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Perkins pitches Twins past Yankees

Aug 12, 2008 - 6:22 AM By Jon Avise PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- On Monday morning, an exhausted Glen Perkins celebrated the birth of his second daughter by passing out nearly 50 cigars to teammates, coaches and Minnesota Twins personnel.

However, the 25-year-old lefthander was celebrating during the night for a different reason: a return to first place by Minnesota.

Perkins tossed eight sterling innings and was supported by Adam Everett's unlikely home run as the Twins shut out the struggling New York Yankees, 4-0, in the opener of a three-game set at the Metrodome.

Perkins (9-3) surrendered four hits and struck our four as he rolled to his seventh win in the last eight decisions. More importantly, he helped put Minnesota back into first place by one-half game in the American League Central Division thanks to a loss by the Chicago White Sox.

The Twins' victory came just 25 hours after Perkins watched his wife deliver baby No. 2 in the family.

"You're tired and you're all those things, but to be able to do that on the day after you have a baby, that's pretty special," Perkins said.

Everett, who entered the game hitting .209 and having spent roughly two months of 2008 on the disabled list, gave the Twins a 2-0 lead with his 363-foot shot that barely cleared the left-center field fence in the second.

The shortstop's blast came a day after he committed a costly eighth-inning throwing error which allowed the Kansas City Royals to tie the game - a contest the Twins eventually lost in the 12th inning.

"I personally felt like I handed that ballgame to the Royals," Everett said. "The way that game kind of slipped through our hands, and you know, I had something to do with it. That was tough for me. Didn't sleep real well last night."

Minnesota added to its lead in the sixth when Joe Mauer's sacrifice fly scored speedy outfielder Denard Span, who had led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on Nick Punto's sacrifice bunt.

Mauer drove in his second run of the game in the eighth when Span motored home from second on an infield single up the middle that Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was unable to make a play on.

New York, a loser of four straight and 11 of its last 16 games, had its chances. Perkins wiggled out of a two-on, no-out jam in the second, inducing Melky Cabrera to ground into a 6-4-3, inning-ending double play. He walked three, but allowed just one hit after that frame.

His eight near-flawless innings also gave Minnesota's bullpen, beleaguered after Sunday's 12-inning affair, a much-needed break.

"You can't ask for much more than that," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who picked up his 600th win since obtaining the job in 2002. "We needed that, our bullpen needed that."

In just his second loss since May 26, Sidney Ponson allowed four runs and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings. The righthander has received five runs of support over his last three outings in which he is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA.

Over his career, the veteran is now 11-3 against Minnesota.

"Really, you could say that's as good a game as he has pitched," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "The results maybe don't show it ? but he pitched a heck of a game."

Despite his home run, Everett concurred Ponson (7-3) was tough to solve.

"He sinks the ball, the ball just falls off the table with him," Everett said. "I just kept battling and battling and just happened to hit it in the air. ? And it just happened to go over the wall."