One of those rallies was brewing Wednesday night, but it came up short. The Indians used a three-run seventh to get back in the ballgame, only to fall, 8-5, to the Twins in front of 18,742 fans at Progressive Field.

Coming off an extraordinarily efficient outing against the Tigers, starter Paul Byrd was beaten up for six runs, five of which were earned, on six hits with a walk and a strikeout in just three innings of work. The Twins exploded on him with a five-run second inning in which Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer ripped consecutive RBI doubles and Jason Kubel hammered a two-run homer to center.

So the Indians found themselves in a 6-1 hole almost from the outset. Twins starter Nick Blackburn gave up an RBI double to Jamey Carroll in the second and a solo homer to Kelly Shoppach -- who replaced an injured Victor Martinez -- in the sixth, but that was it .

The Indians, though, were able to get back into this ballgame because of their bullpen and because of the Twins' bullpen. Scott Elarton, who has established himself as the club's go-to long reliever in such situations, turned in three scoreless innings of work. And when the Twins went to their 'pen in the seventh, the Tribe pounced.

With two on and two out in the seventh, Grady Sizemore came up, and the Twins turned to left-handed reliever Dennys Reyes, who hadn't allowed a homer all year. That changed in a hurry, as Sizemore hit a three-run shot to right to make it 6-5.

That's where the rally ended, however. Jesse Crain shut the Tribe down in the eighth and, after the Twins added two insurance runs off Joe Borowski in the ninth, Joe Nathan closed it out.