Lindor’s 9th-inning HR lifts Indians over Twins

Francisco Lindor skipped down the third-base line, crossed home plate and suddenly couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t alone. Lindor connected for a threerun homer with two outs in the ninth inning as the Indians again moved 10 games ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central with a 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday night in Cleveland.

Lindor, who struck out with the winning run at second base in the ninth to end a 3-2 loss on Tuesday, drove the first pitch from Trevor Hildenberger (2-3) over the wall in right to trigger a wild celebration.

As the Progressive Field crowd roared as if it was October, the All-Star shortstop pointed and waved to the fans before being swarmed by his teammates, including pitcher Carlos Carrasco who emptied most of a bottle of white baby powder on him.

“I didn’t see it otherwise I would have touched the plate and ran,” Lindor said of Carrasco’s powder-packed ambush. CARDINALS 7, MARLINS 1 >> Matt Carpenter hit a tiebreaking homer in Miami for the second consecutive night, and St. Louis won its fourth series in a row. Carpenter put St. Louis ahead with a home run leading off the sixth inning, his NL-leading 31st. He has homered in five of the past six games.

METS 8, REDS 0 >> Jacob deGrom (6-7) struck out 10 in six innings, received rare significant run support and earned his first win in nearly two months as host New York beat Cincinnati. DeGrom ended a seven-start winless streak and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.77. Reds rookie starter Robert Stephenson (0-1), from Martinez, was the loser. DIAMONDBACKS 6, PHILLIES 0 >> Patrick Corbin (10-4) struck out nine in a combined four-hitter, David Peralta had four hits and two RBIs, and Arizona rolled over Philadelphia in Phoenix.