The Twins won their 6th straight game on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Most impressively they did it with Boof Bonser, Kyle Lohse and Jesse Crain pitching 8 of the innings for the Twins. Those pitchers each have been among the worst for the Twins this season.

Bonser sailed throught the first two innings before giving up a solo homer in the 3rd to Ronny Paulino. The Twins scored 2 runs in the top of the third off solo homers from Jason Kubel and Terry Tiffee. Bonser was completely inneffective in the 4th inning. He retired the first batter he faced, but then gave up 3 straight hits and allowed the Pirates to tie the game at 3.

Kyle Lohse pitched well for 2 2/3 innings, giving up just 2 hits. Jesse Crain then pitched a perfect 7th and 8th to set up Joe Nathan's 3rd save in 3 games and 10th of the season.

Justin Morneau put the Twins in the lead with a solo homer in the 8th and Jason Bartlett added an insurance run in the 9th with an RBI single that brought in Lew Ford.

Game Notes

• Kubel hit his 4th homer in 5 games and 5th of the season.
• Terry Tiffee was 2-3 with his first homer of the season.
• Bartlett continues to hit well since being calle up earlier in the week. He was 2-5 with an RBI in the game.
• Jesse Crain picked up his first win of the season.
• Justin Morneau has 16 homers and 53 RBIs on the season

Santana on Sunday

With Santana on the mound Sunday the Twins stand a good chance of picking up their second sweep in a row and third straight series victory. A win will also put the Twins at .500 for the first time since early April.