Monday,
September 20, 2010
Twins/Sox Lose, Magic Number Falls
The Twins lost 6-2 to the A’s yesterday to lose a home series for the
first time in a long time. The Twins were without Denard Span, Orlando
Hudson, and Jason Kubel at the start of the game, and Joe Mauer
left with a jammed knee later in the game. Bobby Cramer did a nice job
of throwing curveballs and slow and slower pitches to keep the Twins hitters
off balance. Ben Revere notched the first two hits of his big league
career, and Michael Cuddyer and Jim Thome homered for the
Twins.
The White Sox and Tigers were the national game of the week on Sunday
night. The two teams aren’t playing well, but they did provide an exciting
game. Down 7-3, the White Sox rallied to send the game to extra frames. But the
Tigers scored two in the 11th inning and held on. That means… the
Twins Magic Number to win the AL Central is reduced to…
The Twins start a three game series tonight against Cleveland. Brian
Duensing will take the mound against Jeanmar Gomez.
Here is a quick look at the standings in the race for top record in the
American League:
New York Yankees 90-59
Tampa Bay Rays 89-59
Minnesota Twins 89-60
Texas Rangers 83-65
So the Twins are one game back of the Yankees for top record as the
Yankees and Rays begin a four game series in the Bronx. I know a lot of people
who are upset at some of the lineups that the Twins threw out there against the
A’s this past weekend. I kind of think it’s a little silly. Denard Span
jarred his shoulder. He can’t swing. Yet people are upset at Gardy for having
him out of the lineup. Jason Kubel had another MRI on his wrist. He was
not available to pinch hit, yet some are upset that he was not in the lineup. Drew
Butera caught the first two games of the series, so there were many that
were upset. Based on Joe Mauer’s knee injury, maybe it would have been
good for him to sit out completely for a game or two.
I would love for the Twins to have home field advantage as much as anyone. I
also happen to believe that going into the playoffs with full health is way
more important. So I am glad they have the lead that they have so that they can
afford to sit some guys. Gardy and the Twins went all out in the series last
week in Chicago, and they cut six games off of the Magic Number. Those were
important games in putting the division title concerns to rest. With the Magic
Number now at four games, the Twins can focus on getting people healthy. But
what I don’t understand is when fans seem to think that when two or three Twins
starters are out of the lineup, it means they are throwing the game away. When
Span and Kubel were out of the lineup, the team still had Hudson, Mauer,
Cuddyer, Young, Hardy and Valencia. I’ll take my chances with that group any
day. Add in that Ben Revere can hit a little bit and they want to see
him play, and there is no negative there. Add the defense and arm of Jason
Repko and the overall defense is improved. The starting pitchers have done
well. I guess I don’t understand people being up in arms about a few lineup
decisions. They are not NOT trying to win home field. They are still giving
everything to win these games, but they are doing it with intentions of getting
some key people healthy too.
The hope would be that by this weekend, or certainly by early next week,
the team could be at full strength and have everybody ready to go by the
playoffs. But maybe I’m just too positive and optimistic and I should choose to
be more negative. Oh well.
Any
thoughts? Feel free to leave your
questions and comments here.