The Cleveland Indians fumbled away a ninth-inning lead on their way to a 7-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field.
With one out in the ninth inning, Cleveland closer Chris Perez appeared to be on his way to locking up a save and ending the Indians ten-game losing streak. Instead, an error by first baseman Casey Kotchman helped extend the inning which would see the Twins score three runs to take the lead and send the Tribe to their eleventh consecutive loss.
Cleveland held an early 5-1 lead. knockign out Minnesota starter Samuel Deduno after four innings. But the Twins started rallying in the seventh inning when a fielding error by Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis allowed two unearned runs to score. Cleveland would surrender five unearned runs for the game as Perez (0-4) took the loss while blowing his second consecutive save opportunity.
Reliever Tyler Robertson (1-0) picked up the win for the Twins.
The two teams complete their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at 12:05 p.m. ET.
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