Blackburn (6-4) surrendered only three hits, two by Stephen Drew, and struck out three. He threw just 89 pitches.
Mauer was Randy Johnson's only strikeout on Friday, and his smooth left-handed swing uncharacteristically produced a pair of whiffs in his first two at-bats against Diamondbacks starter, Gainesville native Micah Owings.
Stepping in to start the seventh, Mauer bent down on a first-pitch fastball from Owings (6-6) and sent a bunt toward replacement third baseman Augie Ojeda. Mauer barely beat it out, but then Justin Morneau followed with an RBI double that tied the game and the rout was on - ruining a solid performance by the previously struggling Owings.
The Twins sent 11 batters to the plate that inning. Brian Buscher hit a two-run double after a passed ball by catcher Chris Snyder, and Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Alexi Casilla also drove in runs with hits. All of those came against Chad Qualls, who relieved Owings with two on and one out.
Owings was charged with three runs. He gave up five hits and one walk while striking out three, a clear improvement from his four previous post-Memorial Day appearances. In those four starts, he was 0-3 with 32 hits and 23 runs allowed in 19 innings.
The 25-year-old right-hander is one of baseball's best-hitting pitchers, good enough to get 12 chances to pinch hit this season and homer in one of them. He's in a 2-for-23 slump at the plate, though, and manager Bob Melvin acknowledged before the game that forgetting about the bat for a night might help him find a sharper focus on the mound.
Owings had a 1-0 lead until Mauer's bunt jump-started the fateful seventh.
Ojeda was playing third base, having just entered the game to fill in for Mark Reynolds, who hurt his right foot while grounding out to third to end the top of the seventh. Reynolds was in too much pain to leave the batter's box.
Melvin said he decided against leaving Owings in the lineup as designated hitter. Chad Tracy got that assignment instead, and he followed Drew's double in the fourth with an RBI single.
Notes:@ Twins INF Matt Macri told manager Ron Gardenhire he was available to play after hurting his calf muscle the night before. ... Melvin said OF Eric Byrnes, currently on a rehab assignment for his injured hamstrings, remained on track to be activated from the DL on Monday. ... RHP Juan Rincon, designated by the Twins for assignment last week, officially became a free agent.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/6/210997