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After scare for both teams, Twins put away Yankees

David Brewster, Star Tribune

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and a Twins trainer cover the nose and mouth of pitcher Nick Blackburn after he was hit in the face by a batted ball.

Concern for their pitcher hushed the Dome briefly, but shock gave way to relief and the Twins put away their first victory in the series against the Yankees.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: June 2, 2008 - 7:34 AM

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TWINS 5, YANKEES 1

Up next: 6:05 p.m. today vs. Yankees • Metrodome • TV: FSN, ESPN (1500-AM)

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Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn left the Metrodome mound with blood spilling from his nose Sunday after getting hit with a line drive off the bat of the Yankees' Bobby Abreu.

An announced crowd of 27,479 was in a hush. Both teams were visibly shaken, including Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina, who broke his nose when he was hit by a comebacker in 1998.

After losing Blackburn in the fifth inning, the Twins leaned on a tired bullpen for a 5-1 victory.

Blackburn had a swollen upper lip and a bright red nose, but X-rays revealed no broken bones. Manager Ron Gardenhire said he doubted the rookie would miss any time.

"He seems pretty upbeat," Gardenhire said. "He'll be pretty sore the next couple days. I think he's going to be fine. He's a pretty tough guy."

Blackburn stopped by Gardenhire's office with his head wrapped like a mummy, in an exaggerated amount of gauze and tape.

Everyone was just happy they could laugh.

"I got a little bit of glove on it and slowed it down a little bit," Blackburn said. "Fortunately I did slow it down, or it would have been a lot worse."

A group of Yankees went to check on Blackburn, including Abreu, Mussina, Mariano Rivera and manager Joe Girardi.

"I would rather quit today than take a ball in the face," Mussina told reporters.

Asked how long it takes to get over something like that, mentally, Mussina said: "It was a long time for me. It was the rest of the year for me."

Said Blackburn: "You can't let it bother you. You've gotta go back out and keep pitching the way you were before.

"I might be a little gun-shy. I don't think I will. We'll see. That'll be something that gets answered next time I go back out there."

The Twins can only hope Blackburn doesn't miss a beat. He is 4-3 with a 3.32 ERA, and before getting drilled, he pitched very well again, under tough circumstances.

After using the bullpen for 12 innings in the first two games of this series, both losses, the Twins needed a good outing from Blackburn to rest their bullpen.

That's a tall order for any rookie against the Yankees.

But Blackburn held them to one run on five hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings, using 71 pitches.

Derek Jeter hit a home run, trimming the Twins' lead to 3-1, just before Abreu's liner hit Blackburn's face.

The Twins turned to Brian Bass (2-1) for his third outing in three days, and he wound up getting the victory, giving up only one hit in 1 2/3 innings.

The fans received some comic relief in the sixth inning when Yankees center fielder Melky Cabrera slipped on the warning track trying to corral a hit from Justin Morneau. Abreu ran over from right field, and Cabrera made a hapless throw over his head, as Morneau chugged around the bases to make it 4-1.

The play was ruled a triple with an error on Cabrera.

Jesse Crain followed with two innings of scoreless relief, and Joe Nathan closed out the ninth.

Michael Cuddyer led the offense with a pair of two-out hits -- a two-run single in the first inning off Yankees starter Darrell Rasner (3-2), and a run-scoring triple off Scott Patterson in the seventh.

"A good comeback after a loss [Saturday] night in extra innings," Gardenhire said. "Cuddyer got some two-out RBIs, and [Justin] Morneau put some balls in the gap, and Blacky pitched his lip off."

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