Kepler homer, Dobnak pitching lead Twins over Indians 4-1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Max Kepler hit his second leadoff home run of the season, Alex Avila added his first homer for Minnesota, and the Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 4-1 on Friday night.

Randy Dobnak (1-1) pitched five scoreless innings for Minnesota following a day of COVID-19 testing and uncertainty due to two positive tests by the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis had two players test positive on Friday after playing two games in Minnesota earlier in the week. The teams went through rapid testing and the visiting clubhouse underwent another round of cleaning before the determination was made at 3:30 p.m. Central to keep Friday’s game as scheduled.

Mike Clevinger (0-1) allowed four runs in four innings for Cleveland, which ended its streak of seven straight starts by pitchers throwing at least six innings with two runs or fewer. Clevinger gave up six hits and walked five.

Kepler, who led off the season with a home run against the Chicago White Sox, started a three-run first inning with his third homer of the year. Eddie Rosario added a pair of hits, including a two-run double in the first. The Twins have scored 12 runs in the first inning in their seven games this season.

Dobnak made his second straight strong start in place of the injured Jake Odorizzi. He surrendered three hits and two walks and has given up just one run in nine innings this season. Taylor Rogers finished off his second save of the season.

A LONG DAY

The Twins tried to ease the concerns of the Indians over the cleaning procedures for the visiting clubhouse. Both teams heard of the positive tests for St. Louis in the morning and started protocols for testing. Derek Falvey, Minnesota’s chief baseball officer who had previously been in the Cleveland organization, also reached out to the Indians...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Kepler-homer-Dobnak-pitching-lead-Twins-over-15450700.php