Twins Lose 3-2 As Diamondbacks Complete Sweep

The Minnesota Twins lost their third consecutive game on Sunday afternoon at Chase Field, as the Arizona Diamondbacks walked away with a 3-2 victory to extend their winning streak to six games.

The Diamondbacks drew first blood in this one, as they put up two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The first one came on Juan Miranda's solo home run off of Francisco Liriano with one out, and they added another courtesy of an RBI single by Arizona pitcher Daniel Hudson.

Not to be outdone, Liriano got an RBI of his own in the top of the fifth, bringing Delmon Young in to score on a ground out to second base to cut Arizona's lead to 2-1. Young then tied things up for the Twins in the top of the seventh, when he led off the inning with a solo home run. . .his first of the 2011 season. . .to knot the score at two apiece.

Alex Burnett came in to relieve Liriano prior to the bottom of the seventh inning, and immediately gave up a double to Willie Bloomquist. Bloomquist advanced to third on Ben Revere's error, and came home to score on Ryan Roberts' sacrifice fly. The Twins never really threatened after that, as they got just one hit in the eighth off of Hudson, and J.J. Putz set them down in order in the ninth for his twelfth save of the season.

Hudson got the win for Arizona after pitching eight strong innings and allowing the Twins only eight hits and two runs while striking out six. Alex Burnett took the loss for Minnesota, dropping his record on the season to 0-3. Liriano did not figure into the decision after one of his typical up-and-down starts. The left-hander allowed two runs on six hits to the Diamondbacks, but walked four batters to go along with four strikeouts.

No rest for the Twins, as they'll hop on a flight back to Minneapolis in order to host the Seattle Mariners on Monday night at Target Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM Central time. As it stands now, the pitching match-up is being advertised as left-hander Jason Vargas (3-2, 3.39 ERA) taking the hill for Seattle, and the Twins countering with righty Carl Pavano (2-4, 5.30 ERA).

Liriano Looks To Get Twins A Win In Arizona

The Twins' bats have finally appeared to wake up a bit in interleague play, scoring 13 runs in the first two games against the Dimondbacks. Unfortunately, the pitching hasn't held up their end of the bargain, and the Twins have lost both games in Arizona in heartbreaking fashion.

Minnesota had a comfortable 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th last night only to see their bullpen implode. Some groups stole media headlines with the possibility of the end of the world yesterday. While it looks like we all avoided the Rapture, Minnesota couldn't avoid the "Cappture", if you will. Matt Capps allowed a go-ahead grand slam to Kelly Johnson to cap off a six-run 8th that proved to be the winning runs.

Fransisco Liriano will look to avoid the brooms this afternoon in Arizona. When Liriano has been on this year, he's been great; when he's off, it has been hard to watch. Minnesota hopes that they'll get "Good Frank" to get back on the winning track in the last game of their road trip.

The Diamondbacks are on quite a roll, winning five straight and seven of their last eight. Daniel Hudson will take the mound today for Arizona, coming off a seven inning gem against San Diego his last time out.

First pitch is...well thanks to a bit of delay with the posting here, we're just under way.

Twins Fall, 9-6, As Arizona Busts Capps

It looked like the Minnesota Twins were on pace for their fourth win in five games on Saturday night, as they took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, but it was not to be. The Diamondbacks put up a six spot against a bevy of Twins' relievers, and walked away with their fifth straight win after a 9-6 victory over Minnesota.

The Twins once again got on the board first thanks to Danny Valencia's solo home run in the top of the second, which gave the Twins a 1-0 lead. Arizona tied it in the bottom of the fourth, after Miguel Montero drew a two-out walk from Twins' starter Scott Baker, and came around to score on Juan Miranda's RBI double.

Minnesota took the lead back in the top of the fifth, as Delmon Young led off the inning with a single, and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Micah Owings. Denard Span then grounded one to Diamondbacks' second baseman Kelly Johnson, who threw wildly to first, allowing Span to reach safely and allowing Young to score to make it 2-1. The Twins extended their lead to 4-1 in the top of the sixth, as Jason Kubel led off the inning with a home run, and Valencia singled to score Justin Morneau.

The Diamondbacks cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth, when Stephen Drew and Chris Young led off the inning with consecutive doubles, making the score 4-2. Later in the inning, Gerardo Parra reached on a bunt single that scored Young from third, and the Twins' lead was cut to 4-3.

