Twins fans can back off the ledge until...Friday, when Kevin Slowey starts. But for now, enjoy that feeling of beating the Yankees twice in one season.
Story of the night, and (positive) story of the series, was the Twins starting pitching. Thursday night, it was Nick Blackburn's turn, and despite some middle-inning struggles, he gave the Twins seven innings, scattering 9 hits and allowing just 2 runs.
Meanwhile, the Twins offense did more than enough to win, plating three runs in the first two innings on a smattering of doubles, and adding two more runs off Yankees starter Javier Vazquez in the 5th and 6th, with an Orlando Hudson triple and a towering home run by Jason Kubel's Beard providing the key hits. The Beard of Understanding then broke the game open in the 7th, with a 2-out (!) 3-run (!! (two exclamation points because there was a runner in scoring position)) homer, giving him 5 RBI for the evening.
Jose Mijares and Alex Burnett gave the Twins one scoreless inning of relief each, and hey, that's the ballgame.
Studs:
Nick Blackburn: holy crap, Nick Blackburn is 6-1.
Jason Kubel: duh.
Justin Morneau: another day, another extra base hit, sac fly, intentional walk and solid defense.
Duds:
Joe Mauer: throwing error that helped put the Yankees on the board and another double play right to Jeter in the 8th. I actually feel guilty about calling Joe Mauer a dud, and hope He'll forgive me.