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Apr 29, 2010 - 11:14 PM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Minnesota (14-7) at Cleveland (9-12), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The Cleveland Indians hoped Fausto Carmona's first three starts were a sign he was primed for a turnaround after two disastrous seasons.

His latest outing seemed to be an even better indicator that he's back.

Carmona looks to continue his impressive start when the Indians begin a three-game home set with the first-place Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Carmona (3-0, 2.96 ERA) finished fourth in the 2007 AL Cy Young Award voting after going 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA, but the right-hander struggled with his control in going 13-19 with a 5.89 ERA the past two seasons.

He gave up only 12 hits in his first three outings in April but also walked 12 before regaining his command Saturday at Oakland. Carmona allowed seven hits and one run over 7 1-3 walk-free innings in a 6-1 win.

"I feel good," Carmona said. "I worked on my mechanics and throwing strikes. That's the key to the game for me. (Today) I was thinking about throwing strikes and keeping the ball down."

Carmona is 22-12 with a 3.78 ERA in the 42 starts where he's walked two or fewer since 2007.

Any lapses in his control could turn out to cost Carmona against the Twins (14-8). He's 0-4 with a 10.80 ERA in his last five starts versus Minnesota, walking 14.

Two of the Twins' big bats have thrived against Carmona. Jason Kubel is 10 for 26 (.385) with two homers, while Joe Mauer has reached base in 11 of 21 plate appearances.

Justin Morneau, the majors' leader with a .495 on-base percentage, hasn't been as successful against Carmona (.261), and he's banged up heading into this series. Morneau tweaked his back Tuesday in Detroit and was kept out of the lineup for the series' final two games.

Mauer also got a day off Thursday, but the struggling Kubel (.206) and the rest of the lineup couldn't pick up the slack. The Twins lost their first series after managing four singles in a 3-0 loss.

Cleveland (9-12) returns home from a nine-game road trip that began at Target Field, where it lost two of three. The Indians repeated that feat in Oakland and again dropped two of three in Los Angeles, where the Angels capped the series with a 4-3 victory Wednesday.

Cleveland scored two or fewer runs five times on the trip, but Austin Kearns certainly did his part offensively. The journeyman outfielder hit .414 with two homers and nine RBIs, and he and Shin-Soo Choo have combined for 25 of the team's 71 RBIs.

Nick Blackburn was set to start this game for Minnesota, but he left the team Thursday to attend to a family matter. That means Kevin Slowey (2-2, 3.42) will move up in the rotation and look to bounce back from Sunday's start in Kansas City, where he gave up four runs and eight hits over 5 1-3 innings in a 4-3 loss.

Matching up against the Indians could be just what he needs. Slowey gave up one run and struck out nine over eight innings in a 5-1 win April 20, improving to 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his last three starts versus Cleveland.