Brendan Harris, moved from third to short to replace the injured Nick Punto, continued to swing a hot bat to lead the Twins over the Tigers on Saturday, 6-5.
Harris went three for three, homered and drove in four runs to lead the Twins, who have won three straight over Detroit after being swept at Fenway Park in Boston.
Harris is hitting .357 since June 17, raising his average from .232 to .262. You may remember he and Delmon Young were part of the deal that sent starter Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett to Tampa Bay. Everyone was quick to declare that deal a lopsided one in favor of the Rays, but you better hold on. The Rays, by the way, are in a funk right now, having lost five in a row and are down 7-0 against the Indians right now.
Other heroes for the Twins are two of their players headed for the All-Star game in Yankee Stadium -- Joe Mauer, who hit a two-run homer, his fifth, and Joe Nathan, who struck out three in a dominating ninth inning. (That last half-inning was broadcast on Fox because the Arizona-Philadelphia game ended early. Nathan looked great -- one guy hit a couple of fouls and that was it. Whiff, walk, whiff, whiff.
The Twins' middle relievers were not great. Jesse Crain allowed a run after Scott Baker gave up four earned runs in seven innings, a solid if not spectacular outing.
Here are some interesting statistics: The Twins are 21-6 since June 13, the best in the majors. And they've beaten the divisional rival Tigers five straight times. And Nathan has 26 saves in 26 chances against the Tigers, the most by any closer against one opponent according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The Twins have won eight straight games against divisional foes and are 27-16 against the AL Central this year. There's plenty of doubt about who'll win the division and the wild card, but you can definitely say the Twins are contenders.
A check of Twins' batting averages shows who's hot and who's not. Justin Morneau has been on a tear lately and is hitting .323, just short of Mauer's .324. Alexi Casilla, who's been featured on ESPN's Web Gems lately, is at .316 after getting a couple of hits Saturday. Brian Buscher's hitting .316 and Delmon Young -- who along with Mauer had two hits -- is up to .286.
Meanwhile, Baker's outing highlights the steady improvement of the Twins' young pitchers. His ERA now stands at 3.47 and he's 6-2. Not bad.
Nick Blackburn, who pitches Sunday against Justin Verlander, has an ERA of 3.72. Glen Perkins is at 4.14 and Kevin Slowey's ERA is 4.26.
The Twins are one game out and the Tigers seven and a half games out.
