CLEVELAND — If a major league baseball game lasted only four innings, David Huff and the Indians would have been winners Sunday at Progressive Field.

.

Unfortunately for Huff and the Indians, they had to play five more innings, and that turned them into losers as they dropped a 5-4 decision to the Twins in the series finale.

The Indians led 4-0 before the Twins took the lead for good via a five-run fifth inning that featured an implosion from Huff.

“We came out of the gate really good,” Indians man­ager Manny Acta said. “We had a 4-0 lead and we weren’t able to hold it. It was kind of deflating.”

Huff, who has made two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus, cruised through the first four innings, allowing just two singles and retiring seven straight prior to the fifth.

But the Twins figured him out in the fifth, bring­ing a shocking and emphatic halt to an outing that looked so promising.

Former Indian Jim Thome landed the first big blow, jacking a two-run home run for the Twins’ first runs of the game. A two-run double from Orlando Hudson put Minnesota in front, with Huff walking the next batter and departing in favor of reliever Justin Germano.

“I don’t know (what happened),” said Huff, who allowed six of the first seven hitters he faced in the fifth to reach base. “That fifth inning, I just didn’t have it. I don’t know what the deal was.

“I wasn’t efficient. I wasn’t attacking hitters. I was trying to nibble. It was like two different pitchers pitching out there today.”

“Unfortunately, David had no command of his fastball and pitched behind in the count all day,” Acta said. “You can’t get away with that on this level.”

Though Huff disagreed with Acta’s assessment that he pitched behind all day, a lack of command could be one of the issues plaguing him. Huff began the season with a 1-1 record after working a complete game for his first win of the year April 15. Since then, he has gone 1-10 with a 7.24 ERA and has already pitched himself out of the majors once.

“I still don’t see the fastball command,” Acta said. “That’s the key for him. Whatever the reason is, it hasn’t been good.”

It was the 578th career homer for Thome, who is still Cleveland’s franchise leader in the category (334). He ranks 10th on the all-time homer list, with the two RBIs he recorded Sunday giving him 1,601 to move him past the Indians’ Nap Lajoie and into sole possession of 31st on the all-time list.

It looked as though the Indians would make quick work of Twins starter Brian Duensing, who began the season as a reliever and was making just his fourth start of the year.

Cleveland scored three times off the left-hander in the first, the last two on Matt LaPorta’s seventh homer of the season, then added another in the second to lead 4-0.

That was the end of the line for the Indians off Duensing, who didn’t allow another run and just four hits over the final 5 1/3 innings of a career-high

7 1/3-inning outing. He retired the side in order three times.

“You always want to add on, but you’ve got to give Duensing credit,” Acta said. “He did what he was supposed to do. He was throwing strikes.”

LaPorta and left fielder Trevor Crowe had six of the Indians’ nine hits. Crowe, who is batting .255 on the season, is hitting .356 (21-for-59) when he plays left field.

The Indians put the wraps on a testing 24-game stretch since the All-Star break, going 13-11 — all against teams with records above .500 (Tigers, Twins, Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays and Red Sox).

According to Acta, it was a positive stint from a last-place team that employs the youngest roster in the majors (eight rookies).

“I’m extremely happy with the way things have gone,” Acta said. “We were really worried about running out these kids against big league clubs with winning records.

“They survived. They deserve a lot of credit.”

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND – If a major league baseball game only lasted four innings, David Huff and the Indians would have been winners Sunday at Progressive Field.

Unfortunately for Huff and the Indians, they had to play five more innings, and that turned them into losers, Cleveland dropping a 5-4 decision to the Twins in the series finale.

The Indians led 4-0 before the Twins took the lead for good via a five-run fifth inning that featured an implosion from Huff.

“We came out of the gate really good,” said Cleveland manager Manny Acta. “We had a 4-0 lead and we weren’t able to hold it. It was kind of deflating.”

Huff, who has made two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus, cruised through the first four innings, allowing just two singles and retiring seven straight prior to the fifth.

But the Twins figured out Huff in the fifth, bringing a shocking and emphatic halt to an outing that looked so promising.

Former Indian Jim Thome landed the first big blow, jacking a two-run home run off Huff for the Twins’ first runs of the game. A two-run double from Orlando Hudson put Minnesota in front, with Huff walking the next batter and departing in favor of reliever Justin Germano.

