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Twins close out tough road trip vs. Indians

Jul 27, 2008 - 2:14 PM Minnesota (56-47) at Cleveland (45-57) 1:10 pm. EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Twins look to close out a tough six-game road trip on a high note on Sunday against the Cleveland Indians.

Minnesota, which trails Chicago (59-43) by 3 1/2 games for first place in the American League Central, snapped a five-game skid with an 11-4 victory on Saturday. Brian Buscher homered and drove in a career-high five RBI and Delmon Young drove in a pair of runs as the Twins won for the first time since July 19.

"We haven't been able to shake hands (after a game) for a while," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "This was a nice win for us."

The Twins have not been able to shake hands after Nick Blackburn's last two starts. Blackburn (7-6, 3.83 ERA), who is looking to avoid a third straight loss, is coming off his shortest outing of the season. The 26-year-old righthander was tagged for six runs in1 2/3 innings of a 12-4 loss to New York on Monday.

Blackburn will face a Cleveland team that traded its best run-producer. The Indians, who are 14 games out of first place, traded third baseman Casey Blake to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a pair of prospects on Saturday. Blake led the team with a .289 average and 58 RBI.

The Indians are looking toward the future, and Jeremy Sowers (1-5, 6.44) is one of the young pitchers they are trying to develop. Sowers picked up his first win since May of 2007 on July 19 when he allowed four runs and five hits in six innings of a 9-6 win over Seattle on July 19.