MINNEAPOLIS _ Michael Pineda was paid last season by the Twins to basically stay in the gym.
While Pineda navigated through rehabilitation following Tommy John elbow surgery, the Twins made a $2 million bet that he would, once healthy, resemble the up-and-coming pitcher he once was with the Yankees.
So he sweated, made trips to Fort Myers, Fla., for rehab, worked through a throwing program and reported to camp ready to contribute.
Sunday was the culmination of his work, and the Twins' patience.
Pineda was a force, giving up one hit during an abbreviated stint as the Twins rolled through the Indians 9-3 to win the third and deciding game of their series against the defending American League Central division champions.
Pineda pummeled the strike zone with all of his pitches while tossing four shutout innings that undoubtedly made the Twins feel like their investment could pay off big time. After they paid him $2 million last season, Pineda will earn $8 million this season. That would be quite a bargain in a league where average pitchers can make several million more in a season.
In four innings, Pineda gave up one hit and walked one batter while striking out five. He was pulled as part of a prearranged piggybacking pairing with Martin Perez.
Even if planned, the move seemed odd. Pineda faced the minimum over the first three innings as he threw to wherever catcher Willians Astudillo's glove was and watched Cleveland hitters struggle. The only hit was an infield single to Santana in the second on a wild throw by second baseman Jonathan Schoop. But Astudillo backed up the play and fired to first to nab Santana as he attempted to scramble back to the bag.
Pineda made it look easy and probably deserved at least another inning. But the Twins stuck to their plan to keep Perez built up to enter the rotation when a fifth starter is needed on April 16.
Perez needed 82 pitches to get through 3 2/3 innings. He was a strike away from getting out of the eighth but gave up a bases-clearing double to Santana.
The Twins offense proved it can hit in cold weather as it knocked Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco out of the game with a five-run fifth inning to make the game a rout. Nelson Cruz hit the Twins' first home run of the season. Astudillo hit two doubles in his season debut.
They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Astudillo clubbed an RBI double that scored C.J. Cron. Byron Buxton whacked a hanging breaking ball in the fourth for two-run double that pushed the lead to 3-0.
Cruz's two-run homer _ on a ball that struck the facing of the second deck in left-center _ gave the Twins a 5-0 lead in the fifth. Two batters later, Cron hit a line drive that left fielder Jake Bauer misread and watched sail over his head for a double. That was it for Carrasco, who was charged with six runs on 10 hits over 4 { innings. It tied the most hits he allowed to any opponent last season during his masterful 17-10 campaign. That opponent happened to be the Twins _ on Aug. 7 during a 3-2 win over Cleveland at Progressive Field.
Schoop added an RBI double, then Astudillo hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Marwin Gonzalez. Schoop should have been thrown out attempting to advance from second to third on the play, but Carlos Santana airmailed his throw to third for an error, allowing Schoop to score.
The Twins added a run in the eighth, when Astudillo scored while Buxton was in a rundown following a single by Jake Cave.
