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McGowan, Wells more than enough as Jays cruise

Jul 25, 2007 - 3:37 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Dustin McGowan must have an affinity for the number 24.

McGowan tossed seven-plus scoreless innings and Vernon Wells had four RBI as the Toronto Blue Jays posted a 7-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

McGowan (7-5), whose birthday is March 24, lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning exactly one month ago against Colorado. He pitched another gem against the Twins, yielding just four hits and three walks over 7 1/3 innings, striking out five.

"It was not a very good ballgame by us, but I think McGowan had something to do with that," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He was really good. We knew he was going to be tough and he really pitched well against us."

"(McGowan) was filthy," Twins centerfielder Torii Hunter said. "He reminds me of Roy Halladay. He was hitting his corners, changing speeds and it was tough to do (anything) off him today."

The shutout was the third in four games for Toronto and eighth overall.

"The way you get on a roll is to combine that pitching and offense together. ... That's how you win ballgames," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "Right now, we're on a pretty good stretch."

The 25-year-old righthander had alternated wins and losses over his last seven starts before this outing and improved his July record to 3-1 with a 2.74 ERA.

"I'm just trying to be more consistent," said McGowan, who has now thrown 13 1/3 scoreless innings over his last two starts. "When you have a good start and then a bad one, it means you're not consistent. It's easy to go out there when you have your best stuff, but the hard part is winning when you don't have your best stuff."

Wells, who tallied 32 homers and 116 RBI last season, broke open a 1-0 Toronto lead in the fourth, as he sent a pitch from Twins starter Scott Baker (4-4) over the fence in left for a two-run home run and a 3-0 advantage, ending a personal 13-game stretch without an RBI and snapping a 14-game homerless streak.

"We're going to have to start swinging the bats as a group," Wells said. "The pitching has been there for us and, unfortunately, we haven't been swinging the bats well. This is an opportunity for us to gain some ground and help our pitching staff out."

With Toronto safely in front, 4-0, in the eighth, Wells capped off his solid game with a two-run double to deep center to increase the Blue Jays' bulge to 6-0.

John McDonald added two RBI for the Blue Jays, who reached the .500 mark (50-50) for the first time since June 28 (39-39).

Baker surrendered four and six hits with five strikeouts over seven frames, delaying the righthander his chance to match his career high of five wins that he set last season.

"Even though the outcome wasn't what we wanted, I made the adjustments which I was proud of," Baker said. "Regardless of what our offense is doing, I've got to stay within myself and know what I'm capable of doing. I think we just ran into a guy that's throwing the ball really well right now."

Joe Mauer and Rondell White each had two hits for the Twins, who were shut out for the ninth time this season, including four times in July, and have not scored in 12 consecutive innings. Minnesota has lost three straight and 12 of their 21 contests.