Nick Blackburn won his 3rd consecutive game and put an end to the Twins' 3-game losing streak on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Blackburn allowed solo home runs to Carlos Pena and Matt Joyce, and he was able to work out of a bases-loaded jam in the 5th inning. 4 of Blackburn's 5 wins this year have come following a Twins loss, including his past 3 wins.

His opponent, Matt Garza, seemed to be pitching even better. By the 6th inning, a Brendan Harris solo home run was the only costly mistake he had made. In the 6th inning Denard Span reached on a bunt single and was later driven in by Justin Morneau. In the 7th inning the Twins gave Blackburn the lead when Carlos Gomez blooped a single into shallow right to score Brian Buscher.

Michael Cuddyer left the game in the second inning after a strikeout in his first at bat with an injured finger, but it was reported to not be too serious.

Game Notes

• With Joe Mauer having a full day off, Mike Redmond had a 2-4 day at the plate.
• In replacement of Cuddyer, Delmong Young was 1-3 with 2 strikeouts. He has struck out an astonishing 15 times in his past 7 games.
• Joe Nathan picked up his 9th save of the season. He pitched a perfect 9th inning, striking out 2.

The Twins have a much needed off day today, before hosting the Cleveland Indians for 3 games. Cleveland is coming off a 9th inning walk-off victory against the Yankees and also swept Tampa Bay in a 4-game series last week. Although they're in last place in the AL Central, they've won 8 of their last 12 and are beginning to close the gap.

Detroit has a 4-game lead over the 2nd place Chicago White Sox and the Twins are just 1/2 game behind the Sox. Cleveland rounds out the bottom of the division, but trails the Twins by just 3 games.