• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Twins-Blue Jays Preview

Jul 5, 2010 - 9:51 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Minnesota (44-38) at Toronto (41-42), 7:07 p.m. EDT

While his team has struggled for consistency over the past month, Minnesota Twins starter Carl Pavano has produced a string of steady efforts.

The Twins could use another as their battle for the AL Central lead continues Tuesday night against the struggling Toronto Blue Jays.

Minnesota (44-38) held a 4 1/2-game lead over Detroit after Pavano's win June 9 but now trails the first-place Tigers by a half-game because of a subsequent 9-14 stretch.

Twins starters have a 5.10 ERA over that span, but their mustachioed right-hander is 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his last five starts. After outdueling former Cy Young Award winners Roy Halladay and Johan Santana in consecutive complete games on the road, Pavano allowed three runs - two earned - over 6 1-3 innings Thursday in a 5-4 loss to Tampa Bay.

Two of the runs he surrendered came with two outs.

"It's my job to close the door," he said. "I cost us the game."

Pavano (9-6, 3.30 ERA) has a 1.91 ERA on the road excluding his start at Toronto on May 18, when he was ripped for six runs and 10 hits in four innings of an 11-2 loss.

That defeat started what is currently a 6-13 funk away from home for the Twins.

The Blue Jays (41-42) had won 11 of 14 before splitting that two-game set with Minnesota. This time, they enter having lost 11 of 14, coming off a 1-6 road trip in which they batted .224 while their starting pitchers had a 6.21 ERA.

Tuesday's scheduled starter, Jesse Litsch (0-3, 6.98), lowered that mark temporarily by allowing two runs and four hits over six innings Wednesday against Cleveland, but was on the wrong end of a 3-1 defeat.

"It's bittersweet because we lost," Litsch told the team's official website. "Personally I felt good. I was able to throw all of my pitches for strikes. It was a lot better than last time (a 9-0 loss to Philadelphia on June 25)."

While the Blue Jays and their starter are trapped in a funk, both might be looking forward to this matchup.

Toronto has won 15 of 19 versus the Twins and 12 of 16 at home, while Litsch is 3-0 with a 3.10 ERA in five career starts against them.

Pavano, meanwhile, is 1-3 with an 8.69 ERA in his last four starts against the Blue Jays - all in Toronto. The right-hander is 3-5 with a 6.22 ERA in 10 all-time matchups.

Teammates Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, both named All-Star starters Sunday, have had much better fortune against the Blue Jays.

Mauer has batted .388 in his last 14 games against them and is a .396 lifetime hitter at Rogers Centre. Morneau, who had two homers in the previous series, has hit .354 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs in his last 25 matchups with Toronto.

Fellow All-Star Vernon Wells, meanwhile, is batting .413 with four homers and 12 RBIs in his last 17 home games against the Twins. He's also hit more home runs off Pavano than any other batter (four) while going 8 for 20 (.400).

Adam Lind has hit .368 in his career versus Minnesota, including .417 in nine home games.