Nick Blackburn

The Twins lost 4-3 in Anaheim to the Los Angeles Angels Monday night. Minnesota fell behind 4-0 before scoring 3 runs in the 8th inning but they came up short. Alexi Casilla went 3-4 with a run scored, 1 RBI and 2 stolen bases and Danny Valencia was 2-4 with 1 RBI for the Twins. Nick Blackburn threw 6 innings with 7 hits and 3 earned runs allowed to take the loss and drop to 0-3. C.J. Wilson threw 7 1/3 innings with 5 hits and 3 earned runs allowed to get the win. Former Twin Torii Hunter hit a 2-run homerun for the Angels.

The Twins lost 11-2 at home to the Boston Red Sox Tuesday night. Nick Blackburn returned to the starting rotation and was beaten badly. He allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs in 3 innings to take the loss and drop to 0-2. Former Twin David Ortiz hit a long 2-run homerun off Blackburn in the 3rd inning and finished with 3 RBIs. Josh Beckett threw 6 innings with 2 earned runs allowed to get the win for Boston. Josh Willingham and 2 hits and 1 RBI and Denard Span was 2-4 for the Twins.

The Twins lost their home opener 5-1 to the Los Angeles Angels Monday afternoon at Target Field. Nick Blackburn allowed 5 hits and 5 earned runs in 6 innings to take the loss. C.J. Wilson allowed 3 hits and 1 earned run in 7 inning to get the win for the Angels. Josh Willingham hit a solo homerun off Wilson accounting for the lone Twins' run.

The Twins lost 9-2 to St. Louis Sunday afternoon. Former Twin Kyle Lohse threw 6 innings with 2 earned runs allowed to get the win. Brian Duensing allowed 3 hits and 1 earned run in 1 inning to take the loss. Nick Blackburn threw 5 innings with 2 earned runs and Luke Hughes was 2-3 with 2 RBIs for the Twins.

The Twins placed righthander Nick Blackburn on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right forearm. Righthander Anthony Swarzak will replace Blackburn in the starting rotation. Righthander Lester Oliveros was called up from triple-A Rochester to take Blackburn's spot on the active roster.

The Twins lost 3-0 at home to the New York Yankees Sunday afternoon. Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixiera hit back to back homeruns against the Twins in the 7th inning. Granderson's homerun was an inside the park homerun. Ivan Nova threw 7 shutout innings with 5 hits allowed to get the win and improve to 13-4. Joe Mauer was 3-4 and Danny Valencia went 2-4 for Minnesota.

The Twins lost 7-1 at Detroit for the Tigers and Justin Verlander Tuesday night. Verlander allowed 7 hits and 1 earned run allowed in 7 2/3 innings with 8 strikeouts for the Tigers. Nick Blackburn allowed 11 hits and 5 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings for the Twins to take the loss and drop to 7-10. Joe Mauer and Ben Revere each had 2 hits and Justin Morneau singled in the lone Twins run.

The Twins have battled through injuries all season and have at times found ways to survive without some of their top players. Starting pitching can be the great equalizer. The Twins starting pitching was great during their 8-game win streak and stretch where they won 15 of 17 games.

The L.A. Dodgers routed the Twins 15-0 Monday night to extend Minnesota's losing streak to 6 games. The Dodgers knocked out 25 hits including 13 of them against Nick Blackburn. Blackburn allowed 7 earned runs and 13 hits in 4 1/3 innings to take the loss and drop to 6-6.

The Twins lost 5-1 at San Francisco Wednesday night to snap their 8-game win streak. The Giants snap their 5-game losing streak. Ryan Vogelsong threw 7 innings with 1 earned run allowed to get the win for the Giants. Nick Blackburn allowed 3 hits and 2 earned runs to take the loss and drop to 6-5. Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young each had 2 hits for the Twins and Tsuyoshi Nishioka drove in the lone Twins' run.