After a pair of starts that saw the Indians ace surrender eight runs and walk nine, Justin Masterson bounced back on Sunday afternoon by turning in a masterful victory, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 7-1 rout of the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.
Masterson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before surrendering a bloop single to Brian Dozier to start off the inning. Dozier would come around to score on an error by Jason Kipnis, who mishandled a grounder by Joe Mauer.
The lone single would be the only hit that Masterson would allow, as he worked seven innings of one-hit, one-run ball, while striking out eight and walking none in the process.
Cleveland struck early, scoring their first run on a Mike Aviles sacrifice fly in the second, scoring Mark Reynolds. They would score two more in the third on a Jason Kipnis two-run shot to left field and add three more in the fifth on a bases clearing triple by Michael Brantley.
Aviles would cement the 7-1 lead and eventual victory in the top of the ninth with an RBI single, as the Indians would go onto to snag their sixth victory in 10 games. With a 52-46 record, Cleveland sits just 1 1/2 games back of the AL Central division leading Detroit Tigers.
