An old-fashioned beatdown

The hitting was good, Sidney Ponson was very good (really), and that was a pretty good combination for the Twins en route to a 9-1 beatdown of the DRays.

Ponson turned in easily his best performance of the year in a start in which he probably had to do well to keep his spot in the rotation. He threw 7 innings, allowing only 5 hits and 2 BB while striking out 5, allowing 1 run. Sure, that only lowers the ERA to 6.67, but this had to be really encouraging. If he can make a few more starts like this, they can delay starting the clock for some of those young guys even longer.

On the hitting side, there were lots of positives. Joe Mauer continued his hot streak with 3 more hits to boost the average .378. Torii Hunter only had 1 hit, but it was yet another double, his 14th of the year. Jason Tyner had 3 hits. Luis Castillo had 3 hits in his return to the lineup. There were lots of hitting starts for the Twins.

On Wednesday, Boof will get the start for the Twins, hoping Tampa has the same effect for him that it did for Sidney. He'll take on Jae Seo, he of a 9.51 ERA this year.

Twins deliver a shellacking

Ramon Ortiz is 3-0. Terry Ryan, you are a freaking genius. Seriously, is there anyone alive that would have thought Ramon Ortiz would be 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA after 3 starts? I'm just kind of shocked thinking about it. But in a good way.

Elsewhere, everything was working for the Twins. 10 XBH and 11 runs overall for the Twins, and I think they can live with that effort. The backbreaker was Torii Hunter's grand slam, the 7th of his career. In all honesty, I thought it looked like the pitch beforehand should possibly have been called strike 3, but it wasn't, and then Hunter made Weaver pay for the hanging breaking ball. He now leads the team with 12 RBI.

Right behind is Mike Cuddyer, who had 3 RBI himself. Joe Mauer hit 3 doubles, Jason Tyner had 3 hits, Jason Bartlett had 2 more hits... there were plenty of offensive stars. It was really a great all-around game. Great offense, great defense, solid pitching. Not much more you can ask for.

Wednesday night's game features Carlos Silva (with a 0.77 ERA) vs. Felix Hernandez (with a 0.00 ERA). If the Twins can put forth the same type of effort as they did on Tuesday, they could slow down Felix's short reign of terror through the AL.

3 Reasons We Lost This Series

Obviously things can be broken down deeper, but in my mind, there were three key reasons that not only did we lose, but we got swept. I hate to harp on negatives at the end of the year, but I'll just do it quickly.

1) Pirahnas have no bite
Cheesy headline aside, the so-called "Pirahnas" did little to nothing this series. Luis Castillo, Nick Punto, Jason Bartlett, and Jason Tyner combined to bat .200, with a .289 OBP, and a .225 SLG. Pathetic effort over the 3-game series.

2) Bad hitting with RISP
I don't even know how things finished up here, and it's too depressing to look. All that you need to know is the Twins were 0/18 at one point, and their first hit with RISP was in the 6th inning of Game 3.

3) Bullpen Mismanagement
Joe Nathan, one of the best relievers in the MLB, pitched 2/3 of an inning this series. In Game 1, he should have come in in the 9th instead of Jesse Crain. In Game 3, he should have come in in the 7th inning when there were 2 on and 2 out. Although I suppose I can't blame Gardenhire... he's just doing what all managers do. And It's logic I can't understand. Biggest situation of the game, the Twins had to hold Oakland, and they go with their 4th or 5th best RP. But hey, at least Joe Nathan's rested!

Anyway, not a good series all-around. Oakland played very well, but the Twins practically handed them this on a silver platter. A disappointing end to a great season.

Twins/Athetics Position-by-Position

Looking at the teams position by position probably doesn't give us a great indication of who is actually going to win the series, but it does provide a nice overview and preview for what is to come. So let's do it:

Catcher: Joe Mauer vs. Jason Kendall
Jason Kendall isn't necessarily a bad catcher, but Joe Mauer is the batting champion, the best Catcher in the MLB, and a legitimate MVP candidate. Joe is much better offensively, much better defensively, and that makes this the most lopsided difference between the 2 clubs.

First Base: Justin Morneau vs. Nick Swisher
Nick Swisher is a very solid, patient hitter with a little bit of power. But Justin Morneau he is not. Morneau is the better all-around hitter... he hits for a higher average, and his slugging is a bit higher than Swisher as well. Add in that Morneau is an above-average defensive first basemen, and Morneau gets the clear edge.

