CLEVELAND — The Twins have had uncertainty about their eighth-inning specialists since Pat Neshek went down with an elbow injury on May 8.

They’ve been hoping Jesse Crain could take over the role, but for the past month, there have been few, if any, of those classic bullpen save situations, where a starter turns over a tight lead for the relievers to protect for three or two innings.

Wednesday turned into that when Cleveland’s Grady Sizemore hit his three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning, trimming the Twins’ lead to 6-5. Crain got the next four outs and punctuated the performance by striking out the side in the eighth.

The Twins went on to an 8-5 win that snapped their six-game losing streak. Asked in general terms about the streak ending, Michael Cuddyer quickly mentioned Crain.

“To be able to get the victory tonight was big, and great job by Jesse to get nasty on those guys,” Cuddyer said. “We needed those strikeouts and he came in and was able to do that.”

Said Crain: “I’ve been feeling good the last 10 days or so. [Pitching coach Rick Anderson] and I talked about trying to calm down out there. So I just kind of relaxed. … Now that I’ve calmed myself down out there, and I’m not trying to do too much, it’s just come together.”

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