Jays use big inning to sweep Twins and get above .500

Blue Jays 13, Twins 1

TORONTO (AP) -- With one big inning, the Toronto Blue Jays swept

aside the Minnesota Twins.

Gregg Zaun homered and drove in four runs, and the Blue Jays

tied a franchise record with an 11-run sixth inning in a 13-1

victory over the Twins on Wednesday that completed a three-game

sweep.

"I definitely feel like we're riding a wave of confidence right

now," Zaun said. "Everybody is doing something. It's not one guy

carrying the club. It's 25 guys on the roster making their

contributions."

Toronto (51-50) has won a season-high five straight to move over

.500 for the first time since June 27, when it was 39-38. Minnesota

(51-50) lost its fourth straight, matching a season worst.

"We obviously had a terrible series here," Twins manager Ron

Gardenhire said. "That was real ugly today."

It's the fourth time this season the Twins have been swept.

Minnesota dropped 9½ games back of AL Central-leading Detroit,

which beat the Chicago White Sox 13-9 on Wednesday.

"It's getting too late in the season to be getting swept,"

catcher Mike Redmond said. "We're running out of games. We're

losing too much ground. If we keep playing like this, we're going

to be out of it real quick."

Zaun singled and scored in the fifth, then added both an RBI

double and a three-run homer in the sixth. He finished 3-for-4,

scored three runs and came within a triple of the cycle.

Jesse Litsch (3-4) allowed one run and five hits over seven

innings, walking one and striking out four.

Toronto starters are 5-0 with a 1.25 ERA in the past five games.

It's the first time since June 8-13, 2003, that Toronto has

received five consecutive wins from its starting pitchers.

"It's awesome," Litsch said. "Hopefully we can keep building

on it."

Toronto outscored Minnesota 26-5 in the series.

"Pitching is always going to set the tone for you," Blue Jays

manager John Gibbons said. "If they shut down the opposition it

gives you a chance, but we've gone above and beyond that. We've

really shut down the other teams and the offense has really come to

life."

The Twins opened the scoring in the fourth on Justin

Morneau's RBI single. Lyle Overbay put Toronto in front with a

two-run double in the fifth before the Blue Jays broke open the

game in the sixth.

Frank Thomas drew a leadoff walk but was erased at second when

Matt Stairs grounded into a fielder's choice. Aaron Hill reached on

third baseman Luis Rodriguez's fielding error before Zaun hit an

RBI double and John McDonald chased Carlos Silva (8-11) with a

two-run triple.

Dennys Reyes replaced Silva but was lifted after giving up an

RBI single to pinch-hitter Troy Glaus and a walk to Overbay. Juan

Rincon didn't fare much better, surrendering an RBI single to Alex Rios, a walk to Vernon Wells, a run-scoring single to Thomas and an

RBI double to Stairs.

Matt Guerrier took over for Rincon and got Hill to ground out

before Zaun homered into the right-field bullpen. The 14-batter

frame finally ended when McDonald flied out.

"The inning got real ugly," Gardenhire said. "We couldn't

throw the ball over the plate and when we did, they whacked it into

the gaps."

Silva lost for the first time in three starts, allowing six runs

and eight hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out

one.

"If you're going to make mistakes against that team, the way

they're playing right now, you're going to pay for it," Silva

said. "They've been playing very good baseball."

Notes

Toronto had last scored 11 runs on April 26, 1995, against

Oakland. ... Joe Mauer, who had caught 10 of the Twins' past 12

games, got the day off and was replaced by Redmond. ... Reyes

allowed an earned run for the first time in 18 appearances since

coming off the disabled list June 14. ... Every Blue Jays starter

except Howie Clark had at least one hit.