Pressing, Depressing

Twins 3, Royals 4

This is the 2nd loss of the season that I'm going to pin squarely on the shoulders of the Twins inadequate depth. Between 9 H (5 for extra bases) and 3 BB, 8 different guys in the lineup reached base at least once. The one who didn't: Drew Butera, who ended 3 innings with men on base, including hanging Danny Valencia out to dry on a missed squeeze bunt. Any kind of rally sustaining PAs from him might have given the Twins' pitchers a bigger cushion.

Scott Baker was good enough that it almost didn't matter. He lasted into the 7th, when he was relieved with 1 out by the freshly called up Alex Burnett. Burnett got the last 2 outs of that inning, and the 1st of the 8th before allowing a 2B to Wilson Betemit. Matt Capps was warming in the bullpen, and had needed just 6 pitches to complete his inning the day before. But Gardy elected to save him for a save opportunity that would never come, and instead rely upon a young reliever who didn't earn a spot on the opening day roster to protect a 1-run lead with the tying run in scoring position.

And Burnett actually did his job, though he got into trouble by falling behind just about everybody. It was the defense that did him in, as Alexi Casilla clanged a one-hopper to his glove side, and then Butera threw the ball into CF while attempting to gun down super fast PR Jarrod Dyson. That let the tying run score and put the winning run at 3B with just one out. After a BB, the winning run came home on a little flare behind 3B that Casilla flagged down but couldn't get to the plate in time to stop Dyson. Had either play been made, the Twins would have taken a lead into the 9th - the slower Betemit would likely have stayed put on a short fly to the SS.

Twins 2, Royals 11

On Saturday, the Twins managed to get themselves shut down on 2 H by Sean O'Sullivan, a starter so erratic that he nearly threw half his pitches out of the strike zone. Actually, he threw more than half his pitches out of the zone, since several of the balls the Twins put in play were plummeting below the knees. Incredibly, they were lucky to get the 1st H (it was an attempted sac bunt that drew a wild throw) and both R, one of which scored on a DP (thank goodness for the extra out the Royals gave), and the other on another throwing error that should have ended the inning. Altogether, the Twins drew 7 BB, and had men on base nearly constantly for the 1st 6 innings, but could only get what the royals handed to them.

The Twins handed one back in the 3rd on a bounced relay throw from "2B" Michael Cuddyer on what should have been an inning-ending DP. The Royals took one on a no-doubter HR from Billy Butler. And the Twins gave another one away when rookie Rene Tosoni played a leadoff single into a triple with an ill-advised dive. Brian Duensing took a tough-luck loss, though he deserved to allow only 1 ER.

The wheels came off in the 8th once again. Joe Nathan gave up a 2B to Butler, then retired 2 of the next 3 around an IBB. He made one huge mistake: hitting Matt Treanor (a BA under .200 - shouldn't he be on our team?) with 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Gardy went to Jose Mijares, who did his job by getting the lefty to hit a weak-ass ground ball. Too weak for Cuddyer, who had no play by the time he reached it, allowing an insurance run to score. Jim Hoey came on and walked in another insurance run, then got a routine grounder. The throw went to Justin Morneau, who simply didn't catch the ball. 2 more R. Then a 3-run bomb to Alex Gordon. Then another weak grounder that Cuddyer didn't have the range to turn into an out. Then a bloop down the LF line that Tosoni bobbled, allowing the final R to score. When the dust settled, a tight game had turned into a laugher. I didn't think it was funny, though.

Twins 3, Royals 10

Time for a closed-door team meeting, at which Denard Span spoke up to try to inspire his teammates. Too eager to make his actions speak as loudly as his words, he went hitless in 5 AB while seeing a total of 13 pitches. That on a day when his teammates once again walked 7 times. Let it come to you, Denard.

Carl Pavano walked away looking like he didn't know how to pitch, and took his frustrations out on a garbage can in the dugout. You can't do it all yourself, Carl. But he wasn't exactly cuffed around until the 6th inning. Everything that happened before that was the fault of more shoddy IF defense, and Cuddyer wasn't even in the lineup on this day. Pavano was lucky to get an unassisted putout on a chopper to the right of the mound when both Morneau and Luke Hughes charged the ball and nobody covered 1B. Later, the Twins botched a rundown on a pickoff throw when Morneau got in the way of Pavano, who had rotated in to cover 1B, and caught the ball behind the retreating baserunner. That extra out would turn into a run. The Twins gave the Royals 2 extra outs in the 4th, both courtesy of Casilla bobbles. Slow it down, Alexi. Or maybe get a new glove.

Casilla had his best day of the year at the plate, with 2 3B and a BB. Morneau finally got his 1st tater of the year, just barely sneaking one over the RF fence. Jason Kubel continued his scorching hitting, going 1 for 2 with 2 BB to raise his line to .354/.406/.510. Glen Perkins had another solid outing in relief. That's it for the positives.

In contrast to the listless effort they gave in the previous series, the intensity on the part of every Twins player to be the one to lift the team out of this slump was palpable in KC. But the results were no better, as though they were tangled in a knot that gets tighter the more they struggle. This funk now most definitely mental as much as it is physical, and they may require some shock to the system to get themselves out of it.

Notes:

• To that end, Kevin Slowey pitched 5.2 IP at Fort Myers yesterday and is ready to be activated from the DL. That could happen in a starting capacity if Francisco Liriano or Nick Blackburn fail to pull themselves together.
• Kyle Gibson had his 4th consecutive strong outing at Rochester. Through 5 GS he has 26 IP, 22 H, 10 ER, 3 HR, 4 BB and 27 K for a 1.00 WHIP and 3.46 ERA. He's giving every indication that he'll be ready for a June call-up should the opportunity arise.
• Trevor Plouffe has shaken off his brutal spring to put up some very strong numbers in his 1st few weeks with the Red Wings. He's batting .282/.344/.590 with 4 2B, 3B, and 6 HR. The reviews on his defense are still mixed, but he's got to look like an upgrade to Casilla right now.

Better...

Twins 4, Royals 3 (10 innings)

Twins 5, Royals 10

9 runs in 2 games. Not kicking ass yet, but definitely an improvement. The Twins saw 7 of 9 starters reach base in each game, including multi-hit efforts from Denard Span, Matt Tolbert, Delmon Young, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Luke Hughes. Still not slugging very much (just 4 XBH - all doubles), or working counts (4 BB) or creating havoc on the basepaths (1 SB), though. All of those elements will have to be in place before the offense can really take off. Nice to see some of the BAs starting to come up, though.

The back end of the bullpen is working fabulously so far. Liberated from the Closer label, Matt Capps is free to to be a setup workhorse, locking down the 8th inning but often putting out fires in the 7th, too. Joe Nathan and Jose Mijares have kept the opposition quiet since their jittery opening weekend. Dusty Hughes combined with them to shut down the Royals over the last 4 IP of Tuesday night's game on just 50 pitches.

Much has been made of Gardy's pre-game comment that he had asked Francisco Liriano to try to pitch to contact more. Liriano certainly followed that game plan, allowing 19 of the 24 batters he faced to put the ball in play. Those batters accumulated 8 H, all in a hellish 4th inning. In the other 4 IP Liriano completed, he retired 13 batters quietly (Tolbert's throwing error required an extra out), including 4 K and 0 BB. He was averaged just over 3 pitches/PA in the game.

There's a happy medium, I think, in which Liriano would generally pitch to contact, but revert to trying to strike everyone out with RISP. Yesterday, he had a 1-2 count on Billy Butler and an 0-2 count on Wilson Betemit, but didn't try to put either one away with his unhittable slider down and in. Johan Santana was phenomenal at changing his approach with runners on, one of the reasons his career strand rate is so high. Liriano needs to learn to do that, too.

Still, I can't be too upset about the pitches that were actually put into play in that inning. They were just about all at or below the knees. 6 of the 8 H touched the ground in the IF, just a step or so out of the reach of the fielders. The 2 that didn't were a soft liner off the end of the bat and a chip-shot blooper over the drawn-in IF. The Royals didn't really hit anything hard off Liriano all day. On most days, the sort of performance he gave on the mound should have had him beginning the 8th inning with a 3-4 hitter and a very low pitch count.

That being the case, I was surprised that he got a lightning-quick hook when Betemit drew a leadoff BB in the 6th. It was Liriano's only BB of the game. If it had come on 4 straight well out of the zone, I could understand it. But it was a 7-pitch PA, and the 3-2 pitch was no more than belt high over the outer half of the plate. If the ump calls Betemit out there, would Gardy still have yanked Frankie after the next baserunner? I know the offense had just put up a crooked number, and you don't want to risk giving the momentum back, but don't you have to show a little more confidence in your starter there?

Over the last few years, it seems like the Royals get off to a good start thanks to a high team BA, then make easy outs for the next 4 months, then get feisty again in September when they finally ditch their lousy veterans in favor of the kids who've been clobbering AAA all summer. Looks like they may be in store for more of the same in 2011.

