WHO LOVES FIRST PLACE?

WE LOVE FIRST PLACE!  (Yes, even a tie.)

With the White Sox having their double-header postponed yesterday, it will be interesting to see how that affects the race in the waning days of the summer.  But all that I'm interested in this morning is one thing: first place!

On the day, Twins pitchers allowed eight runs over 18 innings; not great, but Glen Perkins (and his disappointing start in game two) was responsible for six of them.  Philip Humber pitched his first scoreless inning of relief in his second appearance for the Twins, Jose Mijares made his major league debut with a scoreless inning, and Bobby Korecky picked up Perkins with two and a third scoreless innings.

At the plate, Denard Span (5), Denard Span (6) and Brendan Harris (7) left the yard; Justin Morneau picked up five hits and four RBI; Carlos Gomez was 4-for-7 on the day with a double and a pair of walks.

Even in the field there were some nice plays, and none made me happier than watching Adam Everett range to his right, into an area that could be considered the territory of a third baseman, catching the ball on the bounce and then putting Derek Jeter and his jump-throw to shame.  His throw was right on target, but while Justin did make a nice scoop to convert the out, the throw wasn't what impressed me.  What impressed me was the way that Everett made the play look so incredibly easy.  Jeter, playing shallow as usual, never would have made that play because he wouldn't have been able to take a good angle on the hopping grounder; Everett, on the other hand, gave us a prime example of why he's been one of the better defensive shortstops in baseball over the last six years.

At any rate, Sunday's game isn't too far off, so here's the roll call from yesterday's double-header.  Doing the monster mash a few weeks early was 33MorneauMVP, whose monicker just might come true in 2008.

Stars of the Game, Game 1

#3  Justin Morneau  (4-for-5, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB)
#2  Denard Span  (2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB)
#1  Scott Baker  (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K)

Stars of the Game, Game 2

#3  Bobby Korecky  (2.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB)
#2  Mike Redmond  (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI)
#1  Matt Tolbert  (2-for-4, 2 3B, 3 R, RBI, BB, SB)