MINNEAPOLIS — Sometimes earning a win comes down to having one good inning or taking advantage of one good opportunity. The Cleveland Indians proved that Sunday.

Shelley Duncan hits a two RBI double against Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning. (AP photo.)

For six innings, the Indians had little answer for Minnesota starter Carl Pavano. They couldn’t score, they couldn’t get multiple hits in an inning and they couldn’t generate any momentum.

But given an extra out in the seventh because of a Minnesota error, Cleveland made the Twins pay. With Shelley Duncan homering and hitting a two-run double off of the left-field wall in the inning, the Indians scored six times and sent 11 hitters to plate in their 6-5 victory.

“The whole season they’ve been very relentless and have never given up,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. “They know we’re one good inning from doing stuff like that. Pavano was pitching so well and we just hung in there and when he came out of the game, we took advantage and had some good at-bats and Shelley had the big hit.”

It was a fitting inning for a game that featured a combined six errors, two hit batters and four runs walked in.

After Duncan homered to lead off the seventh, Cleveland’s Lonnie Chisenhall reached on what would be a costly error by Minnesota first baseman Chris Parmalee. After fielding a grounder, Parmalee threw wide to Pavano at first and Chisenhall was safe.

The Twins quickly got the next two outs, but Cleveland took advantage of the extra out and loaded the bases. Minnesota relievers Jose Mijares and Alex Burnett each walked in a run, allowing Cleveland to tie the game at 3.

.

Cleveland’s Jim Thome — who spent all of 2010 and much of 2011 with the Twins — gave Cleveland a 4-3 lead with a broken bat single that didn’t leave the infield.

Batting for the second time in the inning, Duncan hit a line drive that hit the left-field wall to drive in two runs and give Cleveland a 6-3 lead.

“Shelly Duncan was the key guy offensively,” Acta said. “Not only with the home run that got us on the board against Pavano, who had our number the whole day, but also the two-run double that proved to be the key in that inning.”

For Duncan, the key was getting a few looks at Pavano.

“He’s crafty, but third time through the lineup, you saw people get more comfortable with him, taking better at-bats,” Duncan said. “We put him on the ropes and got him out of the game and went from there.”

The big inning also got Justin Masterson (12-10) the victory in a game that was played in an on-and-off drizzle.

“You knew something crazy was going to happen with the weather and it turned out in our favor,” Masterson said. “Every time the ball was in the grass, it was nice and wet and saturated. You knew every play was going to be a difficult one.”

Masterson pitched six innings, giving up three runs — one earned — on seven hits. Chris Perez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 34th save in 38 chances.

The win allowed the Indians to secure their first three-game sweep since mid-June. In addition, Cleveland moved back to .500 on the season (75-75) and closer to the franchise’s first winning season since 2007.

“We’re not done yet, we’ve got a lot of games to play,” Acta said. “But it’s very important to us. Our goal is to finish second and to play above .500. To go back home, it’s very important and hopefully we can have a good homestand and end the season on a very positive note.

“It was a good bounceback series after being swept in Texas.”

Pavano (8-13) lost despite being sharp for six-plus innings. He gave up four runs, though only one was earned.

The Twins, who started a lineup that featured only one opening-day starter, scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to cut Cleveland’s lead to 6-5. After hitting Matt Tolbert with a pitch to load the bases, Cleveland reliever Vinnie Pestano walked in two runs.

Hughes scored his third run of the game in the sixth to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead on Brian Dinkelman’s single. Dinkelman finished with his first career four-hit game.

In the second, Hughes scored on Joe Benson’s groundout. In the bottom of the fourth, he scored again, this time when Lou Marson threw ball into center field in an attempt to throw out Benson on an attempted steal.

Minnesota’s Jason Repko left the game after being hit in the head by a pitch from Masterson in the bottom of the sixth. Repko walked off of field with assistance and was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for evaluation, but was back in the Twins clubhouse after the game.

“The ball just flew out of my hand,” Masterson said. “I don’t mind hitting people, just not in the head. You don’t ever want to see a ball go up there.”

