The Twins pulled off their second straight sweep and improved their record to 34-34 with a late inning offensive rally against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon. Johan Santana, as usual, was strong—allowing 1 run through 7 innings. It looked like he might again fall victim to a lack of run support, but the Twins rallied for 4 runs in the top of the 8th inning.

The Twins scored their first run on a solo homerun from Torii Hunter in the 7th. Luis Castillo started a 2-out rally in the eigth with an infield single. Nick Punto bunted and pitcher Oliver Perez couldn't pick up the ball. Mike Redmond singled to pu the Twins in the lead. Michael Cuddyer took a pitch to his wrist to load the bases and Justin Morneau followed up with a bases-clearing double to the gap.

The Twins added 3 runs in the 9th inning to make the close game look a bit more lopsided. Wilie Eyre allowed Jason Bay's 20th homer of the season—a solo shot—in the bottom of the ninth.

Game Notes

• Joe Mauer had his first day off in a while. The Twins are also off tomorrow which should provide him with a nice rest.
• Santana improved to 7-4 on the season
• Justin Morneau was 1-5. His 3 RBIs gives him 56 on the season. He's on pace for an impressive 142 for the season. He also has a 10-game hitting streak going.
• Mike Redmond picked up an RBI in each of his last two at-bats.
• Luis Castillo picked up 2 infield hits late in the game.

Tough Division

The Twins are 9-1 in their last 10 games, yet Detroit and Chicago haven't allowed them to gain any ground in the division. They're still 11 games out. Regardless of how well the Twins continue to play, they're going to need at least one of those two teams to stumble.

Heading to Houstin

The Twins will have a tough series in Houston this week. They'll start off the series with a Brad Radke vs. Roy Oswalt matchup and end the series on Thursday with Francisco Liriano facing Roger Clemens in his season debut.