Things stayed that way until the top of the eighth, when the Twins scored two more runs when the Diamondbacks made three errors in a two at-bat span. Jason Kubel led the inning off with a single, and Justin Morneau grounded into a fielder's choice that saw Kubel forced out at second. Michael Cuddyer then reached on an error by Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew, putting runners on first and second. Valencia then singled to right, scoring Morneau. Justin Upton's throw home was off the mark, which was scored as one error as it allowed Valencia to advance to second. Diamondbacks' pitcher Aaron Heilman, who was backing up home plate on the play, thought he could get Valencia trying to advance to second, and he threw errantly as well, allowing Cuddyer to come around to score, giving the Twins a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the eighth.

The inning started with Joe Nathan, who had pitched an impressive 1-2-3 seventh, giving up a leadoff single to Chris Young. Ron Gardenhire then took Nathan out in favor of Glen Perkins. Perkins allowed a single to Miguel Montero, and then had to be lifted due to a strained oblique muscle. Gardenhire said after the game that Perkins was headed for the disabled list. In came closer Matt Capps, who gave up a two-run double to Juan Miranda to make the score 6-5. Gerardo Parra advanced on a bunt single to third base, and pinch hitter Josh Wilson bunted into a fielder's choice that resulted in a force out at third base.

Ryan Roberts singled to left-center to load the bases, and Kelly Johnson atoned for his earlier error by blasting a grand slam to right field, making the score 9-6 in favor of the Diamondbacks. Arizona closer J.J. Putz then retired the Twins in the ninth to give the Diamondbacks the victory.

Arizona committed five errors on the evening, but it still wasn't enough to help the Twins to a victory on this night. Aaron Heilman wound up with the victory for the Diamondbacks, raising his record on the season to 3-0, and Putz's save was his eleventh of the year. Capps took the loss for the Twins, dropping him to 1-3 on the season and getting him credited with his third blown save of the season.

The Twins will try to salvage the finale of the series on Sunday afternoon at Chase Field. First pitch from Arizona is scheduled for 3:10 PM Central time. The Twins will send Francisco Liriano (3-5, 6.12 ERA) to the mound, and the Diamondbacks will counter with right-hander Daniel Hudson (4-5, 4.03 ERA).

Twins Try To Bounce Back Against Arizona

After having their modest three-game winning streak snapped on Friday night, the Minnesota Twins will attempt to start a new run at Chase Field as they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

Brian Duensing fell apart after six solid innings, and a late comeback attempt by Minnesota fell short as the Twins fell to the Diamondbacks 8-7 on Friday night. It was Arizona's fourth win in a row, and they will attempt to win their fifth in a row tonight, a feat that they have not accomplished since August 27-31 of 2009.

The Diamondbacks have called up Micah Owings from their AAA affiliate in Reno to start for them in the game today. Owings pitched for the Diamondbacks in 2007 and 2008 before being shipped to the Cincinnati Reds, and signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks this off-season. Owings was 3-1 with a 4.85 ERA for Reno this year, and has one career start against the Twins. He allowed six runs in 6.1 innings in a 6-1 Diamondbacks loss to the Twins on June 21, 2008.

The Twins will send Scott Baker (2-3, 3.99 ERA) to the mound on Saturday night. Baker has lost his last two starts, and in his last start allowed four runs and seven hits in eight innings in Minnesota's 5-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Monday. Baker has one career start against the Diamondbacks. On June 20, 2008, he allowed only one run and struck out seven in six innings of work in a 7-2 Minnesota victory.

First pitch for this one is scheduled for 9:10 PM Central at Chase Field. Be sure to make yourself at home in the Game Thread over at Twinkie Town while the game is going on, and we'll have the recap here for you when the game is over.

Twins' Comeback Falls Just Short In 8-7 Loss To Diamondbacks

For the first six innings of Friday evening's game at Chase Field, we had a good, old fashioned pitchers duel between Ian Kennedy and Brian Duensing. By the time it was over, 15 runs had been scored, and the Arizona Diamondbacks extended their winning streak to four games while Minnesota saw their three-game winnings streak snapped after Arizona's 8-7 victory.

Minnesota struck first in the top of the second inning, when Michael Cuddyer took Kennedy deep to left for his fifth home run of the year, a solo shot that gave the Twins a 1-0 lead. Duensing was cruising through the Arizona lineup, allowing just one hit through the first four innings, but Kelly Johnson collected a two-out single to score Xavier Nady and tie the game at one in the bottom of the fifth. The Twins took the lead right back in the top of the sixth thanks to a solo home run by Trevor Plouffe, giving Minnesota a 2-1 advantage.

After a relatively smooth first six innings, Duensing faced four hitters in the bottom of the seventh without registering an out, as Steven Drew led off the inning with a solo home run to tie the score at two. Duensing then gave up a double to Chris Young, a single to Miguel Montero, and a single to Nady that scored Young to give the Diamondbacks their first lead of the evening at 3-2.

