Justin Masterson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Indians toppled the Twins, 7-1 Sunday at Target Field.
The Cleveland right-hander faced the minimum of 18 batters through the first six innings before Brian Dozier led off the seventh with a double. Dozier came around to score on a throwing error by second baseman Jason Kipnis.
Masterson (11-7) left after firing seven one-hit innings with zero walks and eight strikeouts.
Dozier finished with both of the Twins’ hits. His second was another double in the top of the ninth.
Scott Diamond took the loss for the Twins. The left-hander’s struggles continued as he allowed five runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out none. His ERA is now 5.53 on the season, and he hasn’t won a start since beating the White Sox on June 20th.
The big blow came in the fifth when Michael Brantley came to the plate with the bases loaded. He ripped a Diamond pitch to deep center for a bases-clearing triple.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire watched the game from his office at Target Field. He was out with a stomach illness. Bench coach Terry Steinbach filled in as acting manager.
Minnesota took two of the three games and now begins a three game series at the Angels starting Monday night. Kyle Gibson starts for the Twins again LAA’s Joe Blanton.
