Carl Pavano threw his second consecutive complete game with a three-hit shutout and the Minnesota Twins jumped on Johan Santana early to beat the New York Mets 6-0 on Saturday.
Pavano (9-6) won for the fourth consecutive start, allowing just three singles and a walk while striking out four. The veteran right-hander has surrendered one run and seven hits over 18 innings in his last two starts.
The Twins took a 4-0 lead in the first inning against their former ace, scoring on an RBI single by Joe Mauer, an RBI ground-rule double by Jason Kubel and a two-run double by Delmon Young.
Denard Span drove in another run with a double in the fourth and Kubel added a solo homer in the ninth - his 10th of the season.
Pitching against his former team for the first time since being traded to New York, Santana (5-5) allowed five runs on eight hits over six innings.
Jeff Francoeur had a pair of hits and Rod Barajas added one in defeat.
Minnesota | NY Mets | |
Carl Pavano | Player | Johan Santana |
Win | W/L | Loss |
9.0 | IP | 6.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 4 |
3 | Hits | 8 |
0.00 | ERA | 7.50 |
Minnesota | NY Mets | |
Carl Pavano | Player | Jeff Francoeur |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 2 |
.667 | Avg | .667 |