Night goes south in hurry for Gibson, Twins in loss to Indians

MINNEAPOLIS Three pitches.

That’s all it took from Kyle Gibson on Thursday night to halt whatever momentum the Twins had built up, whatever pennant fever had infected Target Field, whatever pressure the Twins were putting on their fellow playoff pursuers.

A ball low. A strike on the corner. And a fastball clocked at 89 miles per hour that landed in the shrubbery blooming near the left-field foul pole. Jason Kipnis’ home run deflated the Twins’ send-off party before it even started, and the home team never recovered its lost vigor. The Indians’ one-run lead became three, then six, and Cleveland eventually left town with a party-pooping 6-3 victory at Target Field.

The damage was serious but not unrepairable, since the Angels and Astros, the Twins’ chief competition for the American League’s final wild-card spot, did not play. The Twins dropped into a tie with Los Angeles at 78-75, 1 1/2 games behind Houston with 10 games to play.

The Twins’ loss allowed the Royals to clinch their first division title in 30 years and their first AL Central title ever with their 10-4 win over the Mariners.

Gibson surrendered all six runs, having been tattooed with seven hits while retiring only eight batters in his shortest start in 14 months. That continued a theme for the third-year right-hander, whose career 5.61 ERA against Cleveland in five previous starts (though none this year) was noted, but brushed off, before the game by Twins manager Paul Molitor.

“I always lean more on how a guy’s throwing overall, rather than on who he’s facing,” Molitor said. “I don’t really put a lot of value in 1/8Gibson’s so-so results against the Indians3/8. I like how he’s pitching. I like how we’re playing. We’ve got to continue to find a way to scratch out at-bats and put some runs on the board. The way Kyle’s been throwing, there’s no reason to think he’s not going to give us a chance.”

And yet. The first inning has been a bugaboo for Gibson all season, the 20 runs he has given up more than any other Twins pitcher. And the Indians just exacerbated that weakness Thursday, with Kipnis leading off the game with a homer. Jose Ramirez followed with a walk and Francisco Lindor, who had three hits Thursday, singled. Gibson seemed to recover by retiring Carlos Santana and striking out Yan Gomes, but Lonnie Chisenhall spoiled his escape with a sharp single to right that scored two more runs.

Gibson retired the Indians in order in the second, but his problems returned in the third. Ramirez led off with a double, and he moved to third on Lindor’s single. Then Santana crushed a 90-mph fastball into right field, doubled Cleveland’s lead, silencing an already glum home crowd, and eventually forcing Molitor to turn to the bullpen earlier than he wanted to.

It was only the second time this season that Gibson has allowed more than one home run in a game, and the first since June 5 against the Brewers. It also raised his career ERA against the Indians to 6.99. His next start? Next Tuesday in Cleveland.

The Twins were unable to scrape much offense together against Cleveland starter Cody Anderson, who gave up 10 hits, but five of them after two were out. Their lone run off Anderson came courtesy of Torii Hunter, who smacked his 22nd home run of the season into the upper deck in left field, a solo shot that made only a dent in Cleveland’s lead.

Eddie Rosario added two more in the eighth inning, connecting for his 12th career home run off Indians reliever Bryan Shaw.

The Twins depart after the game for Detroit, where they open the season’s final road trip Friday. They will play three games against the Tigers and four against the Indians.

(c)2015 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at www.startribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.