Twins look to shut down hot Blue Jays bats

The Toronto Blue Jays have found a number of ways to win over the past two weeks, but the No. 1 reason for the recent success is offense.

The Blue Jays will try to stay hot at the plate when they play the Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Toronto rallied for a 6-4 win over Minnesota in the series opener on Friday. It marked the sixth time in the past eight games that the Blue Jays scored at least six runs.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider praised his hitters for staying focused on the fundamentals. It's something that he wants to see continue as the club's nine-game road trip progresses.

"I think the mindset hasn't really changed, to be honest with you," Schneider said. "When you're performing, you're scoring. It kind of just leads into everything. It takes pressure off the pitchers. It allows them to get deeper in the games. And I think that performance really justifies how we and the guys feel about our team."

The Twins will look to even the three-game series and set up a rubber match for Sunday. Minnesota has dropped back-to-back games after winning the previous three in a row.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is optimistic despite the series-opening setback. One bright spot was the performance of Royce Lewis, who enjoyed his first three-hit game of the season and hopes to break out of a slump that has dogged him since he returned from injury early last month.

Lewis and his teammates hope to build positive momentum over the weekend.

"We saw some positives," Baldelli said. "Royce had a good day at the plate. (Trevor) Larnach smokes a ball. Ty (France) had some good at-bats. (Christian Vazquez) had some good at-bats. There were some good swings out there."

Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman (5-4, 3.82 ERA) will try to subdue the Twins' hitters when he takes the mound for his 13th start of the season. He will go for his third win in a four-start span, having beaten the San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers in back-to-back outings before drawing a no-decision in his most recent outing.

Gausman allowed three runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Athletics on Sunday. He walked two and struck out seven.

This will be Gausman's 14th career start against the Twins, who have pounced on him in the past. He is 1-5 with a 6.61 ERA in 13 starts vs. Minnesota, having served up nine homers in 65 1/3 innings. The Twins have a .300 batting average against him.

Minnesota will counter with right-hander Chris Paddack (2-5, 3.58 ERA), who enters the game with a 29-29 career win-loss record. He is seeking his first victory since May 15, when he topped the Baltimore Orioles.

Paddack finished with a no-decision in his most recent outing despite limiting the Seattle Mariners to one run on four hits in eight innings on Sunday. He walked one and struck out a season-high 10.

This will be Paddack's first appearance against the Blue Jays in his seven-year career.