Twins bumble in the Bronx

Seth Wenig, Associated Press

Brendan Harris slides safely past New York catcher Jose Molina during the second inning of Monday night's game.

Nick Blackburn and the Twins fell flat in the series opener at Yankee Stadium.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: July 22, 2008 - 11:11 PM

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NEW YORK 12, TWINS 4

Up next: 6:05 tonight • Yankee Stadium • TV: FSN (1500-AM)

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NEW YORK - It's hard enough to play at Yankee Stadium when it's half full. On Monday, a near-sellout crowd crammed into the 85-year-old structure.

So there was a full ballpark, ghosts of Yankees past whispering from the monuments behind the left-field wall and future Hall of Famers in the home dugout. It was more than enough to keep the hair on an opposing pitcher's neck standing at attention all night.

For Nick Blackburn, all night meant five outs during the Twins' 12-4 loss.

"For me, it was quick," Blackburn said, "but it was long to sit here and think about all the mistakes you made."

The Yankees thumped Blackburn on their way to scoring eight runs over the first three innings and cruised to their fourth consecutive victory following the All-Star break. Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter hit home runs.

Blackburn wouldn't blame the atmosphere for his night. He felt strong. He didn't think he was affected by not pitching since July 13. But he rarely put a pitch where he wanted it -- which is the worst thing to do in this ballpark -- and it led to the shortest outing in his 20 starts this season.

A bad 1-0 pitch to Rodriguez in the first turned into a two-run homer to center. Then the Yankees had five hits off Blackburn in the second, forcing manager Ron Gardenhire to bring in Boof Bonser.

"We could not get the ball down," Twins catcher Joe Mauer said, "and I don't know if we mixed it up enough with offspeed pitches."

It wasn't all Blackburn's fault. The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the second, then Johnny Damon hit a bouncer to Twins second baseman Alexi Casilla. Instead of going for an easier out, Casilla rushed a flat-footed throw home, but the throw short-hopped Mauer, and he couldn't handle the ball.

Melky Cabrera scored. Casilla was charged with an error. New York scored three more runs on an RBI single by Jeter, a fielder's choice by Bobby Abreu and an RBI single by Rodriguez.

The inning got away from the Twins after Casilla's error, but Blackburn also could never come up with a big pitch to get out of the mess.

"He centered the ball a few too many times," Gardenhire said. "He's pitched in Boston. He's pitched in Yankee Stadium now, and it's just a learning experience. You make some pitches and you get a little frustrated when we don't make plays, but you've still got to make pitches."

The Yankees led 6-2 after the second inning and got two more in the third as they eased away to their eighth consecutive home victory. In addition to Blackburn's and Casilla's problems, the Twins were only 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position on Monday despite leading the majors with a .313 average in those situations entering the game.

And the Twins headed back to their hotel dealing with the sad realization that they have lost twice to Sidney Ponson in one season.

Ponson, who was let go by the Twins after seven starts last season, then picked up by the Yankees earlier this year after talking his way off the Rangers, held the Twins to three runs over 5 2/3 innings as he improved to 6-1 this season. The announced crowd of 53,484 gave him a standing ovation.

"We paid for a lot of our mistakes," Gardenhire said, "and the game kind of got away from us."

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