Kevin Slowey picks up first Major League Win

It wasn't quite an awe-inspiring performance, but it's good to see Kevin Slowey get his first Major League win in his second MLB start. Slowey only went 5 innings, giving up 10 hits, 5 runs, and 4 ER, but thanks to good work from the offense and from the bullpen it was good enough for the win.

The bullpen pitched 4 hitless and scoreless innings to preserve the lead, showing their strength. Look at the ERAs of the guys that pitched:

Matt Guerrier: 1.72 (in 36.2 IP)
Carmen Cali: 0.00 (in 4.2 IP)
Pat Neshek: 1.26 (in 28.2 IP)
Joe Nathan: 2.05 (in 26.1 IP)

If I was doing any online sports betting, I would say this is the best bullpen in the MLB once again.

Also, it becomes more and more clear (at least to me) that Pat Neshek is the best middle reliever in the MLB. In the 28.2 IP he has struck out 34 batters, walked only 10, and allowed only 12 hits. That puts his WHIP at 0.77, his OBA at .217, and SLG against at only .200. Those are unbelievable numbers.

Offensively, the Twins got their power from Michael Cuddyer (3/4, 1 HR, 3 RBI), and a couple of other unlikely sources, as both Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett hit their first homers of the year.

All in all, a nice day and a nice job to come from behind to salvage one game of the 3-game set, as we head into another round of interleague play. 3 games at home against a mediocre Washington Nationals team sounds like a recipe for success.

Trade Luis Castillo

If I was Terry Ryan, this is something I would look into. Trading Luis Castillo.

Don't get me wrong, Castillo did everything the Twins asked him to do this year coming over in the trade from Florida. Castillo was solid at the top of the order, getting on base, taking pitches, and playing decent defense at 2B. But at $5.75 million, he's become too expensive.

Consider, he's getting older, and his knees have been a problem for him, especially playing on turf half of his games. His game has always been predicated on speed, and he simply doesn't have as much of that as he used to, thanks to age and the chronic knee problems. There's also the matter of his defense. At one time he was a Gold Glover. That time has passed. He's not bad out there, but he simply doesn't have the range that he used to have.

And the reason we can trade him is that the Twins have other options. Mainly, two of them:

1) Alexi Casilla. The Twins got him in the JC Romero deal, and he's been superb. He looks like a younger Luis Castillo... not a lot of power, but a good eye, hits for a good average, plays good defense at 2B, and has great speed. However, he may not quite be ready to start in the Bigs, which is ok becuase we have...
2) Nick Punto. He was very good defensively at 3B, but his offensive production there is supbar. He played 2B when he was younger, and that might let him take more advantage of his very solid range.

Plus, we could use money freed up from getting rid of Luis Castillo's contract, Brad Radke's ending contract, etc. to go after a real 3B, of which there are some out there. This is basically a pipe dream, but I would pretty much be able to die happy if the Twins somehow got A-Rod, as Seth talked about a few days ago.

But anyway, there's no time like the present... Castillo's value probably won't ever be higher than it is now for the rest of his career. I hope this isn't all just a pipe dream.

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.

Like a punch to the stomach

That's what it felt like when Torii Hunter dove for the ball and missed. It felt like I had the wind knocked out of me. And apparently, I wasn't alone in that feeling, since the Twins were pretty lifeless after that as well, managing only a bloop single from Bartlett with 2 outs in the 9th the rest of the way.

Anyway, about the rest of the game. You can't say enough about the effort and performance from Boof Bonser. A rookie making his first playoff start, Bonser threw 6 very solid innings, giving up just 2 runs in the 5th. This was a performance worthy of win, but once again the offense couldn't get it done.

However, I did like some things I saw from the offense. Unlike Tuesday, when they flailed at everything, they put together a lot better ABs, taking pitches, fouling pitches off, and making Loaiza work. Unfortunately, this effort was hampered a bit by the HUGE strike zone, but there's not much they can do about that.

The problems with the offense were twofold: they couldn't get anyone on base until there were 2 outs, and they can't hit to save their [playoff] lives once a runner gets into scoring position. After 2 games, the Twins are 0/14 with RISP. And you wonder why they've scored 4 runs in 2 games.

One other comment... Nick Punto has played very well all year, and he continues to supply good defense, but he is just dreadful at the plate right now, and has been for the last month. He's giving away ABs, chasing pitches, and not getting on base. I don't know if this is coincedence or not, but ever since he hit that HR in August he has not been very effective at the plate.

