Carnage

Twins 2, Rays 8

Twins 3, Rays 15

Twins 1, Rays 6

Even though everything appeared to hunky-dory at the end of the weekend's mini-sweep of the Indians, and the team got an extra day off with a rainout on Tuesday night, they somehow showed up to the ballpark in worse shape than when they'd left it more than 72 hours earlier. Delmon Young wasn't ready to play after a week on the shelf, and had to be placed on the DL. Jim Thome and Jason Repko had nagging, day-to-day injuries that kept them out of the lineup for the series. Carl Pavano was the latest to catch the flu, pushing back his expected start this weekend.

So, once again Gardy was forced to fill out lineup cards inundated with the scrubs, and the results were predictably pathetic. Thome would have been particularly useful against the 3 RHPs the Rays threw in the series. Toss in the fact that Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel didn't hit in the same games, and you've got a lot of quick, easy innings for the Rays' talented young starters. To top it all off, the weather was horrible. The end result was a Twins squad that, top to bottom, looked like it didn't want to be there, and played accordingly. For the series, they were outscored 29-6 by a Rays team that came in hitting just about as badly as the Twins had this season.

I won't go into any of the individual performances. I find Francisco Liriano's total lack of command absolutely mystifying and infuriating, but I don't have anything smart to say about it. I'm a little puzzled by what the Twins opted to do logistically this week, though.

With Pavano sick, the plan was evidently to push his next scheduled turn back to Sunday. That's fine, but I don't see why it necessitated giving a spot start to a replacement level pitcher on Thursday. Scott Baker last pitched a week ago Thursday, and Brian Duensing pitched on Saturday. Either one of those guys could have comfortably thrown one half of the double-header. The other could start Friday's series in KC on extra rest. For Saturday, they could call up Kevin Slowey to go 3-4 innings, then hand the ball to Glen Perkins for another 3 or so. Or call up Kyle Gibson, the Twins' #1 or #2 prospect (depending who you ask). In his last 3 GS, he's allowed 4 ER on 10 H and 4 BB in 17 IP with 17 K. He would have been pitching on 3 days' rest, but so was Anthony Swarzak.

Ah, Swarzak. I guess there was no harm in tendering him a contract, but I would have much rather seen him banished from the 40-man roster instead of Rob Delaney. He was terrible at AAA last year, and then he was terrible in the Venezuelan Winter League in the offseason. In his last 3 GS, he allowed 11 ER on 18 H and 5 BB in 15.2 IP with 7 K. On Thursday night, he allowed 5 ER on 8 H and 1 BB in 5.1 IP with 1 K. Whoa - didn't see that coming! He was promptly returned to the minors. Please, can that be the last we see of him?

Eric Hacker wouldn't have been a much better option, but he was originally slated start on Thursday. At least he was already on the 25-man roster. But he was used up in long-relief on Wednesday when Liriano lasted just 3+ IP. Question: why is tomorrow's scheduled starter the 1st guy up in the 'pen when tonight's starter struggles? There are 7 guys in the bullpen. All of them just had at least 2 days off. If you give all of them except Hacker 1 IP on Wednesday, everybody but Joe Nathan should be available to go on Thursday, too, right? Duensing ought to be able to throw an inning or 2 on Wednesday and still be OK for Saturday, right? I would have done everything possible to avoid using Swarzak. But I guess I just see the world differently than Bill Smith does.

On to KC, where the Royals are coming off an 0-6 road trip. They're just as cold as the Twins. Something's got to give! At least the rotation is set up to make things hard on their offense. If Thome can return, the Twins may have enough offense to put this ugly week behind them.

Save Me

Twins 3, Rays 4 (10 innings)

Twins 2, Rays 5

Twins 3, Rays 4

Twins 4, Rays 2

Any time a Closer blows a save, it tends to overshadow everything that came before it in the game. Whatever the circumstances leading up to it, all that guy had to do was hold the lead for one inning and his team would have had a win in the books. The significance of the Closer is doubly emphasized when the offense promptly retakes the lead in the top of the 10th, but the other Closer comes in and also blows a save in the bottom half. And it is tripled when the same 2 guys go out there 2 days later and give up late-inning runs, again costing the team a win. And it gets even a little more emphasis from the fact that the SP in those 2 games had completely shut down the opposition, allowing just 1 R on 8 H and 3 BB with 13 K in 15 IP.

It's easy to blame this series loss on Joe Nathan and Matt Capps. After all, if they had done their jobs, the Twins would have walked away from Tropicana Field with 3 wins instead of 3 losses. But I'd like to make sure the offense gets its fair share of the blame. In those losing efforts, the hitters went 3 for 23 (.130) with RISP. Even productive outs in many cases might have resulted in the 1 or 2 extra runs the team needed to put the game away, but they couldn't muster those, either.

