Twins 7, Blue Jays 2
Phil Hughes struck out nine in seven scoreless innings and Kendrys Morales had three hits and three RBIs as visiting Minnesota took the rubber match of the three-game series.
Josh Willingham slugged a two-run homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the ninth for the Twins, who won the season series (4-2) for the first time since 2005. Hughes (7-2) scattered seven hits and did not walk a batter for the eighth time in his last nine starts to improve to 5-0 with a 2.03 ERA on the road, and Casey Fien got the last four outs for his first career save.
The Blue Jays, who were shut out in three of their previous four games, did not break through until Jose Bautista had an RBI double and came around to score on Dioner Navarro's single in the eighth. Marcus Stroman (3-1) allowed three runs on nine hits with four strikeouts over six innings while suffering his first career loss.
Hughes was given a 3-0 lead in the sixth after Morales doubled and scored on Trevor Plouffe's sacrifice fly, and then wiggled out of a major jam in the bottom half. With runners on the corners and no outs, Hughes retired Bautista on a foul pop and got Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind swinging to end the threat.
Bobby Korecky, who was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo before the game, took over for Stroman in the seventh and immediately loaded the bases before Morales cleared them with a line drive double to center to make it 6-0. Toronto again had runners on the corners in the bottom of the inning before Hughes fanned Juan Francisco and got Jose Reyes swinging on a vicious slider to finish a 101-pitch gem.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Twins 2B Brian Dozier left the game in the fourth inning due to back tightness. ... Morales is 6-for-13 with three doubles and a walk since signing with Minnesota over the weekend. ... The Twins have a day off before playing the first of three games at Detroit on Friday, while the Blue Jays begin a four-game set at Baltimore on Thursday.