The Twins scored nine runs with two out as they routed the Indians on Monday night at Target Field.
UPDATED: 12:36 a.m.
Indians catcher Lou Marson has no play as the Twins' J. J. Hardy scores on a single by Jason Repko in the fourth inning of Monday's game at Target Field in Minneapolis. MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Jeanmar Gomez has learned many things in his first taste of the big leagues this year. One thing he still needs to learn is how to finish an inning.
For the pitchers who learn this vital lesson, good things await them. The ones that don't are doomed to ride the yo-yo between the big leagues and the minors.
The Twins beat the Indians, 9-3, Monday night at Target Field to reduce their magic number to three to clinch the AL Central championship. All their runs came with two out, including eight against Gomez.
Gomez (3-5, 4.96) allowed eight runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. In two starts against the Twins this season, he has allowed nine runs on 14 hits in 11 innings.
"We've stressed finishing innings a lot to these kids," said manager Manny Acta. "But sometimes when they get two out, they tend to lose focus and concentration.
"When you have two out, you're three-fourths of the way there. You need to zero in, make a pitch and get out of there."
Said Gomez, "It was a tough day. I gave up all those runs with two out. I need to be more focused with two out."
Gomez, 0-5 with a 7.67 ERA in his last six starts, had trouble getting big and little outs. It started in the first and continued until he was knocked out of the game.
The Twins, 44-18 since the All-Star break, took a 1-0 lead in the first after Gomez opened with two quick outs. He walked Michael Cuddyer and Jim Thome and gave up a double to Delmon Young.
The Twins added another run in the third as J.J. Hardy singled and Jose Morales walked. Jason Repko followed with an RBI single.
The pattern continued in the fifth. Gomez struck out Orlando Hudson to start the inning, but Cuddyer reached on an infield single to shortstop. Asdrubal Cabrera made a diving stop for the ball, but sprained his left wrist and was replaced by pinch hitter Luis Valbuena in the seventh.
It was a frightening moment for Cabrera, who broke his left forearm in May in a collision with departed Jhonny Peralta.
"I was really scared, but it's not connected to the forearm," said Cabrera. "I had X-rays on the wrist and everything is all right."
Gomez retired Thome on a grounder, but not before Cuddyer stole second. After taking third on Thome's ground out, Cuddyer scored on Young's single behind second base for a 4-1 lead. Cabrera made the stop on that as well, but had no play.
The Indians scored twice in the sixth to cut the Twins lead to 4-3. Andy Marte and Drew Sutton hit consecutive singles with the bases loaded. Left-hander Brian Duensing (10-2, 2.19) stopped the rally by striking out Lou Marson and retiring Michael Brantley on a liner to third.
Brantley took an 0-for-5 to end his 19-game hitting streak. The liner to third was his best chance for a hit.
"I didn't even think about it," said Brantley, who hit .286 (26-for-91) during the streak. "We're interested in team goals in here. That's an individual goal."
It was the longest streak by an Indians rookie since Hall of Famer Larry Doby hit in 21 straight in 1948. It was the fourth longest streak in the American League this year.
The Twins completed their beating of Gomez with four two-out runs in the sixth. Acta tried to get him through the inning, but couldn't.
Denard Span's triple high off the wall in right center started the two-out assault. Hudson followed with a RBI single and Cuddyer homered to left for a 8-3 lead.
"We gave him two extra hitters (Hudson and Cuddyer) in the sixth to see if he could get through it, but it backfired," said Acta. "We figured he had to work through at some point to pitch effectively up here."
The Twins scored their final run on Span's two-out single in the seventh off Frank Herrmann.