Duensing was then lifted for Glen Perkins, who got two outs when Kelly Johnson's failed attempt at a sacrifice forced Montero at third, and Kennedy's sacrifice put runners on second and third with two outs. Perkins intentionally walked Willie Bloomquist to load the bases, and third baseman Ryan Roberts made the Twins pay with a bases-clearing triple to make the score 6-2. Alex Burnett then came in to relieve Perkins, and got Justin Upton to fly out to end the inning.

The Twins got two of those runs back in the top of the eighth, as Jason Kubel came through with a clutch two-out triple to score Denard Span and Trevor Plouffe and make it a 6-4 game. Arizona took those two runs right back in the bottom of the eighth, however, as Miguel Montero and Kelly Johnson each drove in runs for the Diamondbacks, and they took an 8-4 lead into the top of the ninth inning.

After Michael Cuddyer grounded out to start the ninth inning, Danny Valencia blasted a home run off of Juan Gutierrez to cut the deficit to 8-5. Delmon Young then reached on an infield single, and Gutierrez was lifted for David Hernandez. Hernandez, to put it bluntly, was horrendous. He gave up a double to Drew Butera that scored Young and cut the Arizona lead to 8-6. Matt Tolbert then came to the plate to pinch hit, and Hernandez walked him. Hernandez then proceeded to walk Denard Span to load the bases, and then walked Trevor Plouffe to force home a run, making the score 8-7 and leaving the Twins with the bases loaded and only one out.

The Diamondbacks then turned to reliever Joe Paterson to try to put out the fire, and that's exactly what he did. Paterson struck out Jason Kubel looking to record the second out, and got Justin Morneau to ground out to second base to secure what turned out to be a wild victory for the Diamondbacks.

Interestingly, after all those late fireworks, the two starting pitchers were the ones that wound up taking the decisions for their respective teams. Kennedy got the victory for Arizona, raising his record to 5-1 on the season, while Duensing got the loss for the Twins, dropping him to 2-4. The save for Paterson was his first on the season.

The same two teams will get together at Chase Field again on Saturday night, with the first pitch scheduled for slightly later than Friday night's game, as they're scheduled to get underway at 9:10 PM Central time. Scott Baker (2-3, 3.99 ERA) will get the ball for the Twins, while the Diamondbacks have called Micah Owings up from the minor leagues to take the start for them. Owings has no record on the 2011 season.

Twins At Diamondbacks: Minnesota Starts Interleague Slate In Arizona

Riding their longest winning streak of 2011, the Twins will look for their fourth consecutive victory on Friday night at Chase Field, as they begin their 2011 interleague schedule with a three-game weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Interleague play has usually served the Twins quite well. Since the interleague format was introduced back in 1997, the Twins have the third-highest winning percentage in interleague play in Major League Baseball at .569, trailing only the New York Yankees (.585) and the Chicago White Sox (.577). That .569 winning percentage comes on the strength of a record of 140 wins and 106 losses in 246 interleague contests. Conversely, the Diamondbacks have the fourth-worst winning percentage in interleague play, with only the Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, and San Diego Padres having less success. In 202 interleague games in franchise, the Diamondbacks have won 90 games and dropped 112.

The Diamondbacks enter this one on a three-game winning streak as well, and tonight will hand the ball to right-hander Ian Kennedy (4-1, 3.05 ERA). Kennedy has not been charged with a loss since Arizona's 15-5 drubbing by the St. Louis Cardinals back on April 13, and has allowed just one earned run in his last 14 innings pitched. The Twins will counter with left-hander Brian Duensing (2-3, 4.61 ERA). The Twins won the first four games Duensing started this year, although he only figured in two of those decisions, and have lost the last four times that Duensing has began the game on the mound.

The Twins have released their lineup (and I haven't seen anything for the Diamondbacks yet). . .keep in mind, since this game is in a National League park, there is no designated hitter, so Brian Duensing is going to have to step into the batter's box and take his hacks. Here's what tonight's Twins lineup looks like:

Denard Span, center field
Trevor Plouffe, shortstop
Jason Kubel, right field (another by-product of no DH. . .Kubel will be out in the field)
Justin Morneau, first base
Michael Cuddyer, second base
Danny Valencia, third base
Delmon Young, left field
Rene Rivera, catcher
Brian Duensing, pitcher

First pitch for this one is scheduled for 8:40 PM Central time from Chase Field. Be sure to check out Twinkie Town for their Game Thread if you plan on staying up late, and come back here for the recap when everything is finished.