Twins Push Winning Streak to 6, Defeat Mariners 5-3

First things first: Matt Capps got the save.  Bill Smith is a genius, obviously.

The Twins, despite another suboptimal start from Scott Baker, got just enough offense and some decent bullpen work to defeat the hideous Seattle Mariners, 5-3. 

Jim Thome put the Twins on the board in the 2nd with a 2-run, opposite field home run, his 577th.  Party at my house if he gets to 600 before A-Rod.  After the Twins pushed the lead to 3-0 on some crappy fielding by Josh Wilson, Alexi Casilla (!) made the score 5-0 with his own (umpire-reviewed) 2-run shot in the 5th. 

Those two runs would prove to be crucial, as Scott Baker would falter in the 6th.  Baker and his supremely idiotic facial hair had pitched around some walks earlier in the game, but the Mariners chased him from the game with a mix of hard-hit singles, doubles and more walks.  He got the win, but I would think the consensus is he'll need to pitch a hell of a lot better to beat the Rays next week.

The rest of the night belonged to the Twins bullpen, which threw 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.  Hats off especially to Jesse Crain, who struck out Ichiro with 2 outs and a runner on third in the 6th, and Matt Guerrier, who pitched much, much better than in previous outings.

Both the Whities and the Tigers won this evening, so the Central standings remain as they were. 

Studs:

• Thome, Crain, Guerrier, Casilla, and sure, Capps, why not?

Duds:

• Denard Span got picked off first AGAIN.  Technically, he was caught stealing, but geez Louise. 
• Jim Leyland. He let Jose Valverde throw 60 pitches in the 9th.  Jesus.  Bert Blyleven is probably impressed, but that's about it.

Enjoy your weekend, girlfriends.  Reminder that Saturday's game has moved from 3:00 to 6:00, if you're using the same schedule I picked up at the liquor store in April.