Twins trounce Cubs 11-3

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Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Despite a woeful starting pitching staff with the worst earned run average in baseball, Scott Diamond has been the lone bright spot of the Minnesota Twins' rotation as he continues to be rough on opposing hitters.

The 25-year-old rookie tossed six shutout innings Saturday, while Joe Mauer returned from a four-game absence and smacked three hits to go with a pair of RBI and a run scored as the Twins routed the Chicago Cubs, 11-3, in the second installment of a three-game interleague series.

Diamond (5-1) fanned five and surrendered seven hits for a Minnesota staff which had a 6.11 ERA coming in. The Canadian-born hurler lowered his ERA to a minuscule 1.61.

Trevor Plouffe had a solo homer, a two-run double and an RBI groundout for the surging Twins, who have won nine of their last 11 contests.

Jeff Samardzija (5-4) allowed eight runs on nine hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings for the Cubs, who have dropped eight of their last nine.

The Twins put across two runs in the second frame, six in the fourth, one in the fifth and two more in the sixth to jump out to an 11-0 lead.

Tags: minnesota sports, proam, baseball, twins