Silva shuts out Braves Braves 0 at Twins 6 June 13th, 2007 at 10:03 pm

By Kris Richardson

The Twins offense attached Braves starter, Chuck James early, and Carlos Silva bounced back from a poor start last time out with his best performance in two years. Silva went the distance and allowed 8 hits in his first shutout since 2004. It was also his first complete game since 2005. The last time Silva got 6+ runs scored for him was in an 11-3 win in Detroit at the end of April.

All the Twins’ runs came against James in the first 3 innings. Joe Mauer started off the first inning rally with a single and then Michael Cuddyer pushed him to third with a double. Justin Morneau drove in Mauer on a ground out and Torii Hunter surprised everyone with a bunt single that scored Cuddyer.

The rest of the scoring came on home runs. Lew Ford hit his first of the year, a shot that barely cleared the baggy in right in the second inning. Justin Morneau hit a 2-run homer in the third inning that was followed by a solo homer from Hunter.

The Twins were shut down after that. They got no hits and just a couple walks from the Brave’s bullpen.

Game Notes

Silva improved his record to 4-7. He was helped by 3 double plays and recorded just 2 strikeouts in the game.
Morneau hit his 18th of the year. He drove in 3 runs to bring his total to 50 on the season.
Hunter hit his 14th of the year and drove in his 52nd and 53rd RBIs
Cuddyer had 3 hits batting in the #2 spot.
Jason Kubel sat out again likely because of the combination of a lefty pitching and the fact that an extra day’s rest for his leg can only help.

In the central division, Cleveland defeated Florida while Detroit was beat by Milwaukee. That puts the Indians back in first place, still holding a 5.5 game lead over the Twins. Detroit trails the Indians by just a game.

The Twins have one three in a row and the victory snapped their streak of 3 series losses. Johan Santana will try to clinch the sweep against Tim Hudson on Thursday night.