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MINNEAPOLIS -- Justin Masterson had no regrets about the pitch that cost him his chance at a no-hitter. Masterson took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, Michael Brantley hit a bases-loaded triple and the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 7-1 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep. Masterson (11-7) had faced the minimum through six, allowing only a hit batter, when Brian Dozier led off the seventh with a broken-bat blooper to centre field that dunked in under the glove of a sliding Drew Stubbs for a double. That not only ended Mastersons attempt at making history, it briefly halted what had been a quick, decisive trip through the Twins lineup. Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana immediately went to the mound to check on the big right-hander. "He said, Maybe we should have started him off with a slider. I said, No, we wanted to challenge guys," Masterson said. "Thats what we do. I dont care if we have no hits or 100 hits, you still have to challenge guys. "Broken bat? Thats what you want. It falls in, but in my mind I get so many balls put in play Im like, somethings going to happen. Theres going to be a hit sometime. So lets just make sure when it does happen, we stay in our game and make sure it doesnt have a trickle-down effect," he added. Besides, by then the Indians were leading 6-0. "I thought what he did was good enough," manager Terry Francona said. The Indians led 3-0 on Mike Aviles sacrifice fly and two-run homer by Jason Kipnis when they loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on a walk to Kipnis and consecutive singles by Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana off starter Scott Diamond (5-9). With right-hander Anthony Swarzak warming in the bullpen, acting manager Terry Steinbach -- in charge because Ron Gardenhire had the flu -- visited Diamond on the mound. Diamond got Mark Reynolds to pop out to first for the second out, but Brantley hit a liner to the wall in right-centre for a standup triple that cleared the bases and ended Diamonds day. The Indians hit Diamond hard even when making outs -- 11 of the balls they put in play were solid line drives. That included Kipnis homer, which bounced off the top of the wall in left for his second opposite-field shot in two days. "My stuff was really bad," Diamond said. "I think I tried to overdo some things, and that kind of led to what happened." Diamond, the Twins best starter last season as a rookie (12-9, 3.59 ERA), gave up six runs, five earned, on seven hits and three walks as the left-hander lost his third straight decision. He hasnt won since beating the Chicago White Sox on June 20, and his ERA rose to 5.53. "It seemed like Is throw one pitch and not be able to come back with the next one," Diamond said. "It was just a matter of trying to focus and not overthink things. I just battled myself the whole time." The Twins scored when Dozier came in from third on Joe Mauers one-out grounder to second that was bobbled by Kipnis for an error, his second in two days. But the first-time All-Star also homered for the second time in two days. "When he hits the ball the other way hes getting rewarded for it and its creating a ton of confidence -- and it should," Francona said. "Right now hes keeping everything fair and hitting everything with authority, and thats a good recipe for success." Masterson, who hadnt pitched since a no-decision against Toronto on July 10, finished the seventh before being pulled after 91 pitches for right-hander C.C. Lee. Masterson, also selected to his first All-Star team this year, was charged with an earned run on one hit and struck out eight in his first victory since June 30 against the White Sox. He lowered his ERA to 3.60 with his 13th quality start of the season. Masterson plunked Aaron Hicks in the elbow in the third inning, but Hicks was thrown out attempting to steal for the second out and Pedro Florimon grounded out to end the inning. That was as much as the Twins could muster against Masterson until the seventh, when Dozier looped the first pitch into shallow centre. NOTES: Indians RHP Corey Kluber could have his next start pushed back a day after leaving Saturday nights 3-2 loss after five innings because of a hip injury. Kluber said Sunday his left hamstring tightened up on him during the game and was sore, but he didnt anticipate missing his next scheduled bullpen session Monday. ... Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe has struck out six straight times -- and he fanned seven times in the series. He was pulled in the eighth for pinch-hitter Doug Bernier, who walked to reach base for the first time in the majors. The infielder was 0 for 4 in two games with the Colorado Rockies in 2008. Stitched Golden Knights Jerseys . 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The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. NEW YORK -- It was a terrific night for American track athletes in Rio. Ashton Eaton won his second straight decathlon title, Ryan Crouser set an Olympic record in the shot put, Dalilah Muhammad became the first American woman ever to win gold in the 400-meter hurdles and Kerron Clement won the same race for men.Opening acts, each of them.NBC was waiting for one man, and one man only: Jamaicas Usain Bolt and his attempt to win his third straight Olympic gold medal in the 200-meter run, to match his third straight gold in the 100. Over and over, we saw camera shots of Bolt warming up or just waiting for his race to begin.Eatons achievement was the sort that have put past winners on cereal boxes, the decathlon gold medalist earning the unofficial title of greatest athlete in the world. On Thursday, coverage of his victory seemed strangely muted, even though there was more suspense involved than there was for Bolts race.We get it. Bolts a star, one of the greatest Olympians ever. The spotlight is his oxygen. And he delivered a terrific performance.Yet were not sure if it was the fourth replay of his race, the super slo-mo of him giving his signature pose, his pause to take selfies with fans or his interview wish that hed been faster that made us say, OK, were done. Time to move on.QUOTE: Many people here will be telling their grandchildren they saw the great Usain Bolt in person. -NBCs Tom Hammond.QUOTE: He said he wanted to cement his legacy. I dont think it needed any cement. -Hammond.QUOTE: It rained here. But the only Bolt was on the track. -Hammond.QUOTE: He simply has had no equal in terms of getting it done when the spotlight is at its greatest. -NBCs Ato Boldon.We get it! WE GET IT!WRESTLING: While it was good of Bob Costas to mention wrestler Helen Maroulis upset victory over Japans Saori Yoshida, NBC missed a great chance to show some flexibility in prime-time. Here was a first-time Olympian beating a three-time Olympic champion and winner of 16 straight major titles to become the first American woman with a wrestling medal. Set up the drama and show the entire match. Cut the two showings of an American relay team racing alone against the clock because of a mishap earlier in the day and turn that into a Costas voiceover.ddddddddddddUNKEN SWIMMERS: Who would have thought Ryan Lochte and his allegedly drunken band of American swimmers would turn into the biggest news story of the Games? Wise of NBC to lead its night with an update.WATCH OUT: The U.S. womens volleyball team had momentum and experience on its side heading into a fifth-set tiebreaker against Serbia on Thursday, and got out to a quick lead. But analyst Kevin Barnett was worried. They could have been up by 7-2, but the game was closer because of a couple of unforced errors. Keep this in mind, he said. His fears proved realized when the U.S. went on to lose.LACKLUSTER HOOPS: Its a win, thats all that matters, NBCs Marc Zumoff said after the U.S. womens basketball team qualified for the gold medal game by beating France. Such are the standards of a team on a 48-game winning streak dating to 1992 that a 19-point victory is deemed an artistic failure.FORFEIT: NBCs Tim Hutchings wasnt happy to see Javier Culson of Puerto Rico disqualified from the mens 400-meter hurdles for a false start. He could see a racer trying to grab an advantage in a shorter sprint, but didnt think thats what Culson was doing. Its a genuine error, Hutchings said, and I think the rules, frankly, could be more forgiving.RATINGS: With star power dimmed, the audience for NBCs prime-time Olympics coverage sank to its lowest level of the Rio de Janeiro games on Wednesday night by one measure. The Nielsen company said 20.7 million people watched NBC, with the number rising to 22.1 million when cable viewership and online streaming during the same time slot is added. The NBC-only viewership was slightly lower, at 20.6 million, on the first night of competition on Aug. 6, but adding in the additional Olympic content on other sources brought the total to 23.5 million. No matter how you measure it, thats significantly lower than the 29.1 million who watched the London Games in 2012 on the corresponding night.---Follow David Bauder at twitter.com/dbauder. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauder ' ' '