Note:

• Joe Benson was going to have to have a tremendous season in order to get the Twins to put him in their plans for 2012 (and consider letting Cuddyer walk after this season). The odds of that happening were lengthened significantly when he was optioned to AA New Britain to start the season, even though he hit .251/.336/.527 there last season on his way to earning the organization's Player of the Year award. I guess they want to see more BA and fewer Ks from him before they'll move him up to Rochester. So far, so good. In his 1st 7 games, Benson hit .393/.433/.571 with 2 doubles, 1 HR, 3/3 SB and an OF assist. His 21.4% K rate over that week is still high, but a major improvement over what he did last year. He isn't likely to keep that slash line up in the coming weeks, but a fast start means that even a few average weeks to follow will have his numbers looking pretty darn good by the end of April. We need to get him up to AAA ASAP.

Leverage

I have to admit, having a newborn and a 2 year old does put a bit of a damper on the blogging. It doesn't stop me from keeping a close eye on the Twins, though...

Twins 4, Tigers 3

Twins 2, Tigers 1 (10 innings)

Twins 9, Tigers 10 (13 innings)

The crappy hitting from the road trip lingered into the first 2 games of this series. Luckily, Brian Duensing and Francisco Liriano each pitched into the 7th inning, and neither allowed any ER. The Twins still ended up using at least 4 relievers in each game, including Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier and Matt Capps in both.

The offense got plenty of help from the Detroit bullpen on Tuesday, with 2 BB and 2 HBP contributing to the winning rally. One of the HBP knocked Jason Kubel out for the next 4 games, however. That certainly made things tougher in Wednesday's contest. Thanks to other nagging injuries, the Twins were also without Orlando Hudson and Jim Thome. Danny Valencia delivered a couple more big hits in the middle of the two scoring rallies, and the Twins managed to win a game in which they only had 8 baserunners in 10 innings.

The Thursday night fiasco was as much a result of catastrophic mismanagement of the roster as anything that happened on the field. On Wednesday, the Twins had the opportunity to call up as many warm bodies from AAA as they had on the 40-man roster. They cavalierly elected to bring up only 2 position players, Trevor Plouffe and Jose Morales. No pitchers, even though Brian Fuentes was ailing and 3 of their righties should have been considered unavailable for Thursday. The bullpen effectively consisted of Jon Rauch, Randy Flores and Jeff Manship.

Manship was called into service almost immediately, as Scott Baker was removed with elbow soreness after 2 laborious and ineffective IP. Manship held the Tigers to 1 R on 4 H over 4 IP, and Rauch pitched a scoreless 7th. Meanwhile, the offense finally broke out, scoring 7 R on 12 H, with the help of a BB and a couple of Tiger errors. With the score 7-3 heading to the 8th, the Twins looked as though they would match the White Sox' 3-game sweep of the Indians. Once Flores allowed a 1-out HR, fill-in manager Scott Ullger (Gardy had been tossed during the previous inning for correctly arguing a call) decided to go to the 'pen for... the exhausted Guerrier. Whoops. Guerrier gave up 3 H and left with the score tied, though the last 2 R of the frame came on yet another too-low throw from JJ Hardy which Michael Cuddyer couldn't dig out.

The Twins scratched another run in the bottom half, but let the Tigers tie it again when Crain allowed his first HR in ages. He was available, but Capps wasn't? Anyway, Crain labored through 2 IP. Then Duensing came in for 2 IP, forcing the Twins to push back his Sunday start. Then Nick Blackburn came in, forcing the Twins to scratch him from Friday's start. This was a game to give the White Sox hope, as the Twins fumbled a 4-R lead late, then decimated their rotation in a drawn out losing effort.

Still, it was a series win, and it lowered the magic number to 26.

Twins 4, Rangers 3

Twins 12, Rangers 4

Twins 6, Rangers 5

The Twins were forced to add Matt Fox to the 40-man roster to start Friday's game. He had a terrific MLB debut: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB. That kept the Twins in the game long enough to string a few hits together and take a 4-3 lead after 7 innings. Capps came in for a 5-out save after Flores failed to retire the lefty he was brought in to face.

After 6 straight 1-run games, it was nice to finally win one comfortably. The Twins annihilated Rangers starter Colby Lewis (on my fantasy team - making the result ever so slightly bittersweet) for 9 ER in 3.2 IP. Thome put an exclamation point on the day with 2 HR, moving him into sole possession of 9th on the all-time HR list. Carl Pavano delivered another 8-inning QS. Ian Kinsler soured the afternoon by homering off Rob Delaney in his MLB debut.

The Twins led most of the way in the finale. Blackburn delivered another 7-inning QS. The Twins broke the game open by taking advantage of a bunch of BB in the 6th. Rauch tried to finish up the last 2 innings, but gave up an RBI 2B with 2 out in the 9th. In came Matt Capps, who proceeded to allow all four batters he faced to reach. The final IF hit resulted in the last out when the 3B ump ruled that baserunner Michael Young had made contact with the third base coach. Whatever. I'll take it. That was frighteningly close to being a repeat of Thursday night. Instead, it was another Twins' sweep, making them 6-0 vs. the Rangers at home.

The White Sox swept the Red Sox in Fenway, once again getting away with a late rally. No help there. But the 3 Twins wins lowered the magic number to 23.

Twins 5, Royals 4

Twins 10, Royals 3

Twins 4, Royals 3

Almost a repeat of the Texas series. The Twins got just enough offense to win on Monday night. Flores again allowed the only lefty he faced to reach. But a more rested Guerrier came on to bail him out.

The middle game was a comfy blowout, capped by another loud blast from Thome, a moonshot into the stars of the American Flag in Target Plaza estimated at 480 feet. Another Rochester guy, Pat Neshek this time, was given a rude welcome to the big leagues while mopping up in the 9th.

The Twins beat Zach Greinke again in the finale, waiting until the middle innings to string some hits together. Duensing was stellar for 8 IP. Capps almost let the game get away in the 9th.

This time, the White Sox faltered, finishing their 10-game road trip with 3 straight losses in Detroit. That, combined with another Twins sweep, elevated the Twins' lead in the division to a season-high 6 games, and dropped the magic number to 17 with 22 games to play.

An 8-1 home stand. And had the Twins gotten a good throw from Hardy in that critical 8th inning against the Tigers, it could have been 9-0. Not a lot of hitting, but it was timely. Very strong pitching. And some nice breaks, too. Everything is going the Twins' way as they head into the final 3 1/2 weeks of the season.

Kansas City Barbecue

Twins 19, Royals 1

This was easily the most lopsided victory of the season. It's always a rare feat when a team is able to put up double-digit runs on 20 H. But this game was especially amazing, because:

• It was started by Zach Greinke, the reigning Cy Young winner. He was tagged for 6 ER in the 1st inning, and gave up 8 ER overall on 8 H and 2 BB in just 4 IP.
• Danny Valencia finally hit his 1st MLB HR, which was also his 1st HR at any level this season, off said Cy Young winner. It was a grand slam, the Twins' 2nd in 3 days after they'd had just one in the first 97 games of the year. Valencia was the 1st Twins rookie to hit a slam for his 1st MLB HR. He went on to add 2 doubles, a single and a BB to finish the day 4 for 4 with 9 TB, 4 R and 4 RBI. And that wasn't even the best line of the night.
• That honor went to Joe Mauer, who went 5 for 5 with a homer, 2 doubles and 2 singles for 10 TB, 3 R and 7 RBI. Satisfied, Mauer declined to bat in the top of the 8th.
• Those 2 made Delmon Young's 4 for 6 with 2 doubles and an RBI look rather pedestrian.
• In addition to the 20 H, the Twins drew 6 BB and a HBP, giving them 27 baserunners - one for every out in the game.

The beneficiary of all this carnage was Francisco Liriano, who could have easily made due with a fraction of it. He threw 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K on 84 pitches. Though he was easily on pace to complete the game, I guess Gardy didn't feel like it was necessary to put any more miles on his arm with the score 19-0. The Royals averted the shutout on a 2-out RBI double which scored the man who had walked with 2 outs. More tough lessons for Anthony Slama.

Twins 11, Royals 2

I always get nervous when the Twins score way too many runs in one game, because it may leave them susceptible to a substandard performance in the next, and it'd be a shame to lose a series in which they drastically outscore their opponents (as happened on that Yankees/White Sox road trip last May). We certainly couldn't expect them to have a 3rd big offensive day in a row. But they did. 7 of the 9 starters had multi-hit games, including another 4-hit barrage from Valencia. He wound up 14 for 19 over his last 4 games. JJ Hardy tagged his 1st HR since April. Even Drew Butera had 2 H.

Carl Pavano wasn't able to take advantage of the run support in the usual way. He was troubled by a miserly strike zone, forcing his pitch count up to 98 through just 5 IP. Along the way he walked 3, matching a season high and giving a pretty clear indication that the ump was being too stingy. (The other hint of that was the fact that this game lasted close to 3.5 hours, just 2 starts after Pavano participated in one of the shortest games of the year). With the score 6-1 after 5.5 innings, Gardy probably figured there was no need to put any extra miles on Pavano's arm, so he turned to the bullpen. They pitched well enough, allowing only 1 R on a couple of soft singles off Ron Mahay.

