Not Good At All

It has just been a series of ups and downs, a roller coaster ride of sorts, for the Twins and their fan base. Today marked another change in perception. You see, things were going pretty well before the Twins went on their 14 game, 15 day road trip. Then they won the first two games in Anaheim and we were sky high! But then over the course of the remaining twelve games of the road trip, they won just three more times. But somehow, they were only two games behind the White Sox because they weren’t playing well. The team would be coming home to face the Tigers and Royals. They won Game 1 against the Tigers, so we were happy again. But then they lost the final two games of that series, both in close games and games they could have and should have won. They had a much needed day off at home on Monday, but they were now 2.5 games back of the ChiSox and things were looking a bit bleak. But then Tuesday happened. The Twins beat the Royals while the Blue Jays swept a double header from the Sox. Again, within one game, and all is well. Wednesday, both teams won again, but the Sox nearly coughed up a big lead! And then today happened…

Yes, I did skip out on work. I did go in for two hours and got a few important things done, but I had to be at the game. I actually met The Twins Geek and Mrs. Twins Geek and went into the game with them, so that was fun. But as for the game, it was nothing but disappointment after disappointment. It’s too bad because Francisco Liriano was excellent again. The lefty gave up single runs in the 2^nd and 3^rd innings, but at one point, he retired 15 Royals hitters in a row. Joe Nathan came in for the 9^th inning and struck out the side. But then came the… Dun.Dun.DUN… rest of the bullpen. Matt Guerrier came in and gave up two hits. Neither was hit hard, so there was some bad luck. Dennys Reyes came in to face the left handed David DeJesus, who promptly crushed a single to right field to give the Royals the 3-2 lead. Jesse Crain came in and got the last two outs.

But the offense could do nothing against Joakim Soria, one of the game’s better closers, and the Twins are back to 1.5 games behind the White Sox who play tonight. Who knows? Maybe the Sox lose and the Twins are back to just one game behind… but now the Twins are embarking on a ten game road trip. Everyone talked about the 14 game road trip, but ten games is a lot as well. They have to play the games, but after going 5-9 on a road trip and coming home and going 3-3 there, it’s hard to be terribly optimistic going into the trip.

The Twins had several chances to score more runs. Really, that is where the fault lies. From Carlos Gomez getting fooled on the ‘fake-to-third-throw-to-first’ play that never works to Justin Morneau’s inability to do anything with Joe Mauer at 2B and nobody out in the 8^th.

I was at the game. 20,000 Twins fans were pretty lethargic. But the Twins offense was equally lethargic. It’s hard to believe that a team in a pennant race could possibly not get up for a game this important.

On the positive side, Brendan Harris made two terrific defensive plays in the top of the 8^th inning that deserve mention. Despite any statistics you want to throw at me, Nick Punto’s range at SS is not very good. Jason Kubel was a step slow in LF. Denard Span let another ball bounce off his glove a couple of steps before he crashed into the baggy. In the first two innings, the Twins had four called strike threes. Delmon Young did not play. I don’t know why. I mean, others are not getting games off. Gardy played the infield in in the 2^nd and 3^rd innings, which made no sense to me. In the 10^th, Gardy brought in Matt Guerrier to face Joey Gathright, Mark Teahen and Alberto Callaspo, then finally brought Dennys Reyes in to face lefty David DeJesus. Gathright is left-handed. Teahen is left-handed. And Callaspo is a slap-hitting switch hitter. That inning called for Reyes to be in there the whole time, and if Reyes isn’t capable of a full inning, then go with Craig Breslow. Obviously I’d prefer to see Jose Mijares.

Speaking of… I got home and just checked out LaVelle’s Game Posting in which he quotes Ron Gardenhire talking about how he wants to get Mijares into a game, “Six runs is not that big of a lead in this league.” Wow… how many games have bigger than a six run lead. We may not see Mijares this year!

Anyway, enough about that game. If you watched or listened to the game, please feel free to comment. I’ll be back later with the Week 2 FB Picks.