Lindor’s big night helps Indians hold off Twins

Francisco Lindor’s second home run of the game for Cleveland snapped an eighth-inning tie after Minnesota erased an eight-run deficit, and the Indians held on to topthe Twins 9-8 on Thursday night.

Lindor also hit two doubles and drove in four runs for the Indians, who stretched their winning streak to a seasonbest six straight games despite another wobbly performance by their bullpen until Cody Allen finished by getting the final four outs for his ninth save in 10 opportunities.

Indians starter Shane Bieber, the first player in franchise history to make his major league debut on his birthday, took an 8- 0 lead into the fifth inning but couldn’t complete the sixth. Robbie Grossman and Ryan LaMarre had RBI singles in the fifth, and Logan Morrison and Eduardo Escobar hit consecutive homers in the sixth.

In the seventh, reliever Dan

Otero left two runners on with one out. Eddie Rosario hit an RBI single off Jeff Believeau. Then Miguel Sano smashed a three-run home run into the right-field flower box against Zach McAllister to tie it. Sano emerged from a round of hard hand slaps in the dugout to tip his helmet to the crowd.

CARDINALS10, PIRATES8 » Yairo Munoz hit a three-run, gameending homer to cap St. Louis’ five-run ninth inning and rally the Cardinals to victory over Pittsburgh. Munoz ripped the first pitch from closer Felipe Vazquez (2-2) over the wall in center field to give St. Louis its sixth walk- off win of the season. Francisco Cervelli hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the eighth to give the Pirates an 8- 5 lead they couldn’t hold.

BRAVES 4, NATIONALS 2 » Sean Newcomb (6-1) pitched seven strong innings for his sixth straight win, leading Atlanta back into first place with a win over Washington.