Good morning! The Twins win again. The minor league teams perform well, it depends on the team, but there were some strong performances. And, another American Idol contestant was eliminated from the show. Let's just get right to it, alright?
But
first, I found this news shocking. I don't really even know what to
say. Katie Holmes (see picture), the gorgeous actress from
Dawson's Creek and a few not-so-memorable movies, is
now dating Tom Cruise. She's 26. He's 42. She was seven
years old when Top
Gun came out. I was never a huge fan of Mr. Cruise. I mean,
I think he is very good. But now, he is officially my hero!
Oh, and what "phase of life" are you in? I've read this article a couple of times and I think I know which one I'm in!
The Twins got another win against the lowly Kansas City Royals. It may not seem like a lot, but these are the games that they have to win. You would hate to lose more than four or five of the 19 games against the Royals this year. Last night, the team got some offense and won by a score of 9-4. Here are just a couple of brief thoughts on the game.
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It is so nice to have Jason Bartlett back in the lineup and at shortstop. Nothing against Nick Punto. I am fine with him playing as much as they want him to at 2B, but having Bartlett in the lineup is great. His approach and plate discipline is really quite impressive for such an inexperienced hitter. But, it is what he has done the last couple of years in the minor leagues as well. Each long at bat gives the likes of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter and any of the Twins hitters a better look at the pitcher. However, I also like how he isn't afraid to swing at a good pitch, even if it is the first pitch of the at bat. Last night was a great night for him in his return to the lineup. He went 2-5 with three RBI on a double and a triple.
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Speaking of Nick Punto, maybe he is better with more playing time. Aaron Gleeman mentioned it yesterday and I had a big note to myself to mention it then but forget. The play he made on Tueday night was incredible. With the runner at first taking off for second, the batter hit a grounder to the hole Punto had vacated (to cover the bag). Punto stopped and went back and made a quick stab at the ball, fielded it, and made a strong, off-balanced throw to Justin Morneau who held the bag for the out. It wasn't a diving play. It probably wouldn't show up on a highlight reel, but to me, having played a lot of shortstop, that was one of the most impressive plays I have ever seen. And back to last night, he played a very solid second base as well. He also went 3-4 with a double and an RBI.
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Joe Mays picked up his first win since September of 2003. That is a long time ago. I also don't think that is right. Didn't he have Tommy John surgery in late August of 2003? So, I bet it was even longer. I like Mays when he is on and doing what he can do. That is, he doesn't throw a lot of pitches but gets a lot of easy outs because his pitches have so much movement. In his six innings last night, he gave up eight hits and two walks. He also allowed the home runs to Ruben Gotay. So, it was far from a flawless performance. But he also threw just 82 pitches and kept the defense on its toes.
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The Twins scored nine runs and their 3-4-5 hitters (Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter) were a combined 0-12. Mauer had a walk and a sacrifice fly. Morneau actually had two long fly outs. But, it is great to get offensive production from the rest of the lineup as well.
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Jesse Crain needs to pitch more!
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JC Romero needs to either pitch more or less. They either need to get him out there every day to try to keep him from being so inconsistent. Or, they need to make him a mop-up type guy where there is no stress.
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The ninth inning of a 5 run game was a good place for Terry Mulholland to pitch!
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Grant Balfour did have his elbow scoped yesterday, and hopefully they will know in the next couple of days whether he will need Tommy John surgery.
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Stick and Ball Guy is cool! Seriously! Now that is a site that you should be checking out EVERY day!
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Oh, and the White Sox lost to the A's for the second consecutive night!
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Check out Aaron's Baseball Blog today for thoughts on the Twins win, but also for a little bit on why you should look at the Twins games and be willing to do some of your own research. Note the section on Chuck Knoblauch's spot in the batting order!
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Check out the new Wiki Twins site. It is basically an online encyclopedia of Twins knowledge!
This afternoon, the teams matchup for the final game of the series. Here is the pitching matchup:
Thursday - 1:10 - Kyle Lohse (1-2, 6.62, 1.36, .310) vs Runelvys Hernandez (1-3, 4.62, 1.70, .296)