• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Twins-Blue Jays Preview

Sep 10, 2009 - 4:13 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Minnesota (69-69) at Toronto (62-76), 12:37 p.m. EDT

The Minnesota Twins need more victories quickly if they hope to get back in the AL Central race. Having Scott Baker on the mound has been the best way to get them.

Baker will try to win his eighth straight decision Thursday afternoon as the Twins look to end both their road trip and a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays with winning records.

In an unstable season for Minnesota's rotation, Baker (13-7, 4.34 ERA) has been a steady presence lately, going 7-0 with a 3.04 ERA in his last 11 starts.

He's also 11-1 in his last 18 outings, with the only loss over that span coming against the New York Yankees on July 7. The latest victory for the right-hander came Saturday at Cleveland, as he allowed one run and three hits in six innings of a 4-1 win.

"He's been our hottest pitcher," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's been running off wins. You want him out there."

It was during a difficult April that Baker faced the Blue Jays for the only time this year, opening his season by allowing six runs and four home runs in four innings of a 12-2 home loss April 15. That was his first outing after a stint on the disabled list with a shoulder problem.

The Twins (70-69) will certainly hope for a better effort Thursday as they try to cut into Detroit's 5 1/2-game division lead. They gained a game by beating Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay in Wednesday's 4-1 win, their second victory in the first three games of the series and third in the first six of the road trip.

Perhaps the most positive sign was Justin Morneau's go-ahead home run in the eighth off Halladay. It was just the second home run in 28 games for Morneau, who entered the at-bat in a 6-for-60 (.100) slump.

"I've been struggling for a while," Morneau said. "Hopefully it's something that gets me going, gets us going. We're still in this race, we still have a chance. Maybe one big hit can get us going in the right direction. To beat that guy, as good as he was, especially early in that game, is huge for us."

The Blue Jays will have a less menacing pitcher on the mound Thursday as they try to get left-hander Brett Cecil (6-4, 5.46) back on track following a series of disastrous outings. Cecil is 1-3 with a 10.06 ERA in his last four starts, allowing seven home runs in 17 innings in that stretch.

Saturday's 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees, in which the rookie threw 99 pitches while allowing three runs in 4 1-3 innings, was actually an improvement. He had given up at least six runs in each of his previous three starts.

"You can't pitch like that. You can't throw that many pitches," manager Cito Gaston told the Blue Jays' official Web site. "I think these kids are going to have to learn to throw strikes and trust themselves."

This will be Cecil's final start of the season as the Blue Jays try to limit his innings.

Toronto (62-77) has dropped 18 of 25, and Wednesday's attendance of 11,159 - even with Halladay pitching - was the smallest in the history of Rogers Centre, which opened in 1989.

"In order to get back to where we're going, we certainly need our fans out here," Gaston said.