It would be nice to pin that futility on the lack of depth at the up-the-middle positions - Luke Hughes and Steve Holm had chances to sustain a couple of rallies on Saturday and didn't. But just about everybody in the lineup has been guilty of that at one time or another. When Casilla and Span set the table, Morneau doesn't hit, and the rallies fizzle. When he and Thome do hit, Delmon and Cuddyer don't, and the rallies fizzle. When they hit, Casilla doesn't, and the rallies fizzle. Nobody's getting the timely hits right now.

With neither the defense nor the bullpen looking terribly sharp in the early-going either, at least the starting pitching has been strong. In this series, all 4 starters were still on the mound in the 7th inning. Nick Blackburn's QS through 6 IP was quickly forgotten when he served up a no-out, 2-run HR in the 7th, but he'd pitched 5 stellar shutout innings prior to seeing the wheels start to come off in the 6th. The starters have definitely stepped up and done their part to help carry the offense through this slump. With them pitching so well, the hitters don't have to do too much more to get this thing turned around.

Next stop: Baltimore, where the Orioles have lost 7 in a row. It's still the road, it's the AL East. But it's also a good opportunity to come home with a couple more wins.

Notes:

• Joe Mauer's vague but persistent soreness sent him to the DL after Thursday night's game with what was initially diagnosed as bilateral leg weakness. By the end of the weekend it appeared that the cause was a viral infection which caused him to lose about 12 pounds in a matter of days. He seems to be on the mend already, and should be more or less back to full strength by the time his DL stint is up at the end of the month.
• Nathan has been demoted to low-leverage situations until he can get himself back to form. I don't know how many strong outings he'll need to have to reclaim the Closer job from Capps, but I do expect him to improve as the season goes along.
• Denard Span and Jason Kubel were 2 of the guys from whom I expected bounce-back seasons in 2011, and they're each off to great starts. Span is hitting .339/.371/.458, while Kubel's 2nd straight game with a HR lifted his line to .321/.368/.509. They are the only guys currently in the lineup who are enjoying BABIPs above the league average. Those will come down eventually, so they'd each better start working counts and drawing walks the way they've shown us they can in recent seasons if they want to keep up their OBPs.
• Joe Benson kept hitting this weekend, adding a 3B and raising his line to .385/.442/.615, with a K% that is presently just under 18%. So far, so good there.
• There are 2 other prospects who I'd especially like to see work their way into the Twins' 2012 plans. Chris Parmelee could make himself into a viable lefty platoon option in the OF, perhaps replacing Jason Kubel. But, like Benson, he needs to hit well enough early in order to earn a quick promotion to Rochester. He hit his 1st HR of the season today and is off to a .357/.372/.548 start. Needs to walk more, though.
• The other is Rene Tosoni, who is trying to bounce back from an injury-shortened 2010. He would make a nice upgrade to Jason Repko, since he can do all the things Repko does, plus hit. He's already got a 9-game hitting streak which has him at .324/.381/.676 with 4 2B and 3 HR.

The Plays They Should Make

Twins 2, Rays 4

I always get a little nervous when somebody gets called up to make their major league debut against the Twins. A team full of veteran hitters ought to be able to make the kid sweat a bit, but it doesn't seem to go like that for the Twins. That was especially true on Monday night. Not just because Jeremy Hellickson is one of the top prospects in all of baseball. And not just because the Twins' lineup was devoid of recent All-Stars Orlando Hudson, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Hellickson's stuff was very good, his command superb. But his demeanor, right from the first inning, showed that he wasn't going to be a pushover. There was something like disdain in his body language when he fielded Delmon Young's comebacker in the 1st, as though he was disgusted that Young had deigned to put the ball in play. He held a very hot offensive team to 2 ER and 5 baserunners over 7 IP, then went straight back to AAA. The Twins have Jeff Manship for spot starts. The Rays have Hellickson. Sick.

The game came down to the 5th inning, when the Twins went 0-2 with RISP while the Rays went 2-3. The deciding runs came at the end of an epic, 12-pitch AB from Matt Joyce, who finally doubled in 2. However, the 1-out double from Jon Jaso that went off the glove of Michael Cuddyer at 1B should have been an out, right? I mean, Justin Morneau usually makes that play. Had Cuddyer fielded it, that's a scoreless inning. Furthermore, the subsequent double by Carl Crawford over the head of Young LF was catchable. Young took a bad route, obviously misjudging it. I mean, Crawford would have made that catch had a Twin hit that liner. The Rays gave Carl Pavano a harder time this season than most teams have, but even so, he might have lasted into the 7th with the game at least tied had he gotten a bit better defense behind him.

In other news, it took 4 Twins relievers 52 pitches to get through the last 2 innings of the game.