Twins 6, Royals 4

The Twins had scored 47 R on 72 H over their past 4 games, an average of about 12 R on 18 H. Surely, the letdown was coming in the finale. Instead, they jumped out with another crooked number in the 1st inning, thanks to a 3-run bomb from Young. Jason Repko, in the lineup because Jim Thome wasn't feeling well, hit a HR in the 2nd, and the Twins quickly amassed 5 R and double-digit H off Brian Bannister. They finally cooled off after chasing him in the 7th, adding only 1 R on 3 H and 2 BB the rest of the way.

That run came off Joakim Soria, who was brought in to keep the Royals within striking distance in the top of the 9th. Soria threw just 6 of 15 pitches for strikes, walking Mauer, moving him to 2nd on a WP, to 3rd on a Young single and scoring on a SF from Jason Kubel. The Twins finished with 5 guys with multiple H and at least 14 H as a team for the 5th straight game.

Brian Duensing made his 2nd start, stretching out to 83 pitches through 6 strong IP. His only trouble was a 5-H 5th inning in which several of the base hits were not particularly firmly struck. Things got dicey in the 8th, when the Royals got an extra out on a missed force attempt from a sprawled out Hardy. That play was originally ruled an error, but was subsequently changed to a H. Matt Guerrier eventually loaded the bases, turning the ball over to Jose Mijares to get Rick Ankiel, who came into the game 1 for 21 vs. LHP. He'd already singled off Duensing earlier, and lighting can't strike twice, right? Nope, he drilled an 0-1 single to drive in 2 and make it a tight save situation. Jon Rauch was up for the challenge, despite a long break between save opportunities. He threw 11 of his 12 pitches for strikes, allowing just a 2-out single.

When a team gets hot, they can beat just about anybody. When they're a good team, the margin of victory doesn't have to be as fine. When they're playing a bad team, the wins can get rather comfortable. When the bad team is playing bad, the games can become embarrassing. That's what happened in this series. The Twins finished this road trip with 5 straight wins, the first time they've done that since the end of May. It restored them to 10 games over .500, about where they were before the Collapse. There is still work to do, though. The White Sox matched the Twins by sweeping Seattle. If they can do it, so can we.

Just Another 2 Out of 3

Twins 7, Royals 3

Welcome home, fellas. Denard Span's 1st AB was a lot like his last AB in Oakland - a sharp liner up the middle. There, it was speared by the pitcher. Here, it just cleared the leaping SS for a base hit. Span was so excited he forgot how to lead off and got picked off. Matt Tolbert followed with one of his only productive AB of the series, a BB to set the table for Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and, eventually Jason Kubel. I didn't think he'd get a fastball to hit in that AB. He sort of didn't - it was about neck-high - but he jumped all over it for a booming, 2-run 2B off the wall in deep right center.

The Twins once again ground Zach Greinke out of the game after 5 IP. Funny that Mauer and Justin Morneau, the Twins' 2 best hitters, should go 1 for 6 with 4 K against him, but everybody else went 8 for 17 with a BB and a HR (also courtesy of Kubel, who was ready for the off-speed pitch in his 3rd AB). Span got a huge 2-run single with the IF in after Nick Punto's S in the 4th. That ball just barely eluded a diving, drawn-in fielder. Amazing how much better Span's luck is at home.

Kevin Slowey! Yes! Right! Good! Just like that! I mean, he doesn't have to take a perfect game into the 5th inning every time out, but the efficiency, the precision, that's what I expect to see. This was the 3rd straight start in which he has still been pitching in the 7th inning.

Cuddyer misplayed what should have been the 2nd out of the 9th inning. That resulted in 2 unearned R, 10 extra pitches from Jose Mijares and an unnecessary appearance from Matt Guerrier. A poor note to end on.

Twins 6, Royals 2

3 of the Twins' 6 R in this game scored on outs, beginning with Danny Valencia's bases-loaded GIDP. That kid's gonna fit right in around here. That result is a bit of a testament to the organization's belief in contact: strikeout-prone hitters may leave a baserunner out there when all you had to do to score him was just put the ball in play. Only making one out would be better, as Punto and Tolbert were able to do later in the game. Getting a hit would be best, but that only happens about 1/3 of the time. The teams that can get something out of the other 2/3 have a chance to do just a little better than the competition.

Carl Pavano was really good again. He's given the Twins at least 6 IP in 10 of his 12 GS. I was a little disappointed that he didn't get a crack at the CG, especially after the Twins tacked on an extra, Save-killing run in the bottom of the 8th. He wasn't quite to 100 pitches, and he'll get an extra day of rest before his next start on Friday.

The trouble was the Alberto Callaspo AB in the 2nd inning. Pavano thought he had him struck out looking on the 1-2 pitch. I thought so, too, and Pitch F/X backed us up. Pitches like that are what I think is wrong with umpires. Ahead in the count, the guy hit the glove on a borderline pitch. Why not give it to him and ring the batter up? That would compel everybody else to come up swinging and speed up the game. And in this case, Callaspo doubled a couple of pitches later, leading Pavano to throw 4 more pitches than he should have to complete the inning. He could have had fewer total pitches and an extra out, getting him to the 9th with 91 pitches or so, a number he's surpassed in every one of his decent starts. Ed Hickox' stingy strike zone added a little time to the game, and influenced whether Pavano would be around for the 9th.

Twins 8, Royals 9

Luckily, I missed this fiasco while playing a lousy softball game of my own. Well, I left just after Baker gave up a HR to Mitch Maier. Really Baker - Mitch Maier? He was no darned good in this game, burying the Twins in a 5-1 hole and lasting just 5 IP.

Of course, with the Royals pitching, you're never really out of it, and the Twins came storming back in the 7th. They rattled off 6 straight H and did a lot of 1st to 3rd baserunning. They put up a 5-spot, negating the damage done by Baker.

Unfortunately, the defense wasn't able to hold the deficit where Baker left it. And it was all on the defense, as Jesse Crain retired the 1st 4 hitters he faced in the 6th. Punto hadn't made an error since last summer, but on this night, he managed to muff 2 in a row, either of which would have been the final out of a scoreless inning. Tolbert joined in the fun, and the 3 unearned runs would prove to be crucial.

Even that was nearly overcome thanks to a terrific 9th-inning rally from Span and the M&M boys. The difference was a 2-out, solo HR off Brian Duensing in the top of the 9th. Or, if you prefer, the run the Twins failed to get in the 3rd when Span got himself doubled off 2nd on a would-be SF from Mauer. Bad pitching, bad defense, bad baserunning - just a sloppy all-around game from the Twins. Maybe the worst of the year.

It seems routine now that the Twins will win the 1st 2 games of a series, especially at home. But they've only finished the sweep twice. Still, winning 2 of 3 at home is a great way to get yourself in position to win a title. So far, that's what the Twins are doing.

I Like Our Bullpen

Twins 8, Royals 3

Carl Pavano recovered the form he showed in his first two starts, a nice rebound from the shellacking he suffered at the hands of the Royals last weekend. He allowed just 4 H with 0 BB and 5 K in 7 IP for his 3rd QS. He has a 17/1 K/BB ratio through his first 4 appearances.

By contrast, the Twins ground Gil Meche even more than they did last weekend, chasing him from the game in the 4th inning. They drew 5 BB off Meche in addition to 4 H, leading to 4 ER. How great to get into the KC bullpen so early in a series. They allowed 4 R in 5.2 IP, burning out 4 guys for Saturday. JJ Hardy and Jim Thome each hit their 3rd HR, and every Twins starter except Joe Mauer scored a run.

Twins 9, Royals 7 (12 innings)

This was the kind of game the Twins weren't winning for most of the season last year. Like Scott Baker on Thursday, Nick Blackburn wasn't sharp, but he wasn't as bad as the result either. For every drive to the gap he allowed there was a one-armed bloop - even a chopper up the middle that Blackburn knocked halfway back to the plate. On a better day, he won't give up as many XBH, and the poorly hit balls will turn into outs. At least he finally kept the ball in the yard. Though his numbers so far are ugly, he's really only had 2 un-Blackburn games so far. I'm still more comfortable with him than I would be with any of the AAA alternatives.

Orlando Hudson allowed the Twins' first unearned run of the season to come home when he dropped a knuckling liner in the 3rd. That was just their 2nd error of the season. Enter the bullpen, which held the Royals in check for the next 5.2 IP. Jon Rauch finally blew a save in the 11th, but the Twins gave him another chance in the 12th, and that time he held on.

Luke Hochevar definitely outpitched Blackburn, but the Twins did just enough damage to get him out of the game in the 7th - too early for Joakim Soria. Before the 4th inning, I went to get some food, and by the time I rejoined the game about 1 minute after the commercial break, the Twins had already cut a 5-1 deficit to 5-3, thanks to consecutive 1st-pitch 2B from Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer and a 2-base error from Scott Podsednik on Jason Kubel's first pitch drive. When John Parrish came on to face Morneau with 2 out in the 8th, the tying run was at the plate. The KC bullpen couldn't even hold the lead for 1 pitch, as Morneau bombed it over the CF fence for a HR.

