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Twins aim to keep rolling in San Francisco

Jun 21, 2011 - 3:12 PM (Sports Network) - After a horrendous beginning to their 2011 campaign, the Minnesota Twins have bounced back and are playing their best baseball of the season. The San Francisco Giants, on the other hand, are trying to recover from one of their poorest stretches of the year at the moment.

The resurgent Twins set their sights on an eighth consecutive victory when they pay a visit to AT&T Park to begin a three-game series with the reigning world champion Giants, who'll be taking the field tonight hoping to avoid a season-worst fifth straight loss.

Minnesota, which has captured the American League Central title in each of the past two seasons, had a woeful 17-37 record and was 15 1/2 games out of first place in the division race on June 1. The Twins have ripped off 14 wins in 16 contests since, however, and now trail surprising Cleveland by 7 1/2 games for the Central's top spot.

Excellent pitching has carried the Twins during this current hot streak. Minnesota has posted a 2.01 team earned run average thus far in June, tops among all major league teams for the month.

Carl Pavano has been particularly good on the mound of late, and the veteran hurler will be out to win a third consecutive decision when he toes the rubber for Minnesota in tonight's opener.

Pavano has gone 2-0 with a sensational 1.44 ERA in three June starts and tossed his second complete game over that span in Wednesday's 4-1 triumph over the Chicago White Sox. The right-hander yielded just six hits and struck out five in that outing to lower his season ERA to 4.20.

That impressive performance came a week after Pavano fired seven innings of one-run ball in a no-decision at Cleveland on June 8. Five days earlier, he went the distance on a nine-hitter to best Kansas City by a 5-2 count.

Pavano has had his problems on the road during the course of the year, however, and brings just a 1-4 record with a 5.58 ERA in eight away starts into this evening's tilt. The 35-year-old is 2-3 with a 4.89 ERA in eight lifetime games (seven starts) against San Francisco, though he hasn't faced the Giants since 2004 while then a member of the Florida Marlins.

Minnesota heads to San Francisco off an 8-1 homestand capped by a three-game sweep of lowly San Diego over the weekend. The Twins had to rally to prevail in Sunday's finale, though, scoring four times in the final three innings to overcome a two-run deficit and record a 5-4 win.

The Twins trailed 3-1 after six innings before moving ahead with a three-run seventh in which Rene Tosoni and Matt Tolbert stroked back-to-back RBI doubles to give Minnesota the lead. San Diego rebounded with a run in the top of the eighth to pull even, but the Twins would answer in their half of the ninth.

Delmon Young led off with an infield single off Padres reliever Chad Qualls and took second before Tsuyoshi Nishioka drew an intentional walk. Backup catcher Drew Butera then delivered a base hit to left to bring home Young with the deciding run.

"That's that 'never die' attitude," Butera said afterward. "That's the way we feel right now. We feel any situation in a game we can come back from."

Conversely, San Francisco's confidence seems a bit shaken following their recent results. The Giants have especially struggled on the offensive end, mustering a total of only seven runs and going 0-for-26 with men in scoring position during their four-game skid.

"We're going to have to get this offense going," manager Bruce Bochy remarked after Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Oakland. "It's been going like this for a while now."

The Giants had only five hits against Athletics pitching in yesterday's loss, with Aaron Rowand knocking in the team's only run with a second-inning double.

Sunday's anemic showing at the plate spoiled a strong effort from San Francisco starter Matt Cain, who limited Oakland to one run and just three hits through the first seven frames. Jeremy Affeldt was saddled with the loss after surrendering a go-ahead solo homer to the A's Landon Powell in the eighth.

"[Cain] did a heck of a job," said Bochy. "What a great game he threw."

Madison Bumgarner, who gets the call for Bochy's club tonight, has also been victimized by a lack of run support over the course of this season. The talented sophomore has compiled a solid 3.21 ERA in his 14 starts, yet has only a 3-8 record to show for it.

Bumgarner was able to get some offensive help in his last go-around, a 5-2 win at Arizona last Wednesday in which he permitted just two runs and fanned six over six innings. The young lefty gave up only three runs -- two earned -- over a combined 14 innings in his two previous starts, but lost both games because the Giants managed only a single run.

The 21-year-old will also be seeking his first victory at home in 2011, having gone 0-4 with a 3.74 ERA in six AT&T Park starts this season.

San Francisco won two of three bouts with the Twins when these teams last met at the Metrodome in 2005. Minnesota took two of three matchups from the Giants in their only prior trip to AT&T Park, which occurred in 2003.