Twins 4, Rays 6

Brian Duensing put the Twins in an early hole with a 3-run HR in the 1st inning. He was solid after that, though, allowing only 2 more H and 3 BB over the next 5 innings to earn a QS and give the offense a chance to claw their way back into the game. They did that, thanks mostly to some very timely hitting from Joe Mauer and some uncommonly good getting on baseness from Drew Butera. Well, one of Butera's hits was his 2nd career HR, and his dad was around to see this one, too! They should fly Sal out to all of Drew's games.

No sooner had Butera tied it in the 7th, then the Rays answered in the bottom half with another 3-run blast, this time from BJ Upton. It came off Matt Guerrier, who doesn't look like he should ever pitch against A-Rod or the Rays. Most infuriating, the 2 guys who scored ahead of Upton were PH who worked consecutive BB.

Down 3 in the 9th, the Twins made it interesting, and should have been able to tie the game. PH Jose Morales drew a 1-out BB, but was forced at second when he broke back to first on Denard Span's short-hop liner to RF. Not good baserunning, but that's not even the problem. The Rays weren't holding Morales on - why didn't he run to 2nd? There was some excuse that the coaches weren't sure he'd have the speed to make it. I know he's a catcher, but he's a lot sprier than Kelly Shoppach, and the Rays probably wouldn't have even covered 2nd. It's called Fielder's Indifference. Span took advantage of it on the 2nd pitch. Morales had 4 free pitches before Span swung the bat. Take 2nd, and Span's FC becomes a single, with Morales moving to 3rd with 1 out. Then the error in the Jim Thome AB scores a run, Mauer knocks in another, and Young's game-ending grounder - a close play at 1st - becomes a game-tying play.

As tightly as the games with the Rays have been played, the Twins need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way. If the Rays are going to give them a base, for heaven's sake, take it!

Twins 2, Rays 1 (13 innings)

David Price entered the game as one of the AL's best pitchers in terms of ERA and Wins, and he showed why against the Twins. His fastball was overpowering, and he had much better control than usual. Luckily, Danny Valencia owns him, going 2-2 with a BB for the 2nd time. Jason Repko followed Valencia's 1st single with a double to the wall in left center, and the Twins took an early 1-0 lead in the 2nd.

Scott Baker made that hold up the whole time he was out there. He was absolutely magnificent, allowing 0 R on 3 H and 1 BB with 7 K in 8 IP. Oh, and about those 3 H. The first was a sinking liner to CF to lead off the game. Span raced over, slid for the ball, and had it pop out of his glove for a double. Not an easy play, but certainly a makable play. Jaso hit a ground rule 2B - that was legit. In the 6th, Span and Young each pulled off a fly ball between them, letting it fall for another double. There's no excuse not to make that play. Had Span made either one of those plays, Baker's pitch count would have been just under 100 through 8 shutout innings of 1 or 2 H ball. Even so, he was in total control of this game - why not let him finish it? At least see if he can get it done in less than 120 pitches - he has an extra day of rest before his next start.

Matt Capps came in, because he's the closer. And he got Evan Longoria to hit a little fly ball to left that Young raced in for and dropped, kicking it away in the process for yet another double. Not an easy play, but a makable play (Young himself would make a very similar play the following afternoon). The tying run in scoring position with no one out. Naturally, he scored, and the Twins' rather overworked 'pen had to throw another 5 innings. Young redeemed himself with an RBI single in the 13th. After the game-tying single, the Rays went hitless the rest of the way against the Twins' relievers.

Twins 8, Rays 6

Finally, a game the Twins led comfortably from the start. They ambushed Wade Davis in the 1st, batting around and scoring 4 R. They tacked on single runs in the 5th, on a Repko HR, and 6th, on a double from Butera, who will probably never be this hot again. The Twins smashed Davis for 10 H, including 5 doubles and a HR, in 6 IP.

Kevin Slowey, meanwhile, was dealing even better than Baker. He also took a shutout into the 8th, having allowed just 2 H, 0 BB and 8 K. He started the 8th with a pitch count approaching 100, and seemed to tire. He allowed a leadoff HR to Upton, then - the fatal mistake - hit #9 hitter Shoppach with a 1-2 pitch. Then a single, followed by an out on a spectacular play by Alexi Casilla in short RF. Slowey had a chance to finish the inning, but he walked Evan Longoria to load the bases. Great effort, though.

In came Jesse Crain, who's been flawless for about 2 months. He walked Willy Aybar to force in a run. However, I thought he pitched well enough to strike Aybar out on 3 pitches. To my eyes (and to FoxTrax), the 1st, 2nd and 4th balls called by plate umpire Chris Guccione were in the strike zone. Anyway, Gardy brought in Ron Mahay to pitch to Matt Joyce, who was PH for not by Gabe Kapler, but by Jason Bartlett. Interesting choice, I thought. Ding! Grand slam, and the game is tied. Just Bartlett's 3rd HR of the year. You've got to be effing kidding me!

The baseball gods took pity on the Twins, and gave the game back in the next half inning, when Jason Kubel's 2-out popup hit the highest catwalk in that crazy domed stadium and caromed back toward the pitcher's mound, where it landed safely for the game-winning hit. This time, Capps was able to seal the deal.