I'll take my chances against the KC bullpen any time. Eventually, the Twins took the lead, then took it again for good. Wanna beat the Royals? Just be patient.

Twins 3, Royals 4

For the 4th time in the last 5 series, the Twins failed to convert their opportunity to sweep. Shrug. They're nice, they make up for some eventual series losses, but they're certainly not necessary. Kevin Slowey wasn't nearly as sharp as in his previous start, and this time the offense couldn't come up with a big hit to bail him out. Still, he made it into the 6th inning, and Alex Burnett ate up the last 2 innings of the game for the Twins' weary bullpen.

Despite scoring only 3 R, the Twins' offense was pretty well balanced. Denard Span was the only starter without a base hit, and they drew 4 more BB.

Big series in Detroit this week. The Tigers are the only Central Division team within striking distance of the Twins right now, so this is a great opportunity to further pull ahead of the pack.

Notes:

• Joe Mauer has started 17 of 19 games behind the plate, including Sunday's day game after a grueling, 12-inning night game. This is insane. I'm sure he feels good - the season's only 3 weeks old, why wouldn't he? But catcher fatigue is a slow burn, and we want him to have something left in August and September. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be happening if anybody believed that Drew Butera was a competent Major Leaguer. This is why the Twins would have been better off with Wilson Ramos on the team - there's something to be gained from having enough confidence in the backup to rest the superstar once in a while. They can say that Jose Morales has to prove he can throw out base stealers before he'll get recalled, but that's also lunacy. Just get his bat in the lineup and give Joe a breather. If you're worried about SB, don't let fast guys get on base.
• The Royals did a lot of damage to Pavano, Blackburn and Slowey over the past couple weekends. But they're currently leading the league in hitting, with particularly strong performances from Podsednik, Jose Guillen and Yuniesky Betancourt. Think that's going to hold up over 162 games? I'm looking forward to the next time the Twins face the Royals in June. Chances are they'll be hitting more like the Royals then.
• Top prospect Aaron Hicks began the season 1 for 30 (.033/.171/.033) with 5 BB, 10 K and 0/2 SB. Since then he's gone 16 for 30 (.533/.622/.800) with 7 BB, 7 K and 4/1 SB. That gives him a nice overall line of .283/.403/.417. If he can maintain those rates, he should be in Fort Myers by early summer.
• Since his ghastly season debut, 2008 1st-round pick Shooter Hunt has allowed just 3 ER (2.38 ERA) on 8 H and 4 BB (1.06 WHIP) with 17 K in 11.1 IP (13.5 K/9). Finally breathing through his eyelids.

Grindhouse

Twins 10, Royals 3

The strategy against Royals ace and reigning AL Cy Young Zach Greinke has to be to get him out of the game as early as possible, especially since the Royals' bullpen other than Joakim Soria is highly combustible. The Twins set the right tone from the outset, with Denard Span and Orlando Hudson each drawing 6-pitch walks to lead off the game. No runs in the 1st, but everyone stuck to the plan, and Greinke eventually allowed 4 R (2 ER) before being ground out of the ballgame after throwing 108 pitches in just 5 innings. 4 IP from the non-Soria members of the bullpen were a sure-fire recipe for piling on, and for the 2nd straight game the Twins scored 8 or more runs despite getting 0 H from Joe Mauer.

Scott Baker continued to show that his opening day performance was just nerves. He was wonderfully efficient, coming out after 7 IP with only 92 pitches thrown. He walked 0 and struck out 6. Matt Guerrier continues to have scoreless innings despite never missing bats.

Twins 6, Royals 5

It looked like it was going to be more of the same on Saturday after the Twins broke through for 5 R off Gil Meche in the 3rd inning. He managed to hang around through 6 IP, though. Good enough for the Twins, as the Royals middle-relief surrendered the game-winning HR to Hudson, the very first batter they faced. Except for Jason Kubel, everyone in the lineup reached base at least once, and there were only 2 K to go along with 5 BB.

Nick Blackburn isn't quite himself yet, apparently because of some elbow soreness which will delay his next start. It's not out of the ordinary to see him allow 7 H in 5 IP, but when he's on, 5 of those will be singles. In this game, he allowed 3 2B and 2 HR. Normally, he does a pretty good job of keeping the ball in the yard, so he's certainly yet to put his best foot forward.

As for the bullpen, suddenly depleted with nagging injuries to Jose Mijares and Pat Neshek, Brian Duensing and Guerrier took the mound for the second straight game and pitched 3 scoreless innings to set up Jon Rauch, who allowed two to reach but preserved the 1-run lead for his 6th save in 6 chances.

Twins 5, Royals 10

Sweeps are nice, but not necessary, especially when you start the season with 4 straight series wins. Carl Pavano finally had a poor start, though if he gives the Twins 2 good ones for every bad I think we'll all take it. Alex Burnett turned right around from his demotion to Rochester earlier this week and threw 2.2 scoreless IP with 4 K. Ron Mahay added 2 IP with 3 K. But Jesse Crain, for the 2nd time on this home stand, came one pitch short of a scoreless inning, instead allowing Alberto Callaspo's 2nd 3-run HR of the day to ice the game.

It was heartening to see the relentlessness of the lineup in the face of an early 4-run deficit. The lineup ground out another 8 BB, bringing the tying run into scoring position a couple of times in the late innings and forcing the Royals to bring in Soria to put out an 8th-inning fire. Even in defeat, the Twins scored 5, and were just one big hit away from changing the game.

Notes:

• In each of the Twins' 4 losses so far, they've been within striking distance in the 8th inning: trailing 4-3 in the opener, tied at 4 in the finale in Chicago, and trailing 3-2 in their loss to the Red Sox. No games you want to turn off after a few innings so far.
• Burnett is replacing Mijares, who had to go on the 15-day DL.
• The Beloit Snappers have won 4 in a row, 3 by shutout.
• Spencer Steedley, one of the AFL prospects from last year, has allowed just 3 H and 1 BB in his first 9 IP with 13 K. Even more impressively, he's wiped out righties about as well as lefties, something he didn't come close to doing last year. He pitched decently in 18.2 IP with the Rock Cats last year, so if he can keep this up for another 10 appearances of so, he could be looking at a promotion to Rochester for his 25th birthday on May 31st. Left-handed middle relief was one of the weaknesses for the Twins at the upper levels of their system, so Steedley's development would be most welcome, particularly with Mijares ailing and the Twins having to rely on the ancient Mahay.

Buzz Kill

Twins 7, Royals 5
Royals 10, Twins 7 (11 innings)
Royals 7, Twins 5
Welcome back, Joe Mauer! What an emphatic return to the lineup, launching a HR on his first swing and a 2B on his second. He finished the weekend 7 for 10 with a walk, HR and 2 2B, including a 2-out RBI pinch single off Joakim Soria. Just like that, the Twins put up 19 R in 3 games against what had been one of the league's better pitching staffs coming in.

But I don't feel good tonight. Nope.

All three Twins starters managed to give up 5 ER. Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins each gave up big 2-out hits. Scott Baker rattled off another string of outs (18 of 19, carrying a no-hitter into the 7th), but ultimately found himself in the same place as his last start, exactly where Francisco Liriano was a couple of weeks ago - pitching pretty well, except for allowing so many hits to be clustered together. (By the way, this is why I think ERA is a better measure of pitching performance than WHIP. Baker's ERA on Sunday was 7.50, which is bad, but his WHIP was 1.00, which is good. It should be clear that "bad" is more descriptive of the way the game ended.) All three were OK for stretches of the game, but didn't execute their pitches at critical junctures and ended up walking away with lousy lines that put a ton of extra pressure on what was, for the most part, a very productive offense.

What really upset me about this series was the litany of no-nos the Twins committed:

- You do not make the 3rd out at 3rd base. You especially don't do that when the next batter is a scorching-hot 2-time batting champ.

- You do not walk the leadoff hitter. You especially don't do that in extra innings.

- You do not walk someone who is trying to bunt.

- You do not walk in a run. You especially don't do that in extra innings.

- You do not give up HR on 0-2 pitches.

I'm probably forgetting some. The last 2 games were easily winnable had the Twins played even average baseball. Apart from the isolated defensive and baserunning miscues, what really stood out was the ineffectiveness of the back half of the Twins' bullpen. Having used Matt Guerrier, Jose Mijares and Joe Nathan rather extensively on Friday and Saturday, Gardy was forced by the extra innings into going to Craig Breslow to start the 11th. Breslow has been reasonably effective when he's throwing strikes. But he's walked at least 1 batter in 5 of his last 6 appearances, including 3 in this game. That forced Gardy to go to the last guy in the 'pen - R.A. Dickey - with the bases loaded. Not surprisingly, some runs scored.

