CLEVELAND -- When the Indians released the news prior to Wednesday’s game that their slated starter, Carlos Carrasco, would be placed on the injured list indefinitely with a blood condition, Indians manager Terry Francona looked down at his lineup card with reliever Tyler Clippard penciled in to start a bullpen night.

“We need to try to go find a way to win tonight,” Francona said before the game. “That’s the best way I know how to do this. You get too far ahead, you know ... winning is harder for us than it was. Our margin for error is smaller, we know that, so you try to deal with it the best you can.”

They found a way.

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At the end of the sixth, the Indians were down by one, but after a one hour and 43 minute rain delay, the offense looked quite rejuvenated. A two-run blast by Jordan Luplow and a solo homer from Roberto Pérez lifted the Indians to a 9-7 victory over the Twins on Wednesday at Progressive Field, handing Minnesota its first series loss since May 3-5 against the Yankees.

“Yeah, we've had some tough news the other day,” Luplow said. “I think that's helped us come together as a team and let us know that this is a game. There's life out there. There's other people going to war, doing other stuff, fighting battles that we don't even know.

“I think for us, it's just going out and playing a kid's game. This is ultimately fun for us. There's not really any life-threatening thing going on during baseball. I think a lot of guys realize that and came out with a lot of energy and don't take anything for granted.”

Entering Wednesday’s contest, the Indians were 1-27 when trailing after six innings, but that energy helped them bump the “1” to a “2” in the win column. Even after the Twins tacked on another run in the top of the seventh after the delay, Cleveland’s bats battled back, as Carlos Santana led off the bottom half of the frame with a double before Luplow -- who finished the night a triple-shy of the cycle -- hit his eighth long ball of the year and his first off a right-handed pitcher.

“It's huge,” Luplow said. “You're always trying to build off hits or good at-bats and stuff like that. Santana put me in a good spot by battling. I think he drove an off-speed pitch off the wall and made it easier on myself.”

Two batters later, Perez set a new career high with his ninth home run of the season and his third go-ahead blast in the seventh inning or later of his career.

“When you play every day you get a chance to make adjustments and see how they’re attacking you throughout the series,” Perez said. “...I’m not trying to do too much. I know I’ve got nine homers, but I’m not looking for homers. I’m just trying to put the ball in play, take good at-bats and help my team win. I’m glad that I’m helping my team win.”

The power surge didn’t end there. The red-hot Francisco Lindor followed his two-homer night on Tuesday by launching a 415-foot smash to right-center field in the eighth to give the Indians a two-run lead. In his last 29 games, Lindor his hitting .345 with seven doubles, seven homers and 17 RBIs with a 1.021 OPS. Although Lindor has been a highlight over the first two games of the series, the biggest standout is the energy the team has on the field.

“We’ve gotten a little younger, we’ve gotten a little more inexperienced in some areas, but with that comes some of the youthful enthusiasm and that’s OK,” Francona said. “...That’s why I guess it’s been enjoyable. I mean we have some challenges. We’re pretty far behind the Twins, I get that. But I don’t want our guys coming to the ballpark with their tail between their legs. That doesn’t help anybody.”

The combination of Clippard, Tyler Olson, A.J. Cole, Nick Wittgren and Adam Cimber was enough to get the ball to closer Brad Hand with a two-run lead, and Hand recorded his 18th save of the season, as the Indians moved to 9 1/2 games behind the first-place Twins.

“You know, it turned a night that was long and challenging into a really fun night,” Francona said of the team’s comeback. “By the end of the game, it started so long ago, but all the relievers are back out there, or at least most of them. It was fun. Again, we’ve had our challenges thrown at us and we’ll probably have more, but tonight was a fun night to be part of us. I mean it was good for us.”