The Twins went 3-5 in their 8 games with the Rays, who appear to be the 2nd best team in the league. The worst of the losses was by 3 runs, the others by 2 or fewer. 4 times the Twins blew leads in the 8th or 9th inning. The 2 teams seem very closely matched. The Rays can strike quickly, and they play hard to the final out. The Twins may face them in the playoffs, and they will need to play perfectly in order to prevail. They must not hit batters. They must not drop fly balls. They must not be tentative on the bases.

They must not play the way played these series.

Defensive Inefficiency

Twins 4, Rays 5 (10 innings)

The Twins had to face some exceedingly tough pitching in this series, beginning with Jeff Niemann. With runs tough to come by, it was crucial to cash in on scoring opportunities. The Twins did enough of that, it seemed. They managed just 6 H off Niemann in 6.2 IP, but bunched 4 of them in the 2nd for 2 R, including another 2-out RBI H from Delmon Young. He connected in the 7th for his 9th HR, giving the Twins 5 of their 8 baserunners off the starter in the 2 innings in which they scored. In the 8th, they used a leadoff 2B and 2 deep fly balls to plate a 4th R, and took a lead into the 9th inning.

Against such tough competition, run prevention was just as critical, and that's where the Twins faltered a bit. Carl Pavano pitched well, but he wasn't able to complete the 7th, thanks to back-to-back grueling innings in the 4th and 5th. Young nailed a runner at the plate to limit the damage in the 4th to 1 R. In the 5th, all the trouble came with 2 outs. The inning was prolonged when the IF failed to get the final out on consecutive grounders. The first was fielded by Justin Morneau, but Pavano was beaten to 1B by the super speedy Carl Crawford. The 2nd was a grounder almost right to Nick Punto at SS. He bobbled it just long enough to allow Evan Longoria to beat his throw, and a run scored.

That was key play of the game. The extra out the Twins gave the Rays enabled them to send All-Stars Crawford and Longoria to the plate with 2 outs in the 9th. The extra run the Twins gave them enabled them to tie the game, rather than merely cutting the lead in half. The 10th inning wasn't very important to me, other than that it provided further evidence that Matt Guerrier is in one of his slumps. And that 3B umpire Alfonso Marquez is on drugs.

Twins 2, Rays 1

On Friday night the Twins faced David Price, who came into the series leading the league in wins and ERA. They needed good Scott Baker to show up. Crawford and Longoria once again combined for a run in the 1st. But after that Baker was wonderfully stingy, allowing just 4 more H, 0 BB, and 8 K through 7 IP.

Though he walked 3, Price had allowed just 1 H through his first 6.2 IP. A lot of that is a credit to the Rays' athletic defenders, who made a handful of fine plays to take hits away from the Twins. Then, suddenly, in a span of 4 pitches, Jason Kubel, Young and Danny Valencia ripped base hits, and the Twins were on top 2-1. The Rays responded with threats in the 8th and 9th, but Brian Duensing, Jesse Crain and Jon Rauch held them scoreless.

Twins 6, Rays 8

This was the matchup that seemed to favor the Twins, with Francisco Liriano starting against Wade Davis, a highly touted rookie who was having his struggles. Liriano delivered on his end, shutting the Rays down for 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 10 K. The only run against him scored when, with a runner a 3rd, Crawford once again blazed his way aboard with a little swinging bunt single. One of the other hits Liriano gave up didn't reach the OF, either. One of these days, all of the grounders he induces will be converted into outs, and that will be a quick game.

On the offensive side, the Twins were all over Davis. He was rocked for 8 H (6 for extra bases), 4 ER, 3 HR and only 1 K in 4.1 IP. 2 of the HR came from Jim Thome, moving him ahead of Harmon Killebrew in career HR. There was a video message from the Killer, a couple of curtain calls for Thome. The game was under control, and it was the Twins' day.

Liriano came out after throwing 103 pitches, a slightly conservative move, but it was a hot, muggy day. Alex Burnett came in and got Jason Bartlett to hit a fly ball to RF that Cuddyer, who had just that minute been moved from 3B, let hit off his glove for a 2B. That should have been one out. Then Sean Rodriguez legged out an IF H on a slow chopper to SS. Jose Mijares came in and allowed a ground-rule double to Crawford, a ball that just landed fair down the LF line. Gardy went to Guerrier, whose first 2 pitches were raked for RBI H. In a span of 6 pitches, 3 relievers had undone Liriano's good work. Eventually, with the bases loaded and 2 out, PH Matt Joyce's deep fly to CF carried just over the fence. Span wasn't able to jump for it, because he collided with the wall. Catchable? Perhaps. But the ball that Cuddyer dropped certainly was. That extra out turned a 2 run rally into 7, and turned a comfortable win into shocking defeat.

