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Silva, big third inning help Twins crush Marlins

Jun 24, 2007 - 3:42 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Carlos Silva finally got some run support and he took care of the rest.

Silva pitched seven outstanding innings and received help in the form of a five-run third inning as the Twins posted an 11-1 interleague victory over the Florida Marlins on Saturday.

Jeff Cirillo had four hits and Joe Mauer and Jason Bartlett each drove in three runs for Minnesota, which has won three of four.

"We were very good offensively," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "'We had some huge nights from Mauer, Torii Hunter, Cirillo and Bartlett. That's a pretty good formula when you can score some runs for your pitcher who's a strike thrower anyway."

Silva (5-8) yielded a run and a season-low four hits while striking out five. It was a much better performance than his previous outing ,when the big righthander surrendered four runs and a season-high tying 10 hits in an 8-1 loss to the New York Mets last Monday.

"The most important thing was I was mixing my pitches," Silva said. "I used every pitch. That was a big key today."

In five of Silva's last nine starts, the Twins scored one run or less, including getting shut out three times.

"Today was a good day," Silva said. "I had a lot of run support. I was more relaxed out there (because of it)."

Leading, 2-0, in the top of the third, Florida put the game away when it batted around. After Nick Punto walked, Mauer hit a run-scoring double to increase the lead. Later in the frame with the bases loaded, Cirillo hit a two-run double and Bartlett followed with a two-run single to give Minnesota a 7-0 bulge.

"The third inning was huge," Cirillo said. "I've never been on a team that plays the Marlins well here, I swear."

Cirillo was playing first base in place of 2006 American League MVP Justin Morneau, who was knocked out of Friday's game after a collision at home plate with Florida catcher Miguel Olivo.

"It's all about picking each other up when somebody goes down and tonight we were able to do that," Gardenhire said.

After coughing up blood, Morneau, who had 20 homers this season, was taken to a hospital for overnight observation for what was later described as a bruised lung.

"Even when we score (11) runs you can still see the big hole when we don't have Morneau out there," Silva said. "So I hope he gets well very soon because that the guy we're going to need."

The 26-year-old Morneau remained in the hospital Saturday night as well and will have X-rays taken Sunday morning as a precautionary move.

"Morneau's going to spend another night in the hospital," Gardenhire said. "I think they're going to do some more tests in the morning and if everything shows up OK, just precautionary stuff, they're going to release him."

Morneau is expected to miss several games.

"It was tough knowing Justin was going to be out," said Hunter, who came up a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. "But it's good that he won't be out a long time. We need him. We need him bad."

That was it for Florida starter Josh Johnson (0-2), who allowed seven runs, eight hits and three walks.

"We just beat the ball around tonight," Gardenhire said. "He (Johnson) struggled with his command and that gave us a chance."

The righthander, who was activated from the disabled list on Monday, has been shelled for 15 runs and 17 hits in two starts in 2007.

"I'm definitely not happy with the way I'm throwing the ball," Johnson said. "I've just got to go out there every day and do something that's going to help out my mechanics and make me become more competitive out there. I feel fine. I feel good, but I've got to go out there and be consistent."

With Minnesota leading, 7-1, in the sixth, a two-run double by Mauer and a run-scoring single by Jason Kubel made it 10-1. Kubel also had an RBI single and scored a run in the second inning.

Twins reserve catcher Chris Heintz added a run-scoring single in the eighth to finish the scoring.

Olivo and Hanley Ramirez each had two hits for the Marlins, who saw their three-game winning streak end.

"We've got 162 games," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It's one of those things where it's a good thing nobody got hurt. We'll just come out (next game) and play hard. We just hope every once in a while we'll get one our way ... and we will."