Final
Twins hope to get on track at home vs. Dodgers
Jun 27, 2011 - 2:31 PM (Sports Network) - The Minnesota Twins are hoping a return to the Twin Cities will cure what ails them, as they begin a nine-game homestand tonight with the first of three straight meetings with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Target Field.Minnesota was riding an eight-game winning streak, including seven in a row at home, before losing the last five tests of a six-game road trip. The Twins were just swept in three games at Milwaukee over the weekend and suffered a 6-2 setback in Sunday's series finale from Miller Park.
Carl Pavano had a rough outing for the Twins and allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk over six innings to absorb the loss. He also struck out five batters in falling to 5-6 this season and had won three of his previous four starts. Jason Repko and Jim Thome each knocked in a run in defeat, Minnesota's seventh straight to the Brewers.
"Ugly ballgame for us," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Defensively, we made way too many mistakes and we had other plays we didn't make that weren't called errors. That will end up killing you. We were pretty sloppy in this series."
Gardenhire may send catcher Joe Mauer to first base in order to keep him in the lineup. Mauer, the 2009 AL MVP, is expected to start working out at first base this week and may even get some work across the diamond at third base. The Twins will also host Milwaukee and Tampa Bay on this lengthy homestand.
Nick Blackburn will handle pitching duties for Minnesota tonight and was 5-0 with a 2.29 ERA in nine starts before a 5-1 loss at San Francisco last Wednesday. Blackburn allowed three runs -- two earned -- and four hits in six innings to suffer the loss, falling to 6-5 in 15 starts with a 3.15 ERA.
Blackburn, a right-hander, is 2-2 in six starts at home this season and will face Los Angeles for the first time.
The Dodgers went just 4-8 on a season-long 12-game, 14-day homestand and will kick off a six-game road trip tonight against the Twins and Angels. They ended a three-game slide and salvaged the finale of a three-game set versus the Halos with Sunday's 3-2 win on an RBI single from Tony Gwynn Jr.
Aaron Miles tied the game with a sacrifice fly earlier in the inning, scoring Dee Gordon, while Gwynn ended with three hits and two RBI for Los Angeles, which received a complete-game performance from Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw lifted his record to 8-3 with his second straight complete game and held the Angels to a pair of runs on six hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts.
"Great game," Kershaw said after his 100th career start. "I was fortunate to get out of some lead-off walk situations. Tony picked me up today. It was a significant win."
Dodgers first baseman James Loney went 0-for-4 in Sunday's win, but has still hit safely in seven of his last eight games with five multi-hit efforts over that span. He entered the game batting .339 since April 26.
Los Angeles is 9 1/2 games off the pace in the NL West and will send Chad Billingsley to the mound Monday. Billingsley ended a two-start slide the last time out and won for the fourth time in six starts in Tuesday's 6-1 victory over Detroit. He allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings that day, improving to 6-6 in 16 starts to go along with a 4.48 ERA.'
Billingsley is 3-3 in eight starts on the road and lost his only appearance against the Twins on June 26, 2006. The right-hander was reached for six runs on seven hits and seven walks in 5 2/3 innings of an 8-2 loss.
The Twins swept that three-game series in 2006 at the Metrodome after the Dodgers won two of three meetings in LA from June 10-12, 2005 at Chavez Ravine.
- LOS ANGELES: 15
MINNESOTA: 0
Final
Jun 27 11:16 PM - Dioner Navarro sacrifice fly out to right scored Dee Gordon. Runners on first and second and with two outs and Aaron Miles due up.
Dodgers 15, Twins 0 Top 8, 2 OutsJun 27 10:48 PM - Tony Gwynn Jr. singled to center scoring A.J. Ellis. On the play, Dee Gordon advances to third. Runners on first and third with one out and Casey Blake due up.
Dodgers 14, Twins 0 Top 8, 1 OutJun 27 10:44 PM - Dee Gordon doubled to right scoring Trent Oeltjen. On the play, A.J. Ellis advances to third. Runners on second and third with one out and Tony Gwynn Jr. due up.
Dodgers 13, Twins 0 Top 8, 1 OutJun 27 10:42 PM - Matt Kemp two-out, solo Home Run (22) to center. James Loney due up.
Dodgers 12, Twins 0 Top 7, 2 OutsJun 27 10:25 PM - Trent Oeltjen sacrifice fly out to left scored James Loney. Runner on second with one out and A.J. Ellis due up.
Dodgers 10, Twins 0 Top 6, 1 OutJun 27 10:03 PM - Juan Uribe singled to right scoring Matt Kemp. On the play, Uribe advances to second on Michael Cuddyer's fielding error. On the play, James Loney advances to third. Runners on second and third with none out and Trent Oeltjen due up.
Dodgers 9, Twins 0 Top 6, 0 OutsJun 27 9:58 PM - Anthony Swarzak's wild pitch scored A.J. Ellis. Casey Blake advances to second on a wild pitch. Dee Gordon advances to third on a wild pitch. Runners on second and third and with two outs and Andre Ethier at the plate.
Dodgers 8, Twins 0 Top 5, 2 OutsJun 27 9:40 PM - Dee Gordon singled to center scoringd Trent Oeltjen. On the play, A.J. Ellis advances to second. Runners on first and second with one out and Tony Gwynn Jr. due up.
Dodgers 7, Twins 0 Top 5, 1 OutJun 27 9:35 PM - A.J. Ellis singled to center scoring Juan Uribe. On the play, Trent Oeltjen advances to second. Runners on first and second with one out and Dee Gordon due up.
Dodgers 6, Twins 0 Top 5, 1 OutJun 27 9:31 PM - Casey Blake singled to left scoring Tony Gwynn Jr. Runner on first with two outs and Andre Ethier due up.
Dodgers 5, Twins 0 Top 4, 2 OutsJun 27 9:12 PM - Trent Oeltjen lead-off Home Run (1) to right. A.J. Ellis due up.
Dodgers 4, Twins 0 Top 4, 0 OutsJun 27 9:06 PM - James Loney singled to right scoring Andre Ethier. On the play, Matt Kemp advances to third. Runners on first and third with two outs and Juan Uribe due up.
Dodgers 3, Twins 0 Top 3, 2 OutsJun 27 8:51 PM - Matt Kemp doubled to right center scoring Andre Ethier. On the play, Matt Kemp was tagged out in between second and third. None on with two outs and James Loney due up.
Dodgers 2, Twins 0 Top 1, 2 OutsJun 27 8:18 PM - Andre Ethier reached first on Tsuyoshi Nishioka's fielding error scoring Tony Gwynn Jr. Runner on first with one out and Matt Kemp due up. NOTE: Credit Ethier with an RBI.
Dodgers 1, Twins 0 Top 1, 1 OutJun 27 8:15 PM - LOS ANGELES: 0
MINNESOTA: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
Jun 27 8:11 PM
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