The Minnesota Twins snapped their six-game losing streak on Tuesday night, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 6-4 at Target Field.
Minnesota got on the board early against Dodgers' starter Ted Lilly (5-8, 4.97 ERA), scoring in the bottom of the first when Joe Mauer's single to center scored Ben Revere, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead. The Twins added a couple more in the bottom of the second, the first coming when Revere's two-out single scored Jason Repko to make the score 2-0. Then, after Revere stole second, Alexi Casilla doubled to left, scoring Revere to give the Twins a 3-0 lead. Casilla was thrown out on the play attempting to stretch the double into a triple.
The teams exchanged runs in the fourth inning, with the Dodgers finally getting on the board against Brian Duensing (5-7, 4.69 ERA) thanks to Matt Kemp's sacrifice fly, making the score 3-1. Minnesota got the run back in the bottom half of the inning when Rene Rivera's infield single allowed Repko to score again and put the Minnesota lead back to three at 4-1.
The Dodgers got their offense going in the top of the fifth, starting with Aaron Miles' one-out solo homer off of Duensing to make the score 4-2. Then, with two outs in the inning and the bases loaded, Andre Ethier stepped to the plate and singled to center field to score two more runs and tie the game at four.
Lilly quickly got the first two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but Danny Valencia singled to keep the inning alive. Hughes then came to the plate and put an offering from Lilly into the left field seats for a two-run homer, chasing Lilly from the game and making the score 6-4.
Duensing came out of the game before the sixth inning, and the Twins' bullpen held up nicely, with Alex Burnett, Glen Perkins, and Joe Nathan combining for three scoreless innings of relief. Matt Capps came in to pitch the ninth inning, and retired the Dodgers to end the game, helping himself out with a very nice defensive play on a soft ground ball by Dionner Navarro. The save for Capps was his twelfth of the season.
The same two teams will finish the series on Wednesday afternoon with a businessman's special. First pitch from Target Field is scheduled for 12:10 PM Central time. The pitching match-up will see the Dodgers send right-hander Rubby de la Rosa (3-2, 5.26 ERA) taking the mound for Los Angeles, while the Twins will counter with right-hander Scott Baker (5-5, 3.39 ERA).