Tribe drops 2 of 3 to Twins & lose 1st series this season

9/1 - 9/2 - Metrodome - Minneapolis, MN
9/3 – Municipal Stadium – Cleveland, OH
GAME 1 - Indians 9, Twins 1
The juggernaut Tribe rolled into town and rolled over the Twins in this 9-1 laugher.  Gary “Ding Dong” Bell went the distance and was perfect for the final 8 innings after giving up a Mickey Hatcher run scoring triple in the bottom of the first.  The bottom of Cleveland's order carried the day as catcher Russ Nixon went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored.  Second baseman Bobby Avila was also 3 for 4.  Avila had 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.  Both Avila and Nixon hit homers as part of their big day.  The only Indian not to get a hit was 9th place hitter Woodie Held who say his season average plummet to .095 after he took the collar.

GAME 2 - Twins 5, Indians 2
"Sweet Music", Frank Viola (2-2, 3.20) was the stopper today.  Eight plus innings of 2 run ball coupled with 5 K's and no walks gave the maestro a virtuoso performance and got his team back on track vs the AL leading Tribe.  With the score 3-2 Twins heading into the bottom of the 6th Minnesota's offense decided to reward Viola with some support.  Tom Brunansky led off the inning with a homer and Meier doubled home Gary Gaetti after a string of wild pitches by reliever Martin, who replaced starter Hal Woodeshick, who was injured in the 4th.  Viola tired in the 9th and after yielding consecutive singles to Chico Carrasquel and Porter he was lifted for Ron Davis.  Davis walked Brown to load the bases with one out and the Metrodome fans began to really worry...oh, you betcha’ they were worried.  Have no fear folks, Davis will save us, and that's just what he did when he fanned Hunter and pinch hitter Avila to end it in grand style.

GAME 3 - Twins 5, Indians 1
Up until this point Cleveland had not lost 2 in a row, so the pressure was really on the Twins.  Add to this, the fact that Cy Young candidate Cal McLish (4-1, 2.05) was on the hill and the chances for the Twinkies was quite slim.  Enter Ken Schrom (3-1, 1.08), who wants a piece of that post season hardware too.  Schrom was nearly perfect over the 6 innings he pitched (2 hits / 0 runs), while McLish uncharacteristically melted down, down the stretch.  You see both teams were deadlocked in a scoreless time until the top of the 7th when John Castino (pinch hitting for Laudner) singled home Tom Brunansky f or the first run of the game.  McLish could not be faulted for the solo run, because it's unfair to expect a pitcher to be perfect every time out.  The 8th inning would be the inning that McLish cracked.  Kirby Puckett led off with a single.  Gaetti popped to short and Hrbek walked.  McLish fanned Hatcher for the second out and looked to be well on his way out of the jam when "Bruno" singled to right to score Pucket and put runners on the corners for Tim Teufel who slammed a bases clearing triple deep into the cavern called Cleveland Municipal Stadium, or sometimes called "The mistake by the lake".  To put the final touches on their inning Ron Washington was sent to pinch hit for Jimenez and he  singled home Teufel for the fourth and final run.  The Indians threatened to come back when they loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, but they could only score 1 run and that was off a wild pitch.  Bobby Castillo pitched the final inning and 2/3's to close it out for the Twins who moved back to .500, two games behind the A's.  Cleveland still has a stranglehold on the AL East, but for the first time all year they are being tested.