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Diamond shines in Twins' blowout win

Jun 9, 2012 - 9:56 PM Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Despite a woeful starting pitching staff with the worst earned run average in baseball, Scott Diamond has been the lone bright spot of the Minnesota Twins' rotation as he continues to be rough on opposing hitters.

The 25-year-old rookie tossed six shutout innings Saturday, while Joe Mauer returned from a four-game absence and smacked three hits to go with a pair of RBI and a run scored as the Twins routed the Chicago Cubs, 11-3, in the second installment of a three-game interleague series.

Diamond (5-1) fanned five and surrendered seven hits for a Minnesota staff which had a 6.11 ERA coming in. The Canadian-born hurler lowered his ERA to a minuscule 1.61.

Trevor Plouffe had a solo homer, a two-run double and an RBI groundout for the surging Twins, who have won nine of their last 11 contests.

"This locker room is really positive even after a loss," Diamond said. "We're staying really positive and supporting each other the best we can."

Jeff Samardzija (5-4) allowed eight runs on nine hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings for the Cubs, who have dropped eight of their last nine.

"Losing, you can only take so much of it," said Cubs manager Dale Sveum. "Now it's just getting a little bit out of hand."

The Twins put across two runs in the second frame, six in the fourth, one in the fifth and two more in the sixth to jump out to an 11-0 lead.

Plouffe's groundout and Brian Dozier's RBI single gave the Twins a quick 2-0 edge in the second.

Minnesota registered seven hits in the six-run fourth. Plouffe smacked a two- run double, while Ryan Doumit, Denard Span and Mauer each added RBI doubles in the frame. Ben Revere beat out an infield single to account for the other tally.

Plouffe belted a solo shot into the bullpen in left-center to make it 9-0 in the fifth while Mauer and Josh Willingham registered a pair of RBI base hits in the sixth for an 11-0 advantage.

The Cubs finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh inning on Reed Johnson's RBI groundout and added two more in the eighth as Alfonso Soriano cracked a two-run homer to left.

Game Notes

The Cubs fell to 2-13 against left-handed starters this season, the worst mark in the majors...Willingham extended his hitting streak to 12 games...Chicago was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.