“I don’t know (what happened),” said Huff, who allowed six of the first seven hitters he faced in the fifth to reach base. “That fifth inning, I just didn’t have it. I don’t know what the deal was.

“I wasn’t efficient. I wasn’t attacking hitters. I was trying to nibble. It was like two different pitchers pitching out there today.”

“Unfortunately, David had no command of his fastball and pitched behind in the count all day,” Acta said. “You can’t get away with that on this level.”

Though Huff disagreed with Acta’s assessment that he pitched behind all day, a lack of command could be one of the issues plaguing him. Huff began the season with a 1-1 record after working a complete game for his first win of the year April 15. Since then, he has gone 1-10 with a 7.24 ERA and has already pitched himself out of the majors once.

“I still don’t see the fastball command,” Acta said. “That’s the key for him. Whatever the reason is, it hasn’t been good.”

It was the 578^th career homer for Thome, who is still Cleveland’s franchise leader in the category (334). He ranks 10^th on the all-time homer list, with the two RBIs he recorded Sunday giving him 1,601 to move him past the Indians’ Nap Lajoie and into sole possession of 31^st on the all-time list.

It looked as though the Indians would make quick work of Twins starter Brian Duensing, who began the season as a reliever and was making just his fourth start of the year.

Cleveland scored three times off the left-hander in the first, the last two on Matt LaPorta’s seventh homer of the season, then added another in the second to lead 4-0.

That was the end of the line for the Indians off Duensing, who didn’t allow another run and just four hits over the final 5 1/3 innings of a career-high 7 1/3-inning outing. He retired the side in order three times.  

“You always want to add on, but you’ve got to give Duensing credit,” Acta said. “He did what he was supposed to do. He was throwing strikes.”

LaPorta and left fielder Trevor Crowe had six of their team’s nine hits. Crowe, who is batting .255 on the season, is hitting .356 (21-for-59) when he plays left field.

The Indians put the wraps on a testing 24-game stretch since the all-star break, going 13-11 – all against teams with records above .500 (Tigers, Twins, Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays and Red Sox).

According to Acta, it was a positive stint from a last-place team that employs the youngest roster in the majors (eight rookies).

“I’m extremely happy with the way things have gone,” Acta said. “We were really worried about running out these kids against big league clubs with winning records.

“They survived. They deserve a lot of credit.”

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND – Matt LaPorta didn’t do much with his first few opportunities on the big league level. Times have changed.

Since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on June 27, LaPorta is batting .297 (38-for-128) with 19 runs, six home runs and 19 RBIs in 36 games. He went 3-for-4 with his seventh homer of the season in a 5-4 loss to Minnesota on Sunday.

LaPorta looks like a different player than the one that was demoted to the minors after opening the year on the Indians’ 25-man roster. It’s probably no surprise that his resurgence has come with more consistent playing time than he has ever received in the majors.

“Playing every day definitely makes you feel more comfortable,” said LaPorta, who is hitting .259 with 32 runs and 27 RBIs in 71 games this season. “It feels good to contribute and help the team win.”

With LaPorta as a key contributor, the Indians have played better, sporting a 13-11 record since the all-star break.

“I think guys are getting used to playing in the big leagues more,” LaPorta said. “We’re playing great as a ballclub right now. It’s really fun to be a part of right now.”

Rehab roundup

Mitch Talbot (mid-back strain) will make a rehab appearance for Class A Mahoning Valley today. If things go well, the right-hander is expected to rejoin the rotation.

Right-hander Anthony Reyes (right elbow surgery) is scheduled to resume his rehab assignment with Double-A Akron on Wednesday.

Next up

The Indians are off today, continuing the homestand with a three-game series against the Orioles that begins Tuesday night at 7:05.

Justin Masterson (4-10, 5.40 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland, opposing RHP Jake Arrieta (3-3, 5.07), while Josh Tomlin (1-1, 2.79) goes for the Indians against RHP Brad Bergesen (3-9, 6.26) Wednesday (7:05 p.m.).

Jeanmar Gomez (2-0, 1.56) starts for the Indians in the series finale Thursday (7:05 p.m.), while Baltimore counters with RHP Kevin Millwood (2-11, 6.05).

