Twins take over first in AL Central

Ervin Santana and Minnesota made themselves at home in Cleveland. The Twins and Indians have been gracious hosts so far this year.

Santana struck out seven in six innings, Jason Castro drove in three runs and Minnesota swept Cleveland with a 4-0 victory on Sunday.

Santana (10-4) allowed nine hits, but Cleveland’s lineup struggled again. The Indians were shut out twice, went 1 for 23 with runners in scoring position and stranded 30 baserunners in the weekend series.

It was one sweet stay on Lake Erie for the Twins, who were swept in a four-game set against the Indians at Target Field last weekend. Minnesota moved a halfgame ahead of Cleveland for the division lead.

“We talked about how we got embarrassed at home,” said second baseman Brian Dozier, who hit a gamewinning homer in Saturday’s 4-2 victory. “So we wanted to stick it to them here. We didn’t just want to win the series, we wanted to sweep. We wanted to stomp on their throats.”

The Twins hadn’t swept a three-game series in Cleveland since 1991.