Second Base: Luis Castillo vs. Mark Ellis
Luis Castillo is not as good defensively as he once was, and he doesn't hit for much power at all, but I give him a slight edge over Ellis. Castillo is very good at at taking pitches at the top of the lineup, and gets on base at a respectable rate of .358. Even with his declining range, I give the edge to Castillo.

Shortstop: Jason Bartlett vs. Marco Scutaro
Once again, I give the slighest of edges to Bartlett and the Twins. Bartlett has very good range and a good arm at SS. Offensively, both are similar players. They have some patience at the plate, but aren't going to be supplying a lot of power. Bartlett gets on base at a slightly better rate, which is why I give him the edge.

Third Base: Nick Punto vs. Eric Chavez
I like what Punto has brought this year, but Chavez gets the edge this year even though he hasn't been his normal self at the plate. Both are getting on base at a similar rate, but Chavez does hit for more power. Also, while I think Punto has been very good defensively at 3B, Chavez is still the class of the American League when it comes to that category.

Left Field: Rondell White vs. Jay Payton
The Twins have sorta had a mismatch group and you're never really sure who's going to be out there, but I think Rondell is the most likely. As we all know Rondell was just absolutely atrociously awful to start the year, but he hit very well in July and hit very well in September, showing why the Twins went out and got him. Which Rondell White will show up? Good question, and that's I give Jay Payton the edge here.

Center Field: Torii Hunter vs. Mark Kotsay
Both are excellent defensive outfielders, and with Hunter being a step slower because of injury, things may be pretty equal in that department. So it comes down to offense. Kotsay is the more patient hitter, but Hunter hits for a lot more power. After 9 HR in September, Hunter has the edge here.

Right Field: Michael Cuddyer vs. Milton Bradley
They are actually very similar players. Neither guy hits for a great average, but they both hold their own. Both have pretty good plate discipline. Neither has great power, but both can hit it out of the ballpark. In the end, I think that the fact that Cuddyer hits so many doubles, and that he has a great arm in the OF gives him an edge over Bradley.

Designated Hitter: Jason Tyner vs. Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas has the edge here by about a million bazillion miles. Not even worth really talking about.

#1 Starter: Johan Santana vs. Barry Zito
Zito has been solid this year (though don't look now, his ERA is 4.55 since the AS break), but Johan is in another class from all pitchers.

#2 Starter: Boof Bonser vs. Esteban Loaiza
If you'd have told me earlier this year Boof would be starting game 2, I would have laughed. But he's earned it with his pitching over the last 2 months. For Loaiza, he is also pitching well after a horrid first half, and has a 4.01 ERA since the AS break. If he can keep the ball down and get the Twins pitchers swinging early in the count, he can be effective. I call this one about a draw. I think if either guy goes 6 strong innings, their team will be happy.

#3 Starter: Brad Radke vs. Rich Harden
Both pitchers have been effective when healthy, but that has been a problem for both. For Radke, the problems with his shoulder have been well documented and this is his last hurrah, as he will retire at the end of the year. For Harden, he's always had some of the best stuff of anyone in the Majors, but he can't seem to stay healthy. He's made 3 starts since coming off the DL, with 2 of them being solid, but he struggled in his last start. Still, when he's on, he's on, which is why I give Harden the edge. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if Radke gives the Twins a great outing... what he's done this year is unlike anything I have seen in sports.

#4 Starter: Carlos Silva vs. Dan Haren
If Carlos Silva pitches in this series, that will be a good thing, because it means the Twins will be leading in this series 2-1. However, I don't like his odds against Dan Haren, a very solid SP.

Bullpen: Joe Nathan vs. Huston Street
Out of all playoff teams, I'd rank these teams 1 and 2 in this category. But as I've said before, I think the Twins have the best bullpen in the MLB. If they can get the lead after 6, they're in very good shape, especially with Joe Nathan anchoring things down at the backend. Plus, I'm not sure Oakland has anyone that can consistently get lefties out.

So what does this all mean? Well, maybe nothing. But it gives us a little better idea of what we're dealing with.

For the record, I've got the Twins in 5.

The Royals are the cure for any slumps

After getting thrashed the past couple of days against the Rangers, well, it's always good to be able to take a trip to Kansas City.

The Twins went right back to their winning ways with an 8-2 victory in KC last night. Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first, picked up 4 more in the 2nd, and that was all she wrote.

