That Brian Bass has been DFA’d to allow a roster spot to open for Alexi Casilla

That Bass has been Outrighted to Rochester Not DFA’d as originally thought.

I was at Monday’s game, and it was extreme. First Twins game, I loved the experience, if only they had won. My first in person major league pitch was a home run which is kinda sweet actually..

1. What was the biggest surprise of the series?
Saarloos shutting us down after Duchscherer went out of Game 1.

2. What made Kevin Slowey’s seven-inning, 12-run spectacular possible?
Hitting the corners against a team that makes Gomez and Young look like contact hitters. Three K’s for Cust and Gonzalez each.

3. Will Liriano be allowed to pitch seven innings this season?
Not if he averages over 20 pitches an inning like today.

4. What impressions of the Twins are you left with after this series?
Another solid three starts for the young guys. Hope for the bullpen with Boof pitching a bit better.

5. Who gets your three stars for the series?
1 – Slowey
2 – Blackburn
3 – Mauer

1. What was the biggest surprise of the series?

How bad the bullpen sucked.

2. What made Kevin Slowey’s seven-inning, 12-run spectacular possible?

A horrible bullpen. And I guess the fact that Oakland sucks had something to do with it.

3. Will Liriano be allowed to pitch seven innings this season?

Only if the bullpen improves.

4. What impressions of the Twins are you left with after this series?

Our bullpen sucks.

5. Who gets your three stars for the series?

3. Not Boof Bonser
2. Not Matt Guerrier
1. NOT BRIAN BASS

1. Biggest surprise. The snarky answer is that Gomez hit a homer. The honest answer is that the bullpen pitched scoreless ball for all three games, despite a couple of rough patches.

2. Slowey’s fine outing. Adjustments. Slowey is a thinker on the mound. Baker was quoted last week as saying that he couldn’t make an adjustment in the course of a game. I believe Slowey makes lots of adjustments as he goes along.

3. Liriano. Obviously, he needs to get his pitch count down. He threw 110 pitches today, that should be plenty to get him through seven innings at some point in the balance of the season.

4. Twins impressions. Their defense leaves something to be desired at short, third and in left field. The bullpen is going to be a roller coaster ride for the rest of the season.

5. Three stars. #3 Catcher (Mauer and Redmond combined for a nice series) #2 Slowey Career high Ks and season high for the Twins #1 Span He keeps doing good things—at the plate, in the field and on the bases

1. Biggest Suprise – The bullpen pitched decently for all three games.

2. Slowey is a Radke. He thinks, changes speeds, and doesnt overpower anybody. He has pinpoint control and he uses it well. And he makes the necessary adjustments. Great Performance by Slowey!

3. Liriano will not be allowed to pitch 7 innings until he can get his pitch count down. Of course, a lot of his pitches seem to be fouled off but he must get ahead of the hitters. That is priority and with say a 1-2 count can throw something out of the zone and see if they will chase. Get ahead = priority

4. Impressions: Starting rotation came out and gave the bullpen a rest (at least for the first two games). Offense heated up in the second game after a paltry performance in the first game. Lets continue the good pitching and decent offense in Anaheim and we may split!

5. Three stars go to: 1. Slowey – 12 Ks is amazing for the young man. 2. J-Morneau – broke out of his slump it seems and once again will carry the Twins on his back. 3. Blackburn and Mauer – Blacky pitched hard in the opener and made a few mistakes but overall was good! Mauer hit in the only two runs in the game with his triple and advance to home on the throw into the dugout.

There were two fires, and cmathewson spilled peanut butter on the couch.