MINNEAPOLIS -- Andrew Albers looked across the diamond at his opposing pitcher and saw everything he is not. It didnt matter one bit on Monday night. The Canadian left-hander threw a two-hitter in his second career start and the Minnesota Twins backed him with a pair of home runs in a 3-0 victory over Danny Salazar and the Cleveland Indians. Salazar is the prized prospect with the exploding fastball and knee-buckling changeup that has been blowing hitters away ever since the 23-year-old joined the organization. Albers is a soft-tossing, 27-year-old from North Battleford, Sask., who never met a radar gun that didnt snicker at his 86-mph heat. The matchup sure was lopsided -- for Albers. Albers (2-0) allowed two singles, struck out two and walked none. Hes thrown 17 1-3 straight scoreless innings in a start to his career that grows more improbable each time he takes the mound. "Im not a prototypical prospect," said Albers, who had Tommy John surgery in 2009, was released by the Padres and was playing independent ball in Quebec in 2010. "Im not a guy that goes out there and lights up a radar gun or throws devastating secondary stuff. But I can pitch a little bit and so far Ive been having a little bit of success." Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe homered to help the Twins win for the eighth time in 11 games. Salazar (1-1) gave up three runs and three hits, struck out five and walked three in four innings. The slumping Indians have lost seven of eight and are in danger of sliding out of the playoff chase. Jason Kipnis and Yan Gomes had the only hits for Cleveland. "He doesnt miss very many spots, and thats the key," Clevelands Michael Brantley said. "He kept us off balance. He threw the ball well tonight." Albers finally was called up to start in Kansas City on Aug. 6 and threw 8 1-3 scoreless innings. Mixing a fastball that topped out at 88 with a slow curveball that grazed 67, he flustered the Cleveland hitters all night and outshined the overpowering Salazar. "Its pretty unbelievable," Albers said. "I didnt think it could get any better than the last start. Now here we are and it did. It got a little bit better." The 23-year-old Salazar blazed through Clevelands minor league system, striking out 129 in 21 outings. That didnt stop when he got called up. A fastball in the high 90s, a superb changeup and the benefit of facing hitters who have never seen him before helped him rack up 17 strikeouts and only two walks in his first two starts. The velocity was there in start No. 3, but the command wasnt. Dozier hit Salazars second pitch of the game out of the park and Plouffe hit a 96-mph fastball out for a two-run homer in the second. Just when Salazar appeared to be settling in, he walked the bases loaded with one out in the fourth. He was able to wiggle out of the jam without allowing any runs, but with so much on the line for the Indians as September approaches, manager Terry Francona didnt leave him out there. Albers was ahead 0-2 on 10 of the first 20 batters he faced. He had a perfect game going until Kipnis blooped a soft single to centre field with two outs in the fourth and got some help from some spectacular defence along the way. Dozier laid out and hauled in a pop fly over his shoulder to get Carlos Santana in the fifth and shortstop Pedro Florimon made a brilliant sliding stop of a grounder up the middle in the seventh, then threw out Nick Swisher from his knees. "We saw how pitching is supposed to be done," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. NOTES: The Twins have scored their last 22 runs off home runs. ... The Indians placed INF Mark Reynolds on release waivers. ... Francona said LHP Scott Kazmir "is doing really well" after saying he had a "dead arm" in his previous start. The plan is for him to get an extra three days rest and start on Aug. 18 at Oakland. ... Twins press box attendant Peg Imhoff celebrated her 75th birthday on Monday night. Imhoff has worked for the Twins for 38 seasons. ... RHP Zach McAllister (4-7, 4.01 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Indians on Tuesday night against Twins RHP Samuel Deduno (7-5, 3.38 ERA).Custom Chris Paul Jersey . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Clippers Jerseys China . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. 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A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances.On Sunday, LeBron James was campaigning for presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in his native Ohio. On Wednesday, he was looking for answers after her loss to Donald Trump.He posted a message on his Instagram account saying in part: If we continue the faith (as hard as it may be to do so) we will BE ALRIGHT!! He posted a link to?Kendrick Lamars song titled, Alright.James went on to say:Parents and leaders of our children please let them know they can still change the world for the better! Dont lose a bit of faith! Theyre our future and we must remain stronger than ever!! Yes we all wanna lace up the boots, put on the hard hats and strike but thats not the answer. Love, genuine LOVE and FAITH will be the only thing that can get us through this.Minorities and Women in all please know that this isnt the end, its just a very challenging obstacle that