With everyone else exhausted, Gardy had to go to the combustible Luis Ayala and Dickey again on Sunday, and they allowed 4 runs to score while they were on the hill. I could give Ayala a few more weeks to put things together, but Dickey should be back in Rochester. Had the starters fared better this weekend, that likely would have been the decision when Jesse Crain was activated from the 15-day DL. Instead, Gardy decided to go right back to his 12-man bullpen. As long as Dickey is the 12th man.

The Royals will be greatly inspired by this series win, using it to build confidence that they may be able to draw on later in the season. They aren't so much worse than the rest of the division that they can be taken lightly. The Twins had an opportunity to win a series from a division rival at home, and they bumbled it away. I can't help feeling that it might come back to haunt them later on.

Minor League Notes
Anthony Slama finally gave up his first professional HR last night, though he was still able to earn a save for New Britain. Rob Delaney has already thrown 17.2 IP in the first 22 games of the season. I think it might be a good time to give those guys a little bit of a break - I don't want them to be burned out by the time the Twins call them up later this year.

2009 AL Central Preview

Chicago White Sox
2008 Record: 89-74

You've got to be a little lucky to outplay your projections, and the Sox certainly had their share of good breaks in 2008, at least until Carlos Quentin's bad break late in the season. They were able to turn numerous losses into victories with late-inning HR. Getting exactly what you need exactly when you need it that often is not something that can be expected to be repeated. They'll keep hitting HR in the Cell, but their lineup is starting to get pretty long in the tooth, with 4 middle-of-the-order bats beginning the season at age 32 or older. Outside of Quentin and Jim Thome, there isn't a lot of OBP in their order, so they figure to have trouble scoring when the ball doesn't go over the fence.

Where they're really going to suffer is in run prevention. Subtracting Joe Crede and Orlando Cabrera leaves them with one of the weakest all-around defenses in the league - a lot of balls are going to slip through the infield or drop into the outfield. Add to that a weak rotation after Mark Buehrle and John Danks - Gavin Floyd is primed to regress, and Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon haven't been good since 2005 and have since been injured - and I think the Sox are a team that can expect to allow more runs than they score in 2009.

Minnesota Twins
2008 Record: 88-75
The Twins roster I've summarized over the last few days is essentially the same as that which finished the 2008 season, minus Joe Mauer for the first few weeks (we hope that's all it is). My argument all winter long has been that that roster should be capable of matching their run differential from last season. Though the offense will certainly be less efficient with RISP, I expect the drop in total runs to be offset somewhat by an increase in HR from 1B, 3B, and all 3 OF positions. In other words, the Twins will be better at scoring runs when they don't have someone in scoring position. With 3 of Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, Alexi Casilla and Nick Punto likely in the lineup on any given day, the Twins should continue to rack up large numbers of sacrifices, bunt hits, and steals, putting them in position to score, as they often did last year, without the benefit of a well-hit ball. I see the Twins scoring about 50 fewer runs.

They should be able to make up those 50 runs with improved pitching and defense. Last year's staff saw 361.1 IP (nearly 25% of its total IP) given to Brian Bass, Livan Hernandez, Boof Bonser, Juan Rincon and Eddie Guardado, while suffering the fatal late-season collapse of the previously reliable Matt Guerrier. The remainder of the staff did quite well, and those are the ones who will be relied upon in 2009, with Guerrier likely returning to form. Most importantly, the young rotation, brimming with upside, should get a larger proportion of the total IP this season, leaving fewer innings in the hands of a suspect bullpen. Add to that a defense that should be much better than what the Twins brought to the field in 2008 - they allowed by far the most errors and unearned runs of Gardy's tenure, something that looks to have been addressed this spring - and the Twins shouldn't have any trouble keeping their total runs allowed around 700. They'll need some breaks to win 90, but it will be a disappointment if they don't finish with at least 85 wins.

Cleveland Indians
2008 Record: 81-81
One of the luckiest teams in 2007, the wheel of fortune spun the other way on the Tribe in 2008. They lost several key players to injuries/ineffectiveness and managed to finish just .500 despite a +44 run differential. Retaining their offensive numbers is certainly possible, and they could exceed them with bounce-back years from Victor Martinez and, especially, Travis Hafner. They'll also have to maintain the breakout performances they got from Shin-Soo Choo and Kelley Shoppach. Grady Sizemore is awesome, Asdrubal Cabrera should be better and Mark DeRosa is a nice addition to their lineup. This ought to be the best offensive team in the division.

They should have no such hopes for the defensive half-innings. Cliff Lee has never had consecutive good seasons, Fausto Carmona has had one good season, and the rest of their rotation features fringe talents and reclamation projects. Their bullpen should be rock solid, especially if Kerry Wood holds together. Defensively, they don't look all that strong in the corners, and they insist on beginning the season with a mis-aligned IF of Jhonny Peralta at SS, Cabrera at 2B and DeRosa at 3B. Though they should certainly win more games in 2009, there are so many ifs with this team, I'm skeptical that they'll be a lot better than last year.

Kansas City Royals
2008 Record: 75-87
The Royals have seen their record improve by about 6 games in each of the last 3 seasons, meaning that they're poised to finish .500 this year if they maintain the trend. Slow-starting prospects Billy Butler and Alex Gordon ought to start reaching their potential about now, which should provide a bit of a jolt to what has perennially been a punchless offense. New additions Mike Jacobs and Coco Crisp could provide upgrades in production from CF and 1B. However, top to bottom, there isn't a lot of OBP or deep counts, letting opposing pitchers off the hook with a lot of quick AB.

Gil Meche and Zach Greinke will be a solid top of the rotation, and Juan Cruz and Joakim Soria are as strong a setup/closer combination as there is in baseball. However, the back of the rotation is almost laughably bad, and there are some dicey options in the bullpen in Kyle Farnsworth and Jamie Wright. The Royals are only about half of what they need to be contenders right now, even in an especially weak division. They'll need a lot of things to go right to make the .500 mark.

Detroit Tigers
2008 Record: 74-88
Was there a bigger disappointment in baseball last year than the Tigers? Their enormous investments in Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis and Edgar Renteria not only failed to take the Tigers to the next level, they actually created a backslide as a thinned minor league talent pool was unable to support an aging, injury-prone roster. This offseason they've opted to invest what limited funds they have available in upgrading their defense, but at the expense of offense. There are still quality hitters at the top of the lineup in Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez, but only two of those guys are on the happy side of 33. Adam Everett, Gerald Laird and Brandon Inge aren't going to hit a lick.

The defensive improvements the Tigers made are real, and should help their pitchers out a lot, particularly on the left side of the field. On the right side, the range is limited. The real problem with the Tigers is their pitching. I'm skeptical that Armando Galarraga can regain his first-half success from last year, which makes the rotation pretty thin after Justin Verlander - and how much can they even count on him? As for the bullpen, the guy they brought in to be the closer, Brandon Lyon, was too hittable, so they gave the job to Fernando Rodney, who walks about 4.5 batters/9 IP. Juan Rincon made their bullpen. That defense is going to be busy.

I won't predict a winner for the Central this year - in a division so evenly matched I might as well guess which team I think will be lucky. All things being equal, I think it will come down to the Indians and Twins in September, with the other three teams striving for the 81-win mark.

In the Clubhouse

Twins 6, Royals 0
Magic Number: 1

First of all, thank you to Scott Baker for giving the Twins the 2nd best game of his career on a day when they had to win. Obviously, the CG vs. the Royals last year when he took a perfect game into the 9th was better. But today, he allowed just 4 singles in 7 IP and set a new career high with 9 K. Before the season began, I said Baker would be the Twins' #1 starter. With his performances on this home stand (14 IP, 1 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 13 K) he proved that he's an ace. Lots of teams have good pitchers, but an ace is someone who is good when his team has to have a win. We saw a couple this weekend: Johan Santana (3 H CG shutout, 9 K on 3 days' rest) and CC Sabathia (4 H CG shutout, 7 K on 3 days' rest). I hope Baker will get a chance to cement his ace status in the playoffs.

Baker might have been able to complete the game, had Gardy wanted to take him out to 120 or so pitches like Sabathia and Santana threw. The Mets and Brewers have very dicey bullpens, so you'd better leave the ace in there. The Twins can rely on Joe Nathan, of course, but the 8th has been a nightmare since Pat Neshek went down - until Jose Mijares showed up, that is. He allowed just 1 ER in 9 September innings (that coming when Matt Guerrier was on the mound) on 3 H (one a "double" that Delmon Young lost in the ceiling). He and Nathan combined with Baker to hold the Royals to a score even the Twins' sputtering offense could overcome.

I was afraid we were asking for a repeat of Saturday's defeat when the Twins left 7 men on base over the first 3 innings, including 5 in scoring position. They could only muster 2 R from 4 BB, 2 HBP and 2 E, thanks mostly to the fact that they only came up with 2 H. In the 7th, the Twins loaded the bases again, and finally got an RBI hit from Young to give themselves some breathing room. Joe Mauer delivered a 2-run triple in the 8th to put the game away.

