The Indians' bats exploded against Twins starter Livan Hernandez to back up another strong start from Aaron Laffey and pave the way to a 12-2 victory at Progressive Field. The win was significant in that it gave the Tribe its first series victory since a sweep of the A's on May 13-15.

The day's news that Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield were both placed on the disabled list dictated that Kelly Shoppach and Jamey Carroll will step into more prominent roles, and that was not a bad thing for the Indians on this night. Shoppach got the Indians on the board with an RBI single in the second, and Carroll singled in his four at-bats.

With a 1-0 lead in hand, the Indians really got going against Hernandez in the third. After the Tribe loaded the bases on singles, Jhonny Peralta drove in a pair with a line-drive single to left. Shin-Soo Choo then broke the game open with a three-run homer to right to make it 6-0.

Grady Sizemore's solo shot in the fourth provided more damage off Hernandez, who gave up three seven runs on 12 hits in just three-plus innings of work. The Indians brought home three more runs against reliever Brian Bass in a fifth inning capped by Ben Francisco's two-run single.

It was more than enough for Laffey to cruise to his fourth win. He gave up just one run -- a Matt Macri solo homer in the fifth -- on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts in six innings.