Notes

• Both teams have one-game makeups Monday. David Huff (2-5) will pitch for Cleveland against Seattle in a makeup of a May 14 rainout. The Indians will then host the Chicago White Sox for four games in three days. Minnesota was scheduled to fly to New York on Sunday night for a one-game makeup against the Yankees before returning home to face the Mariners. Scott Diamond (1-4) will start for the Twins against the Yankees.
• Because of the quick, one-game trip to New York, the Twins are leaving the rest of the starting rotation and several injured players in Minnesota.

Well, it was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?

The Indians’ surprising run of contention for the Central Division championship officially came to an end Friday night, though it had been over for them long before the Tigers clinched.

Too many injuries to key players ensured that baseball’s biggest surprise over the first two months of the season – a club that at one time led the division by seven games – would not be making its first playoff appearance since 2007.

Though some disgruntled Tribe fans will look to blame the front office for not doing enough to improve the team, manager Manny Acta for not making the right moves and the players for not getting the job done on the field – the real culprit was the disabled list.

It began getting crowded with key cogs – Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Josh Tomlin and Carlos Carrasco to name a few – at the worst possible time for the Indians, who finally succumbed and coughed up their division lead.

That left Cleveland to play catch up in a pennant race with a depleted lineup littered with a ton of guys that should have still been at Triple-A Columbus honing their skills.

What did you think was going to happen?

I’m all for criticizing the organization, but in this instance, it’s not warranted.

It’s not general manager Chris Antonetti’s fault. Outside of landing Ryan Ludwick, who wouldn’t have changed the fate anyway, it appeared the first-year GM did what he could at the trading deadline by acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez and Kosuke Fukudome.

Yes, the Indians needed offense more than pitching, but picking up a supposed frontline starter such as Jimenez doesn’t exactly hurt a bid for the postseason.

Fans certainly didn’t criticize the rookie GM when he added some of that offense in the form of Jim Thome, who was booed lustily as an opponent but greeted with gushy warmth upon his return.

Antonetti couldn’t add a new team, which was pretty much required to contend with the Tigers, who got hot just as the Indians were fading.

Don’t go in Acta’s direction with the daggers, either.

The Indians were picked by most to finish no higher than fourth in a suspect division and the second-year manager had them in contention for nearly the entire season.

That’s how Managers of the Year are elected, and Acta, who is still a candidate, would have been a lock for the award had the Indians “shocked the world,” as Brantley predicted at the beginning of the season, and won the Central.

Regardless, Acta went a long way to proving he is the right guy for the job. His players like him, they play hard for him and he is probably going to be rewarded with a contract extension sometime during the offseason.

The 25-man roster is ultimately responsible for the final score, but it’s tough to blame Indians players for failing to live up to expectations that weren’t even there when the season began, especially with the short-handed lineup that was run out on a regular basis for much of the year.

With the odds stacked firmly against them, the Indians have yet to quit at this point, a characteristic they showed throughout the season as one of the league leaders in comeback and last at-bat wins.

The Indians played hard. They just didn’t have enough to contend with the likes of a talented Tiger team that employs a stacked lineup, Cy Young front-runner Justin Verlander and the game’s top statistical closer, Jose Valverde – not a real surprising development.

In the end, the Indians will most likely finish where many thought they would – below .500 and well off the pace of the division winner. And with nothing to blame but another poor performance in the health department.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

MINNEAPOLIS – The Cleveland Indians still consider themselves in the AL Central race. It’s not the race they hoped for with Detroit having wrapped up the division title, but the mentality seems to be working so far.

“We already kind of yesterday put that behind us and knew that eventually it was going to come,” Indians manager Manny Acta said Saturday after his team jumped on Minnesota early and beat the Twins 10-4.

“Decided yesterday we were going to have our own little race here and try to finish second.”

Carlos Santana tied a club record with his 25th home run to help the Indians go up 8-0 early, and Jeanmar Gomez pitched effectively into the seventh before leaving with an injury.

The Indians, leading Chicago for the second spot in the Central, sent Minnesota to its seventh straight loss.

Gomez (4-2) won his fourth straight start since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 30. He allowed two runs and seven hits over 6 2⁄3 innings.

“We were able to score enough runs early in the game to give a nice comfortable lead to Gomez so he could settle down, and he took advantage of it,” Acta said.

Gomez was one out away from getting out of the seventh when he came up limping trying to make a play on Ben Revere’s bouncer up the middle. He walked off the field and was relieved by Josh Judy.

