Salazar leads Tribe past Twins

Published 11:46 am Tuesday, April 18, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS — Danny Salazar finished six innings strong after a shaky start, Michael Brantley homered and drove in two runs and the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 3-1 on Monday night.

Salazar (1-1) struck out seven and retired 15 of his last 18 batters after allowing five hits and one walk over a seven-batter stretch spanning the first two innings. Brantley’s groundout tied it in the third, and Edwin Encarnacion’s single gave the reigning AL champions the lead on their way to only their third win in 10 games.

Then Brantley took Kyle Gibson (0-2) deep in the fifth inning, raising his career average in 13 at-bats against the Twins right-hander to .385 with four RBIs.

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Cody Allen loaded the bases in the ninth, but he completed his third save by getting Joe Mauer to fly out to center field.