Twins cut Santana loose at Cleveland
Minnesota (6-3) at Cleveland (4-5), 7:10 p.m. CT
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com

The Twins will get their first look at the Indians this season when they begin a three-game series at Jacobs Field on Friday.

Left-hander Johan Santana will start for Minnesota against Cleveland's Jake Westbrook.

Santana gave up two runs on seven hits with a walk and 11 strikeouts in a 5-2 win over the White Sox on Sunday. Dating back to last season, the left-hander is riding a 15-game winning streak -- going 15-0 in 17 starts.

The Twins have won four in a row while Cleveland is coming off dropping two of three to the White Sox at home.

Pitching matchup
MIN: LHP Johan Santana
• 2-0, 4.50 ERA in 2005
• 1-0, 2.70 ERA in 2004 vs. CLE

CLE RHP Jake Westbrook
• 0-2, 7.20 ERA in 2005
• 1-2, 4.50 ERA in 2004 vs. MIN

Players to watch
Lew Ford is 6-for-10 (.600) lifetime against Westbrook. Meanwhile, Luis Rivas is 7-for-16 (.438) with one home run and four RBIs. Shannon Stewart is 7-for-19 (.368) with one homer and three RBIs.

Quotable
"A hard-nosed played series. Those guys are much like our team. They don't have too many big-boppers in their lineup, but they can put together a few hits, they score runs, they run around and put pressure on you. They have good pitching." -- Twins right fielder Jacque Jones on his expectations of the series at Cleveland

On television
• MIN: none
• CLE: FSN Ohio

On radio
• MIN: WCCO 830-AM
• CLE: WTAM 1100-AM

Quick hits
Jones had his third multi-RBI game of the season Thursday, the second time he has had two RBIs in a game. ... Mike Redmond had his first multi-RBI game Thursday since he had three RBIs May 21, 2004, vs. Arizona. ... Michael Cuddyer walked a career-high three times in Thursday's game.

On deck
• Sat: at Indians, 12:05 p.m. CT
• Sun: at Indians, 12:05 p.m. CT
• Mon: at White Sox, 7:05 p.m. CT