MINNEAPOLIS _ The Twins' first meeting with the Cleveland Indians this season only reinforced how far they have to go to catch the class of the American League Central.
Despite being propped up by Ervin Santana for six innings, the Twins ended up losing 6-2 to the Indians and were swept in the three game series (shortened from four because of Wednesday's rainout) at Target Field.
The Twins were blasted 11-4 on Tuesday and had Wednesday to regroup and back their staff ace. Manager Paul Molitor called Tuesday's game, "a clunker," and hoped his team would respond accordingly.
They responded with two runs on Thursday _ on a balk by Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer and a sacrifice fly by Jorge Polanco. The Twins have lost four straight games and seven of their last nine.
Carlos Santana had three hits and drove in two runs for Cleveland.
Ervin Santana, looking to win his first four starts for the first time in his career, wasn't expected to be as sharp as he was Saturday when he one-hit the White Sox. And he wasn't, as he twice walked batters on four straight pitches, Indians hitters also fouled off 25 pitches and forced Santana into some deep counts.
Yet Santana did enough to leave the game after the sixth with a 2-1 lead. He threw 113 pitches Thursday after needing 101 during his gem on Saturday.
Molitor brought in Tyler Duffey to start the seventh, an aggressive move considering Duffey threw 32 pitches on Monday and is just settling into a relief role. Yandy Diaz reached when his grounder deflected off Duffey's foot and into foul territory. Abraham Almonte struck out, but Roberto Perez reached on an infield hit when Miguel Sano's throw was high and pulled first baseman Joe Mauer off the bag.
Despite a ball not being hit out of the infield, Molitor pulled Duffey and inserted Taylor Rogers to face Carlos Santana, whose slugging percentage was nearly .150 lower against left-handed pitchers.
The move didn't work, as Santana laced an RBI double to left to tie the game. The meltdown was on.
Francisco Lindor was intentionally walked to load the bases but Rogers walked Michael Brantley to force in a run. Matt Belisle came in and got Juan Encarnacion to pop out, but walked Jose Ramirez for force in another run to make it 4-2.
Meanwhile, Indians manager Terry Francona used four pitchers to get three outs in the seventh to keep the Twins scoreless. The key matchup was lefty Andrew Miller entering with two outs in the seventh to face Joe Mauer with two on. The Twins howled at home plate umpire Alan Porter when Miller's 1-0 pitch was called a strike. Mauer even stepped out of the batter's box with a sideways glance at Porter. Three pitches later, Mauer flew out to left to end the inning.
Both managers pushed plenty of buttons on Thursday. Only one had the right touch.
Lonnie Chisenhall and Yan Gomes added RBI doubles in the ninth for the Indians (8-7).
All was not bad for Mauer. He led off the second with a double to left-center. It was his first extra base hit in 83 plate appearances, dating to last Sept. 9 when he homered against the Indians' Danny Salazar.
The chilly afternoon game at Target Field drew a sparse crowd; official attendance was 17,339 fans, but the crowd appeared to be less than half that number.
Bauer (1-2) went 6 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and striking out seven.
Ervin Santana, who had a 22-inning streak without allowing a run end, gave up four hits in six innings and struck out five. His ERA 'soared' to 0.64. Duffey (0-1) took the loss.
Molitor was ejected in the eighth inning for protesting a called third strike on catcher Jason Castro.
