Morneau's Homer Leads Twins Past Indians

Justin Morneau hit a two-run homer for the power-poor Minnesota Twins, and Nick Blackburn made it stand up with 7 2/3 scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians today. Blackburn (1-1) earned his first major league win with veteran poise by using the defense behind him to escape a couple of jams. Joe Nathan posted his sixth save in as many attempts with a perfect ninth.

Blackburn gave up eight hits without a walk and hit one batter. He ended four innings by inducing double-play grounders, including two by David Dellucci. A perfect throw by left fielder Delmon Young helped preserve the shutout. Casey Blake singled in the third, but Asdrubal Cabrera was out at the plate trying to score from second when the ball one-hopped to catcher Joe Mauer's glove. (More MLB stories.)