Anyway, maybe this is only fitting, being down 2-0 in the series. After all, the Twins fell way back in the Divison race before crawling back to win it, so maybe they just wouldn't have it any other way. In any event, their work is definitely cut out for them here. Down 2-0 heading back to Oakland, Minnesota will send Brad Radke to the mound on Friday, in only his 2nd start since coming back from the injury. Everyone on the Twins knows that if they lose this game, it will be Brad Radke's final start as an MLB player, which should provide even more motivation, not that they should need any at this point.

The Twins are down, but they're not out. 2-0 is a large deficit, but not insurmountable. If they can continue to get good pitching performances, combined with, I don't know, a hit or two with RISP, they might be able to keep playing baseball into the weekend. If not, it's going to be a long winter thinking about all the mistakes they've made in 2 games.

Well, that was deflating

Gone is the home-field advantage. Gone is the Twins Ace in the Hole, Johan Santana, a man who had not lost a game at home since last year. Gone seemingly are the Twins bats.

So what went wrong? First and foremost, the offense.

Barry Zito is obviously a good pitcher and he had his off-speed stuff working well, but I think a lot of this was because of the Twins approach at the plate. To say that it was bad is an understatement. Simply put, against a guy that did not have good control and struggled locating his fastball, the Twins chased balls out of the zone early in the count, which is why Zito kept such a low pitch count even without great control.

Things started out rocky in the 1st inning. Luis Castillo walked to leadoff the game (which should have been a lesson to other Twins hitters... TAKE SOME PITCHES), and then Punto worked the count to 2-1. Then, i'm not sure if it was a hit & run or what the call was, but Punto swings at a ball out of the zone, Castillo and his bad knee is running, and he's thrown out at 2nd. So instead of having a runner at 1st with no out and a 3-1 count, there's 1 out and it's a 2-2 count. That's a good way to ruin a potentially good inning. And while we're at, will someone please tell Nick Punto to stop sliding into 1st base. I think everyone in the world other than Punto knows that that slows you down.

As far as Gardenhire, there were some questionable calls I thought, but none bigger than going with Jesse Crain in the 9th. Crain has been solid in the 2nd half of the year, but Pat Neshek has been lights out since his callup. Seriously, every single stat says that Neshek is the better pitcher. And it's not like Crain has loads of postseason experience... before this outing he had gotten 1 out in postseason play in his career. This isn't even hindsight bias, I swear... I just don't understand going with Crain over Neshek.

By the way, a memo to the Twins:
Frank Thomas - 3/4
Everyone else - 4/30

As for the game coverage on ESPN, I'll leave it to Bat-Girl:

...but listening to these guys is like listening to the two drunk guys who sit behind you who've seen two games all season and are trying to impress each other with how much they know.... And I know I should get used to it, but this interviewing the managers while the game is going on is disgraceful. If you're borrowing techniques from Fox's coverage of the All-Star Game, it's probably a bad idea.

Sadly, Fox's coverage isn't any better.

Anyway, time to move on and forget about Game 1. Boof Bonser gets the start in Game 2 against Esteban Loaiza, a guy that the Twins have generally hit well against. I have confidence in Boof, but scoring sometime before the 7th inning would be nice too.

In other words, Game 2 would be a perfect time for The Sabean Special!

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.

Things are officially interesting

That sound you hear is Detroit Tigers fans getting nervous for the first time all year. After looking awful in game 1 of this series, the Twins came back with a vengenance to win the last 3 and pull within 2 game of the division leading Tigers.

The charge on Sunday was, of course, led by All-World SP and MVP candidate Johan Santana. He picked up his 18th victory, and 11 of the 19 outs he recorded came via the strikeout, which he also happens to lead the Majors in. Meanwhile, the 6.1 scoreless innings dropped the ERA to 2.75, which also happens to be the best in the Majors. I'm not real good with image stuff, but go to the Stats page on MLB.com for something that looks cool (Johan's picture 3 times because he leads the Majors in the Triple Crown categories)

Offensively, the offense just jumped all over Bonderman and the rest of the pitching staff, scoring 12 runs on 15 hits. Joe Mauer went 2/3 and is now batting .350, just ahead of Jeter at .345. Elsewhere, Nick Punto had 4 hits, Justin Morneau had 2, and Torii Hunter had 3.

Things also went well as far as the Wildcard is concerned, as the Indians beat the White Sox, increasing the Twins Wildcard lead to 1.5 games.

The Twins now stay home and host the Oakland As, who always seem to give the Twins trouble. They play three against Oakland before heading to Cleveland. Detroit has the day off, and Chicago will take on Anaheim. Pitching matchups for Monday:

Minnesota: Carlos Silva (8-13, 6.30) vs. Joe Blanton (Athletics)
Chicago: Jose Conteras 12-7 (4.09) vs. John Lackey (Angels)

It's been so long I almost forgot what it was called...

