The Cleveland Indians have done plenty of historic things so far in a surprising 2011 season. You can add a road sweep of the Minnesota Twins in a doubleheader for the first time in 50 years as Fautso Carmona returned from the disabled list to propel the Indians to a 6-3 win.
What a difference 12 hours can make. When Monday started the Indians had serious doubts, both in the pitching staff and in the batting order. David Huff was making his first start of the season while Fausto Carmona was coming off the disabled list. Both had struggled against the Twins recently, especially at Target Field. The Twins, on the other hand, were one of the hottest teams in baseball and looked poised to continue their rapid rise in the American League Central. Just 5 games behind the Indians and Detroit Tigers, the Twins were a confident bunch.
Fast forward to Monday night and the feeling is a bit different, at least until game time on Tuesday night. Carmona followed David Huff's lead by shutting down the Twins on 7 hits and 2 runs in six efficient innings and the Indians bullpen did the job again. It was also another here with the bat for the Indians with Lou Marson breaking a 2-2 tie in the 7th inning with a solo home run to straight-away centerfield. The Indians tacked on another run in the 7th on a Travis Hafner single and added two more in the 9th on a single by Hafner and a triple by Carlos Santana.
The Twins ended the scoring when Trevor Plouffe hit his 5th home run of the year off of Indians closer Chris Perez. The Central Division standings now look like this:
The Indians will send Justin Masterson to the mound on Tuesday night against Franciso Liriano.