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Minnesota Twins will try to continue their solid play at home tonight, as they begin a three-game series with the
Toronto Blue Jays at the Metrodome.
The Twins have won 10 of their last 11 as the host and are 14-7 in Minnesota this year. The club is hitting .271 at home in 2008, the fifth-best average in the American League, and is third in the league with a 3.41 team earned run average as the host.
Minnesota won Monday's finale of a four-game set with Boston by a 7-3 margin, giving it three wins in the series. Delmon Young finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, as Minnesota overcame an early three-run deficit.
Craig Monroe also drove in two runs for the Twins, who have won four of six overall. Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer added an RBI each. Livan Hernandez (6-1) cruised to the win despite early trouble, allowing 10 hits and three runs over six full frames.
The Twins lead the AL Central by 1 1/2 games over Cleveland.
Kevin Slowey will make his third start of the season and second since coming off the disabled list due to a right biceps strain. In his return, Slowey gave up three runs on four hits in five innings of a setback to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. The defeat dropped Slowey to 0-2 on the season with a 6.48 ERA.
Slowey faced Toronto once last year and got a no-decision at home. He yielded five runs (4 earned) on six hits over five frames while striking out five. Slowey will be thankful he doesn't have to face Vernon Wells, who has a hit in all three career at-bats against Slowey with a homer and three RBI. Wells is expected to miss the next 6-8 weeks due to a broken left wrist, however. Toronto's Alex Rios has also homered off of Slowey.
Jesse Litsch will shoot for his third straight winning decision tonight for Toronto. The right-hander defeated Kansas City and the Chicago White Sox in back-to-back outings before getting a no-decision on Thursday against Tampa Bay. Litsch gave up three runs on five hits in seven innings, and served up a pair of home runs for the second straight outing.
The righty is 4-1 on the season with a 4.24 ERA.
The second-year hurler has made two career starts against the Twins, going 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA. In his lone start in Minnesota, Litsch recorded a no-decision after yielding three runs in just 4 1/3 innings of work.
Toronto split a doubleheader with Cleveland on Monday. The Blue Jays lost the first game by a 3-0 count for their fourth straight loss. A.J. Burnett (3-4) was saddled with the defeat despite holding Cleveland to three runs on five hits over 7 2/3 innings, while racking up seven strikeouts.
However, the Blue Jays' pitching dominated the second game, as Shaun Marcum, B.J. Ryan and Scott Downs combined on a 10-inning, three-hit shutout to lead Toronto to a 3-0 victory of its own.
Ryan (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless ninth, Marcum struck out five and allowed just two hits over eight innings, while Downs notched his fourth save.
Shannon Stewart drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly, and Aaron Hill went 2-for-3 with a two-run single, as Toronto overcame Asdrubal Cabrera's unassisted triple play for Cleveland in the fifth inning.
Toronto won six of its 10 matchups with Minnesota last year and is 11-6 versus the Twins since the start of the 2006 season. The Blue Jays are 6-5 at the Metrodome in that span.
