leveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Jason Kubel went 3-for-5 with two RBI to back five-plus strong innings from Kyle Gibson in the Minnesota Twins' 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians, the 1,000th win of manager Ron Gardenhire's career.
"My kids and my family are very, very excited," Gardenhire said. "They've been waiting for this."
Brian Dozier added a solo home run and Trevor Plouffe and Josmil Pinto also had an RBI apiece to help Gardenhire reach the milestone and allow the Twins to avenge a 7-2 defeat in Friday's series opener.
Gibson (1-0) yielded just a run on three hits and worked around four walks to outperform counterpart Carlos Carrasco (0-1), who was tagged for five runs -- four earned -- in 5 2/3 frames.
Nyjer Morgan finished 2-for-2 with two walks and Asdrubal Cabrera had an RBI double for the Indians.
"I guess I wish it would have come in the next series," Indians manager Terry Francona said of Gardenhire's 1000th win.
The Twins' offense gave Gibson all the support he needed by jumping on Carrasco for three runs in the top of the first inning, with Dozier quickly setting the tone by taking the righty's second pitch of the day over the wall in left.
Josh Willingham doubled two batters later and Plouffe extended the inning with a two-out walk before Kubel and Pinto delivered back-to-back run-scoring singles to stake Minnesota to a 3-0 lead.
Carrasco ran into more trouble in the third, hitting Chris Colabello with a pitch in front of Plouffe's RBI double into the gap in right center. A pair of passed balls from Indians catcher Yan Gomes enabled Plouffe to cross the plate for a 5-0 advantage.
Lonnie Chisenhall doubled in Cleveland's half of the third and came around on a Gibson wild pitch to get the Indians on the board, but the Tribe got little going offensively over the next five innings and eventually fell further behind.
After Brian Duensing and Jared Burton combined for three scoreless frames in relief of Gibson, Joe Mauer singled in the top of the ninth and scored on a wild pitch for a 6-1 Twins' lead. Kubel knocked in Colabello with a single for Minnesota's final run shortly afterward.
Cabrera doubled home Carlos Santana against Twins closer Glen Perkins in the bottom of the ninth and was brought home on a Gomes sacrifice fly.
Game Notes
Gardenhire joins Tom Kelly as the only Twins managers to reach the 1,000-win milestone and is the first active skipper to accomplish the feat since Cleveland's Terry Francona did so with Boston on July 23, 2011 ... Carrasco has failed to record a win in any of his last 14 starts, going 0-10 with four no-decisions over that stretch ... Minnesota snapped a seven-game losing streak to Cleveland dating back to last season ... Twins outfielder Oswaldo Arcia missed the game due to an injured right wrist ... Mauer finished 2- for-5.
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