Oh yeah, offense. That was nice.

9 runs? Where has this offense been lately? Castillo didn't do anything at the top, but Nick Punto (welcome back!) had a couple of hits, Joe Mauer went 3/4 to increase his lead in the chase for the batting title, and Justin Morneau had a couple of big 2-out hits to get him 3 RBI, and move him into 2nd in the AL with 118 RBI on the year,

On the other side of the coin, things weren't as great as Matt Garza struggled once again. At times, he looks dominant, and shows why he was able to dominate in all levels of the Minors this year (hence, 6 strikeouts in 4.1 IP)... other times, well, it's easy to see he's a young guy. He struggled with the control - tight strike zone or otherwise - and walked 4 batters, which led to his undoing. He finished with 4 ER in the 4.1 IP.

In the pen, Pat Neshek responded nicely with 1.1 scoreless innings to get the win. Meanwhile, Jesse Crain and Juan Rincon seem to be going in the opposite directions... Crain has been excellent for a couple of months now, while Rincon has seen his ERA increase almost a run in about a month to 3.05).

With a comeback win by the Sox, the Twins are basically in the exact same position as they were when this series started a couple of days ago... 4 back of the Tigers and 1/2 game ahead of the White Sox. They need to split these final 2 games at the bare minimum, and if they can win both, well, the division race will officially become a big thing, as the Twins would be only 2 back.

But for now, the Twins just need to focus on Saturday. Boof Bonser vs. Nate Robertson. Be there or be square.

Twins actually win in Comerica Park

Yes, it's true. For once this year, it finally happened. Brad Radke was fantastic, the bullpen shut them down late, and the Twins got just enough offense for a 4-2 victory.

Radke threw 7 innings, giving up 2 runs in the 2nd, but holding the Tigers at bay for the rest of his game (with a little help from Tyner and Mauer). He spread out 9 hits and 1 BB, but it was enough for his 11th win. Not bad for a guy that was 4-6 with a 7.44 ERA at one point this year.

Offensively, this was all about the top of the lineup. Luis Castillo got a couple of hits and scored a couple of runs, Nick Punto got 3 hits, and Joe Mauer got 3 hits to go along with a couple of RBI. Mauer's average now stands at a stellar .367, which is good, I think.

With the loss of the Red Sox to the Royals, the Twins move up to 2nd in the Wildcard race, and are still just half a game behind the White Sox, who got a 9th-run HR from Paul Konerko to tie the game against the Yankees before winning it in 11 innings.

Either way, definitely in a much better mood than last night, when all we knew was that Liriano was hurt again, and the Twins still couldn't win in Detroit. Now Matt Garza was called up, the Twins held on for a nice win, and all is right with the world. For one day at least.

15 runs? For the Twins?

The pitchers may not have had the most impressive display of arms on the mound yesterday, but even so, the offensive explosion from the Twins was a rare treat.

They started things off with 5 in the first, 3 in the second, 3 more in the 4th and 5th, and added 1 more in the 6th just for good measure. By the time it was all said and done, a 15-2 win is looking pretty good.

Pretty much everyone on offense contributed, but they were led by the return of Torii Hunter (3/5, 1 HR, 4 RBI), Nick Punto (4/4), and Justin Morneau (3/4, 2 RBI). Morneau's average is now incredibly up to .321, 6th in the American League. Has there been a better hitter in baseball the past couple months?

But we know all about that, so let's focus on the pitching. Carlos Silva had a superb performance against a very good offense, tossing 7 innings and allowing only 1 run. If he can continue to make starts like this, well, it's going to make the decision to keep Matt Garza in AAA a whole lot easier. Now, if Scott Baker can turn in a similar performance today, and all of a sudden the rotation looks to be in solid shape.

The other big news of the day of course was that the Twins were able to finally unload Kyle Lohse to the Reds, getting Zach Ward back in return, a guy that actually looks pretty decent. Once again, Terry Ryan always doesn't make the big moves that catch the headlines, but he does the solid, little things that improves the depth of the organization and should help for the future.

However you look at it, a great day for Minnesota Twins baseball.

Liriano outduels Kazmir

Francisco Liriano has already outdueled Roger Clemens this year. This time, it was his turn to outpitch Scott Kazmir, one of the top young pitchers in the MLB., which he did in the Twins 8-1 victory.

