Speigner outduels Santana

Published 9:57 pm Saturday, June 9, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Levale Speigner surprised his old organization by cruising through six innings, Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run homer, and the Washington Nationals beat the Minnesota Twins 3-1 on Saturday.

Johan Santana wasn’t quite good enough again for defending AL Central champion Minnesota, going seven innings — but falling to 6-6 while his team lost its sixth game in the last seven.

Speigner, a former Twins farmhand who brought a 14.44 ERA over four previous starts into this one, gave up only two hits and had Minnesota’s batters off balance all night. Only Justin Morneau, who hit his 17th homer in the second inning, solved the Thomasville native.

Speigner (2-2), subbing in the rotation with four starters hurt, walked one and struck out three. He was taken by Washington in the Rule 5 draft last winter after being drafted by the Twins in the 14th round in 2003.

Chad Cordero worked the ninth for his eighth save, and 99th of his career.

In addition to dropping another one to the Nationals, who have the second-worst record in the NL, Minnesota lost left fielder Jason Kubel to a sprained right knee in the early innings. He was to be re-evaluated today.

It’s only been two games, but Washington seems at home at Minnesota.

Maybe it’s because the Twins were born as the original Washington Senators before moving to Minnesota in 1961. The Nationals won for the seventh time in their last eight road games, getting three more hits from streaking shortstop Cristian Guzman.

Guzman, a Twins regular from 1999-2004, is 23-for-39 over his last nine games and has raised his average to .352.

Santana started slow in his Cy Young seasons in 2004 and 2006 and usually hasn’t discovered his dominant rhythm until June, but that hasn’t happened yet this year for a Twins team that has just been hovering around the .500 mark.

He had trouble putting some of the Nationals away in the first two innings, reaching 42 pitches by that point, and served up the three-run homer to Zimmerman in the third that stuck him with a 3-1 deficit.

Nook Logan reached ahead of the homer on third baseman Nick Punto’s fielding error on a routine grounder, but Guzman preceded Zimmerman with a sharp single.

Santana gave up seven hits, only two earned runs and didn’t walk anyone while striking out five. That’s a fine line for most pitchers, but substandard for him on a night when the Twins really needed a win.

Notes: Santana has allowed 13 homers in 13 starts. He gave up 24 in 34 starts in both of his Cy Young seasons. … Jason Bergmann (elbow) and Jerome Williams (shoulder) each threw bullpen sessions for Washington with “no pain whatsoever,” manager Manny Acta said. They could be back in the rotation within the two weeks. … Minnesota RF Michael Cuddyer threw out former teammate Tony Batista, who was trying for a double in the fourth inning. Cuddyer leads the majors with 13 outfield assists. … Zimmerman has 27 RBIs in his last 28 games.