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Santana, Twins look to take rubber match vs. Marlins

Jun 24, 2007 - 2:30 PM Minnesota (37-35) at Florida (36-39), 1:05 pm EDT

MIAMI (Ticker) -- After losing their American League most valuable player, the Minnesota Twins will look to their Cy Young Award winner to carry the load.

Johan Santana and the Twins look to take the rubber match of their interleague series vs. the Florida Marlins on Sunday.

Minnesota lost 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau to bruised lungs when he collided with catcher Miguel Olivo in a 5-4 loss to Florida on Friday. However, the Twins bounced back to crush the Marlins, 11-1 on Saturday.

Santana takes the mound looking to duplicate his last effort. The two-time Cy Young Award winner shut down the New York Mets, 9-0, on Tuesday, allowing four hits for his first shutout since August 12, 2005.

He also improved to 15-4 with a 2.29 ERA in 34 career interleague appearances, 23 of which were starts. The lefthander won his only other start against the Marlins, a 12-7 victory in Minnesota on June 7, 2002, in which he gave up one run over 5 1/3 innings.

Florida counters with Byung-Hyun Kim, who is winless in his last start. The Korean righthander surrendered four runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-3 loss vs. Cleveland on July 13. He was then relegated to bullpen duty in his next appearance, going 2 2/3 innings while allowing two runs and four hits in a 10-6 loss against the Chicago White Sox on Monday.