Twins, Mauer Pound Cubs 11-3
The Twins defeated the Chicago Cubs 11-3 Saturday afternoon behind Joe Mauer. Mauer had missed 4 games with a thumb injury but in his first game back was 3-4 with a run scored and 2 RBIs. Trevor Plouffe had another solid game going 2-4 with his 9th homerun of the season. Justin Morneau went 2-2 with 2 runs scored for Minnesota. Scott Diamond threw 6 shutout innings with 7 hits allowed with 5 strikeouts to get the win and improve to 5-1.
Minnesota is 24-34 and is 8 1/2 games back of the Chicago White Sox for first place in the American League Central. The Twins are just 1/2 game back of Kansas City for 4th place in the division. The Twins look to sweep the Cubs when they host Chicago at 1:10 today, pregame on WJON at 12:40.