAND – Twins manager Paul Molitor approached Ervin Santana after the seventh inning Friday night to see if he could pitch the eighth. Santana told him he was done.

"He said he was good," Molitor said. "I said, 'Yes you were,' and we moved on."

It was an interesting kind of good. Santana was erratic yet dominant as the Twins pulled off a 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field — a place where many games have gotten away from them through the years.

Cleveland managed only two hits off Santana in seven innings, but the righthander walked a season-high five batters as his left shoulder kept flying open. He threw only 13 first-pitch strikes to 28 batters. That led to a lot of jams to work out of.

When it looked as if he was going to be burned playing with fire, Santana (6-1) threw the right pitch at the right time to escape unscathed, lowering his ERA to 1.50 and making the most of Miguel Sano's first-inning home run off Josh Tomlin.

"First-pitch strike wasn't working," said Santana, whose .128 batting average against leads major league pitchers. "But I was able to find a way to put a zero on the board and get people out."

The Twins bullpen continued the run of zeroes. Taylor Rogers and Matt Belisle got through the eighth, stranding a runner. Brandon Kintzler, coming off a five-out save Thursday at Chicago, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his ninth save. The Twins dealt Cleveland its first shutout of the season. At 18-14, they moved a game ahead of the Indians for first place in the American League Central.

Santana has given up one or fewer runs in seven of his eight starts this season, and he bounced back from his lone loss, when he gave up four home runs to the Red Sox on Sunday. He has been excellent going back to the middle of last season, and Molitor senses that his team responds when its staff ace pitches.

"We seem to have a little more moxie when he is on the mound," Molitor said. "Just a good feeling, knowing he is starting the game for you."

Tomlin tried to match Santana, giving up six hits in eight innings. But Sano provided all the offense when he hit a Tomlin pitch over the right-field wall in the first inning. It was Sano's 10th home run of the season and fourth to right field. He reached 10 homers faster (31 games) than any Twin since Kirby Puckett (23 games) in 1986.

And the Twins have homered in 13 games in a row, their longest such stretch since a 14-game run in August 1988.

Of Santana's 99 pitches Friday, only 56 were strikes. He walked two batters in third and the leadoff hitter in the fourth. Then he really scrambled to get through the fifth.

Yan Gomes singled to center and was bunted over to second. Santana fell behind to Carlos Santana before walking him. Ervin Santana struck out Francisco Lindor but then walked Michael Brantley to load the bases for Edwin Encarnacion.

Cleveland fans roared when Encarnacion ripped a 2-1 pitch to center, but Byron Buxton ran over for the inning-ending catch. It was the last time the Indians had a runner reach second.

Encarnacion and Santana exchanged words as they passed each other leaving the field.

"He said, 'I was trying to hit a blooper," Santana said. "I told him, 'Not with that swing you weren't.' "