PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Kris Benson isn't going to the All-Star Game -- and, the way he's pitching now, he is a little confused why he isn't.

	Benson

Kevin Young homered as the Pirates matched their season high by winning their fourth in a row.

If their teams had better records, this might have been a premier pitching matchup: Milton (8-4), who pitched a no-hitter last season, against Benson (8-6), the winner of eight of 11 decisions since an 0-3 start.

Benson was better this time, twice working out of trouble with double-play grounders while limiting the Twins to Corey Koskie's solo homer.

"That's probably the best young pitcher we've seen in a long time," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "He's got nice breaking pitches and a changeup and he's not afraid to throw inside. When we did hit it hard, we hit it at somebody."

Benson, starting three days later than normal because of a bout of the flu, gave up four hits, struck out five and walked two in 8 1/3 innings. He pitched into the seventh for the 15th successive start and lowered his ERA to 3.05.

Among the few names ahead of him on the NL ERA leaders list are a couple of guys named Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown.

"Obviously, he's only in his second year, but in a couple of years he's going to be the (Greg) Maddux or the (Roger) Clemens in the league," Pirates catcher Jason Kendall said. "I think everybody forgets he's pitched only one full season up here, and he's only going to get better."

Benson isn't bad now, and likely would be going back to his hometown of Atlanta for the All-Star Game if the Pirates (38-47) had a better record. Still, Benson felt disappointed when Atlanta manager Bobby Cox left him off the NL team.

"It kind of stinks I have to go out there and pitch every game like it's my All-Star Game," Benson said. "I wish I was traveling there with the other guys, but every team has to be represented there and I guess I was the odd man out. But it would have been great to have pitched in an Olympics and an All-Star Game at home."

Since his poor start, which saw him yield seven homers in his first four starts, Benson has settled down to become one of the NL's most consistent starters. He has a 2.44 ERA in his last 14 starts, yielding two earned runs or fewer in 10 of those starts.

He has been especially effective at Three Rivers Stadium, giving up only 11 earned runs in his last 65 1/3 innings there -- a 1.51 ERA.

Young helped get Benson started, hitting his 12th homer in the second. The Pirates made it 2-0 in the fourth on Wil Cordero's leadoff double and Brian Giles' RBI single. Cordero has eight hits in his last four games.

Giles, the only Pirates player to start all 85 games and an NL All-Star, has been in a mild slump, hitting .200 with six RBI in his previous 11 games.

Koskie's homer, his fifth, cut the Pirates' lead to 2-1. But the Pirates scored twice in their half of the fifth without the benefit of an extra-base hit. Benson started it with a single, his fifth hit of the season, and Milton hit Mike Benjamin with a pitch ahead of Kendall's single.

Benson scored as Cordero grounded into a double play, and Benjamin came home on Milton's wild pitch.

Milton, who grew up about three hours from Pittsburgh in State College, Pa., yielded four runs on seven hits in six innings in his second career start in Three Rivers Stadium.

"We faced a great pitcher," Milton said. "He had great stuff."

The Twins threatened in the seventh, putting runners on first and third with one out, but Benson got Marcus Jensen to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Pirates manager Gene Lamont was booed when he pulled Benson after Matt Lawton doubled with one out in the ninth. Reliever Jason Christiansen walked David Ortiz, but Mike Williams got pinch-hitter Ron Coomer to hit into the Twins' third double play of the game.

Game notes
The Twins are 3-8 in interleague play. ... Twins relievers have surrendered 39 homers in 89 games. ... Young's homer was the Pirates' ninth in four games. ... Pirates OF John Vander Wal has a career-high 45 RBI before the All-Star break. He had 41 RBI last season. ... Pirates RHP Jose Silva, who starts Sunday, is 0-6 as a starter since May 19, 1999. ... The Pirates also won four in a row May 29-June 2. ... Williams has converted 12 of 13 save situations. ... Twins OF Chad Allen left after being hit in the left elbow with a pitch in the seventh, but an examination by a Pirates team doctor revealed no injury.