CLEVELAND _ The Indians finally calmed down the Minnesota Twins' scorching offense and avoided a four-game sweep with a 9-2 win Thursday afternoon.
After three straight games of having a starting pitcher beat up and knocked out of the game early, Mike Clevinger, starting on Thursday because Danny Salazar was placed on the disabled list, held his own, allowing two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched.
It was just enough for the bullpen, already tired from a tough series, to piece together a scoreless 4 2/3 innings. Dan Otero and Andrew Miller each threw 1 1/3 innings and Bryan Shaw and Ryan Merritt worked the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
It was a needed pitching performance to stave off a sweep at the hands of the last-place Twins. The Indians also remained the only team in the major leagues to not have a losing streak of at least four games this season.
"I think it helps," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "We had gotten beaten around the ballpark for three days, so it definitely felt good."
Clevinger received some defensive help in the third. Leading 1-0 with the bases loaded and one out, and another big Twins inning looming, Max Kepler lined a ball to center field. Davis caught it for the second out and fired to first, where Carlos Santana had beaten Joe Mauer back to the bag, completing an inning-ending double play.
"I think Raj's play in center was huge," Francona said. "They've got the bases loaded, hit a line drive and he's got the wherewithal, the presence, to see it. And then Carlos to be alive enough to be there. I thought that helped change the game also."
Unlike the first three games in which the Indians found themselves in a significant hole early on, they grabbed a lead on Thursday. In the first inning, Jason Kipnis drilled a solo home run off Twins starter Hector Santiago, his 18th of the year.
With two outs in the third, Francisco Lindor singled and Mike Napoli walked, which led to Carlos Santana belting a three-run homer, his 24th, putting the Indians up 4-0.
The Indians pulled away in the seventh and put it away in the eighth. Leading 4-2, Davis singled with two outs and then put on a single-handed speed display. Davis stole second, stole third and then scored on a wild pitch, effectively creating a run with his legs. Two batters later, Lindor added a two-run home run, his 13th, to push the Indians' lead to 7-2.
An inning later, Jose Ramirez tacked on a solo home run in the eighth, his sixth, and Davis singled home Brandon Guyer, giving the Indians a 9-2 lead.
