CLEVELAND – The Minnesota Twins are winning, and enjoying every minute of it.

"Winning cures everything. The steaks go down better, the wine tastes better, and the sleep is better," said right fielder Torii Hunter, whose four hits led the streaking Twins to a 9-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians Friday night at Progressive Field.

Right-hander Mike Pelfrey pitched seven strong innings, and Hunter had a single, two doubles a home run and four RBIs. The Twins are 7-1 in the month of May and they have won 11 of their last 15 games.

Pelfrey held Cleveland to two runs on six hits, with two walks and no strikeouts, retiring 15 of the last 18 batters he faced.

Right-hander Trevor Bauer (2-1) pitched five innings and gave up five runs on nine hits to take the loss.

Leading 4-2, the Twins blew the game open with a four-run sixth inning. Catcher Kurt Suzuki led off the inning with a double, which knocked Bauer out of the game. Designated hitter Kennys Vargas singled off left-hander Nick Hagadone, sending Suzuki to third.

With one out and runners at first and third, center fielder Jordan Schafer bunted toward first baseman Carlos Santana, who booted the ball for an error.

Suzuki scored on the play, Vargas went to second and Schafer was safe at first. Shortstop Danny Santana drew a walk, loading the bases.

Right-hander Zach McAllister relieved Hagadone and struck out second baseman Brian Dozier for the second out.

But Hunter ripped a double into the gap in left-center, scoring all three runners and giving the Twins an 8-2 lead.

"Torii caught up to one and spread it out," said Cleveland manager Terry Francona.

"That was the big hit of the game," said Twins manager Paul Molitor. "I know Torii was thinking triple, but he wasn't going to get it."

Hunter said he wasn't necessarily thinking about pushing the envelope there for the triple that would have given him a cycle.

"I'm not going to get greedy there," he said.

Left fielder Michael Brantley homered in the eighth inning off right-hander Michael Tonkin to give the Indians their final run.

The Twins' last run came on a run-scoring wild pitch by right-hander Ryan Webb in the ninth inning.

The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Hunter, in his first career at bat against Bauer, doubled to center with one out. First baseman Joe Mauer singled to left, scoring Hunter with the first run of the game.

Minnesota made it 2-0 in the second. Suzuki led off with a double and scored on a one-out single by left fielder Eddie Rosario.

The Twins led off three of the first six innings with a double, and all three of those times the runner wound up scoring.

"To be a good team you've got to be able to score with a runner at second and no outs," said Molitor.

Cleveland scored twice in the third against Pelfrey. Second baseman Jason Kipnis led off with a walk and scored on a double off the left field wall by Santana.

Santana went to third on a groundout by Brantley and scored on a two-out single by third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall to make it 2-2.

The Twins broke the tie in the fourth, which began with a double to left-center field by third baseman Trevor Plouffe. One out later, Vargas' bloop single to center scored Plouffe to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead.

The Twins scored again in the fifth on Hunter's fourth home run of the season, a solo shot over the wall in left field off Bauer, to extend the lead to 4-2.

"Props to them, they hit everything," said Bauer. "They hit strikes. They hit balls."

NOTES: The Indians signed RHP Carlos Marmol to a minor league contract. Marmol, 32, was 0-3 with an 8.10 ERA in 15 relief appearances for Miami last year. He will report to the Indians' extended spring program in Goodyear, Ariz. ... Before Friday's game, the Indians placed INF Mike Aviles on the family medical emergency list and recalled INF/OF Zach Walters from Triple-A Columbus. ... LHP Bruce Chen's contract will be purchased from Columbus on Saturday and he will start against the Twins. The Indians will be the 37-year-old Chen's 11th major league team. ... LHP Glen Perkins is sixth on the Twins' career list with 98 saves. He needs seven more to pass Jeff Reardon (104) for fifth place.