quot;It's just hard to get off the fastball when he was able to locate it so well. I didn't want to do those guys a favor and throw too many breaking balls when he was in such great command of that fastball.quot;

Slowey had thrown 106 pitches when Ron Gardenhire sent him back out for the ninth inning, another display of the manager's increased willingness to let his young pitchers push past the 100-pitch mark, and a willingness furthered, no doubt, because of what Slowey was pitching for -- his third career shutout.

The 24-year-old, with about 20 family and friends in the stands who made the 2 1/2-hour drive from his native Pittsburgh, held Cleveland to five hits and no runs through eight, and there was no doubt, for him or his skipper, that he'd return for the ninth.

But his night ended on pitch 114 when Shin-Soo Choo's single loaded the bases with no outs. Luis Ayala allowed one inherited run to score and easily preserved Slowey's win.

Like Nick Blackburn the night before, Slowey changed speeds effectively and didn't walk a batter. The Indians entered the game with the second-most walks in the majors (79), but in two games against the Twins they've failed to earn a single free pass.

quot;I feel like I was still trying to find my footing as the season started. Last couple starts I feel a lot better,quot; said Slowey, who tied his career-high pitch count Saturday, a mark he set one start earlier. quot;It never hurts to be up early and then continue to score runs. Gives me a little more breathing room.quot;

The Twins , back at .500 with a 9-9 record, took a first-inning lead for the second time in as many games when Alexi Casilla singled off Carl Pavano, stole second base and scored on a Justin Morneau single.

Two seasons ago Minnesota was baffled by Pavano at the Metrodome, becoming the first team to lose to the oft-injured starter since 2005 and only the fifth team to lose to him since. Saturday, the Twins weren't so fooled by the former Yankee.

Jason Kubel homered twice (once off Pavano) for his third career multihomer game. Immediately after Kubel's second solo shot, Joe Crede added one of this own, the first time this season Minnesota hitters have homered in back-to-back at-bats.

The Twins amassed 15 hits, 11 off Pavano. Delmon Young contributed three of those, all singles to left field. Young went 3 for 4 with a run batted in and a run scored, and Justin Morneau (batting .329 with a .359 on-base percentage) pushed his hitting streak to six games with two hits and an RBI.

quot;Good pitching gives you an opportunity and takes a lot of pressure off the offense,quot; Gardenhire said. quot;You've got to score some runs for a pitcher to keep him relaxed, and they did a little of that, too. They pick each other up, but it all starts with good pitching.quot;

Slowey (3-0) struck out seven, allowed one run on eight hits and lowered his earned-run average to 4.44. With six days between his last start and Saturday's, Slowey said he had ample time to work through his early season troubles (he gave up 22 hits in his first two starts). One of the problems for the strike-throwing right-hander was throwing, well, too many strikes, an issue he remedied against Cleveland.

quot;I think some of the pitches they hit and put into play wouldn't have been called strikes,quot; Slowey said. quot;That's really the goal for us, to be able to throw pitches that look like strikes and encourage the hitter to swing when it's not the pitch he can hit. . . . Tonight I felt like most of my misses that they put into play were misses that weren't very hittable.quot;