A homer at home: Lindor's HR helps Indians top Twins

San Juan, Puerto Rico — Francisco Lindor homered in his native Puerto Rico, Corey Kluber allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings and the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 6-1 on Tuesday night.Michael

Brantley and Jose Ramirez each had three hits for Cleveland in the first regular-season game on the island commonwealth since 2010. Brantley and Ramirez hit consecutive homers in the sixth, and Yonder Alonso added a solo homer in the eighth for Cleveland.

Kluber (2-1) gave up five hits and struck out six, lowering his ERA to 1.52.

Brian Dozier had two hits for the Twins, including an RBI double in the seventh that chased a sweatdrenched Kluber after 104 pitches. Minnesota starter Jake Odorizzi (11) gave up six hits and four runs, all of them coming across on homers, in five-plus innings.

Twins starter Jake Odorizzi (1-1) gave up six hits and four runs, all of them scoring on homers, in five-plus innings.

Lindor and Minnesota’s Eddie Rosario were the Puerto Ricans in the lineup, and favorites of the soldout crowd of 19,516. Fans at Hiram Bithorn Stadium will have more cheering options in Wednesday’s series finale, with the Twins sending right-hander Jose Berrios to the mound and the Indians set to start Roberto Perez at catcher.

Lindor finished 1 for 5, the homer flanked by a par of warning-track flyouts. Rosario was 1 for 4.

The series was scheduled before Hurricane Maria hit last September. The recovery from the catastrophic storm has been the focus of this trip for the Twins and Indians.

“These people need to cheer,” Lindor said. So in the fifth, he made it happen. No. 9 hitter Bradley Zimmer hit a two-out double and Lindor worked the count full. As horns blared, inflatable thundersticks clanged and fans screamed, he turned on an offering from Odorizzi and lofted a long fly to right.

It barely cleared the wall, but it was enough.

Lindor waved both arms at the crowd after crossing the plate, then came out for a curtain call as delirious fans shouted his name. That started the undoing for Odorizzi, who was cruising before giving up three homers in a span of 10 pitches — the last two by Ramirez and Brantley ending his night and giving the Indians a 4-0 lead.

Festivities

San Juan’s Bernie Williams, a four-time World Series winner with the Yankees, performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” on his guitar. Carlos Beltran threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and fellow Puerto Ricans Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, Javier Vazquez and Carlos Delgado were among those on the field for pregame events.

Home cooking

Indians coach Sandy Alomar Jr. spent most of the off day Monday at his family’s home, hanging with his parents, sister and niece. His mother cooked a staple — chicken, rice and beans. “Like old times,” he said.

Raptors 130, Wizards 119

DeMar DeRozan matched his career playoff-high with 37 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Toronto beat Washington on Tuesday night, taking a 2-0 lead in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history. Kyle Lowry had 13 points and a career playoff-high 12 assists as Toronto set team playoff records for points in a quarter, a half, and a game. C.J. Miles scored 18 points, Delon Wright had 11 and Serge Ibaka 10 for the Raptors, who snapped an NBA-worst 10-game losing streak in Game 1s with a 114-106 win on Saturday. Toronto, which made a team playoff record 16 3-pointers Saturday, connected on 12 of 32 from long range in Game 2, making only one in the second half. John Wall scored 29 points, Mike Scott had 20 and Ty Lawson 14 for the Wizards, who host Game 3 on Friday night. Wizards guard Bradley Beal missed eight of 11 shots and finished with nine points. Beal had more fouls in the first half (three) than made baskets (two). Trailing 100-90 to begin the fourth quarter, the Wizards cut it to 108-103 with 7:52 left on back-to-back 3-pointers by Scott and Lawson, and a pair of free throws from Wall. Miles stopped the run with a long 3, Toronto’s only one of the second half, and the Raptors put it away with a 17-4 spurt over the next four minutes. The sellout crowd roared when DeRozan forced a turnover and saved the ball from going out of bounds, then passed to Lowry who fed Wright for an alley-oop dunk with 3:38 left, putting Toronto up 125-107. Raptors guard Fred VanVleet returned after sitting out Game 1 because of a bruised right shoulder, but looked rusty in three minutes of action at the start of the second quarter, airballing a shot and mishandling a pass before being replaced by Lowry. VanVleet did not play in the second half. Toronto set a team playoff record with 44 points in the first quarter, including 13 from DeRozan, and led 44-27 after one. All five starters made at least one 3-pointer as the Raptors shot 7 for 13 from long range. Washington coach Scott Brooks called two timeouts to try and slow Toronto, to little effect, while Wizards guards Wall and Beal each picked up two early fouls, forcing them to the bench. Toronto’s previous high for points in a quarter of a playoff game was 39, set against Orlando in 2008. Their previous high for points in a half was 63, set against Miami in 2016. Miles made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the second and DeRozan added seven as Toronto broke its playoff record for points in a half by taking a 76-58 lead at halftime. Wall scored 14 points in the third while Toronto shot 0 for 7 from 3-point range, allowing the Wizards to cut it to 100-90 heading to the fourth.

Late Monday Warriors 116, Spurs 101

Kevin Durant sparked a decisive third-quarter run on the way to 32 points, Klay Thompson added 31 points and five assists in another superb playoff performance and Golden State rallied in the second half to beat San Antonio for a 2-0 lead in their firstround series. As Stephen Curry remains out likely for the entire series nursing a sprained left knee, the defending champions used all the offensive power they had to take both home games in the best-of-seven series. Wearing a dark checkered sport coat, Curry was all smiles watching another lopsided win without him. Thompson followed up his brilliant 11-for-13 shooting day in a 113-92 Game 1 rout Saturday by hitting 12 of 20 shots. Durant also had six rebounds and six assists for the Warriors, who went without key backup big man David West down the stretch after he sprained his left ankle early in the fourth. West scored on three straight second-quarter possessions and finished with 10 points and four rebounds in 14 minutes. But he got injured with 9:59 left defending Aldridge and headed to the locker room, despite appearing to try stretching out his legs to return. Coach Steve Kerr stuck with JaVale McGee as his starting center and the 7-footer contributed 10 points and seven rebounds as the well-rounded defending champions again showed off their remarkable depth. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 34 for the Spurs and Rudy Gay moved into the starting lineup and scored 12 points. Thompson managed just three shots in the first quarter and began 1 for 5. He pounded the basketball down with two hands, frustrated, midway through the second quarter. Then he found his groove. A baseline 3 with 55.9 seconds left before halftime was his first of the night and got Golden State within 49-45 before the Spurs took a 53-47 lead at intermission.