Indians hold off Minnesota Twins in ninth to secure 6-5 win

For the first time in three nights, the Indians were able to hold off the Minnesota Twins.

With two outs in the ninth, Cody Allen got Joe Mauer to fly out with the tying run in scoring position to secure a 6-5 win at Target Field. The Twins had won the previous two games on walk-off hits.

Indians starter Josh Tomlin (3-0, 3.18 ERA) was tagged for three runs in the bottom of the first but limited the damage from there, allowing the Indians to eventually get to Twins starter Jose Berrios, who was making his major-league debut.

Trailing 3-2 in the fifth, the Indians finally pulled ahead with a four-run fifth. Tyler Paquin singled, Carlos Santana walked and Jason Kipnis doubled home the tying run to force Berrios’ exit from the game. Facing reliever Fernando Abad, the Indians continued to add on, getting runs across on a Francisco Lindor groundout and a sacrifice fly by Michael Brantley. Later, Mike Napoli singled to score Brantley to make it 6-3.

The Twins went on to make it a one-run game, but Zach McAllister, Bryan Shaw and Allen pieced together 3 1/3 scoreless innings, a relief for a bullpen that as a whole has struggled as of late. For Allen, it was his seventh save of the season.

Brantley notched his first hit and stolen base of the season, going 1-for-3 with an RBI. Carlos Santana went 3-for-4 with a walk. Lindor, who had a two-run double in the third, finished 1-for-5 with three RBI.