Minnesota (81-74) at Detroit (83-72)

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Blackburn tabbed for another big start

Kelly Thesier / MLB.com
Although it will come a day later than expected, the Twins will be turning to Nick Blackburn to kick off their critical four-game series against the Tigers in the opener of a split doubleheader to make up for Monday's rainout.
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Twins probable pitcher

Nick Blackburn

  • #53 RHP
  • (11-11) 4.18 ERA 89 SO
Blackburn looked much more like the first half version of himself in his last outing. While the second half of the season has been rough for Blackburn, he’s started to turn things around of late and his best outing came in his last start in Chicago. The right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings, scattering eight hits and striking out six in the victory. Blackburn mixed in all of his pitches and the Twins were pleased by the number of offspeed pitches he used in the outing. The club hopes to see more of the same from Blackburn when he faces the Tigers in the series opener. Blackburn is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA in two starts vs. Detroit this season.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 22-24 4.22 396.2 81 193 .296
Season 11-11 4.18 191.2 40 89 .296
September 2-2 4.30 23.0 2 14 .309
Vs. Detroit 1-1 5.11 12.1 4 7 .273

Series at a Glance

Standings - 09/29/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Minnesota Twins (AL Central) 81 74 .523 2.0 45-33 36-41
Detroit Tigers (AL Central) 83 72 .535 - 48-26 35-46
Stats - 09/29/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
MIN .273 765 162 719 83 973 4.52 1379.0 1462 439 999
DET .261 714 175 690 72 1072 4.28 1371.2 1369 563 1050
det

Tigers put best arms forward in twin bill

Jason Beck / MLB.com
Rick Porcello and Justin Verlander have long been seen as a potential one-two punch for years to come in the Tigers rotation. If they can both deliver Tuesday, they might well provide the long-awaited knockout punch to the Twins.
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Tigers probable pitcher

Rick Porcello

  • #48 RHP
  • (14-9) 4.14 ERA 80 SO
Armed with a four-run lead before taking the mound, Porcello overcame early command issues to cruise to victory with five innings of one-run ball in his last start Wednesday at Cleveland. He improved to 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA over 11 starts since the beginning of August, scattering 56 hits over 61 1/3 innings. Rather than running out of gas in his first Major League season, he almost had too much energy in his last start, working at too quick of a pace for manager Jim Leyland's liking. Now, he gets a rematch with the Twins, who beat him despite a quality start Sept. 18 at the Metrodome.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 14-9 4.14 158.2 49 80 .268
Season 14-9 4.14 158.2 49 80 .268
September 3-1 3.60 30.0 7 9 .261
Vs. Minnesota 1-2 3.71 17.0 6 7 .292

Twins hitters vs Rick Porcello

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Butera, Drew - - - - - - - -
Casilla, Alexi .333 3 0 0 .333 3 0 0
Cuddyer, Michael .143 7 1 2 .182 11 1 2
De Los Santos, Estarlin - - - - - - - -
Hardy, J.J. - - - - - - - -
Harris, Brendan .000 3 0 0 .000 3 0 0
Hughes, Luke - - - - - - - -
Kubel, Jason .875 8 0 0 .643 14 1 1
Mauer, Joe .167 6 0 0 .182 11 0 0
Morales, Jose .333 3 0 0 .250 8 0 0
Morneau, Justin .250 4 1 2 .250 4 1 2
Plouffe, Trevor - - - - - - - -
Pridie, Jason - - - - - - - -
Punto, Nick .000 5 0 0 .125 8 0 0
Ramos, Wilson - - - - .500 2 0 0
Span, Denard .222 9 0 1 .286 14 0 2
Tolbert, Matt .333 3 0 0 .429 7 0 0
Tolleson, Steven - - - - - - - -
Valencia, Danny - - - - - - - -
Young, Delmon .500 6 0 2 .364 11 0 2

Tigers hitters vs Nick Blackburn

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Avila, Alex - - - - - - - -
Boesch, Brennan - - - - - - - -
Cabrera, Miguel .429 7 1 4 .400 15 1 6
Ciriaco, Audy - - - - - - - -
Dlugach, Brent - - - - - - - -
Granderson, Curtis .333 6 1 1 .286 14 1 1
Guillen, Carlos - - - - .214 14 0 2
Inge, Brandon .167 6 1 2 .214 14 1 2
Kelly, Don .000 4 0 0 .143 7 0 1
Laird, Gerald .250 4 0 0 .250 12 0 1
Larish, Jeff - - - - .000 1 0 0
Ordonez, Magglio .167 6 0 0 .400 10 0 0
Raburn, Ryan - - - - .500 2 0 2
Ramirez, Wilkin - - - - - - - -
Ryan, Dusty - - - - - - - -
Santiago, Ramon .167 6 0 1 .250 12 0 2
Sizemore, Scott - - - - .500 2 0 0
Strieby, Ryan - - - - - - - -
Thomas, Clete 1.000 3 0 2 .467 15 1 4
Wells, Casper - - - - - - - -

