Another home run off the bat of Brian Dozier wasn’t nearly enough as the Twins fell to the Indians, 5-1 in the opening game of a three-game series in Cleveland Friday night.
Samuel Deduno (3-2) allowed just two runs over his first six innings, but got into some trouble in the seventh. He gave up a single and a walk to start the inning before manager Ron Gardenhire replaced him with Josh Roenicke.
Roenicke recorded an out but gave up a run-scoring single to Drew Stubbs. Gardenhire then brought left-hander Brian Duensing into the game. Duensing quickly picked up the second out, but turned around and gave up a two-run bloop single to Jason Kipness, giving the Indians a 5-1 lead.
Dozier’s home run came in the sixth inning. It was his fourth home run in the last five games, and third consecutive game with a long ball.
Scott Kazmir (4-4) earned the win with seven strong innings and seven strikeouts.
Deduno took the loss, finishing with a final line of four earned runs over six innings. He walked two and struck out six.