The starting pitchers told the story of this game. Jorge de la Rosa had as many walks as he did outs (4) on his way to 6 runs (5 ER). On the other hand, Brad Radke threw 8 solid innings and gave up just 4 hits and 2 ER, which was especially encouraging because his last start was cut short due to injury/ineffectiveness. If the Twins are going to be a factor coming down the stretch, they need more of this from Radke. The Twins will also need better pitching from the backend of the rotation... maybe from Matt Garza? One Twins fan doesn't think so, at least, not yet.

Offensively, the Twins got a little help from everyone. Justin Morneau had 2 hits and 3 RBI, and for all the talk about Joe Mauer, Morneau might be the best hitter on the team. Meanwhile, Josh Rabe hit another HR, and he's playing like a man that doesn't want to go back to the Minors. Like Jason Tyner when he came up, it's probably not realistic to expect these guys to be good starters for too long, but I'm enjoying this while it lasts.

Tonight is game 2 of this 4-game series, with Johan Santana on the mound against "All-Star" Mark Redman. On paper, the Twins are the favorites, but we all know that these games aren't played on paper, but by little men in our TV sets. Twins stand 2 back of the Wildcard.

3 out of 4 ain't bad

Just keep winning series'. That's all the Twins should be thinking now.

And with the 5-2 victory on Sunday, that's what the Twins were able to do on Sunday, is win the series.

They got the win thanks to good starting pitching, power from some unusual sources, and another nice night for Jason Tyner. Carlos Silva, coming off injury in his last start, Silva was on his game today, pitching 6 innings and giving up 2 runs. As it usually is when thing are going well, he didn't walk anyone. This improves his numbers on the year to [cringe] 5-9 with a 6.79 ERA. But hey, you have to start somewhere.

Offensively, the tone was set by a leadoff HR from light-hitting Luis Castillo, his 3rd of the year. Mike Cuddyer hit his 12th of the year in the 4th, and then the Twins got some luck to score a couple more in the 4th. After a Justin Morneau walk, Rondell White hit a 'Metrodome Double' to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. That was when Jason Tyner, who has been all that is man since the callup, had a 2-RBI single. Tyner is now batting .500 after 3 games.

Rondell White added an insurance run with a solo blast in the 7th (Rondell's 1st of the year, sadly), but it wasn't even necessary for the bullpen that has been stingy all year. Jesse Crain pitched a couple of scoreless innings for the hold, and Joe Nathan came on in the 9th for his 16th save, lowering his ERA to 1.66 in the process.

Around the division, Sunday was a perfect day for the Twins. The Tigers finally lost, as Joey Gathright had a big day as the Royals beat the Tigers 9-6, and the Yanks earned a sweep of the White Sox as Mariano Rivera got his 400th save.

The Twins are now 11 games behind the Tigers for the division and only 6.5 games behind the White Sox for the Wildcard (although the Yankees and Blue Jays also stand in their way.

Another positive for the Twins... if they win in the next few days, they're guaranteed to gain ground on either the Sox or Tigers, as they play each other. Scott Baker will start for the first time since he was recalled, and will go against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who will send Tim Corcoran to the mound. Other pitching matchups:

Tuesday: Francisco Liriano (10-2, 2.12 ERA) vs. Scott Kazmir (10-6, 3.27 ERA)
Wednesday: Brad Radke (7-7, 4.97 ERA) vs. Jae Seo (207, 5.07 ERA)
Thursday: Johan Santana (10-5, 2.93 ERA) vs. James Shields (4-3, 5.37 ERA)

Instant Offense

Ok, so it may be obvious that Jason Tyner is not a long-term solution in the OF. But I'm certainly not complaining about him being up here.

All Tyner did in his first day up from AAA after Lew Ford was placed on the DL was go 2/5, get 2 RBI, and hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th. Tyner hasn't exactly been a star in his career, but for one night at least, he was the hero for the Twins.

Of course, much credit deserves to go to Brad Radke and the bullpen, who held the potent Cleveland offense to 2 run in the 10 innings. Brad Radke pitched very well for 7 innings, allowing only 2 runs on a HR by Jason Michaels. This finally brings the ERA down under 5, but more importantly he just threw the ball really well, and I don't think anyone will complain if we see more outings like this.

In the pen, Juan Rincon continued his sterling year with 1.1 scoreless innings, then Reyes came on to finish the 9th, and Joe Nathan pitched a shutout 10th to lower the ERA to 1.70 and improve his record to a perfect 6-0.

For other cool Twins stuff that doesn't relate to the game, check out Seth Speaks for a really cool interview with Twins prospect Kevin Slowey, who I declared the Twins best Minor League Pitcher of the First Half. Always great to get a feel for the young guys coming up!