Twins 4, Rays 7

The matchup, James Shields vs. Nick Blackburn, clearly favored the Rays. The teams traded runs in the 1st inning, but then both pitchers settled down. The only other run through 6 IP came on a solo HR from Rodriguez in the 3rd. For Blackburn, it was as fine a performance as he ever makes: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, HR, 1 BB, 3 K, with more grounders than flies. He broke down in the 7th, though. The first 2 batters singled, prompting a sac bunt from #9 hitter Jason Bartlett. Blackburn threw wildly to first, bringing in a run and putting 2 in scoring position with nobody out. He held the runners when he got Rodriguez to ground out, intentionally walked Crawford, then was knocked out when Longoria delivered a 2-run single. Duensing got the 1st guy he faced, but yielded a 2-out, PH 2B from Gabe Kabler. The extra out Blackburn gave away cost him 3 unearned runs.

The Twins responded immediately, putting the 1st 4 hitters in the bottom half on base to knock Shields from the game, then greeting reliever Grant Balfour with an RBI single from Young to make it 7-4 and bring the tying run to the plate. But the Rays bullpen retired the next 8 Twins rather easily, and there was no more scoring. The margin of defeat came from the 3 unearned runs.

This will go down as another failure by the Twins to compete with one of the elite AL East clubs. The athleticism of the Rays was on display, as their speed throughout the lineup not only produced multiple IF H, it took a bunch of would-be hits away from the Twins, especially in the OF. The Twins used to be a team that could out-run and out-hustle just about anybody. That's not the case this year.

But did the Twins compete? Absolutely. They were in every game for at least 7 innings, and every game had to be saved. Compare the starters:

Twins: 26.2 IP, 26 H, 8 ER, HR, 5 BB and 25 K, 2.70 ERA and 1.16 WHIP.

Rays: 24.2 IP, 26 H, 13 ER, 4 HR, 7 BB and 14 K, 4.74 ERA and 1.34 WHIP.

Clearly, the Twins had the edge there. The bullpen had a bad series, but they've been, on the whole, one of the best units in the league. Sure, the Twins can play with the Rays.

The series hinged on the ability of the Rays to get from the plate to 1B in a hurry, and on the inability of the Twins to make all the plays they're supposed to make. The Twins we saw in April, the team that made only a couple of mistakes in the field over an entire month, would have won the first 3 games of this series and had an opportunity to sweep it in extras on Sunday. I want to see that team again.

Twins/Rays: The Box Score Lies!

Twins 3, Rays 5

There were a few less than thrilling parts of the box score as the Twins saw their 6-game winning streak snapped this afternoon. Box score, smox shmore. In case you didn't get to follow the game today, here's what really happened:

Francisco Liriano: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
No, Liriano did not have his best stuff today, although he wasn't off by much. His fastball typically missed Joe Mauer's target by only a couple of inches. Unfortunately, the direction in which it missed was usually up and toward the middle of the plate. Still, had the Rays been in the mood to take a couple of pitches, he would have been ahead every time. But since their game plan seemed to be to attack the fastball early in the count, this didn't work out so well for Liriano.

Those who still senselessly clamor for Liriano to become the closer should know that the 1st was his worst inning, as 5 of the 6 hitters he faced put the ball in play - hard. JJ Hardy picked off a Jason Bartlett one-hop liner deep in the hole at SS, quickly planted and delivered a strike to Justin Morneau at 1B. Without that play, it would have been a really ugly inning. Carl Crawford and Ben Zobrist each lined the 2nd strikes they saw for singles. Carlos Pena struck out on 3 pitches because 1) he's left-handed, 2) he strikes out a lot, and 3) Liriano threw him excellent sliders for swinging strikes 2 and 3. When Liriano got ahead of the right-handed BJ Upton 0-1, I was hoping they'd continue that pattern, since the slider looked like it was as sharp as ever. But Mauer called for a fastball in, and it caught just enough of the plate for Upton to line it into LF for a 1-0 lead. Pat Burrell lined out to CF to end the inning.

Of the 14 hitters Liriano faced the rest of the day, only 8 put the ball in play, but 4 got hits. There were 2 doubles on which I credit the hitters for taking the fastball the opposite way (Liriano didn't appear to miss his spot on either). The other 2 hits drove in runs. The 4-pitch BB to Zobrist in the 3rd should have been erased on an inning-ending pickoff, but Hardy was late covering 2nd and Morneau's throw went behind him. (The box score gives Zobrist a SB off Liriano/Mauer. Lies! Liriano picked him off and Mauer didn't even touch the ball). The next pitch was Liriano's last real mistake of the game, a fastball in the middle of the plate that Upton drove to the gap in left center for an RBI 2B. For me, that run is borderline unearned. As for the 4th inning, with a runner on 2nd, Liriano got a bleeder up the middle that neither Hardy nor Orlando Hudson were able to come up with (though each got leather on it). Liriano got the next 2 hitters on a shallow fly out and a grounder to 2B.