Mauer finished the day 2-5, giving him a .330 BA for the season. I guess his batting title isn't official until it's determined if the Twins will play on Tuesday - stats from that game count towards the regular season (although if Morneau were to come up with 2 RBi in game #163, Josh Hamilton would have a right to be ticked). But according to my math, he should have enough even if he goes 0-5.

Now the Twins are like a golfer who has finished his round with a 1-stroke lead. He chills out in the clubhouse while his opponent heads to the 18th tee needing a birdie to force a playoff. With the exception of Mark Buehrle's performance on Sunday, the White Sox have been awful this week starting on short rest. Today, it's Gavin Floyd's turn. Jim Leyland will surely be pumped up to ruin the season for the Sox, but will his team of underachievers follow his lead? Freddie Garcia will start for the Tigers having made 2 starts this season - 1 good, 1 bad. Can he beat his former team? Can he stay in the game long enough to protect his combustible bullpen? Do the Sox have one more crappy game in them?

I guess I'll be watching. Go Tigers.

Fortune Frowns on the Twins

Royals 4, Twins 2
Magic Number: 2

It appears that the baseball gods want to see this one-game playoff next week. Things may yet turn out all right, but it's excruciating to see the bounces going against my team at a time when they have to win.

The first bounce came in the 6th inning. Boof Bonser relieved Glen Perkins, and gave up 4 H without retiring a batter. In fairness to Boof, only one of the hits was a solid line drive - the others were 2 choppers and a flare. The second chopper was the first place fate turned on the Twins. It was just over and to the right of the mound. If Boof fields it cleanly, he starts a DP. If he doesn't touch it at all, Alexi Casilla fields it and starts a DP. Instead, Boof deflected it into short RF, allowing the tying run to score.

The second bounce came the next inning. Matt Guerrier was called on to rescue Boof, which he managed to do in spite of falling behind 2-0 on each hitter he faced with the bases loaded. One sent a ball over the bag at third that Brendan Harris was able to turn into a force at the plate, the other hit a liner to Justin Morneau at first. Gardy left Guerrier out there to start the 7th, and he promptly fell behind the first 2 hitters and surrendered singles to each. Jesse Crain was brough in to rescue Guerrier. Bad bounce #2 happened on a slider in the dirt that struck out Jose Guillen - it skipped away from Joe Mauer, allowing the runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd and prompting the infielders to play in. The next hitter lofted a broken bat blooper that would have easily been caught by Morneau at his normal position. Instead, it was just far enough out of reach to tick off his glove and allow the go-ahead runs to score.

Morneau is pressing at the plate, and it's hurting the team. He went 0-3 with RISP. This was most egregious when he followed Joe Mauer's 4-pitch walk to load the bases with an inning-ending GIDP on the first pitch. KC pitcher John Bale had thrown 6 pitches before Morneau's AB, and the only "strike" was the pitch Casilla attempted to bunt (and popped up). That is a take situation all the way - swinging early in the count helps the pitcher out.

The Twins grounded into 4 DPs overall. Mauer's GIDP in the 9th was a killer, especially since he hit the ball right on the screws. Carlos Gomez nearly knocked in the tying runs in the bottom of the 8th, but his liner to the gap in left-center was just within range of LF Mark Teahan.

So, for the second straight game, the Twins didn't get a lot of breaks at the Dome (though they didn't execute quite well enough to win in spite of the breaks). But for the second straight game, Cleveland pummeled the White Sox, and the Twins are still in first place. They still need one more loss from the Sox, whether against the Indians on Sunday, the Tigers on Monday, or the Twins on Tuesday. Cliff Lee will not be starting for Cleveland today, so that's one more bad break for the Twins. However, the Twins must win the game they will be playing today. If they do that, the only way they can be eliminated is to lose on the field to the Sox on Tuesday. If they must come up short, that's how I'd prefer to see it happen.

Cleveland Rocks

Royals 8, Twins 1
Magic Number: 3

Practically nothing went right for the Twins on Friday night. Francisco Liriano was eaten alive by a relentless stream of bloopers and bleeders, with the occasional liner thrown in for good measure. Up, down, inside, outside - it didn't matter where he threw the ball, the Royals' hitters put it in play somewhere a Twins defender couldn't get to it.

If your pitchers can't get anybody out, you might as well have a horrible night at the plate, too, and the Twins did. Kyle Davies was as on as he can be. Hitters got fastballs when they were expecting sliders, changeups when they were expecting fastballs. Nothing worked. At least Joe Mauer got a couple of hits, raising his average to .331 and extending his lead in the batting race.

That's OK. We just need things to revert to averages now. On average, the Twins win 2 out of every 3 games at home. They'll need to win the last 2 to make sure that happens here. They average just over 5 R/game, which would get them about 15 R per 3-game series. That means they should get 14 R over the next 2 games (7 & 7 would suit me best). They allow an average of 4.63 R/game, or a little under 14 R per series. That means they should only give up 6 R over the next 2 games. The Royals' season averages for runs allowed and scored suggest corresponding outcomes. A couple of 7-3 wins today and tomorrow would be most satisfying. Make that happen, OK fellas?

Fortunately, Ryan Garko and the Cleveland Indians outslugged the White Sox last night, so the Twins are still in first, and the Magic Number has declined to 3. I thought that might be Chicago's best chance to win - from here on out they're starting guys on 3 days' rest. I read that the Indians might skip Cliff Lee on Sunday because he's got a bit of a sore neck. All I can say to that it, "Suck it up, you pussy!" I don't know who would pitch instead of him, but it wouldn't be quite as good, would it? Of course, the Twins have lucked out for Sunday - the Royals have decided to skip Zach Greinke's regular turn because he's already reached 200+ IP. They'll get Brandon Duckworth instead, which should be a lot easier.

If anybody thought the Royals were just going to lay down, that impression should be obliterated after last night. They are the hottest team in the league right now, and the Twins are going to have to fight them with everything they have to claim these last 2 wins and clinch a first-place tie.

Finish It!

Twins 7, Royals 2
Twins 7, Royals 1
Royals 3, Twins 2 (10 innings)

Though the Twins managed to win their first series since before their road marathon began 3 weeks ago, they continued the pattern that has caused them to miss countless opportunities to overtake the White Sox in the standings. Just like in the Oakland and Seattle series, the Twins got a strong performance from their starter in every game, but the offense only showed up part of the time. This makes 11 losses in the last 17 games; in 7 of those games, they have scored 3 or fewer runs, and they've lost all 7. In 5 series vs. the Royals, the Twins have won the 1st 2 games each time, but are 1-4 in the finales. Let's hope they have another chance to sweep the series at the end of the season.

The Royals are a terrible offensive team, so you'd expect the Twins' pitching to do well against them. Nick Blackburn set the tone by going 7 IP and allowing just 2 ER on 5 H and 1 BB. Kevin Slowey topped that, going 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H and 1 BB. Then Francisco Liriano finished the set with 8 IP, 2 ER on 6 H and 0 BB with 6 K. The three starters combined for 22 IP, 5 ER, 15 H and 2 BB for a 2.06 ERA and 0.77 WHIP. While the bullpen allowed just 1 R in 6 IP for a 1.50 ERA, they gave up 6 H and 1 BB for a 1.17 WHIP - still good, but noticeably worse than the starters. And that 1 R they allowed resulted in a loss.

It's no startling revelation to say that the bullpen is much weaker than the starters - that's been apparent for about 2 months now. So it was particularly frustrating for me to see my fantasy come to life - 8 IP from the starter hands the ball straight to Joe Nathan - and yet have the Twins find a way to lose anyway. I now quake in fear every time Matt Guerrier takes the mound - since June 30th, he's allowed 24 ER in 28 IP on 37 H and 10 BB (7.71 ERA, 1.68 WHIP), including 6 HR. Those numbers are reminiscent of Livan Hernandez. Guerrier has accumulated 6 losses for the Twins in that time. Over the same period, Jesse Crain has allowed 15 ER in 25 IP on 27 H and 8 BB (5.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP), including 2 HR. He's lost 2 games. Though Crain's numbers aren't great, it seems that it would be prudent to give him the ball before Guerrier.

Do Carlos Gomez' excellent defense and occasional productive ABs really make up for all the mistakes he makes and all the ABs he throws away? Would the Twins be better off with Denard Span in CF, Jason Kubel in RF and a better hitter than Gomez (say, Randy Ruiz) at DH? I doubt we'll find out.

Coming into this home stand, the Twins had a .667 winning percentage at home, and were facing two divisional opponents with losing records that the Twins had beaten up all year, so going 3-3 is definitely not good enough. However, thanks to some inspired play by the Blue Jays, the White Sox remain just a step ahead of the Twins. Which Central Division contender will get it together first?

Patterns

Twins 4, Royals 1
Twins 7, Royals 3
Royals 5, Twins 4 (12 innings)

I'm beginning to see a pattern emerging. The Twins begin a road trip against a non-divisional opponent, give away a couple of games thanks to poor pitching and defense, then recover to win the next series vs. a division rival. This is how the last 3 road trips have gone over the past month: the sweep at the hands of the Red Sox (2 games lost by the bullpen) followed by a 3-1 series win in Detroit; the sweep at the hands of the Yankees (all-around terrible baseball) followed by a 2-1 series win in Cleveland; and now a series loss at the hands of the Mariners (2 games lost by the bullpen) followed by a 2-1 series win in KC.

