Nick Blackburn

The Twins defeated the Chicago White Sox 1-0 Thursday afternoon at Target Field. Minnesota completes a 2-game sweep of the White Sox and have won 11 of their last 13. Nick Blackburn threw 8 shutout innings with 7 hits allowed and 1 strikeout to get the win and improve to 6-4. Matt Capps threw a scoreless 9th inning for his 9th save. Michael Cuddyer hit a solo homerun accounting for the lone Twins' run.

The Twins beat the Royals 7-2 in Kansas City Saturday night to get their 3rd straight win. Alexi Casilla was 4-5 with a run scored and 2 RBIs and both Matt Tolbert and Ben Revere had 2 hits and 2 run scored for Minnesota. Nick Blackburn allowed 7 hits and 2 earned runs in 5 innings to get the win and improve to 5-4 on the season.

The Twins beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 Tuesday night to end a 4-game losing streak. Nick Blackburn threw all 9 innings with 7 hits and 2 earned run allowed to get the win and improve to 4-4. Denard Span went 3-4 with a run scored and 1 RBI, Alexi Casilla went 2-3 with 2 run scored and Jason Kubel was 2-4 with 1 RBI. The Twins improve to 16-31 and are now 14 1/2 games back of Cleveland for first place in the American League Central.

The Twins downed the White Sox 3-2 in Chicago Wednesday to complete a 2-game sweep. Nick Blackburn threw 6 2/3 innings with 4 hits and 1 earned run allowed to get the win and improve to 2-4. The win for Blackburn is his first since April 3.

The Twins got swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in a day/night doubleheader Thursday. Ben Zobrist had 4 hits and drove in 8 runs in the game 1 for the Rays. Michael Cuddyer was 2-3 with a homerun for the Twins and Nick Blackburn allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings to take the loss and drop to 1-4. The Twins lost 6-1 to Tampa Bay in the nightcap. Jeff Niemann threw 7 innings with 2 hits and 1 earned run allowed to get the win.

The Twins lost 5-4 in Baltimore Wednesday night. Minnesota fell behind 5-1 before scoring 2 runs in the 6th inning and adding 1 more run in the 8th. Danny Valencia led the Twins at the plate going 2-4 with 3 RBIs, Jason Kubel was 2-4 with a run scored and Michael Cuddyer hit his first homerun this season.

The Twins lost 4-2 in Atlanta in 10 innings in an exhibition game Tuesday night. Mauro Gomez hit a 2-run homerun off Chuck James in the 10th inning to win the game. Atlanta scored 2 unearned runs off Matt Capps in the 9th inning to force extra innings. Nick Blackburn threw 4 shutout innings to start the game for the Twins and Minnesota managed just 5 hits in the game.

The Twins downed the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 Thursday afternoon in Clearwater, Florida. Nick Blackburn threw 6 shutout innings with 6 hits allowed and 5 strikeouts. Joe Nathan threw just 1 inning and allowed 3 hits and 3 earned runs for Minnesota.