The Twins returned the favor to the Indians today by keeping them off the scoreboard in a 3-0 win. Rookie Nick Blackburn pitched brilliantly for his first Major League win behind some phenomenal defense and Justin Morneau paced the offense.
The Twins jumped on Indians starter Jake Westbrook early. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 1st and Joe Mauer on after a fielder’s choice, Justin Morneau launched his 5th home run of the season. Carlos Gomez followed suit in the second, singling home Mike Lamb. That would be all the runs in the game, but not all the offense. On his 25th birthday, Mauer was able to add a double. Morneau chipped in a single on top of his home run. In addition, Craig Monroe went 2 for 3 with a double.
Blackburn was magnificent, tossing 7 2/3 shutout innings, giving up 8 hits, no walks and striking out 1. The name of his game was the groundball as 14 of the outs he recorded came off groundouts. Dennys Reyes threw three pitches for 1 out on his birthday and Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Blackburn turned in a great performance, but it was as much due to his pitching that he got the win as it was to the defense behind him. The Twins were able to turn 4 inning-ending double plays, that felt almost automatic as they were executed. This was in addition to several infield stops that saved hits. The defense was not just limited to the infield, as Delmon Young made a few great catches and saved a run when he threw out Indian second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, who was trying to score from 2nd on a single by Casey Blake. Both Carlos Gomez and Jason Kubel made near great catches that went in and out of their gloves, but otherwise were flawless in the field.
The very strong defense will be a constant theme throughout the season and something the team will rely heavily on. As well, Blackburn’s start is encouraging as the rookie fought his way into the starting rotation and it is only hoped he can build on his performance today.
