Deduno, Willingham end streaks in Twins' win
CLEVELAND -- Samuel Deduno and Josh Willingham both snapped streaks on Friday night, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 5-1 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Deduno halted a four-start winless streak dating to July 27 by pitching six strong innings and Willingham ended his 0-for-15 hitless streak with a key two-run double in the seventh inning.
Deduno (8-7) pitched six innings, holding Cleveland to one run and three hits to get the win. Deduno and two relievers combined on a six-hitter.
"It was a good ballgame and a nice win for us. Deduno was really good," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Cleveland starter Ubaldo Jimenez (9-8), who had a season-high 10 strikeouts, gave up two runs in six innings and took the loss.
Leading 2-1 in the top of the seventh, the Twins had Brian Dozier at first base with two outs when Indians reliever Rich Hill fell behind Justin Morneau 3-0 and then intentionally walked him.
Reliever Cody Allen, a right-hander, came on to face the right-handed hitting Willingham. Allen got ahead 1-2 in the count, but Willingham then drove a double over the head of right fielder Drew Stubbs. Dozier and Morneau both scored to give the Twins a 4-1 lead.
"I actually thought it was a pretty good pitch," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "Cody had him set up for a breaking ball away, and the location was good. It was just a good piece of hitting."
Willingham said he was relieved to snap his hitless streak.
"It was nice to help the team for once," he said. "I haven't done very much lately to help us win games. We've been playing pretty good. It's nice to be able to contribute."
Minnesota added an insurance run off reliever Matt Albers in the eighth. Trevor Plouffe led off with Minnesota's sixth double of the game. A single by Clete Thomas moved Plouffe to third and he scored when Wilkin Ramirez grounded into a double play.
"We had some big hits. We had some nice swings. We had a big hit by Willingham, which he needed and we needed late to add on," Gardenhire said.
The Indians mounted a threat in the sixth when Deduno walked three, but Michael Bourn was thrown out trying to steal third base, short-circuiting the rally.
"That was a big turning point. I like it when Bourn runs, but every once in a while that happens. He didn't get a good jump," Francona said.
The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Bourn singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by Carlos Santana.
But that was the only offense in the game for the Indians, who have several struggling players in their lineup, none more so than second baseman Jason Kipnis and left fielder Michael Brantley, who were a combined 0-for-7 and are now in an 0-for-39 slide.
"Deduno had a great breaking ball that he threw in and out of the zone and we had a tough time laying off it," Francona said.
In the first, Jimenez loaded the bases with no outs and then struck out the side.
"Once the bases got loaded, I had to throw everything I have," Jimenez said. "I had a good fastball and a better breaking ball."
In the second, however, he gave up doubles to three of the first five batters he faced. Thomas led off the inning with a double and then scored on a double by Pedro Florimon. Florimon scored on a two-out double by Chris Herrmann, giving Minnesota a 2-1 lead.
NOTES: Indians RHP Josh Tomlin will make two more minor league rehab starts and then could be activated when major league rosters are expanded in September. Tomlin has been on the disabled list all year as he recovers from Tommy John surgery last year. ... LHP Scott Kazmir's scheduled start on Saturday was pushed back to Sunday because Francona wanted to give him an extra day between starts. ... The Twins will recall RHP Liam Hendriks from Triple-A Rochester to start Saturday night's game. ... Morneau has 58 career RBIs at Progressive Field, his highest total for any opposing ballpark.
