MINNEAPOLIS _ The Twins' strategy-by-necessity of starting three straight rookie pitchers against the defending American League champions is turning out about as well as could have been reasonably expected. Meaning, not well at all.
Adam Wilk, making his fifth career major league start and first since 2013, fared no better than Nik Turley one night earlier, surrendering six runs, eight hits and three walks while recording only 10 outs as the Twins fell into a first-place tie by dropping a 9-3 decision to the Cleveland Indians in the first game of two on Saturday.
Pitching the nightcap for Minnesota: Adalberto Mejia, making his ninth career start.
The Indians climbed into a first-place tie with the Twins, the first time since June 1 they have been deadlocked atop the AL Central.
Wilk, called up from Class AAA Rochester before the game and likely to be shipped out again immediately after it, was a best-of-bad-options choice for the Twins, considering he had given up six runs in 12 innings for the Red Wings so far. But the Twins ultimately decided that Wilk's major league experience, limited as it was, made him a better risk than some younger options.
Cleveland wasted no time revealing the flaw in that logic. Jose Ramirez, the third batter of the game, smashed a long home run to right field, and Wilk immediately began pitching more tentatively, walking two of the next three hitters, then giving up a two-run single to Bradley Zimmer. Wilk threw 37 pitches in the first inning, passed 60 in the second, and wound up throwing 92 in his 31/3-inning stint. His day ended with he gave up a single and two doubles in the space of four batters to open the fourth inning, the last a Ramirez double that drove in two more runs.
Put in an early-inning hole for the second straight game, the Twins managed to close the gap a bit against Cleveland rookie left-hander Ryan Merritt with an unearned third-inning run, driven in by a Brian Dozier single. They then added two more in the fourth with three straight two-out hits, the last a double by Ehire Adrianza that drove home Eddie Rosario and Byron Buxton.
But the Twins could never generate any more offense against Cleveland's experienced bullpen, and fell to 14-22 at home, including 0-5 against the Indians at Target Field.