Extra fun for Twins in Game 1 win (82-74) (83-73)

Twins 3, Tigers 2 (10)

Walk on wild side

Kelly Thesier / MLB.com
Denard Span led off the 10th inning with a single to center and then moved to third on consecutive wild pitches by Brandon Lyon. Span scored on a single by Orlando Cabrera, who later scored on Delmon Young's sac fly to right. The Twins moved within one game of the Tigers.

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Series at a Glance

 

Throwing it away

Jason Beck / MLB.com
Brandon Lyon threw two consecutive wild pitches after a Denard Span single to open the 10th inning, allowing Span to score on Orlando Cabrera's single to left. Another run would come around to score, handing the Tigers a loss that trimmed their lead over the Twins to just one game.
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Twins 3, Tigers 2

Minnesota AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Span, CF-RF 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 .313
Cabrera, O, SS 5 1 1 1 0 1 4 .275
Mauer, C 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 .368
Kubel, RF 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .295
  2-Gomez, C, PR-CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231
Cuddyer, 1B 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 .278
Young, D, LF 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 .271
Morales, J, DH 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 .336
  1-Casilla, A, PR-DH 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 .198
Tolbert, 3B 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 .229
Punto, 2B 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 .232
Totals 33 3 11 3 3 2 15  


1-Ran for Morales, J in the 7th. 2-Ran for Kubel in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Tolbert (6, Porcello), Casilla, A (7, Lyon).
TB: Span 2; Cabrera, O; Kubel 2; Cuddyer; Young, D; Morales, J; Casilla, A 2; Tolbert 2; Punto.
RBI: Span (67), Cabrera, O (69), Young, D (49).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera, O 2; Morales, J; Casilla, A 2.
S: Punto; Tolbert 2; Gomez, C.
SF: Span; Young, D.
GIDP: Cuddyer.
Team RISP: 1-for-7.
Team LOB: 10.
 
Detroit AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Granderson, CF 5 1 2 1 0 0 3 .251
Polanco, 2B 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .285
Thomas, C, RF 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .244
  a-Raburn, PH-RF 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .283
Cabrera, M, 1B 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 .329
Huff, A, DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 .242
  b-Thames, PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .249
Guillen, C, LF 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 .255
  1-Ramirez, W, PR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .364
  Kelly, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .236
Laird, C 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 .228
Inge, 3B 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 .230
Santiago, SS 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 .271
Totals 36 2 7 2 2 4 19  

a-Flied out for Thomas, C in the 8th. b-Grounded out for Huff, A in the 8th.
1-Ran for Guillen, C in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Granderson (23, Blackburn), Thomas, C (13, Blackburn).
HR: Granderson (29, 10th inning off Nathan, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Granderson 6; Thomas, C 2; Cabrera, M; Inge 2; Santiago.
RBI: Santiago (33), Granderson (69).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Huff, A; Polanco 2; Laird; Santiago.
S: Laird.
Team RISP: 2-for-14.
Team LOB: 8.

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Lyon-Inge, Cabrera, M-Santiago-Cabrera, M).
 
Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Blackburn 7.0 6 1 1 1 4 0 4.08
Mijares, Jo 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.07
Rauch (W, 6-3) 1.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.80
Nathan (S, 45) 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 2.25
 
Detroit IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Porcello 6.1 7 1 1 1 1 0 4.04
Miner 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.23
Lyon (L, 6-5) 2.0 3 2 2 2 0 0 2.99

WP: Lyon 2.
IBB: Cuddyer (by Lyon).
HBP: Laird (by Blackburn), Cuddyer (by Porcello).
Pitches-strikes: Blackburn 111-65, Mijares, Jo 5-3, Rauch 15-8, Nathan 12-9, Porcello 111-74, Miner 21-13, Lyon 32-19.
Groundouts-flyouts: Blackburn 11-6, Mijares, Jo 0-2, Rauch 2-2, Nathan 1-2, Porcello 9-9, Miner 1-3, Lyon 2-3.
Batters faced: Blackburn 29, Mijares, Jo 2, Rauch 5, Nathan 4, Porcello 27, Miner 6, Lyon 10.
Inherited runners-scored: Miner 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Randy Marsh. 1B: Marvin Hudson. 2B: Paul Emmel. 3B: Angel Hernandez.
Weather: 57 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 15 mph, Out to LF.
T: 2:52.
Att: 35,243.
September 29, 2009

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner