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Indians Vs. Twins Final Score: Cleveland Drops Minnesota In Opener, 7-1

Powered by 14 hits, the Cleveland Indians abruptly halted the Minnesota Twins' brief three-game win streak on Friday with a thorough 7-1 win.

Indians starter Derek Lowe tossed 6.2 strong innings and yielded just one run to pick up his seventh victory of the season. The 7-3 Lowe, who now sports a 3.06 ERA, bounced back in a big way from a May 26 start against the White Sox where he gave up eight earned runs and was knocked out of the game after just 2.1 innings.

Offensively, Cleveland saw another big performance from rising star second baseman Jason Kipnis. Likely headed to the All-Star game next month, Kipnis hit a grand slam off Minnesota starter Carl Pavano in the fourth inning to break the game wide open. The blast signified Kipnis' ninth home run of the year and increased his RBI total to 34.

With first place in the AL Central still well within reach, the Indians will send Josh Tomlin to the hill for game two to face Minnesota's P.J. Walters. Stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream for full coverage throughout the series.

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Twins, check out Twinkie Town. And for the best MLB coverage on the web, be sure to visit Baseball Nation.

Photographs by spatulated, Triple Tri, and chrischappelear used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.