If your cup is half full, you might say that it's great to see the Twins able to bounce back from a bad start, and that it's more important to beat their division rivals - which is true. But, if your cup is half empty, you might point out how consistently the bullpen is allowing runs on the road (12 of the last 19 games), and how the next road trip is a 14-gamer, all against non-divisional opponents.

My cup is looking a little on the empty side right now. That's mostly because the Twins threw away first place for the second time this week. The sweep of the Royals was theirs for the taking, the last out of the 8th inning in Adam Everett's hand. All he had to do was make an on-target throw to first and the Twins would have handed their 4-3 lead to Joe Nathan in the ninth. But the inning only got that far because Brian Buscher double-clutched on a slow 2-hopper to third, enabling the relentlessly hustling Mark Teahan to reach with a leadoff "single" (how is Teahan only hitting .250? He's killing the Twins).

But that's not all. In the 6th, also with Teahan at the plate and 1 out, Scott Baker got a chopper to the right of the mound. He prudently chose to get the sure out at 1st base - except no one was covering: Mike Lamb had gone for the batted ball and Nick Punto was late covering. Baker tried to shovel it to Punto at the last second, but it got by him and rolled into foul territory, allowing 1 run to score and moving Teahan to 3rd. That brought the infield in, enabling Jose Guillen's grounder to go through for an RBI single. Even the Royals can beat you when you give them extra outs and bases.

The bullpen lost the game today, but I can't hang it on them. Matt Guerrier faced 3 batters, getting 2 grounders and a strikeout. Dennys Reyes, though he threw a wild pitch, got outs from the 2 men he faced. Craig Breslow did about as much as you can ask of him - he's not good enough to go twice through the order without getting nicked. (Although, you'd like to think he could get Tony Pena, Jr. out at least once, considering that he's, you know, a crappy hitter.) However, the bullpen allowed 2 ER in 11 IP in the series - really pretty good.

The hitting also left a bit to be desired, with the Twins accumulating just 24 hits in 30 innings of batting. Luckily, they drew so many walks (22 in the three games, plus a HBP) that the few hits they got should have been enough to earn the sweep. An extra run or two would have come in handy on Sunday, and I've got to call out Jason Kubel (3 ABs with runners on 3rd, 0-3 with a foul pop and 2 K) and Delmon Young (2 GIDP). With a 4-2 lead heading to the bottom of the 7th, Gardy sensibly inserted Gomez into the defense in place of Kubel. Once the game was tied, I really regretted not having Kubel at the plate, regardless of how bad a day he was having. Oh well.

On a lighter note, Livan Hernandez made his debut for the Rockies this afternoon: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 9 ER, 4 BB, 1 K. Glad we don't have to worry about that crap any more.

Streaking

Twins 4, Royals 3 (12 innings)
Twins 9, Royals 8 (10 innings)
Twins 5, Royals 1

What an amazing road trip. The Twins went 5-1 despite allowing as many runs as they scored (36). Always a good thing to concentrate the sucking into a single game!

I feel really bad for the Royals and their fans. We've been there, at least those of us who loved the Twins through the '90's. That the Royals renaissance has yet to take hold must be unbearable for their faithful. And after showing signs of being much improved just a couple weeks ago, to now be in the midst of yet another double-digit losing streak, how awful. And to have that streak prolonged after being comfortably ahead with 2 out in the 9th inning must be utterly soul-crushing. No wonder Guillen snapped.

Delmon Young made things a lot harder than they needed to be. Clearly, his attempt at a sliding catch in the 9th on Tuesday was ill-advised. I do appreciate the enthusiasm, but I would have flipped my lid if another game had been thrown away by defensive ineptitude. Incredibly, he was even worse on Wednesday. Kudos for Gardy for having the good sense to finally sit him down and end his undeserved consecutive-games streak. With that out of the way, he can more easily sit out several times over the remainder of the season.

Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey both took shutouts into the 9th inning. I know the Royals haven't exactly been lighting it up lately, but one has to be impressed with their progress this season. Livan Hernandez, meanwhile, got blown to bits once again, by the afore-mentioned team that hasn't been lighting it up. Who's eating the innings now? While the Twins talk of sending Boof to the bullpen and potentially releasing Bass or Rincon to make room for Scott Baker, I wonder when the conversation will turn to releasing Livan. Surely, the optimum time to trade him has passed us by.

Michael Cuddyer has been in a horrible slump, but it was easy to see why the hits were so difficult to come by on Tuesday and Wednesday. He went 3 for 11 in the two games (good for him, lately), the hits coming on fastballs knee-high on the outside corner that he poked into right or right-center. The Royals pitchers did a very good job of spotting their fastball in that location, then mixing in sliders or splitters that start in that location before diving out of the zone. With two strikes, it's difficult for Cuddy not to try to protect out there, but he ends up looking bad when the breaking balls land in the dirt. He may have to determinedly take 2 strikes in order to try to force pitchers to come back up and over the plate.

Gardy looked pretty good on Wednesday night, didn't he? He received a ton of criticism over the last week or so for using Joe Nathan so sparingly in close or extra-inning games. I agreed that after throwing just 10 pitches in the 9th on Tuesday, it would have been sensible to send him back out for the 11th. The Royals used their closer for 2 innings and 31 pitches. For some reason, that made him absolutely unavailable for Wednesday, and when the 9th spun out of control, they didn't go to Soria. I doubt he would have needed more than 3 or 4 pitches to dispatch Craig Monroe. Anyway, Monroe came through, and there was Nathan, fresh as a daisy, to collect the save for the Twins in the bottom of the 10th.

Carlos Gomez has had a much better May. I'll go over the numbers after Saturday's game is complete, but I don't think there's much he can do in the next 2 games to diminish his accomplishments this month. His overall approach at the plate has been better, and he's played much better defense. He's still got a ways to go, so I hope the trend continues throughout the summer. I won't say putting him on the team out of spring training was the right decision, but it doesn't look like such a bad decision right now.

Winter Ball

Twins 2, Royals 0
Royals 5, Twins 1

Frigid weather tends to favor pitchers, and with game-time wind chills at or below freezing all weekend, the pitchers had their way with the hitters - as long as they threw strikes.

Boof Bonser was excellent on Saturday night, mixing his pitches and staying ahead of the hitters. Though he did finally walk 2 batters, he was in total control on the balls that were put in play. Billy Butler's single in the 6th was the only hard-hit ball against Bonser in 6 innings. Unlike Monday, the bullpen set up the way Twins wanted, and Guerrier, Neshek and Nathan finished the shutout with a combined 3 IP, 2 H, 3 K and 39 pitches.

Not so good for Francisco Liriano on Sunday. Based on his spring training and the 2 minor league starts this month, it didn't seem like his command was there yet, and that was case Sunday as well. He was constantly behind the hitters, and when he did throw a fastball over it was hit hard. He couldn't finish 5 innings, walking 5 and allowing 6 hits while striking out 4. Hopefully some of it can be attributed to nerves at making his first Major League appearance in over a year, and some to discomfort at the cold weather. At this point, any outing he makes is another step in his recovery, so he's moving along.

Kubel played every game this weekend, rewarding the Twins with some big hits. Punto got just his second start of the season and performed very well, going 2-3. If he keeps it up, I'll be calling for him to replace Everett in the every-day lineup. It was a brutal weekend for Lamb, Young and Mauer - they'll need to break out this week if the Twins are to have a chance.

Span vs. Gomez

Neither one of them did a thing against Bannister on Sunday, but neither did anybody else in the lineup, so I'm not going to worry about that game. Saturday night was Span's first 2-hit game, and he drove in his second run. The 7th inning was where the difference between the two players really became clear. After Gardy astutely called for the hit-and-run on the first pitch to Brendan Harris following Kubel's leadoff single, Span came up with runners at the corners and none out. He hacked at a good fastball, took an off-speed pitch in the dirt, then hit the ball sharply on the ground up the middle with a nice, compact swing, driving in the run. After Punto's bunt single loaded the bases with none out, Gomez came up and hacked wildly at 3 straight sliders out of the zone. Easy strikeout, no further runs scored.

I won't be too hard on either of these guys yet with the sample sizes still so small (54 PA for Gomez, 18 for Span) - Gomez and the rest of the Twins' regulars will get a closer look this coming weekend. However, it's interesting to note that by the end of the second week of the season, after just 12 games, Gomez' hot start has evaporated, and his OBP stands today at .296. Not good for a leadoff hitter. And, because he's at the top of the lineup, Gomez has 6 more PA than any other Twins player. 1 extra PA every 2 games for a guy who gets on less than 30% of the time. Over the course of the season, that's a lot of bad ABs.

