Morneau homers in 9th to lift Twins over Indians

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Justin Morneau hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Minnesota Twins to an 8-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.

With one out in the ninth, Morneau hit the first pitch from Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano (3-2) just inside the right field foul pole for his 19th homer of the season. Morneau, who has four two-homer games this season, also hit a two-run shot to right in the bottom of the third.

Brian Duensing (4-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the victory for the Twins. Minnesota’s Joe Mauer had three hits — a single, double and triple — and scored twice.

Carlos Santana had three hits, including a home run, and scored twice for Cleveland. Brent Lillibridge and Michael Brantley each scored a pair of runs for the Indians.

The Twins have won two in a row and are now 5-4 in September. The victory also moves Minnesota within one game of Cleveland in an attempt to get out of last place in the AL Central.

Cleveland had an opportunity to take the lead in the top of the ninth when Matt LaPorta singled and moved to second on the first out of the inning. However, neither Carlos Santana nor Russ Canzler could drive in the go-ahead run off Duensing.

Minnesota took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the seventh when Chris Parmalee hit a bases-loaded single through the right side of the infield, scoring Jamey Carroll and Mauer.

That lead didn’t last long. With one out in the top of eighth, Cleveland’s Jason Donald snapped a 0-for-17 stretch with a triple to the wall off Twins reliever Jared Burton that scored Lillibridge and tied the game 7-7.

Santana gave Cleveland a lead in the top of the fifth. After Brantley singled, Santana doubled over the head of center fielder Ben Revere. With the ball going to the wall, Brantley was able to score on a close play at the plate, tying the game 5-5.

When Santana scored on Russ Canzler’s single down the third base line, Cleveland took a 6-5 lead.

Santana opened the scoring in the second inning with his 15th home run of the season, a massive bomb to right field. Cleveland would turn a Lillibridge double, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch into two additional runs for a 3-0 lead.

Minnesota scored three times in the third and two more times in the fourth to erase Cleveland’s early lead.

Mauer tripled in Carroll in the bottom of the third and then scored on Morneau’s first homer of the game.

In the fourth, Minnesota’s Darin Mastroianni reached on an error, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Pedro Florimon’s bloop single to left. Florimon continued the small-ball offense when he stole second and gave the Twins a 5-4 lead on a single by Revere.

Neither starter lasted long. Minnesota’s Esmerling Vasquez lasted only three innings after needing 68 pitches to record nine outs. He gave up four earned runs on three hits while walking five. Cleveland’s Corey Kluber didn’t get out of the fourth inning, giving up five runs — four earned — on eight hits in 3 2-3 innings.

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