The batters on Minnesota's roster are thrilled with the offense's recent production, but the Twins' pitchers might be even happier.
Thanks to the recent roll that Minnesota is on at the plate, the team's starting rotation hasn't had to be as stellar. That was the case for Saturday's starter, Phil Hughes, who picked up his second win in as many starts despite not having his best stuff. Hughes allowed four runs against Cleveland but was backed by his offense in the Twins' 7-4 win over the Indians.
After scoring nine runs Friday, it was another good day Saturday for Minnesota's offense -- and for Hughes as a result.
"There's no holes in the lineup," said Twins second baseman Brian Dozier. "I feel like everybody's kind of locked in right now. I haven't seen that in the past few years."
The last time out for Hughes was his first win in his sixth start of the year. Despite surrendering five runs in just six innings in that game against Oakland, Hughes earned the win as Minnesota held on for an 8-7 victory.
Hughes pitched better Saturday than he did last time out against the A's -- he cruised through the first five innings without allowing a run -- but still wasn't at his best. Yet Minnesota's bats gave Hughes a three-run lead to work with in the second inning and tacked on two more runs in the fifth. By the time Hughes ran into trouble in Cleveland's three-run seventh inning, the Twins had already tagged the Indians for a 7-0 lead.
While Torii Hunter was the biggest run producer in Friday's win, he was just one of several hitters who had big games Saturday to back Hughes. Eight of Minnesota's nine batters had hits. Hunter hit his second home run in as many days, this time a solo shot, and finished 3 for 5 with three runs. Eduardo Escobar drove in a pair of runs -- both with two outs -- and Dozier also had a solo homer and scored twice. As a team, the Twins drove in four of their seven runs with two outs as clutch hitting was key.
"We just kind of built off yesterday," Hunter said. "We still had that feeling from yesterday, and we came out playing well."
Hughes struggled in the seventh inning, unable to put away the Indians as they trimmed Minnesota's lead in half. He didn't finish the inning and was replaced by left-hander Brian Duensing after allowing four runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. Luckily for Hughes and the Twins, Minnesota's offense had already hung seven runs on the Indians.
"You just can never assume how things are going to play out over the course of nine innings," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Phil was in pretty much cruise-control mode there for a while and we were able to keep adding on and increasing the differential. But they kept fighting. They made it interesting right down to the last swing of the game."
Things could have been much more comfortable in the ninth inning for closer Glen Perkins, but the left-hander still had a three-run lead to work with. Minnesota's offense is averaging 7.5 runs per game over the last 10 games, thanks in part to the 6.6 runs per game it scored during the recent 11-game homestand. The 16 hits the Twins had Saturday were the second-most so far this season, and Minnesota already has had 10-plus hits in 15 of 31 games.
The Twins' starting pitching has been much-improved, but with Minnesota's offense going the way it is, the pitchers can stumble a bit and still find ways to win. Hughes found that out Saturday.
"Everything's just kind of clicking, to be honest with you," Dozier said. "I'll tell you what. It's a lot more fun playing the way we're playing right now and coming to the ballpark ready to win a game each and every day. It's a lot of fun."
FOX Sports North's Marney Gellner contributed to this report.
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