Looking at the series as a whole, I'm very pleased to see the Twins win 2 of 3 on the road against a divisional opponent despite scoring a total of 8 runs. Through the first 2 weeks, the Twins are 2nd in the AL in team pitching, making up for an anemic 11th-ranked offense. Funny how everybody was so nervous about the pitching heading into the season. I don't expect Livan to keep it up, of course, so the offense is definitely going to need to get going in order to keep things close.

Hopefully the Tigers will continue to suck for 2 more games.

Livan on the Edge

Twins 5, Royals 0

Tonight's game was a lot closer than it appeared, though the Twins were leading big from the 2nd inning on. The Royals helped them out with a misplayed fly ball in the Twins' 4-run inning. Had Teahen made a routine catch, the only run that inning would have scored on Span's first Major-League RBI. Instead, Gomez got a 2-run double, and scored on a single from the white-hot Matt Tolbert. All 3 RBI hits came with 2 outs.

On the other side of the ball, Livan was very fortunate to get through the first 5 innings with no runs allowed. This was especially true in the 5th, when the Royals loaded the bases with one out. Teahen's single was so hard-hit right at Span that the Royals elected not to send the runner home from 2nd. Hernandez then got Guillen to chase a curve ball out of the zone, and retired Billy Butler on a weak grounder. Scouts take note: apparently, the only way to get Butler out is to throw him 60-MPH curve balls.

Luckily, things worked out for the Twins, and they're back to .500 and within 1 game of the division lead. Hopefully Boof Bonser can get more than 1 run of support tomorrow in a re-match of last Sunday's loss.

Span vs. Gomez

Pretty good night for both guys, though, as it was in spring training, Gomez comes out looking better. As I said, Teahen really helped him out in the 2nd, but he hustled all night and hit some balls hard on 2-strike pitches, something we've seen very little of so far. He came within a borderline call of making it 2 games in a row in which he and Young both drew walks. Span was a borderline call away from a 1-3 line. But he picked up his first RBI and OF assist (Butler needs to just be happy he's on first base vs. our OF), and he had another couple of 6-pitch ABs. Gomez had some longer ABs tonight, and Young, for that matter. Maybe Tolbert and Span are rubbing off on them.

Other thoughts:

Lousy night for Mauer, Kubel, and Lamb (2 of whom are on my fantasy team), although Mauer had a couple of hard-hit balls.

Jesse Crain wasn't out there very long, but he looked fantastic. His fastball was in the mid-90s, and his slider was sharp. He's back!

Kevin Slowey was finally placed on the DL, and Liriano is coming up to start on Sunday. He'll probably be a little rough at first, command-wise, but the Royals aren't walking very much, so maybe they'll help him out. It will be exciting to have him back in any event!

I hope Slowey is able to make a quick recovery. He was the best pitcher in AAA last season, and looked ready to take the next step this spring. When he's finally healthy, the Twins will be in great position to deal Hernandez at the top of his value and perhaps upgrade one of the infield positions.

For as sluggish as the Twins have started, they find themselves in better position than some of their more formidable rivals. With their best baseball still ahead of them, it's not a bad position to be in.

Justin Time

Twins 6, Royals 4
Royals 3, Twins 1

Great to see the Justin Morneau who signed the big contract finally appear in the lineup. His excellent offensive weekend paved the way to a series win. I got to see most of both games on TV (Sunday in HD - ooooooooh), and noticed some interesting things:

Livan Hernandez is doing his typical April thing. He only gave up a couple of hard-hit balls on Saturday - one when he apparently lost his concentration after a balk (the next pitch was smoked to the wall for a triple). I can't believe he physically tires out as the season goes along, so maybe his problem is mental. Anyway, two 7-inning quality starts, just what he's supposed to do. Should be worth something in a trade later on.

Matt Guerrier needs to stop throwing so many balls. He got away with it again, pitching around a cheap 2-out infield hit and error by Everett. Everett needs to step it up in the infield. The infield hit was a slow chopper up the middle. As he converged on the ball, running toward first base, Tolbert cut in front of him and threw across his body while running toward third base. The shortstop has an easier, shorter throw there, perhaps the difference between safe by half a step and out by half a step. Everett has to call Tolbert off - not only is he captain of the infield, he's played 7 years in the bigs - Tolbert hasn't even played seven games.

Mauer, Morneau and Kubel all swung the bats well this weekend. No surprise there. The surprise is how well Tolbert is swinging. Thanks to his hot start and Harris' flu, Tolbert has nearly as many plate appearances as Everett and Harris. Notice who doesn't have a lot of PAs? Nick Punto, 1 for 3 on the week. All of you who thought Gardy would insist on playing Punto over better hitters owe the skipper an apology.

Boof was solid again on Sunday. He pitched better than Tomko - the reason he gave up more runs is he gave up hits early in the inning, while Tomko was generally able to retire the leadoff hitter.

Which brings us to Carlos Gomez. How interesting to have him and Span hitting back-to-back again. In Gomez' first AB last Monday, he pulled a grounder just fair over third base for a double. In Span's first AB Sunday, he pulled a grounder just foul over first base. Couldn't have been more than an inch foul. Span worked the count full before being retired when Tomko leaped up to stop his bouncer up the middle. He drew a full-count walk in his second AB, then was retired on a sliding stop by the second baseman on an 0-2 swing.

Gomez, meanwhile, on his only base hit of the weekend, a leadoff slicing single to very short right field in the third, got himself thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. Though right fielder Guillen had a long way to run for the ball, he has an excellent throwing arm, and Gomez was easily nailed at second. Two disturbing things about this:

1: do you not know how good the RFs arm is?
2: you're Carlos Gomez - you're going to steal second by the third pitch of the next AB anyway.

He just consistently outruns his brain. Plus, he's struck out 8 times in his first 29 PAs, walking just once. Four of those strikeouts have come on 3 pitches. Span saw 15 pitches in his 3 PAs Sunday. I'll keep tabs on them throughout Cuddy's DL stay.

Lots of good news on the pitching front this home stand. With the exception of the injured Kevin Slowey, each starter pitched at least 6 innings. Even if you throw Slowey in there, the average start this week was 6.1 IP, 3.89 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 2 HR, 1 BB(!), 21 K. That ought to do a lot better than 3-4. But, when the offense averages 2.7 run/game, 3.89 from the starters can be too much to overcome. Too many DPs, too many quick ABs, not enough walks, not enough homers. I'm most concerned about Mr. Lamb after this weekend - he looked awful yesterday, particularly when he dove at a 2-0 changeup with a RISP in the 2nd.

This week the Twins start their road schedule in Chicago. Javier Vazquez has given the Twins trouble in the past, but if Blackburn can back up his performance from last Wednesday, the Twins should be in the game. After an off-day Tuesday, it'll be Baker vs. LHP John Danks, followed by a historic Hernandez/Contreras matchup in the finale. Should be quite a competition to see who can throw the slowest pitch. I hope Gardy will be ready to turn loose the running game on Pierzynski - should be able to steal 3-4 bases/game.

Not a great start to the season, true. But better than the Tigers!

Small Ballers

Twins 4, Royals 3

Another solid game for the pitching staff, and some good hitting and aggressive base running led to the win.

Scott Baker really labored in the first 2 innings. I thought the game was going to last 4 hours the way he was going. Credit the KC hitters for spoiling a lot of pitches and laying off others. So many 5+ pitch ABs. And when they did put them in play, they fell in. Thinking about Slowey's short start yesterday, I wasn't sure what the bullpen was going to do if Baker didn't make it to the 6th. But he settled in, setting down 11 in a row after John Buck's RBI single in the 2nd. The Royals helped out by swinging early in the count and putting balls in play. In the end, despite a rather tight pitch count, Baker managed to pitch 6.2 innings, enough for Neshek and Nathan to take it the rest of the way.

Carlos Gomez had another good game. He got a bunt hit leading off, stole second and scored on Mauer's single. He got another infield hit in the 4th, stole second again, but was stranded when Mauer grounded out. Then he drilled a double in his last AB. He is having about as good a first week with the Twins as anyone could have hoped.

Morneau finally got a hit and another RBI, though Cuddyer was injured on the play while sliding into 3rd. Kubel pinch ran and scored on a groundout by Young. In his other 3 ABs, Morneau struck out and hit into 2 DPs. He's not quite out of the woods yet.

I enjoyed the sequence of events in the 4th inning. Lamb led off with a double, Tolbert sacrificed him to third, then Everett brought him home with a suicide squeeze. Many will deride the use of two sacrifices in an inning, but with light-hitting middle infielders coming up, and Gomez not yet accomplished at hitting with men in scoring position, it was good to see the bottom of the order produce a run using their higher percentage skills.

With Cuddyer headed to the 15-day DL, Denard Span will get his first taste of the Majors this weekend. Whether Gardy will want Kubel to be the RF most of the time, or LF and switch Young to RF, or put Span in CF and move Gomez to RF (as was the case in several spring training games) remains to be seen. If he doesn't start, Span will certainly get some opportunities as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement for Kubel. I thought he earned a spot on the roster in the first place, so I'm happy to see him get a chance so soon, though, obviously, these aren't the best circumstances. Hopefully, he will acquit himself well, and at least prove that he has some value in a future trade.