?MINNEAPOLIS _ If Lucas Harrell's previous couple of starts had lessened trade interest in the Braves' journeyman pitcher, said interest should be back on the upswing after his performance Tuesday night.
Harrell held the Minnesota Twins to four singles and three walks in seven innings of a 2-0 win at Target Field, snapping the Braves' five-game losing streak and giving them just their second win in eight games on a trip that ends Wednesday night with the finale of a two-game series.
Adonis Garcia continued his hitting surge with a second-inning home run and A.J. Pierzynski doubled and scored in the third inning to give the Braves all the run support needed by Harrell and four relievers including Jim Johnson, who pitched the ninth inning for his third save.
Ervin Santana, who pitched for the Braves in 2010, threw a seven-hit complete game for the Twins, with no walks and five strikeouts. But he came in with the second-worst run support among American League starters at 3.3 per nine innings pitched, and that figure got a little lower with Tuesday's Atlanta shutout.
The Braves have won five in a row against the Twins including the last two games of a series at Target Field in 2010, the inaugural season of the downtown Minneapolis ballpark and their only previous visit to the stadium. Jonny Venters and Kris Medlen were the winning pitchers for the Braves in those games.
The two teams have the worst records in the majors, the Braves at 33-67 after Tuesday and the Twins at 37-62. Minnesota had won 12 of its past 19 games including a split of a four-game series at Boston that ended Sunday.
The fifth Braves start for Harrell (2-2) was the best of three exceptional games he's pitched for them, and a bounce-back after consecutive losses in which he'd given up a combined 14 hits, 11 runs (nine earned) and six walks in 9 2/3 innings.
This time he pitched like he did in his first two starts, when he posted a 1.32 ERA and .156 opponents' average while allowing just seven hits and two runs in 13 2/3 innings of Braves wins against the Marlins and against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
He had four strikeouts and threw 60 strikes in 105 pitches.
The right-hander came through with a much-needed performance Tuesday for the Braves, who had posted a 6.75 ERA while getting outscored 32-15 during a five-game losing streak that encompassed a series finale at Cincinnati and a four-game meltdown of a series at Denver's Coors Field that ended Sunday.
