A Win AND Sidney Ponson gets DFA!

With 4 straight losses coming into the game, it had been a long weekend for the Twins.

But on Sunday, good things happened on and off the field. On the field, the bats finally exploded. Hampered greatly ever since Mauer went to the DL, the Twins erupted for 16 runs and 4 HR, something sorely lacking for the offense this year.

Torii Hunter led the way, with 2 HR and a career high 7 RBI. He had lots of help, as the Twins eventually had 16 runs and 22 hits. Luis Castillo had 3 hits. Mike Redmond hit a HR. Mike Cuddyer had 3 hits (including a HR) and 4 RBI. Justin Morneau had 3 hits. Jason Kubel had 3 hits. And on and on.

Bottom line, it was a great hitting performance for the Twins, and something that they sorely needed.

Off the field, after another poor start for Sidney Ponson, the Twins finally have seen enough, as they designated him for assignment. Later this week the Twins will recall a pitcher to start on Saturday, leaving Glen Perkins in the pen. They didn't say who, but my guess would be Scott Baker, who has some experience, is pitching great in AAA, and I believe is already on the 40-man roster. That would make the most sense to me.

Either way, I'm at least happy to see the Twins recognized that Ponson just wasn't working out.

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.

Officially a losing streak

After the Twins 4th straight loss, I think this is officially the first real losing streak of the year. This one hurts too, just because of who it has been against and where it's been played. 2 of the 4 losses have come against the Royals, and 3 of the 4 have come have the friendly Metrodome.

The early blame went to Sidney Ponson, who gave up 4 runs in 6 innings of work, though that actually lowered his ERA to 8.44. The Ponson Experiment has just got to stop. The Twins cannot afford to stop throwing him out there every 5 games.

Unfortunately, the Twins didn't really get any type of run support or any offensive effort except from Torii Hunter. Torii was 2/4, including a continuation of his barrage of doubles as he hit his 13th of the year. He also hit another HR, to give him 4 so far. Meanwhile the 3-4-5 hitters went 3/5 with 2 BB (from Mauer). That's not going to get it done.

The Twins will try to avoid the 2-game sweep by sending Boof Bonser to the mound. Bonser has disappointed so far this year, but hopefully the home start against KC will be just what the doctor ordered. He'll take on Zack Greinke.

Paging Matt Garza

After another poor outing from Sidney Ponson, it's not hard to believe that his days as a Twins starter might be numbered. After the Twins bumped the lead to 4-2 in the 5th, things started going south, and by the end Sidney Ponson was only able to pitch 4.2 innings, giving up 6 runs. He only had 2 strikeouts and gave up 2 HR. To the Royals.

Everyone pitching after Ponson struggled as well, but it's still hard not to be disappointed at the effort. This bumps Ponson's ERA to 9.39, and that's with 2 of his starts coming against the Royals and Devil Rays.

Meanwhile in AAA, there are some options. Garza has been a little wild with his control, but he would certainly be in the mix. Kevin Slowey has pitched 11.2 scoreless innings so far this year. Scott Baker just threw 8 shutout innings on Friday night.

In the Majors, Glen Perkins is up with the team and is capable of starting. The options are there. If Ponson struggles like this again, will that be the end of the Ponson Experiment?

Splitsville

I was out of town over the weekend, which is why I didn't write anything at all, but here are some of my thoughts from the weekend split with the Rays:

- I don't have the numbers to back me up right now, but doesn't it just seem like Joe Nathan is a lot less effective when he pitches in non-save situations? Not just this year, but last year as well. That was certainly the case in this series, as we know what happened yesterday, and he also got lucky to survive on Thursday.

- Throughout the 4-game series, the pitchers that had the best lines for the Twins were Sidney Ponson and Carlos Silva. The worst lines belonged to Johan Santana and Boof Bonser. Baseball is a funny game.

- I know why Gardy puts Redmond in the 3 spot, but it's still a really bad idea. Seriously, are Cuddyer-Morneau-Hunter going to really get messed up moving up one spot in the order for a day? I doubt it.

- Jason Bartlett uses a 3/3 day to get the averaged up to .214. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

- Jason Kubel basically has to play everyday because of injuries to other guys, but that's a good thing. Now, even with an 0/4 day Saturday, he was back in the lineup Sunday and went 2/4 including a nice RBI double.

- You can't say enough about Matt Guerrier... the guy just gets the job done, no matter the situation. He's a great asset on this staff.

Sidney Ponson Gets Shelled

Yes, shocking.

2/3 of the Trio of Horror pitched well in their debuts (Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva), but Sidney Ponson could not do the same, as the Yankees beat the Twins 8-2. Here was Ponson's line:

5.2 IP, 10 HR, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

Yikes. Sadly, even if he had been excellent, it probably wouldn't have been enough to win, as the bats were mostly silent against Carl Pavano, as they could only muster 6 hits and 2 runs off of him in 7 innings.

Meanwhile, even with the 4-2 start and division lead, things aren't all good for the Twins. Injuries and ineffectiveness from many guys are putting a little bit of a damper on the quick start, but as Twinkie Town notes, it is pretty early.

Andy Pettitte vs. Boof Bonser in game 2 of the series... hopefully it's better than the first game.

Twins Rotation Almost Set

With about a week left before the start of the season, things almost look to be set in the Twins rotation.

The top, of course, will be Johan Santana, the reigning Cy Young Award winner who is firmly established as the best pitcher in the world. After that, it gets a little fuzzy.

At this point, it looks like Boof Bonser will definitely be in the rotation, which is a good thing, because Boof was really solid at the end of last year. Joining him and Santana will likely be Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson. Both were free-agent pickups, both have uninspiring track records. To be perfectly honest, if either of them develop into a reliable 5th starter, I'll be pleased.

After that, it gets even more fuzzy. It looks like the final spot will be either Carlos Silva's or Matt Garza. Silva is the "veteran" that has been getting hammered on the mound, Garza is the guy that has been pitching better, has much more talent and upside, but is young. If you can't tell, I think Garza should get the spot.

Last year Garza was one of the best Minor League pitchers around, and showed flashes of that at the end of the season. Silva, on the other hand, got consistently shellacked en route to an ERA above 6.

In Spring Training, it's been more of the same. Silva has an ERA above 11 in 16.1 IP, Garza has an ERA of 1.50 in 12 IP. When you put it all together, Garza seems like the no-brainer choice to make the rotation. Hopefully that happens.