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Twins hope to gain some ground in doubleheader with Indians

Jul 18, 2011 - 2:52 PM (Sports Network) - Now's the time for the Minnesota Twins to gain some ground in the American League Central Division, as they kick off a four-game series today versus the Cleveland Indians with a doubleheader at Target Field.

Minnesota is five games behind AL Central co-leaders Cleveland and Detroit, while the Chicago White Sox are four games off the pace. The Twins won three of four meetings with Kansas City over the weekend and are coming off Sunday's 4-3 win in which Jim Thome clubbed his 596th career home run -- a three-run shot in the sixth inning.

"Anytime you win the ballgame it's important, especially this time of the year," Thome said. "We're trying to get back into this thing and they always played us well. Kansas City has a scrappy club."

Joe Mauer had two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Ben Revere and Alexi Casilla each ended with two hits and an RBI for Minnesota, which has won four of five and 12 of its last 16 games. Brian Duensing got the start for the Twins and managed to come away with the victory, tossing 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball. Alex Burnett, Glen Perkins and Joe Nathan held the Royals scoreless the rest of the way, with Nathan posting his fifth save.

Anthony Swarzak gets the call for the Twins in the opener of today's doubleheader and is 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 11 games (4 starts) this season. Swarzak defeated the White Sox his last time out on July 10 with six innings of one-run ball and five strikeouts. The right-hander is still searching for his first win against the Tribe as evidenced by his 0-2 mark in two starts.

Minnesota placed Scott Baker on the disabled list to open the door for Scott Diamond, who will toe the rubber in the nightcap. Diamond was 4-8 with a 4.70 ERA in 17 starts for Triple-A Rochester and will make his major league debut.

"We'll give [Diamond] a chance to kind of regroup, sit around here, see what it's all about, get a feel for a few more things," Twins manager Rod Gardenhire said of the left-hander. "We're facing the Cleveland Indians and he's being thrown into a fire here, so we'll see how he does. He's a nice- looking young pitcher."

Gardenhire's club will also host Detroit for four games on this 12-game residency.

Cleveland split a four-game series with Baltimore this weekend at Camden Yards to begin an eight-game road swing and is coming off Sunday's 8-3 loss.

Jeanmar Gomez started for the Tribe and allowed five runs and six hits, including three homers, in 5 1/3 innings to take the loss. Travis Hafner and Carlos Santana both homered for the Indians, who are tied with Detroit atop the AL Central standings and have lost five of seven games.

"We left way too many guys on base in this game," said Indians manager Manny Acta. "We got their starter out of the game by the third inning and weren't able to score any more runs. All that hurt us in the end."

Acta hopes David Huff can get the club back into the win column when he makes his season debut tonight. Huff is 8-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 17 outings for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers and recorded a 2-11 mark in 15 starts for the Indians a year ago. Huff, a lefty, is just 2-5 with a 6.57 earned run average in seven career starts against the Twins.

Fausto Carmona is expected to be activated off of the disabled list in time to toe the rubber in the nightcap. Carmona was bothered by a balky right quadriceps suffered against Cincinnati on July 2 and only missed one start. He hasn't experienced much success this season, however, going 4-10 with a 5.78 ERA in 18 starts.

Carmona is 1-7 in his last eight decisions and lasted just two innings against the Reds on July 2 because of the leg injury. He threw two scoreless innings before exiting. The right-hander lost at Minnesota back on April 23 in a 10-3 defeat and was reached for six runs and seven hits in five innings. Carmona is 4-9 with a 5.13 ERA in 19 career games (15 starts) in this matchup. He hasn't fared well on the road this season either, going 2-6 in 10 away assignments.

The Twins have beaten Cleveland four times in five tries this season and are 16-7 in the series since the start of the 2010 campaign.