Indians
Carlos Santana is the first player to hit five home runs in a series (vs. the Royals) since Hunter Pence for San Francisco against the Dodgers on Sept. 12-15, 2013. Santana tied an Indians record for most home runs in a series. The others were Hal Trosky (1934), Joe Carter (1989), Albert Belle (1995), Matt Williams (1997), and Travis Hafner (2004). Hafner did it in two-game series against the Angels. … As CF Michael Bourn rehabs his surgically repaired left hamstring, manager Terry Francona is trying to let the speedster recover at his own pace. Bourn has been on the DL since July 6.
Royals
Bruce Chen (2-3) got his 45th career pickoff, which ranks fourth among active pitchers. … James Shields (9-6) threw his most pitches as a member of the Royals, and the 124 tied for the third-most of his career. It was the most by a Royals pitcher since May 8, 2010, when Gil Meche threw 128 pitches in a 3-2 loss at Texas. “They (the Twins) were sitting on some really good pitches,” Shields said. “Their plate discipline was phenomenal tonight.” The 124 pitches was two shy of his career high.
Tigers
Manager Brad Ausmus on Miguel Cabrera, the former AL MVP: “He’s been a little frustrated all year because of the post-surgery. Everything isn’t in sync for him, and he’s having trouble right now.”
Twins
In one of their craziest scouting experiences, the Twins reached a deal with a 24-year-old pitching prospect who has thrown 100 mile per hour fastballs but has never been drafted. Brandon Poulson was pitching earlier last month for the Healdsburg Prune Packers in a collegiate summer league. His manager was Joey Gomes, the brother of big leaguer Jonny Gomes. Now, the Twins are giving him $250,000. “It’s a great story,” Twins West Coast scouting supervisor Sean Johnson said. “This kid came out of nowhere.” The Twins knew about Poulson from his recent season with Academy of Art University, where he had an 8.38 ERA for the San Francisco school.
White Sox
Reliever Matt Lindstrom (left ankle) threw batting practice to outfielder Avisail Garcia (left shoulder) before a game. Garcia has not played since early April, and Lindstrom has been out since mid-May. … Jose Abreu homered, drove in four runs — and accomplished something nobody on the White Sox had managed in 94 years. Abreu’s three-hit night extended his hitting streak to 18 games. After Tuesday night’s game, Abreu had hit safely in 36 of his last 37 games for his second 18-game streak of the year. The only other player with two 18-game hitting streaks in a season for the White Sox was Hall of Famer Eddie Collins, who had runs of 21 and 22 games in 1920. Collins was already a seasoned veteran by that point. Abreu is in his first year in the majors.
Compiled by Rick Crotts from wire reports.
