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A's 3, Twins 0

Poor Boof Bonser. Last night he gave the Twins his 4th quality start in 5 appearances, yet dropped to 1-4 on the season. The team has produced 7 runs in the 29 innings Bonser has pitched so far.

With Chad Gaudin doing a terrific job of keeping the Twins' hitters off-balance all night, this game was a perfect time to work some counts and elevate his pitch totals. Not in the game plan, apparently. Gaudin needed just 84 pitches to complete 7 innings. He threw only about 50 through the first 5 IP.

Denard Span didn't contribute much to Gaudin's stress level. He saw only 6 pitches in his three ABs, reaching on an infield single to start the game. Gardy sensibly pinch-hit Brendan Harris vs. LHP Alan Embree in the 8th, so Span didn't get another chance to reach a second time. That creates this interesting comparison as Cuddyer prepares to come off the DL tomorrow:

Gomez: .230/.247/.310 = .557 OPS
Span: .233/.303/.233 = .536 OPS

At least one of them will get a few more ABs with which to influence matters this afternoon. But if you had to have one of those guys as your CF/leadoff hitter, who would you prefer? Joe C. has made his choice, and Aaron Gleeman and Nick are also accutely aware of the problem. Hopefully the Twins will do something about it soon.