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Jun 24, 2009 - 5:48 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Minnesota (35-36) at Milwaukee (37-32), 8:05 p.m. EDT

Nick Blackburn continues to make his case for becoming the new ace of the Minnesota Twins' rotation.

Coming off his first complete game, the right-hander looks for a fifth consecutive winning decision while trying to help the Twins record a sixth straight victory over the struggling Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night at Miller Park.

Blackburn (6-2, 3.09 ERA) allowed one run and six hits in a 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday for Minnesota's first complete game since Kevin Slowey did it July 28.

Though Slowey has won 10 games for the Twins (36-36) this season, his ERA is almost a run higher than that of Blackburn, who's 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his last eight starts.

"(Blackburn's) basically been the stabilizer," pitching coach Rick Anderson told the Twins' official Web site. "It's always nice with a sinkerball guy, because they've got a chance to get you deep in the game."

Blackburn's also fared well in interleague action, going 3-0 with a 3.25 ERA in four starts. His only rough outing came against the Brewers last season when he gave up six runs and nine hits - including four homers - in 4 2-3 innings of a 7-6 win over Milwaukee.

In Tuesday's series opener, Joe Crede, Carlos Gomez and Brendan Harris combined for six RBIs in the Twins' 7-3 victory over Milwaukee (37-33), which matched a season high with its fourth straight loss.

Crede drove in three runs and is batting .400 (6 for 15) with six RBIs in four games versus the Brewers this season.

Minnesota improved to 9-4 in interleague play and 4-0 versus Milwaukee this season despite Joe Mauer going hitless in five at-bats. The star catcher is batting .395, and went 3 for 3 with a homer last month against Milwaukee starter Braden Looper, who is 1-6 with a 7.74 ERA in 10 interleague starts.

Looper (5-4, 5.21), who hasn't won since May 29, looks to bounce back from his worst outing of the season after allowing seven runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings of a 10-4 loss at Detroit on Friday.

"Basically, I stunk," said Looper, who is 0-1 with a 7.97 ERA in his last four starts. "Right now even when I feel like I pitch really good, I give up a few runs."

The right-hander allowed four earned runs in six innings of a 6-2 loss at Minnesota on May 23 in his only previous start versus the Twins.

Mike Cameron had two RBIs on Tuesday for Milwaukee, which has been outscored 29-14 during their current skid, and 30-11 versus Minnesota this season.

The Brewers, who are coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tigers, are batting .235 while posting a 6.82 ERA against Minnesota in the four games.

This series began and will continue despite some severe flooding over the weekend that damaged areas of the lower level of Miller Park, including parts of both clubhouses.

"They did a super job of trying to get it ready for us best they can under real tough circumstances," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.