Despite looking extremely sharp in a win over Baltimore earlier in the week, Cleveland Indians starter Justin Masterson was bombed for 10 runs (eight earned) on Saturday in a disheartening 12-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
Though he did not yield a run until a two-out blast from the bat of Minnesota's Josh Willingham in the fourth inning, Masterson quickly came unraveled in the middle innings. Bested by the Twins' stable of slap-hitting speedsters, Alexi Casilla, Ben Revere and Denard Span, the 6-foot-6 hurler quickly loaded the bases in the sixth inning and was never able to recover.
Indians catcher Carlos Santana did manage to slug out his ninth home run of the season to continue his power surge from the plate, but it proved to be too little too late. Santana is one of the few Indians players who has been able to turn things up since the All-Star break, and has now racked up three home runs, 16 walks and a sparkling .440 on-base percentage in the month of July.
Desperate to avoid a sweep that would drop his team at two games below .500, manager Manny Acta will give the ball to right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez for Sunday's finale from Target Field.
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