Minnesota Twins vs Cleveland Guardians Box Score on May 12, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 12, 2017

CLEVELAND -- Ervin Santana pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball and Miguel Sano's first-inning homer produced the only run of the game as the Minnesota Twins shut out the Cleveland Indians 1-0 Friday night at Progressive Field.

Santana (6-1) struck out four, walked five, and combined with three relievers on a three-hitter, Minnesota's second shutout of the season. Brandon Kintzler pitched the ninth inning to pick up his ninth save.

Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin (2-4) pitched eight innings and allowed one run on six hits while striking out seven and walking one, but got tagged with the loss.

The Twins have won 10 of their last 14 games. The Indians have lost six of their last 10, while scoring three runs or fewer in eight of their last 10.

The only run came in the first inning, on a two-out, first-pitch solo home run by Sano off Tomlin.

Santana came into the game having held opposing hitters to a .135 batting average, which was 34 points better than any other pitcher in the American League. So, it wasn't a surprise that he held the Indians scoreless.

The closest the Indians came to scoring against Santana was in the third and fifth innings. Santana walked two of the first three batters in the third. But with runners at first and second and one out, Santana got Francisco Lindor to groundout and Michael Brantley to pop out to end the inning.

In the fifth inning, the Indians again had runners at first and second with one out. Lindor struck out, but Brantley drew a walk, loading the bases with two outs. Santana then retired Edwin Encarnacion on a line drive to center fielder Byron Buxton to end the inning.

NOTES: LHP Andrew Miller has pitched 16 2/3 scoreless innings to begin the season. That's the most by an Indians pitcher since Doug Jones pitched 20 consecutive scoreless innings to begin the 1990 season. ... Friday's game was the Indians' 13th home game of the season. That's the fewest home games played by any team in the majors. ... Twins 1B Joe Mauer was 1-for-4, and has a career average of .329 vs. the Indians, with 45 doubles, 14 home runs and 77 RBIs in 634 at bats. ... The Twins will recall RHP Jose Berrios from Triple-A Rochester to start Saturday's game. In six starts at Rochester Berrios was 3-0 and was leading the International League with a 1.33 ERA. ... Miguel Sano's home run in the first inning extended the Twins' streak for consecutive games with a home run to 13. That's the longest such streak by the Twins since they hit home runs in 13 consecutive games in 1987. The club record is 16 consecutive games with a home run in 1979.