So, despite not being very sharp, Liriano had 6 K against only 1 BB in 4 IP, giving him a 22/2 K/BB ratio in 14 IP for the spring. I thought he adjusted to his stuff pretty well, was better in the later innings and, with a little bit better work from his defense, might have given up fewer runs.

Brian Duensing pitched the other 4 innings, allowing 2 unearned runs on 2 H with 0 BB and 2 K. He was easily the best he's been this spring. Far from placing him in Liriano's league as far the 5th starter competition, I think this outing reinforces that Duensing could be pretty good in the roll he actually filled in this game: long-relief. Now I think it's up to Clay Condrey to show everybody that he can put up a few zeroes, too.

The error that resulted in those unearned runs seems to have been charged to Morneau. That's just wrong. The 7th inning began when James Bereford, Beloit's 2009 SS, having just been inserted in place of Hardy, fielded a routine grounder. I'm not aware of him playing in any other big-league spring training games, so he was probably a little keyed up. It looked like he was trying to slow himself down, because his arm decelerated as he threw to first, and the ball bounced in front of Morneau, who couldn't pick it. That should be an E6 every time.

Other items of note:

Denard Span was caught stealing for the 1st time. He was running on a 3-2 pitch to Hudson, a sensible thing to do with nobody out and a guy who hits a lot of grounders at the plate. It was such an obvious thing to do that I expected LHP David Price to make a token throw over to 1B, and I bet Span did, too. He went home instead, and Span didn't get much of a jump. Hudson swung threw the pitch, and Span was caught at 2B. Span gets charged with the CS, but it shouldn't count as a knock against his base-stealing ability.

Jason Kubel collected 2 H off Price, including an opposite-field HR. Kubel used to be a guy you had to platoon, but the way he's been swinging against lefties this spring, I'm not sure that's the case anymore.

Delmon Young was swinging early in the count, but he was looking for off-speed pitches. He singled on a first-pitch curveball in his 2nd AB. He fell behind 0-2 in the 7th, but battled until he went down and got a slider, driving it over the wall in LF for his first spring HR. Through 39 spring PA, Young is hitting .250/.308/.500 with an 8/3 K/BB ratio. He has more work to do, but he's certainly earning the opportunity to be in the regular lineup in April.

Mauer played the entire game behind the plate, the Twins used only 2 pitchers, and the Rays used just 3. We're getting closer to real baseball!

Notes on the Rays Series

Rays 7, Twins 1
Twins 4, Rays 3
Twins 8, Rays 3
Though it wasn't quite a QS, this was a huge step forward for Scott Baker. His command was much better, as he struck out 7 in 6 IP and, most importantly, kept the ball in the yard. He also had a string of 10 straight batters retired from the end of the 1st through the 4th. The XBH he allowed with 2 out in the first weren't great pitches, but the Evan Longoria 2B was very nearly foul and Carlos Pena's 3B was nearly caught by Cuddyer at the wall. The 2 runs allowed in the 5th, despite a WP and a PB, really just came down to: Alexi Casilla isn't quite tall enough and 2 bloopers around a BB. Baker has moved out of Baker 2006 territory and into the realm of Francisco Liriano this April, i.e. pitching OK overall, but not doing a very good job of scattering/stranding baserunners.

Speaking of Liriano, he was terrific until the 6th inning. His biggest trouble the last couple of starts has been retiring the leadoff man. He was able to work around it until the 6th, but putting the speedy guys on in front of the boppers is not a recipe for success. It's too bad he couldn't quite get through the 7th (really, Casilla should be 2 inches taller), but I love seeing him out there after the 6th with the Twins in the game.

The key to the Rays rally in the 6th was BJ Upton stealing 2nd despite being picked off. We all know that Justin Morneau has had a tendency to wear down over the course of the season, so these early days off from the field are important. But I miss him when he's not out there defensively. Cuddyer made some mistakes at 1st on Morneau's first day off in Chicago. Brian Buscher didn't exactly make a mistake in this game, it's just that he's a very deliberate player. You can see it in his ABs - it helps him avoid expanding the strike zone, but it also makes him just a little bit late on fastballs he should be attacking. On the pickoff play with Upton, he was just a smidge too slow getting the ball out of his glove. Make that play, and Longoria is batting with 2 out and the bases empty.

I have to compliment Buscher on the way he took that RBI HBP in the 6th. He barely flinched. That's the sign of someone who understood the situation and was mentally prepared to get hit.

Great work by Jose Mijares striking out the middle of the Rays' order after allowing a leadoff walk to Carl Crawford. I suspect he's seen the last of Rochester.

Joe Nathan is going to have to concentrate on throwing his first fastball down - that's twice now he's been taken deep on the first pitch of his outing.

