(Sports Network) - Winners of three of their last four and the first two of the current interleague set, the Minnesota Twins try to finish off the series against Milwaukee on a high note today at Miller Park.
On Saturday the teams were forced to go extra innings in Wisconsin and it wasn't until the top of the 12th that Minnesota took the lead for good and captured the 9-4 victory.
Brian Buscher finished 3-for-5 and drove in three runs, including the go-ahead two-run single in the 12th, while pinch-hitter Michael Cuddyer added a two-run triple and scored on an error in the 12th for Minnesota as well.
Milwaukee pinch-hitter Russell Branyan was the reason the game went into extra innings as his home run off Joe Nathan with two outs in the bottom of the ninth merely delayed the inevitable. Joe Dillon and Prince Fielder both contributed a pair of hits, the latter scoring a run, while Ryan Braun connected on his 18th home run of the season.
Starter Jeff Suppan made it through seven innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits and striking out five, but eventually Brian Shouse blew the save opportunity and Julian Tavarez gave up four runs on four hits and three walks in just 1 1/3 innings to suffer the loss.
Minnesota's Brian Bass ended up with the win out of the bullpen, throwing a total of just nine pitches in an uneventful inning. Starter Glen Perkins failed to figure into the decision even after allowing just three runs on eight hits and fanning six in six innings of action.
Fresh-faced Scott Baker heads to the mound for the Twins this afternoon in the series finale. The Louisiana native, now in his fourth season with Minnesota, suffered his first loss of 2008 on Tuesday when he surrendered just a single run on eight hits over the course of seven innings. Unfortunately, his teammates failed to supply any offense in the 1-0 loss to Cleveland on the road.
The right-hander out of Oklahoma State already has a record of 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA in his career versus Milwaukee.
As for the Brewers, they appear to be set with Seth McClung ready to counter on the hill. The right-hander, who is 0-2 with a lofty 10.80 ERA in his career versus Minnesota, has followed up a rough outing against Atlanta back on May 29 with a couple of solid efforts.
However, despite permitting just two earned runs on three hits and striking out five of six innings on Tuesday, McClung still suffered the loss, his second in three games.
Minnesota may be the weakest team in the AL in terms of home runs with just 43 through 69 games, but the club is still third in the league in batting overall with a .271 average. Playing in six of the last seven games for the Twins, Jason Kubel is hitting .360 with three home runs, six RBI and six runs scored. Justin Morneau continues to pick up the pace with his 12 hits in 29 at-bats (.414), resulting in eight RBI and six runs scored.
Braun, last year's NL Rookie of the Year, has had an RBI in each of the last six games, thanks to seven hits and a pair of home runs. Fielder has been making plenty of contact with the ball, with his nine hits in 24 at-bats, but all of that has resulted in just two RBI and three runs scored.
Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Jose Lopez had a pair of solo homers while Adrian Beltre went 2-for-3 with a two-run blast to extend his hitt... Full Story...
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