By Andrew Wagner
Sports Xchange
MILWAUKEE - Home runs by Josh Willingham and Brian Dozier proved to be enough offense for right-hander Sam Deduno as the Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4 Tuesday night in an interleague game at Miller Park.
Deduno (2-3) went five innings and held the Brewers to two runs on six hits and four walks while striking out two.
His defense played a big role, turning three inning-ending double plays.
ADVERTISEMENT
Milwaukee cut the Twins’ four-run lead to 6-3 in the eighth when center fielder Carlos Gomez doubled and scored. But the Brewers went just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine.
The Brewers got another run back in the ninth on right fielder Ryan Braun’s sacrifice fly, but closer Glen Perkins struck out Gomez to pick up his 15th save of the season.
The game was delayed briefly before the eighth inning as security and medical personnel tended to a fan who fell into the Brewers’ bullpen.
Brewers officials announced that the fan was alert and conscious, and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Brewers right-hander Yovani Gallardo snapped a three-game losing streak his last time out, when he won for the first time since April 5. But he struggled from the beginning against the Twins and wound up as the losing pitcher.
Milwaukee gave Gallardo a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but the Twins tied things up in the second when third baseman Trevor Plouffe singled and scored on catcher Josmil Pinto’s base hit.
Gallardo retired center fielder Danny Santana to open the third, but after back-to-back singles by Dozier and first baseman Joe Mauer, left fielder Willingham slammed Gallardo’s first pitch, a hanging slider, to center for his fourth home run of the season.
Dozier, the Twins’ second baseman, hit his team-leading 12th homer in the fifth, a two-run shot, that gave the Twins a 6-2 lead.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gallardo went five innings and was charged with six runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out six.
NOTES: Brewers CF Carlos Gomez spent two seasons with the Twins before being traded to Milwaukee for J.J. Hardy after the 2009 season. Since that trade, he’s batting .360 (22-for-61) against Minnesota, his highest average against any team in baseball. ... With rookie speedster Danny Santana leading off for Minnesota on Tuesday, 2B Brian Dozier batted in the No. 2 spot for fourth time this season. ... Santana’s second straight start also left OF Aaron Hicks on Ron Gardenhire’s bench for a second consecutive day. ... Milwaukee expects to activate 3B Aramis Ramirez from the 15-day disabled list Wednesday. Ramirez played two games for Class A Wisconsin over the weekend and worked out with the Brewers on Tuesday. ... C Jonathan Lucroy got the day off Tuesday. He played in 53 of Milwaukee’s 58 games this season, second most on the team.