Gomez said later he felt like he “almost” twisted his right knee, but was all right and anticipated making his next start.

The Indians scored seven early runs off Anthony Swarzak (3-7). Already up 3-0 in the second, Cleveland got a two-run triple from Jason Kipnis before Santana lined a 3-2 pitch from Swarzak an estimated 414 feet into the right-field seats. Santana has four homers in his last five games.

Santana’s 25 home runs tie Victor Martinez for the most by a Cleveland switch-hitter. Fittingly, Santana said he’s worn Martinez’s No. 41 throughout his life.

Lester Oliveros relieved Swarzak and gave up an RBI double to Matt LaPorta before the Twins finally got out of the second.

“He’s been throwing the ball really well for us,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He made mistakes today and they pounded him early.”

“We had a little talk, I think it was kind of to go out with some pride, to play hard through the finish line, to not look back on the last month and not have that be the way that we remember the season,” Kipnis said.

Minnesota has lost 12 of 13. Chris Parmelee had three RBIs and three hits, including a two-run homer in the Twins eighth that made it 8-4.

TODAY

• WHO: Cleveland at Minnesota
• TIME: 2:10 p.m.
• WHERE: Target Field, Minneapolis
• PITCHERS: Masterson (11-10, 3.20 ERA) vs. Pavano (8-12, 4.50)
• TV/RADIO: SportsTime Ohio, Ch. 3; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

Well, it was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?

The Indians’ surprising run of contention for the Central Division championship officially came to an end Friday night, though it had been over for them long before the Tigers clinched.

Too many injuries to key players ensured that baseball’s biggest surprise over the first two months of the season — a club that at one time led the division by seven games — would not be making its first playoff appearance since 2007.

Though some disgruntled Tribe fans will look to blame the front office for not doing enough to improve the team, manager Manny Acta for not making the right moves and the players for not getting the job done on the field — the real culprit was the disabled list.

It began mounting with key cogs — Travis Hafner, Shin-Soo Choo, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Josh Tomlin and Carlos Carrasco to name a few — at the worst possible time for the Indians, who finally succumbed and coughed up their division lead.

That left Cleveland to play catch up in a pennant race with a depleted lineup littered with a ton of guys that should have still been at Triple-A Columbus honing their skills.

What did you think was going to happen?

I’m all for criticizing the organization, but in this instance, it’s not warranted.

It’s not general manager Chris Antonetti’s fault. Outside of landing Ryan Ludwick, who wouldn’t have changed the fate anyway, it appeared the first-year GM did what he could at the trading deadline by acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez and Kosuke Fukudome.

Yes, the Indians needed offense more than pitching, but bringing aboard a supposed frontline starter such as Jimenez doesn’t exactly hurt a bid for the postseason.

Fans certainly didn’t criticize the rookie GM when he added some of that offense in the form of Jim Thome, who was booed lustily as an opponent but greeted with gushy warmth upon his return.

Antonetti couldn’t add a new team, which was pretty much required to contend with the Tigers, who got hot just as the Indians were fading.

Don’t go in Acta’s direction with the daggers, either.

The Indians were picked by most to finish no higher than fourth in a suspect division and the second-year manager had them in contention for nearly the entire season.

That’s how Managers of the Year are elected, and Acta, who is still a candidate, would have been a lock for the award had the Indians “shocked the world,” as Brantley predicted at the beginning of the season, and won the Central.

Regardless, Acta went a long way to proving he is the right guy for the job. His players like him, they play hard for him and he is probably going to be rewarded with a contract extension sometime during the offseason.

The 25-man roster is ultimately responsible for the final score, but it’s tough to blame Indians players for failing to live up to expectations that weren’t even there when the season began, especially with the short-handed lineup that was run out on a regular basis for much of the year.

With the odds stacked firmly against them, the Indians have yet to quit at this point, a characteristic they showed throughout the season as one of the league leaders in comeback and last at-bat wins.

The Indians played hard. They just didn’t have enough to contend with the likes of a talented Tiger team that employs a stacked lineup, Cy Young frontrunner Justin Verlander and the game’s top statistical closer Jose Valverde — not a real surprising development.

In the end, the Indians will most likely finish where many thought they would — below .500 and well off the pace of the division winner. And with nothing to blame but another poor performance in the health department.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.