CLEVELAND _ The Minnesota Twins' offense has packed as much punch as any lineup in baseball this season. On Thursday night, the Indians were able to punch back.
The Indians overcame a four-run deficit early on and, aided by the long ball, eventually overtook the Twins in a key 9-7 victory at Progressive Field. The win pulled the Indians (31-30) to within 9.5 games of the Twins (40-20) in the American League Central race.
The Twins' offense rebounded after a slow night in Tuesday's game to jump out to a 5-1 lead by the third inning. Eddie Rosario in the second inning tripled and scored via C.J. Cron's double to center field, which tied it at 1 off Tyler Clippard, who started Wednesday's game. Byron Buxton, facing lefty Tyler Olson later in the inning, then blasted a mammoth 454-foot three-run home run that landed more than halfway up the bleachers in left field, putting the Twins up 4-1. And inning later, Nelson Cruz also homered off Olson.
That kind of offensive outburst has been the norm for the Twins. But the Indians, who have struggled at the plate all year, were able to keep pace.
With Francisco Lindor on third in the bottom of the third, a passed ball by catcher Jason Castro made it 5-2 and Jose Ramirez later added his second RBI single of the night, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
A Jorge Polanco home run make it 6-3 before the Indians drew to within one run before the rain arrived and forced a delay. Jordan Luplow in the bottom of the fifth doubled in Carlos Santana, and Ramirez followed with his third RBI single of the game, a liner to left field that made it 6-5.
The two leading contenders in the division continued to trade punches after the weather delay. Polanco singled off Nick Wittgren in the top of the seventh to add an insurance run. But, more would be needed.
The Indians in the bottom of the seventh delivered a 1-2 punch that acted as the haymaker. Jordan Luplow tied it with a two-run home run off Twins reliever Blake Parker, his first homer of the season off a right-handed pitcher. Three batters later, Roberto Perez drilled a solo shot to right field to give the Indians an 8-7 lead, and their first advantage since a 1-0 lead in the first inning. It also was Perez's ninth home run of the season, which is already marks his career high for a single season.
An inning later, Lindor continued his torrid stretch by blasting a solo home run, pushing the Indians' lead to 9-7.
In the ninth, Brad Hand closed the door for his 18th save of the season.