we will overcome!! The man above will never put something in our paths that we can handle no matter how difficult it may feel/be! To all the youth out there I PROMISE Ill continue to lead u guys every single day without no hesitation!! Time to educate and even more mold my children into being the greatest model citizens they can become in life! They will continue the legacy beyond life! Lastly, Even if whos now in office doesnt, Know that I LOVE YOULL!!!James?Cleveland Cavaliers?teammate?J.R. Smith?shared a photo on Instagram of his daughter in front of the White House. In the posting, he said he wondered about the message she would take from the election.Elsewhere in the NBA, players and coaches also shared their opinions on Tuesdays presidential election.Detroit Pistons?coach Stan Van Gundy, noticing that his players were uncharacteristically quiet because they were thinking about the election, told the Detroit Free Press that Trump was openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic.I have problems with thinking that this is where we are as a country. Its tough on [the team], he said.Van Gundy went on to say, What we have done to minorities ... in this election is despicable. Im having a hard time dealing with it.?He later added: I dont know how you go about it, if youre a person of color today or a Latino. Because white society just said to you, again -- not like we havent forever -- but again, and emphatically, that I dont think you deserve equality. We dont think you deserve respect. And the same with women. Thats what we say today, as a country.?Van Gundy, however, said, We all have to find our way to move forward.Golden State Warriors forward David West, who called Trumps election as the 45th president of the United States disappointing, said a sports franchise would never hire someone with no experience to lead its team.Think about the way that NBA franchises protect themselves and NFL franchises protect themselves -- they would never hire a coach that has never been in the arena of that particular sport. And were talking sports, were talking about athletics.Even in high school, in college, an athletic director would never hire a coach to lead a football team thats never had any experience in football whatsoever, and we just put a person in the presidency who has no political experience.dddddddddddd Its crazy. Its really crazy. But like I said, he spoke the mind of the people, and you got to respect that, at the very least.Warriors coach Steve Kerr compared Trump to The Jerry Springer Show.?I thought we were better than this, Kerr said. I thought The Jerry Springer Show was The Jerry Springer Show. Watching the last debate, Trump would make a crack at [Hillary] Clinton, and you could hear the fans in the stands [makes Ohhhhh noise]. No he didnt. Yeah he did. This is a presidential election. Its not The Jerry Springer Show.While Kerr said he hopes Trump is a good president, he added, I have no idea what kind of president hell be, because he hasnt said anything about what hes going to do. We dont know. But its tough when you want there to be some respect and dignity and there hasnt been any.And then you walk into a room with your daughter and your wife -- who have basically been insulted by his comments -- and theyre distraught. And you walk in and you see the faces of your players, and most of them who have been insulted directly, as minorities. Its sure shocking. It really is.Kerr said the Warriors talked about the election outcome as a team on Wednesday morning.Asked if he was surprised by Trumps win, New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony replied, I wasnt surprised, to be honest with you.?The way things are going now in this country -- the educated, the uneducated, the people that were out there voting -- I wasnt surprised at that.Anthony said he talked to kids, including his own family, on Wednesday morning: You can just hear the nervousness. They are afraid and dont know what to think and people dont know what to do at this point. I think it is up to us as individuals to kind of take on that responsibility and everybody has to lead in their own way. We cant rely on a system or one person, and we got to move on from that.Watching his son fall asleep on Tuesday night, Anthony said he thought about the conversation ahead.What is that conversation? he asked out loud. That is the scary part for me, what is that conversation?LA Clippers?point guard Chris Paul?echoed Anthonys sentiment.?Being a father and parent, its tough, said Paul. You know, thing is [my son] comes home from school, the questions he asks -- we sat and we watched everything yesterday. It definitely makes you question things, evaluate different things.After his?Chicago Bulls lost to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, Dwyane Wade?was asked how he was able to block everything out heading into the game.?This is my job, he said. As a professional, I had to come in and do my job. The election happened. You cant change that. Were all professionals in here.We know what we got to do and thats what were going to continue to do -- is focus on what we can control, and thats the only thing that matters.ESPNs Chris Haynes, Ethan Sherwood Strauss, Ian Begley and Nick Friedell contributed to this report. ' ' '