With his slow start in the rear-view mirror, we can only hope that Mauer's approach at the plate (and the ensuing success) can be contagious.  He's now batting .346/.420/.452.

On April 12th, Joe Mauer went 0-for-4 against the Kansas City Royals, giving him quite the dubious start to the season.  Certainly the entire offense was in a disturbing funk, but hitting just .250/.279/.300 and hitting second or third in the batting order, Mauer was sitting at the center of the problem.

Of course in his next game he was again hitless, but did draw a trio of free passes.  Since then he's gone hitless only once, and in his last 17 contests has turned things around impressively.  In that period he's a one-man wrecking crew, hitting .406/.500/.547.  Sure he's still homerless, but with a line like that, who cares?

So, with the prodigal son once again hitting exactly like the baseball diety he's often treated like, it's time to shift our disapproving gaze to a couple other hitters whose power and potential seems to have been zapped by a phantom black hole.

The "Come On Boys, We Need Your Help" Section

Mike Lamb:  Lamb wasn't expected to hit 20 homers, or strike fear into the heart of any pitcher who stepped onto the mound, but the idea behind signing him was that he could easily improve upon Punto's notoriously horrendous output from third base last year.  To this point he's not really doing much better, hitting .207/.224/.272.  If you're wondering if part of the problem is in the splits, don't bother.  He's still doing better versus right-handed pitchers, but it's a moot point right now:  .555 OPS versus righties, .214 OPS versus southpaws.  The free agent investment in Mike Lamb was a smart one, but for the moment it isn't working out.

Delmon Young:  Unlike Lamb, Young had some moderate expectations to deliver some punch in the middle of the order.  After Thursday afternoon's loss to the White Sox he's hitting .264/.308/.304, with only three doubles and no home runs to go along with a very low line-drive percentage (14%) and a whole lot of ground balls (60%).  His isolated power is .042, which is miserable.  On the plus side, at least to this point in the season his walk rates are up slightly, and his strikeout rates are down slightly, in comparison to 2007.  There's clearly loads of raw talent there, we can all see it stewing underneath the surface, so hopefully he can play through this and bust out sometime soon.  Until then, I think he needs to be put On Notice.

It's as easy as 1-2-3.

Jason Kubel hit a 2-run shot in the fourth off Chicago starter Gavin Floyd, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Michael Cuddyer, who had doubled directly in front of our new full-time designated hitter, was the other run.  Said Kubel about the upper-deck shot:

"I was just trying to get the runner over from second base, and he left it down the middle," Kubel said. "I was trying to pull it and ended up putting a lot of backspin on it. And I got it up and out."

Floyd agreed, admitting leaving a fastball down the middle was a mistake to a hitter like Kubel.  The towering blast was Jason's fourth home run of the season, and while it's early puts him on pace for more than 20 bombs in 2008.  His .247/.268/.398 line to this point isn't anything to write home about (in fact it's disappointing), but there aren't many position players off to good starts for the Twins.  As the season rolls along, Kubel should find his stride.

Bonser was like a man possessed, taking out the Chi-Sox early on the fastball before mixing in his breaking balls.  Seven strong innings, eight strikeouts, a walk and only six hits.  Joe Crede's solo shot in the seventh was his only damage.  Gardenhire was impressed:

"He set a nice tone. I think you saw some really good breaking balls. His curveball was going down hard. He had a nice slider. And he mixed them all in there. But it all starts with locating the fastball early in the ballgame and setting it up."

While Pat Neshek and Dennys Reyes combined for a scoreless eighth, it was Joe Nathan came on and pitched a perfect ninth inning.  There's nothing like finishing a vicotry with a double-shot of Joe!  Twins win, 3-1.

With Tuesday's win the Twins improve to 12-14, which puts them in a tie for second place with the Royals.  While many of Minnesota's upcoming opponents will are early favorites for October runs, hopefully the Twins can take advantage of having 15 of their next 21 games at home.

Other Highlights

*  The 1 and 2 hitters for the Twins were 0-for-8.  His hitless night left Brendan Harris' OBP at .344, still second best on the team.

*  Joe Mauer was 1-for-3, with a triple and a walk.  He's now hitting .306/.362/.400.

*  Delmon Young was 2-for-2 with a walk and a pair of stolen bases, giving him six in seven attempts.  While there's still no power, Delmon is 10-for-27 in his last seven games.  Hopefully this means he's heating up.

*  In his last two starts, Bonser has pitched 13 innings and allowed three runs and just nine hits.  BOOOOFFF!!!

