Blackburn, Twins blank Tribe, 3-0

Nick Blackburn reversed Cleveland’s brief momentum for his first win.

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

MINNEAPOLIS — The Indians keep trying to get on a roll, but can’t seem to get past “o.”

Minnesota’s Nick Blackburn brought Cleveland’s brief stretch of positive momentum to a screeching halt Saturday afternoon, working 7 2‚Ñ3 scoreless innings for his first major league victory during a 3-0 Twins win at the Metrodome.

The loss snapped the Indians’ encouraging but abbreviated two-game win streak.

Blackburn, a 26-year-old right-hander, did not issue a walk and induced four inning-ending double play ground balls.

“He threw a sinker, a cutter and an occasional curveball,” Indians outfielder David Dellucci said. “He was working both sides of the plate, so you couldn’t look for just one side. He also pitched guys differently each time up, so you couldn’t expect to be pitched like you were before.”

The No. 1 prospect in the Twins organization, according to Baseball America, allowed at least one baserunner in every inning. Each time danger appeared imminent, however, Blackburn (1-1) either made a pitch that aborted a potential rally or was saved by a defender behind him making a difficult play.

Left fielder Delmon Young and catcher Joe Mauer teamed up to prevent a run in the third when Asdrubal Cabrera tried to score from second on Casey Blake’s hit to left. Cabrera found his path blocked by Mauer and slid full-steam into home plate, but found Mauer to be an immovable object.

“We just couldn’t put an inning together,” Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. “I give credit to that kid [Blackburn]. I also give them credit defensively. They made some big plays. Mauer was all over the plate.”

Left-hander Dennys Reyes and closer Joe Nathan completed the shutout, Nathan earning his sixth save.

“Blackburn is a big guy (6-foot-4, 227 pounds) who was throwing the ball downhill,” Wedge said. “He was really leveraging with his fastball, then mixed in some changeups. But, as good as that kid pitched, we could still have a done a better job offensively.”

Jake Westbrook (1-2) allowed three early runs but pitched through the seventh.

Justin Morneau’s two-run home run in the first inning came off a fat 2-2 fastball that was just begging to be pulverized.

“It was middle-middle, a bad pitch, and he made me pay for it,” Westbrook said.