Nick Blackburn was at his best on Wednesday night. Not just because he got 11 ground ball outs to 7 fly balls. Not just because he mixed his pitches effectively. He did a fine job of damage control in the 2 innings where the Rays were able to string some hits together, getting Evan Longoria twice with RISP. The only walk he allowed came with 2 RISP to a LH hitter with 2 out in the 7th. Because he pitches to contact, some grounders will sneak through, and some fly balls will drop in, but he was able to stay away from the fat part of the bat enough to limit the Rays to only 1 XBH.

As I predicted, Gardy has been sticking with Blackburn longer this year. He certainly had justification to make a pitching change as the 7th inning jam unfolded. But he stuck with his starter, and Blackburn held the Rays to just 1 run in the inning. That confidence in the starters is going to pay dividends down the road.

When the offense is scuffling to score runs, isn't it wonderful when the other team spots you a 4-run lead in the 1st inning? That rally went ground ball single, IF single chopped over 3B, BB, uncaught popup for a run, WP for a run, IF hit for a run, WP for a run. Almost as many runs as the Twins had mustered in the first 2 games of the series, all thanks to wildness from the pitcher and inefficient defense.

If Justin Morneau's HR total winds up a little bit lower than you were hoping at the end of the season, remember his 4th inning RBI double. That was within about a foot of being a HR, high off the baggie in right-center field. That's a HR in most other parks - certainly at the new Yankee Stadium.

Home Stretch

Rays 11, Twins 1
Rays 7, Twins 2
Twins 4, Rays 1

Obviously, it wasn't a great weekend for the Twins - losing 2 of 3 while being outscored 19-7 ensures that. However, the Rays are easily the best home team in the league, so for the Twins to split the 4 games overall was a good accomplishment. Tuesday's failure (on so many levels) in Cleveland was the difference between the .500 road trip the Twins were hoping for and the 4-6 mark they actually achieved.

What was disconcerting about this weekend was the performance of the starting pitchers. When Francisco Liriano rode to the rescue on Sunday with 7 strong IP, he surpassed the combined innings total from the previous three starts. I thought Nick Blackburn was kind of unlucky in the first inning on Friday, as a couple of the Tampa hitters sliced fly balls into the opposite corners just out of reach of the outfielders. But he completely came apart in the 2nd, walking 3 (one intentionally), including walking in a run to finish his outing. The only out Kevin Slowey was able to get in the 5th inning of his start was a throw-out by Joe Mauer on an attempted steal.

While Blackburn and Slowey (and select members of the Twins' bullpen) were being ground down by the Rays' lineup, the Twins hitters were completely befuddled by the Rays' starters. Edwin Jackson and Scott Kazmir combined for 13.2 IP, 1 ER, 12 H, 2 BB, 10 K. In the two games, the Twins' offense mustered just 14 H (1 double) and 6 BB. Once again, the Rays brutally outslugged the Twins, collecting 10 more XBH out of 21 total, including 3 more HR.

Liriano restored order with his 7 IP, allowing just 5 H (1 double) and 1 ER while striking out 7. He did allow 4 BB, the highest total since his ill-advised call-up in April, but given the abnormally high BB totals for Blackburn and Slowey, I'm going to write that off as a credit to a very patient Rays offense. Jose Mijares and Joe Nathan combined to finish the game with 2 perfect innings.

Mauer led an opportunistic Twins offense on Sunday. While Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel were going 0-8, it was Mike Redmond, Adam Everett and Carlos Gomez who drove in the runs. Mauer led off the 4th with a walk, beat out a force attempt at 2nd off the bat of Justin Morneau, and scored on a single from Redmond. After Brian Buscher flew out, Everett beat out a dribbler to 3rd, scoring Morneau and Redmond when the throw from 3B Evan Longoria skipped up the RF foul line. With Everett now at 3rd, Gomez pulled off a push bunt single, demonstrating again the only appropriate time to dive into first base.

For the series Mauer was 8-15 with 2 BB, and, with a 6-point lead in the batting race, is now in the driver's seat for a second batting title. Morneau still leads the RBI race by 3. Both of them need to have good final weeks, for lots of reasons.

The Twins finished their road schedule with a record of 36-45. I can think of 4-5 of those games just in the past two months that easily could have (should have?) been wins, and could have given the Twins an essentially .500 road record. Oh well, they'll have to do better next year.

The final series with the White Sox is upon us. Beginning 2.5 games back, the Twins will need to do everything right from here on in if they're to overtake their rivals.

Hangin' In

I'm not just a fair-weather blogger. We were traveling earlier this week, and I had to take care of the baby when we got back as my wife prepares to return to work. Babies are a lot of work on their own. I haven't had a chance to watch or listen to a game in awhile, but here's what I'm thinking:

Orioles 7, Twins 3

Just as I suspected, the Twins followed up their 24-run double-header by failing to score at all in 8 IP vs. a rookie who began the game with an ERA over 7.00! Nick Blackburn, meanwhile, gave up a million HR. Well, 4. And Philip Humber served one up for good measure. All 7 Orioles runs scored on HR. 5 of their 11 H were for extra bases - the Twins had 1 XBH out of 8 total H.

