CLEVELAND -- Max Kepler is powering his way into Rookie of the Year consideration.The German-born outfielder had three two-run homers and six RBI, leading Minnesota to a 12-5 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.Kepler became the fifth Twin ever and first since Justin Morneau in 2007 to homer three times in a game.Its a good feeling, he said. I was ecstatic. Ive had two before in the minors and once up here. I was real excited.Kepler homered off All-Star Danny Salazar in the first and third innings and hit another off Cody Anderson in the sixth. His was the 12th three-homer game in the majors this season.Kepler singled in the ninth off Zach McAllister to raise his average to .256. He began the season at Rochester but leads AL rookies in homers (14) and RBI (44). He has homered 13 times and driven in 37 runs since June 19.Salazar (11-4) lost for the first time since May 22 and will undergo an MRI on his right elbow Tuesday. He allowed three homers and was charged with six runs in two innings, the shortest outing of his career.Joe Mauer had four hits and homered in the eighth off Andrew Miller, who was making his first appearance with Cleveland after being acquired Sunday from the Yankees.Jose Berrios (2-1) retired 15 straight after a three-run first inning. The rookie right-hander, recalled from Triple-A Rochester before the game, allowed four hits in six innings.Miller received a standing ovation from the crowd of 15,018 when he ran in from the bullpen. He retired Kepler on a groundout, the only other batter he faced.Kepler had two chances for a fourth home run, but said that wasnt on his mind when he batted in the eighth and ninth.I wasnt trying for home runs, he said. I never do.You dont see three home runs all the time, Twins manager Paul Molitor said. Its fun to watch. He does a really nice job. Those balls basically are line drives that went really far.Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer in the eighth for the Indians, whose lead in the AL Central over idle Detroit was cut to four games. Minnesota is 6-4 this season against Cleveland.Eddie Rosario led off the second with a home run. Jorge Polanco had a three-run triple in the third and tripled again in the fifth.Salazar didnt pitch in the All-Star Game because the Indians wanted to rest his arm. He has allowed 10 runs in six innings over his last two outings.While manager Terry Francona doesnt think Salazar looks hurt, the pitcher wants to get it checked out.Its been there for a while but its getting worse, Salazar said. I want to find out whats going on so I know whats in there.START THEM UPThe Twins took the opener of the four-game series with 19 hits, matching a season high.We play a game thats unpredictable in a lot of ways, Molitor said. You come in here and face a team thats hot. You get a guy like Salazar out there facing a kid that just got called up. Circumstances dont look particularly bright, but you go play.TRAINERS ROOMTwins: OF Byron Buxton (right knee) is considered day-to-day after an MRI revealed no damage beyond an existing bone bruise.UP NEXTTwins: RHP Kyle Gibson went six innings and allowed two runs in his last start, a July 28 no-decision against Baltimore.Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco is scheduled to make his 100th career start. He is 5-2 with a 1.61 ERA in his last eight outings. Trevor Story Jersey .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Tyler Anderson Jersey . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. http://www.rockiesgearproshop.com/Rockies-Carlos-Gonzalez-Kids-Jersey/ . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. Nolan Arenado Jersey . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Kyle Freeland Jersey .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Argentina hope to get on top of Englands powerful scrum by seeing if they can heap the set-piece pressure on captain Dylan Hartley this weekend.Pumas lock Guido Petti hailed Englands tight-game as the thermometer of Eddie Jones resurgent troops, who are chasing a perfect winning run in 2016.Argentinas classic Bajada scrum technique directs all the force onto the opposing hooker, so England skipper Hartley could be in for a rough ride in Saturdays Twickenham Test.Second row Petti has watched Englands set-piece trials against South Africa and Fiji, and admitted Argentina will aim to impose their authority at the scrum this weekend.The thermometer of this England team is the forwards winning the physicality, said Petti. When they get control there they are very strong. The key in this match is going to be this. Lots of scrums, lots of mauls. The one who dominates these things will dominate the match.The forwards of England are very good, very powerful, very strong. Its good playing teams with these strengths. We want to play against the best and England are one of the best.The Pumas Bajada technique was developed in the 1960s and centres around the second rows binding around the props waists rather than between the legs.That, coupled with a sharply-orchestrated drive, centres the pressure on the opposing hooker. Petti admitted Hartley could feel the brunt of that old-school approach, should Argentina pull it out when the time is right at Twickenham.Yes we can do that, and maybe we have to think which scrums to fight and which ones not to, said Petti of Argentinas unorthodox scrummaging technique.ddddddddddddWe know that the scrum will be a very important area for this match. Our scrum has improved a lot in the past few matches. I think against Scotland we had a great scrum, but England is going to be more difficult.Their physicality is their strength. They are very aggressive. Dylan Hartley is a great player, hes very experienced and he knows how to lead England. But this will be a big battle, and one I think both sides will relish.Argentina know they must beat England to have any chance of avoiding the group of death at World Cup 2019. Victory would edge the Pumas up to eighth, with the World Cup pool draw taking place in May next year.This weekend represents Argentinas last chance to affect their ranking before that pool draw -- and the top eight teams can expect a softer allocation in May, being sorted into the top two pots.One of our objectives is to be in the top eight so our defeat to Scotland was not very good, said Petti. But we can turn things around if we win against England. It is going to be very difficult but we will give it our all.We are really confident despite having two losses on this northern tour. The rankings are very important, but also, if you want to be world champions then you have to beat everyone at some point.Being in the top eight was our objective for the end of the year. This is our last chance. ' ' '