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Aug 16, 2009 - 1:31 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Cleveland (49-66) at Minnesota (56-59), 2:10 p.m. EDT

Joe Mauer is doing his best to keep the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central race. His teammates aren't giving him much help.

Mauer's fading Twins will look to avoid losing a fifth consecutive series Sunday afternoon when they wrap up a three-game set at the Metrodome against the Cleveland Indians.

Minnesota (56-60) was riding high after a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox from July 27-29 vaulted it into second place in the Central, two games behind Detroit.

The Twins, though, were on the other end of a sweep beginning July 31 against the Los Angeles Angels, and they haven't been the same since allowing 35 runs and 52 hits in that series. Minnesota has lost two of three in each of its last three series, a trend that will extend to four if it can't beat Cleveland (50-66) on Sunday.

The Indians only managed two hits in an 11-0 loss to the Twins on Friday, but bounced back with 13 hits Saturday in a 7-3 victory.

Minnesota's pitching staff has a 6.10 ERA in the last 14 games, the biggest reason manager Ron Gardenhire's club is 4-10 in that stretch despite Mauer's best efforts.

"When you're behind so much, it really makes it difficult," Gardenhire said. "You have to have some people go out there and stop 'em."

The majors' top hitter, Mauer batted .220 during a 15-game stretch from July 11-29 to drop his average to .354, but he's enjoyed a big resurgence in the last two weeks. Mauer had three hits including a homer in Saturday's loss to bump his average since July 31 to .500 (29 for 58) and increase his season average to .378.

He's hitting .581 in eight games against the Indians in 2009, and is 5 for 10 with a homer in his career against Aaron Laffey (6-3, 3.25 ERA), who will get the ball for the Indians on Sunday.

Though he's struggled to get Mauer out, Laffey hasn't had the same problem with the rest of the Twins' lineup. He's 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA in two home starts versus Minnesota this season, including an 8-1 win on Aug. 5 in which he allowed one unearned run over eight innings.

Laffey has won three of his last four starts, and hasn't yielded any earned runs in those victories. He followed his eight strong innings against the Twins by shutting down Texas on six hits over 6 2-3 innings Tuesday in a 5-0 victory.

"He's been more aggressive around the plate," manager Eric Wedge told the Indians' official Web site. "... It's the old adage - get ahead, stay ahead and keep pounding. That's what he's been doing."

While Laffey is 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA against Minnesota at home, he's 0-1 with a 7.53 ERA in three career starts at the Metrodome. The left-hander is 4-0 with a 1.51 ERA overall this season at Progressive Field, as opposed to 2-3 with a 4.95 ERA on the road.

Minnesota's scheduled starter Nick Blackburn (8-7, 3.99), meanwhile, has struggled lately regardless of where he's pitched. The right-hander is 0-3 with an 8.87 ERA in his last five starts. He lasted a season-low 1 2-3 innings Tuesday against Kansas City, yielding six runs in a 14-6 loss.

"Right now my pitches are a little bit flat and up. We just need to figure out what it is," he said. "It's embarrassing and frustrating. I'm getting tired of these outings."

Facing the Indians might be what Blackburn needs to get turned around. He's 4-1 with a 1.54 ERA in six career starts against Cleveland, and hasn't allowed more than two runs in any of those outings.