Minor details

Right-hander Carlos Carrasco, a candidate to join the Indians before the season is complete, took the loss Saturday in Columbus’ 6-2 loss to Buffalo. Carrasco (9-5, 4.04) allowed three runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. … Akron third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall went 3-for-5 and belted two solo homers in the Aeros’ 10-6 victory over New Britain. Chisenhall entered Sunday batting .271 with 14 homers and 57 RBIs in 87 games at Akron.

Roundin’ third

Prior to the off-day today, the Indians played on 17 consecutive days and 24 games over 24 days since the all-star break. … The Indians signed another draft pick, agreeing to terms with 13^th-round selection, Michael Goodnight, a right-hander out of the University of Houston. Cleveland has signed 16 of its 50 draft picks, but none in the top five.  

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Indians aren’t so much looking for wins at this point in the season as they are hoping for a few minor victories within their losses.

Such was the case Saturday night when manager Manny Acta found a few positives to discuss after Cleveland’s 7-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

“Fausto (Carmona) really battled for us out there,” Acta said. “He gave us a chance to win the ballgame and he deserved better than that.”

Carmona and former Indians pitcher Carl Pavano battled back and forth in a pitchers’ duel for most of the game, but the Twins eventually got to Carmona and Pavano’s bullpen did a better job backing him up down the stretch.

Pavano improved to 14-7 and saw his ERA rise slightly to 3.28. Carmona dropped to 11-9 with a 3.90.

“Carl’s a veteran and he doesn’t panic out there,” Acta said. “He uses both sides of the plate and he knows how to pitch. He really preyed on our aggressiveness today.”

Acta said the young players that fill his roster didn’t show a lot of patience against the veteran right-hander. It was one of the game’s few negatives he harped on during his postgame news conference.

“It took just three pitches for us to hit two groundballs to the corners where you don’t want to hit it,” Acta said. “We just couldn’t execute offensively and it cost us the game.

“But these guys are young and we know that. We’re going to have to just continue to preach and teach them what we want them to do.”

The Twins struck first when Jason Kubel sent a solo home run into the stands leading off the second inning. They made it 2-0 when Joe Mauer drove in Alexi Casilla in the third.

The Indians erased the deficit in the fourth inning. Shin-Soo Choo singled and scored on Jordan Brown’s double – his first career RBI – and Brown scored on a Matt LaPorta single.

The Twins regained the lead in the seventh when Michael Cuddyer led off with a double and scored on J.J. Hardy’s one-out single. They added three insurance runs in the eighth – one on Trevor Plouffe’s first major league homer – and another in the ninth to put the game away.

Brown, who made his major league debut a week ago, had an impressive game for the Indians. The rookie left fielder went 3-for-4 in the No. 5 spot – improving his batting average from .125 to .250.

It was just another small positive that Acta believes will benefit the team going forward.

“It was good to see him get a few hits today,” Acta said. “You don’t want him to get in a funk and start doubting himself. He had several good swings of the bat today, especially that last one when he fought off (reliever Jesse) Crain for a single.”

It was Brown’s first multihit game and he became the first Indians rookie since Jody Gerut (3-for-5) on April 27, 2003, to have a three-hit game within his first five games.

“I just have to remember to take it at-bat by at-bat and pitch by pitch,” Brown said. “You have to go out there and realize that you belong here.”

The game was a rewarding payoff to a long climb out of disappointing start to the season for Brown. He was excelling during spring training and looked as if he’d secure a spot on the opening day roster when he blew out his knee taking fly balls in the outfield.

“It was a freak accident,” he said. “Everything was going great at that point. I was on the perfect path and I was healthy. After I was injured I felt really deflated.”

Brown battled back, rehabbed in the Arizona League and began ascending through the Indians farm system.

A reporter asked Brown if there was a moment during Saturday’s game that he allowed himself to soak it all in and realize what he had accomplished.

“There was a brief moment when I was standing out there on second base after hitting that double,” he said. “I looked up at the family section and my whole family was sitting there. My wife had bought these little Indians jerseys with my name on the back for the kids and they were all sitting there cheering for me.

“That was a pretty cool moment.”

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

TODAY

• WHO: Cleveland vs. Minnesota
• TIME: 1:05 p.m.
• WHERE: Progressive Field
• PITCHERS: Huff (2-10, 5.97 ERA) vs. Duensing (4-1, 2.10)
• TV/RADIO: Channel 3, SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM
l K-LOVE LOVE: Kenny Lofton enters Tribe Hall of Fame. C2