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(Sports Network) - Three consecutive wins have put the Minnesota Twins in the hunt for the top spot in the American League Central, but the club will have to wait until after the All-Star Break to make a serious run at the division- leading Chicago White Sox.

The Twins will attempt to close out their first half with a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers when the two AL Central foes meet again today at Comerica Park.

On Saturday the Twins drew to within 1 1/2 games of the front-running Sox with a 6-5 win over the Tigers. Were it not for an untimely three-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox on the road earlier this week, Minnesota would be the hottest team in the AL right now.

Brendan Harris registered three of Minnesota's 12 hits yesterday and finished with four RBI in the narrow road victory. Joe Mauer belted a home run and plated two runners for a Minnesota team that followed the lead of starting pitcher Scott Baker. The hurler gave up four runs on six hits and struck out four in seven innings of work.

Although he walked a batter in the ninth, Joe Nathan still managed to record his 27th save of the season, thanks to three strikeouts in the frame.

Detroit's Nate Robertson fell to 6-8 on the season after he allowed five runs on 10 hits in seven innings of work. Like Baker, Robertson also fanned four and surrendered a pair of home runs.

Home runs by Detroit came courtesy of Curtis Granderson and Matt Joyce, while Brandon Inge logged a pair of hits and a walk as he settled in behind the plate in place of Ivan Rodriguez.

The loss for Detroit, the team's third in a row, has them sitting in third place in the AL central, eight games out of first and one below .500 overall.

Nick Blackburn carries a career mark of 1-1 versus Detroit into his meeting with the Tigers this afternoon. Blackburn, now in his second season in the majors after spending time at Seminole Junior College in Oklahoma, has won three straight decisions, although his most recent outing kept him out of the win-loss columns.

On Tuesday the right-hander made it through 6 2/3 innings versus Boston, permitting a mere two runs on six hits and striking out two, but his effort was not enough to keep the club from bowing to the Red Sox by a 6-5 count.

As for the Tigers, they're handing the ball to Justin Verlander in hopes that their ace can finish off the first half of the season on a positive note.

Verlander, who is 3-4 with a 3.78 ERA in his career versus Minnesota, has been trying to fight back from a miserable 1-7 start to 2008 and has managed to collect three wins in his last four appearances.

On Tuesday the righthander made it through seven innings against Cleveland, giving up two runs on as many hits while walking one and striking out seven in a 9-2 victory.

Justin Morneau has been knocking the cover off the ball for the Twins over the last week, hitting a stellar .481 with two home runs and four runs scored. Harris is up to .471 in his last six outings, logging six RBI and five runs scored to try and offset the weak effort of Carlos Gomez, who is just 2-for-26 (.077) in his last six starts.

Both Joyce and Miguel Cabrera have three home runs in the last six games for the Tigers, combining for 11 of the team's 32 RBI during the stretch. Having a bit of a rough patch for Detroit lately is Placido Polanco, with his .167 average over the course of 24 at-bats.

Minnesota has won five straight meetings with the Tigers and is 10-4 against Detroit this season. That includes a 5-3 mark at Comerica Park.