Rumors around the Twins today suggested that Kevin Slowey might be pitching for the right to stay out of the bullpen, with Francisco Liriano knocking at the door.

It's probably safe to say that Slowey's going to stay in the rotation.  The starter tossed his second shutout of the season, pitching around leadoff base hits in five of the first six innings and going the distance.  He had a lot of success both pitching inside and keeping the ball down - several Sox had their bats shatter, and apart from Jermaine Dye hitting a five-feet-foul home run that went about 480 feet, Slowey was able to keep the ball close to the plate.

Slowey is the only Twins pitcher to throw a shutout this season.  He also accomplished the feat June 29 against Milwaukee.  For the game, he allowed just six hits - all singles -  and one walk, while striking out five.

His task got a lot easier in the third inning, too, as it was the Twins that displayed the power that the White Sox are known for.  Denard Span and Justin Morneau took White Sox starter Mark Buehrle over the fence in the third, both two-run homers, and the Twins coasted from there. 

It's the opposite of how the Twins have been scoring runs this year; they've now hit a hard-to-believe seventy fewer home runs than Chicago, but have scored just three fewer runs.  It's no wonder that the phrase most commonly associated with the Twins offense is "smoke and mirrors."