Guardians 3 - 4 Twins
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Twins send Pavano to hill in finale vs. Tribe

Apr 24, 2011 - 3:31 PM

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(Sports Network) - Carl Pavano aims to bounce back from an awful showing on the mound as he takes the ball for the Minnesota Twins today in the finale of their series against the Cleveland Indians at Target Field.

Pavano was lit up for eight hits and eight runs -- seven earned -- over 4 2/3 innings in Minnesota's 11-0 loss at Baltimore on Tuesday. The veteran right- hander had allowed a combined one run over 16 innings in his previous two outings.

Over his career, Pavano has compiled a 2-2 mark with a 2.78 ERA against the Indians.

After giving up 10 hits and seven runs in his first start of the season, Carlos Carrasco has yielded three runs or less in his last three outings. He gets the starting assignment today for the Indians. The right-hander from Venezuela is coming off a no-decision at Kansas City on Monday. In that game, Carrasco allowed seven hits and three runs over 6 1/3 innings. He's 0-1 with a 2.03 ERA in two starts all-time against the Twins.

Even though this three-game series has been trimmed to two games because of Friday's rainout, the Twins will try to continue their success against the Indians today. They've beaten the Tribe six straight times and this afternoon aim to deal Cleveland its first three-game skid this season.

On Saturday, Jason Kubel knocked in three runs and Brian Duensing pitched seven strong innings in Minnesota's 10-3 victory.

Jason Repko and Justin Morneau each knocked in a pair of runs and Danny Valencia clubbed a two-run homer for the Twins, who have won two in a row and four of their last six. Denard Span singled twice, walked and scored three times in the victory. Minnesota hadn't scored more than five runs in a game this season.

"It's a nice way to get a homestand going," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. "We put some runs on the board and took some pressure off the pitcher. Today our at-bats were better. Hopefully, we'll continue that."

Grady Sizemore homered for the Indians, who have lost three of their last four.

Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona was knocked around for six runs on seven hits and four walks in five innings.

"I felt like he wasn't aggressive enough in the zone and that kind of cost him," said Indians manager Manny Acta.

Minnesota was 12-6 against the Indians last season and has won 16 of the last 22 meetings in the series.






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