Wandy Rodriguez earns first win in more than a month, Astros beat Twins 4-1

Wandy Rodriguez stymies Twins in Astros’ 4-1 win

MINNEAPOLIS — Wandy Rodriguez pitched seven strong innings for his first win in more than a month and the Houston Astros beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 on Sunday.

Rodriguez (6-6), who was 0-4 with a 6.93 ERA in his previous five starts, gave up only Michael Cuddyer’s home run through the first six innings. He allowed two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts overall for his first win since May 20 against Milwaukee.

Jeff Keppinger had three hits, an RBI and a run scored for Houston, which took two of three at the Metrodome for its sixth series win in its last seven overall.

Glen Perkins (2-4) took the loss, allowing four runs and nine hits in seven innings.

The Astros wasted no time getting to Perkins, starting the game with Michael Bourn’s bunt single and stolen base followed by Keppinger’s RBI single.

Miguel Tejada doubled for his first hit of the series and Carlos Lee drove in Keppinger with a groundout. Hunter Pence’s double scored Tejada from third two batters later for a 3-0 lead.

Perkins’ first-inning ERA is 11.17 this season.

The left-hander’s only other blemish was Tejada’s sacrifice fly in the seventh, but Perkins’ teammates couldn’t solve Rodriguez.

The lefty gave up Cuddyer’s shot leading off the second, the ninth home run he’s allowed in his last four starts, but didn’t give up another hit until Brian Buscher’s one-out single in the seventh on Rodriguez’s 105th pitch.

Chris Sampson worked a scoreless eighth and Jose Valverde pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save in seven opportunities as the Astros improved to 3-6 against the American League this season and won their fourth interleague series in their last six dating to last year.

The Twins had won 10 of 11 interleague series and eight in a row dating to May 2008, when they lost two of three at Colorado.

NOTES: Houston C Humberto Quintero was scratched from the lineup with a stiff lower back. Quintero combined with Rodriguez to hold the Chicago Cubs to one run over seven innings on June 10. Before Sunday’s start, Rodriguez had given up 24 runs (18 earned) over 17 2-3 innings through his last four starts paired with Ivan Rodriguez. … Twins 1B Justin Morneau got his first day off since June 27, 2007, ending his streak of 319 consecutive games played. The streak was second in the majors to Ryan Howard’s 343-game streak through Saturday. Howard also sat out Sunday for Philadelphia after being hospitalized for the second consecutive night with flu symptoms. … Twins INF Nick Punto was out of the lineup after leaving Saturday’s game in the seventh inning with bruised ribs. … OF Jason Kubel was removed in the fourth due to illness. … DH Joe Mauer went 0 for 4, ending a 12-game hitting streak.