Indians 3, Twins 1

Here the Twins were shut out for 6 IP by a rookie making his 2nd MLB start. Kevin Slowey allowed 2 HR, accounting for all three Indians runs. Matt Guerrier loaded the bases without retiring a batter, but Dennys Reyes bailed him out. The 9-5 batters went a combined 1 for 21 with 2 BB.

Indians 12, Twins 9

This game encapsulates everything that has been troublesome about the Twins since July. It begins with Francisco Liriano having his first bad start since being recalled from AAA. But he was aided in his suckiness by a critical throwing error from Nick Punto, resulting in 4 unearned runs. The Twins rallied from an 8-1 deficit to retake the lead, thanks to the 9-3 hitters going 7-19 with 5 BB, only to see the bullpen immediately give up the lead. The offense went silent in extra innings, and Joe Nathan took the loss when he allowed a 3-run HR to Victor Martinez, who had only 1 other HR in his injury-plagued season.

How many different ways could the Twins have one that game? And yet, they found a way to lose it. By the way, 6 of the Indians' 14 H were for extra bases, including 4 HR. 2 of the Twins' 13 H were for extra bases.

Indians 6, Twins 4

Hoping to salvage the finale, the Twins needed to beat Cy Young front-runner Cliff Lee. Though he lasted into the 7th inning, the Twins managed to score 4 runs off him, battering him for 10 H (only 2 for extra bases) and 3 BB. Scott Baker was not good on 3 days' rest, failing to complete 5 IP while allowing 4 R of his own. So, having just tied the game against Lee, the Twins' bullpen promptly gave the 2 runs right back. Jose Mijares took the loss, but Guerrier was the culprit once again. Entering with a man aboard and 2 out, he allowed 2 doubles and a walk before getting the last out. The Indians had 9 H in the game - 5 for extra bases, including 2 HR.

Twins 11, Rays 8

And now we come to the happy ending. Jason Kubel finally hit his 18th HR to put the Twins up 3-0 in the top of the first. But Glen Perkins was once again blown to bits by the Rays (aided in his suckitude by a throwing error that led to 3 unearned runs). Trailing 8-6 at the start of the 9th inning, the Twins did something they almost never do - they rallied to take the lead. The offensive outburst came in part thanks to multi-hit games from the 9-3 hitters, and 5 XBH out of 15, including 2 HR. Nathan came on to earn his first save since August 27th, over 3 weeks ago. The Rays, for their part, scored 7 of their 8 runs on their 5 HR, and 7 of their 9 hits were for extra bases.

Now, here's where things are:

The starting pitchers may well be fading as they reach innings totals they haven't yet experienced in their young careers. I think Liriano and Baker will be fine, and though Slowey's outing was bad for him lately, it was still a quality start. Blackburn will hopefully be able to bounce back from an unusually bad start as he has all season. But Perkins has had it. He's allowed 9 HR in his last 5 starts, and 3 or more R in each, while his innings have been declining. It would be suicide to send him out there against the White Sox next week. In what will most likely be a must-win game for the Twins, they can't afford to send their most homer-happy starter out against the most powerful lineup in the league. They should use Monday's off-day to skip Perkins, setting up a rotation for the Chicago series of Baker, Blackburn and Slowey. Perkins can pitch in the KC series - they probably won't be able to take him deep too many times. I know that puts the two lefties on consecutive starts, but at this point in the season I don't think it's a big deal.

Matt Guerrier has absolutely had it. If he's not physically burned out, he is mentally. Sit him on the bench and forget about him, unless the team is up or down by 5+ runs.

When Gomez, Span, Casilla and Mauer are getting on base, the Twins score a lot of runs. When they don't, the Twins aren't going to do much. This is because the Twins have been brutally out-slugged this season, especially over the past week, when they've allowed 18 HR in a span of just 5 games. The Twins mostly get singles, so they've got to have their speed guys on a lot, or a rally just isn't going to come together for them.

Nathan picked up his 35th save on a Thursday night 4 weeks ago in Anaheim. Why did he only collect 2 saves in 4 weeks? Because the Twins have to win close games for him to get a save, and that just hasn't happened. I'll define a close game as one in which the winner earns a save or scores the winning run in their last at-bat. In the last 4 weeks, the Twins are 2-14 in close games. That's almost unbelievably awful. Imagine if they'd gone 4-12 - still awful, but they'd be in first place right now.

But that's the amazing thing - for as bad as things have been - this week, this month - the Twins are still just 1.5 games out of first place in the AL Central. If they can just match Chicago over this last road weekend, they'll be right where they need to be to begin the final home stand against their rivals.