MINNEAPOLIS -- Even Eddie Rosario, in his homecoming to Target Field, wasn’t enough to save the Indians.
Rosario delivered the Indians on Thursday, but his homer Friday night wasn’t enough to prevent them from losing 8-7 to the Twins.
Rosario, who spent the last six years playing for the Twins, gave the Indians a 6-5 lead with a homer in the fifth inning, but starter Cal Quantrill and the bullpen couldn’t hold it.
The Indians tried to rally in the ninth as Josh Naylor homered to make it 8-7. Bradley Zimmer followed with a single past first, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double to take the juice out of the rally.
The Twins made it 6-6 in the fifth on a bloop single by Nelson Cruz. Shortstop Amed Rosario gave chase, but just missed making the catch. Quantrill left with one out and two on in the fifth. Nick Sandlin struck out Alex Kirilloff, but Cruz burned him with his single.
Luis Arraez won it for the Twins with a two-run double off Nick Wittgren (2-2) in the sixth. Wittgren retired the first two batters he faced, but Nick Gordon singled and Andrelton Simmons sent a grounder between first and second that flicked off Cesar Hernandez’s glove for a hit as Gordon went to third.
Arraez crushed a first-pitch changeup from Wittgren to the fence in center for an 8-6 lead.
“Nick threw three pitches and got two quick outs,” said manager Terry Francona. “Then the next pitch just caught too much of the middle of the plate.”
In the first three innings, the Indians hit two homers, scored five runs and were responsible for their two worst outfield plays of the season.
Arraez hit both balls, reaching third on gift triples each time. Arraez started the first with a liner to Naylor in right field. Naylor could have just knocked the ball down and held Arraez to a single, but he charged it, battling the sun as he did and slipped as the ball scooted past him.
Josh Donaldson’s sacrifice fly in foul territory down the left-field line scored Arraez to cut the Indians lead to 3-1.
Arraez struck again in the third. He sent a liner to the gap in left center. Center fielder Bradley Zimmer was ready to field the ball and hold Arraez to a double as Simmons scored from first, but suddenly Harold Ramirez entered the picture from left field.
Ramirez had no chance to field the ball, but slid into it anyway, knocking it to the warning track in center field as Arraez stopped at third. The only way Ramirez could have made a play on the ball was if he had a glove on his foot.
The triple sparked a four-run Twins rally as they took a 5-3 lead.
“We made it tough,” said Francona. “Rather than having runners on first, we had runners on third twice. That didn’t help.”
Regarding the two triples, Francona said, “In the end Naylor lost the ball in the sun and then lost his balance. It handcuffed him and he fell. Harold tried to slide to stop it. In hindsight he was probably better off just reaching down to stop it. The game is going fast sometime and he ended up trying to help his momentum going to the wall.”
Austin Hedges pulled the Indians into a 5-5 tie in the fourth with a two-run single off Jax. Hedges lined a single to left with two out and the bases loaded to score Bobby Bradley and Harold Ramirez.
Minnesota promoted lefty Danny Coulombe from Class AAA St. Paul to serve as a opener on Friday. Right-hander Randy Drobnak was scheduled to start, but was placed on the injured list Thursday with a finger injury.
Amed Rosario and Bradley greeted Coulombe in the first inning with homers for a 3-0 lead. It was Rosario’s fifth. It was Bradley’s sixth since being recalled from Class AAA Columbus on June 5.
The win went to Jax (1-0, 7.82). He allowed three runs on three hits in 4 1/3 innings. Quantrill, after throwing five scoreless innings against the Pirates in his last start, allowed six on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. His line would have looked better with a little more help from the guys playing behind him.
Francona said Quantrill was up in the zone with his changeup.
“Today was a tough one,” said Quantrill, who said he wasn’t at his best. “There were a couple things that probably drastically changed the game, small plays.
“But we’re working hard. We’re playing good baseball right now and you have to believe that in the end, the bounces even out. Today we had a couple ones that probably didn’t go our way, but we’ll be back here tomorrow.”
Next: LHP Sam Hentges (0-2, 10.32) vs. RHP Kenta Maeda (3-2, 4.85) on Saturday at 2:10 p.m. ET. Bally Sports Greats Lakes, WTAM, WMMS and the Indians radio network will carry the game.
A variety of Cleveland Indians face masks available online today. (Fanatics.com)
New Indians face masks for sale: Here’s where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity.
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