Ok, so he should have had the CG shutout, and would have had Terry Tiffee not committed a 9th inning error (is it too early to ask for Erubiel Durazo to replace Tiffee?), but 8 2/3 innings giving up only 3 hits and 1 unearned run, well, that's also swell. Liriano had some control problems in his last start, but there were no such problems on this night, as Liriano walked 0 batters and struck out 7. His MLB-leading ERA dropped down to 1.94, which is pretty good. As Aaron Gleeman writes, he is now 10-2 with a 1.58 ERA since he joined the rotation. For a very thorough and interesting analysis of how both pitchers were in this game, check out Seth Speaks.

Offensively... well, I can live with 8 runs. Justin Morneau continues to impress, with his 25th HR of the year. He's just the 7th guy since 1987 to do that for the Twins. He's also up to 78 RBI. Joe Mauer is also officially back on track, as he went 2/4 Tuesday with a couple RBI. After a slight dip in the BA, it's now back to .376.

The other big offense surprise this year has been Nick Punto, who has surprisingly been superb for the Twins. He kickstarted things with a triple in the first inning, had a sac fly later, and also had a 2-run single. All in all, 2/3 Tuesday to up the average to .311 to go along with a good OBP and solid defense at 3rd. Yeah, I'll take that. I think most Twins have about the same feeling as Twins Without Spin... as in, this was hard to see coming.

The one recurring theme in this point is that the young guys continue to produce, which is the biggest reason the Twins are back in the playoff race with at least some chance. Now at 5 straight wins, their record stands at 52-40, 9.5 games behind Detroit and 6 games behind the White Sox.

Hey, you never know!

It must be the 2nd half of the season

How do I know? Well, besides looking at a calendar, I can just tell by the way Johan is pitching. The past of seasons he's been an unstoppable rebel force in the 2nd half of the year, and this isn't a bad start this time around. 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K, and his 10th win of the year.

The big contributor on offense was once again Justin Morneau. 3/4 and a solo HR (#24 on the year). Wasn't it just last year that Morneau couldn't hit lefties to save his life? Good to see that Batting Average climb back over .300.

But besides Morneau and Santana, it wasn't just the usual suspects for the Twins contributing to this win. Nick Punto hit a big double early in the game. Jason Tyner had a couple more hits. Mike Redmond drove Punto in with a Sac Fly. Denys Reyes continued to mow down hitters with a scoreless 9th. It was a team effort here.

Unfortunately, some of that team may not be in the best of shape at the moment. Jason Kubel's still got sore knees, Lew Ford just went on the DL, and Shannon Stewart and Torii Hunter left the game early on Saturday. So uh, does anyone have a spare outfielder? Twins Without Spin made an interesting suggestion - maybe a little bit of Denard Span if Torii Hunter is forced to go to the DL. Sure, Span's in AA, but it might be interesting. One thing we do know is that Rondell White will be back. Let's hope he's gotten past the mysterious awfulness that plagued him earlier this year.

On another good note, the Yankees beat the White Sox again, putting the Twins just 7.5 games back of the Wildcard. So there's still a light at the end of the tunnel, however dim it may be.

Twins win in 12; Nathan finally gets the win

It took a late comeback and some dramatics in extra innings, but the Twins prevailed on Friday night with a 7-5 victory over the Orioles in 12 innings.

Before we go any further, we'd be remiss (becuase of the blog name) if we didn't mention the fact that Joe Nathan got the win. Nathan pitched 2 innings, giving up 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 3. It was his 4th win of the year (4-0), and the 2 shutout innings lowers his ERA to 2.05, which is pretty good..

But he wouldn't gave picked up the victory without the walkoff HR from Justin Morneau, his 2nd of the night, and 13th of the year. With Nick Punto on 1st and 2 out in the 12th, Justin Morneau blasted the 2-0 pitch from Chen over the high wall in RF to end the ballgame. The 5 RBI for Morneau increased his team-leading RBI total to 43.

In what's becoming a nightly theme, Joe Mauer was very good at the plate, going 3/5 with a BB, and he scored a run. With the average sitting at .384 and the OPS up at .983, I think it's safe to call Joe Mauer the best C in the MLB.

The bullpen combined to pitch 6.1 scoreless innings, with Jesse Crain pitching 1.1 innings (to lower the ERA to 6.04!), Denys Reyes pitched 1.1 innings, and Juan Rincon pitched 1.2 scoreless innings (which lowered the ERA to 1.76).

With a loss from the Tigers, the Twins now sit 10.5 games out of place, but they can't look at that. Just have to keep plugging away, taking one game at a time, and worry about themselves. It sounds cliche, but when you're that far out, you just have to keep winning series. The Twins have a chance to take the series on Saturday with Carlos Silva taking the mound taking the mound against Daniel Cabrera (who always seems to have the Twins' number. On Sunday we will once again get to see Francisco Liriano go to work, which is always a pleasure.