The Twins finished off their sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday with another stellar outing from Glen Perkins. The win moved them to 7-7 and just a game back of the trio of leaders in the division; Kansas City, Detroit and Chicago are all 7-5.

Glen Perkins needed just 84 pitches to complete 8 innings for the 3rd time in 3 starts. He gave way to Joe Nathan in the 9th. Two consecutive good starts combined with an off day on Monday will lead to a well rested bullpen when the Twins open a 2-game series in Boston.

Perkins took a line drive off his leg, just above the knee in the seventh inning. After hobbling around to shake off the pain for a couple minutes he completed the inning and then came back for the 8th. I'm sure he has a nice bruise there today, but he'll be fine.

The Angels are not playing well at this point in the season are are dealing with injuries and of course the death of Nick Adenhart, so that obviously factored a bit into the sweep. Nevertheless, the Twins are playing better ball the past couple days. News came that Joe Mauer will beging playing games for his rehab assignment today and the plan is to have him back with the team by May 1. Putting together a .500 record without Mauer wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Game Notes

• Carlos Gomez had 3 infield singles in the game to bring his batting average to .200. He drove in a run on one of those thanks to Jose Morales's aggressive running of the bases.
• Jason Kubel went 0-4, but hit a few balls pretty hard. Sometimes luck just isn't on your side.
• Jose Morales drove in his first career RBI with a single that scored Delmon Young in the 2nd inning.
• Despite pitching well in his prior two starts, Perkins earned just his first win on Sunday. He's 1-1 on the season. He has been a victim of low run support.