*  Pat Neshek has held opponents scoreless in his last six appearances (5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 K).  His ERA is under 4 for the first time since being lit up by the Royals on April 4th.

*  Dennys Reyes:  LOOGY extraordinaire.  11 appearances, 8.2 innings pitched, 4 hits, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks, 0 runs allowed.

*  Joe Nathan's eighth save ties him for third in baseball, behind something named George Sherrill and Francisco Rodriguez.

See you tonight!!

It's a good thing I'm not terribly supersticious, I'd never see another full Twins game this year.

I wouldn't call it ironic, because kicking the living crap out of the Ranger bullpen isn't unheard of or even unexpected, but the Twins didn't get to Sidney Ponson as early as I thought they would.  Ponson went five and a third, allowing five runs (just one earned), but he'd been surprisingly effective through five innings.  In the sixth, holding a 5-2 lead, things came unravelled.

Once he was staked to his lead, Ponson changed tactics and began to go after Twins hitters, not being afraid to throw over the plate instead of trying to get them to bite on fastballs dancing on the outside of the zone.  In the sixth inning this tactic began to backfire, and in the end forced Texas to put the fate of their game into their suspect relief corps.

Brendan Harris led off the Minnesota sixth, and again it looked like Ponson was approaching Twins hitters aggressively.  Three of his four pitches were right over the heart of the plate, and on a 2-1 count, Harris took Ponson's offering to center field for a double.

Still in control, Ponson attacked Mauer will three consecutive fastballs.  Joe took the first two for balls before taking his third pitch back to the pitcher.  Ponson threw the ball away, Harris scored, and when the dust settled Joe Mauer was standing on second base.  5-3 Rangers, but Ponson was shaken.

After Justin Morneau grounded out to first base, Michael Cuddyer reached base when Texas third baseman Ramon Vasquez was unable to come up clean on the ground ball.  With only one out and runners on first and second, it was Jason Kubel who chased Ponson.  His hard-hit liner to right scored Mauer from third.

Jamie Wright came on in relief, and quickly walked Delmon Young on five pitches.  The bases were loaded for Mike Lamb, who's had one of the roughest starts of any Twin so far this spring.  Lamb came through with a sacrifice fly, and the game was tied as Cuddyer crossed home plate.  It was the best inning I've been able to watch so far this year, and was an awesome way to wake up this morning, not gonna lie.

Another three-run inning in the seventh gave the Twins a healthy lead late, but it was Michael Cuddyer's three-run homer in the top of the eighth that put the nail in the proverbial coffin.  Following a 10-pitch plate appearance for Morneau, Cuddyer took Scott Feldman's first pitch and deposited it over the left field fence.  It capped 10 unanswered runs by the Minnesota offense.

Craig Monroe's start in center field didn't cost the Twins any runs in the end, and likely helped the offense in the absence of Carlos Gomez.  He went 2-for-5 with an RBI double, giving the Twins their first lead at 1-0.  I wouldn't want to pull that job more than a handful of times all season, but if it has to happen on a limited occasion, well...it's not going to alter the fortunes of the team one way or the other.

That was a great win for the Twins.  Let's shoot for a series victory this afternoon!

 Justin's grand slam, 5 RBI over-shadowed.

A 5-0 lead in the top of the third was wiped out in the bottom, as Nick Blackburn was tagged for five consecutive singles to lead off the inning.  Hank Blalock follwed immediately with a double, before Jason Botts drove his own double to right field.  Blalock, who was trying to score from second, was thrown out at the plate.  Botts, in an attempt to turn his double into a triple, was consequently thrown out at third.  Seven consecutive hits plated five runs, but Blackburn was the benefactor of a slow runner and a bad base-running decision.  Frank Catalanotto was called out on strikes to end the Ranger third in the very next at-bat, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

Each team was kept scoreless until the bottom of the tenth, when Donny Murphy singled off of Juan Rincon to score German Duran.

Carlos Gomez rebounded for the second straight game, going 2-for-3 with two runs and his 10th stolen base of the year.  Joe Mauer also did his part, going 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.  After the criticism they've received here the last couple of days, it was good to see them come through.  Hopefully they can build off of Friday's successes at the plate.

Michael Cuddyer was 1-for-5 in his return, batting fifth.  He was followed by Jason Kubel and Delmon Young, whose hitless nights helped the three combine for a 1-for-14 evening.  They stranded 17 baserunners between them.

That's not a fun way to start your Saturday morning, no matter what country you're in.  I'll see you this afternoon.