Roasario’s Homer Helps Lynn, Twins Beat Indians

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lance Lynn made this start harder on himself with five walks and one hit Cleveland batter.

The recently revived Minnesota lineup made it a lot easier.

Eddie Rosario hit a two-run homer and Brian Dozier drove in two runs to support Lynn's third straight victory, leading the Twins past the Indians 7-1 on Saturday.

"They're scoring runs and playing defense," Lynn said. "It's a lot of fun to play the game."

In his first season with the Twins after waiting a month into spring training to sign a one-year $12 million contract, Lynn has looked miserable on the mound in much of his time with the new team. Part of that is his ultra-competitive nature, but he had an awful April and a couple of rough appearances in May, too. Over his last three starts, Lynn (4-4) has allowed only three runs over 18 2/3 innings to lower his ERA from 7.47 to 5.46.
"He gets pretty flustered out there at times whether it's a play or a pitch or a non-call. He made some close pitches that didn't go his way, but he just kept finding his way to grind through it," manager Paul Molitor said, adding: "I just think he's been trying to earn his weight around here as of late."

The same goes for the Twins offense, with 30 runs over the last four games. Rosario has been the steadiest of all, with a team-leading 36 RBIs headlining a strong case to become a first-time All-Star. Dozier, who hit an RBI triple in the third inning right before Rosario's 10th homer of the season and added an RBI double during a four-run sixth, has heated up this weekend, too.

"We can do a lot of different things with our legs and power when everyone is kind of going at least OK," Dozier said. "I think we're starting to see that."

Indians starter Trevor Bauer (4-4) struck out 11 batters, but he gave up six hits and three walks and didn't finish the sixth inning. Four of the seven runs charged to him were unearned, because of an error on second baseman Jason Kipnis and a passed ball by catcher Roberto Perez. Max Kepler and Ryan LaMarre had RBI singles during the Twins rally after the fielding flub by Kipnis.

"I was just out there trying to do everything I could to help my team win," Bauer said.
The Indians went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and 2 for 16 with runners on base. Lynn struck out five and allowed only two hits while throwing a season-high 113 pitches.