"We didn't kill the ball, but we put it in play," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Took a lot of pitches and made (Rays starter Scott Kazmir) work. Got some lucky bounces and some bloops."

And closed the month of April by winning two straight series -- or more, depending on your memory or your math. "I don't count (a one-day doubleheader sweep in) Boston, so we've won three series in a row," Michael Cuddyer said optimistically.

"This team is starting to click," agreed starting pitcher and winner Nick Blackburn, "and it's pretty exciting."

Minnesota survived its Joe Mauer-less month with an 11-11 record, a reasonably good sign considering the batting champion's absence and the level of competition. The Twins faced all four 2008 playoff teams in the season's first month, not to mention all three AL teams currently playing .600 or better Baseball. So running in place for 22 games, particularly in the so-so AL Central, isn't a particularly disappointing start.

"More importantly, we're only a half-game out of first," Cuddyer pointed out. "We like the way we've been playing. We feel like we're getting better."

As opposed to the Rays, for instance. Last season's surprise World Series participants seemed to be channeling their last-place predecessors Wednesday. The Twins twice scored runs on wild pitches, another came home on a double error, and another was set up by a passed ball. Even a simple pop up fell between three fielders for a hit -- "It's an RBI, I'll take it," joked Jason Kubel -- and Kazmir walked four hitters in his four innings to compound his problems.

Minnesota victimized Kazmir (3-2) for four first-inning runs without hitting a ball particularly hard.

"Our reports coming in said he was having trouble finding his fastball," Cuddyer said. "We had a good plan: Make him throw strikes."

"Guys like that, they tend to settle in after an inning or two and put it on cruise control. We didn't let him get comfortable," said Justin Morneau, who missed his sixth home run of the season, a fourth-inning shot to right-center, by just a couple of feet on the baggie -- yet seemed more proud of an eight-pitch, first-inning walk that loaded the bases. "He's one of the best left-handers in the game. When I go up, foul off some tough pitches, take a walk, it puts pressure on him. He started throwing some wild pitches."

It wasn't just Morneau getting to Kazmir. The top three hitters in the Twins' lineup whacked three hits apiece and combined to go 9 for 14, which allowed them to paste Kazmir for eights runs, six earned, in just four innings.

"It didn't look like he was his normal self," Morneau said.

Actually, the guy who wasn't himself was Blackburn, who said he felt light-headed and nauseous halfway through his seven-inning stint.

"I was a little wobbly. Not sure what was going on," Blackburn said. "It feels like I'm on a boat right now, out in the middle of a lake."

That's how the Rays looked sometimes, as Blackburn (2-1) mowed through seven relatively easy innings, retiring nine straight at one point. He allowed eight hits, but seven were singles, and the Rays were just 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. That includes Blackburn's biggest out, his final one: A weak ground ball by Evan Longoria with the bases loaded to end the seventh.

"Everything I threw felt like it had good downward movement on it," said Blackburn, who has allowed three runs in his past 14 innings. "I really like how the ball's coming out of my hand. I feel like it's coming together for me."

That feeling was pretty common in the Minnesota clubhouse.