July 12, 2008.

Three Stars:  Brendan Harris, Joe Mauer, Scott Baker.  Harris had a big day, going 3-for-3 with four RBI and a home run that put the Twins up 3-2.  Joe Mauer's 2-run shot in the same inning, his fifth of the year (like Harris), put the Twins on top 5-2.  Scott Baker, while his final line of 7+ innings and four runs doesn't look the greatest, was great through seven.  He was sent out for the eighth and didn't record an out (but did allow a 2-run Curtis Granderson mega-blast), prior to Jesse Crain and Dennys Reyes allowing another runner to score.

Rough Patch:  The bullpen, again.  Crain's now appeared in three straight games; Reyes four times in the last five games.  Brian Bass was used reluctantly, but closed out the eighth inning just fine.  Thankfully, there was Joe Nathan at the end to shut it down, even though he allowed a pair of baserunners.  With Matt Guerrier having thrown in six of the eight games after their last off-day, he was unavailable tonight.  The Twins need to find another relief pitcher they can count on.  Having said that, the Tigers are due plenty of credit on their own merits.  Matt Joyce had a homer early on against Baker, and even through it was a wild pitch by Reyes that allowed a run to score, the Detroit lineup boasts a number of good hitters.  It's hard to count them out.

Turn-About-Is-Fair-Play Award:  Joe Mauer.  He reclaims his team lead in batting average at .324, as Justin Morneau falls all the way to .323.

Good-Game-But-We-Wanted-More Award:  Delmon Young.  Claiming a pair of hits and scoring a run, the Twins had bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning while leading six to five.  While it wasn't dire, after the Tigers had scored a trio of runs in the bottom of the eighth, an insurance run would have practically secured a victory with Nathan taking the moung.  Nathan converted the save for the win, but it did get hairy for a minute.

Hope for Tomorrow:  I hope Carlos Gomez gets the day off.  He did get a hit tonight, and didn't strike out, but you can tell he's pressing and that isn't helping him or the team.  I'm sure the Twins are already evaluating how they'll be utilizing him after the All-Star break.

Your thoughts?

Going In, In Brief

Winning two straight against the White Sox has made the Twins (13-14) winners of three out of their last four, which hopefully gives them a nice push into the second month of the season.  Finding some sort of offensive consistency is an issue, averaging just 3.8 runs per game.  Positively though, Joe Mauer, Carlos Gomez and Justin Morneau have been more effective at the plate recently.  Michael Cuddyer is hitting .316/.381/.526 in the five games since his return to the lineup.

Detroit (14-15) is a hot team right now.  They swept the Yankees in New York for the first time since 1966, and are on a bit of a streak having won eight of their last 10 contests.  They boast the American League's highest-scoring offense (5.2 RPG), lead the AL in both OBP (.356) and SLG (.443), and are second in the AL with 33 home runs.  On the plus side, their pitching staff leads all of baseball in walks and carries a relatively hefty 4.85 staff ERA.

Probable Pitchers

Armando Galarraga VS Livan Hernandez
Justin Verlander VS Scott Baker
Kenny Rogers VS Boof Bonser

Opposition Focus

Armando Galarraga:  With three pretty good starts under his belt this year, this 26-year old right hander possesses decent capabilites to strike hitters out while maintaining pretty good control as well.  He's been inducing a lot of ground balls, so pitch selection will be important for an aggressive Minnesota offense.

Justin Verlander:  Verlander's off to a slow start, with higher walk rates and lower strikeout rates than  what we're used to from him.  He's only notched one quality start in six opportunities, and he can have trouble throwing strikes at times, so the (again) aggressive Minnesota bats should be patient and work counts.  Make Verlander prove that he can throw strikes.

Kenny Rogers:  Usually able to hit his spots pretty well, Rogers has walked more guys than he's fanned so far.  Like Verlander he's had trouble catching the strike zone at times, especially against right-handed hitters.  He turns 44 in June, so it's more than possible he's hit the end of what's been a very good run, but those kinds of guys have a tendency to mop up the Twins.  At least it seems like it.  Hopefully Young, Cuddyer, Gomez and Harris can come through for the Twins; starting the game with Monroe in the lineup, and then removing him later, might not be a bad strategy here.

Magglio Ordonez:  He's following up a career-best '07 pretty well; five homers, eight doubles, nearly a 1-to-1 BB:K ratio and a .923 OPS.  Ordonez is proving to be one of the best hitters of the last 10 years, with a career line of .312/.371/.522.  He's 34, and he's still incredible.

Curtis Granderson:  He's baaa-aaack:  .310/.459/.793 in the eight games since his return to Detroit.  The surprising part:  eight walks, four strikeouts.  Even though they've only sent him once (and he was caught), the pitcher will still need to keep a close eye on Granderson.  He reminds me a lot of Alfonso Soriano, both in skill set and physical form; if he can develop more patience and better discipline than Soriano, Granderson is looking at one heck of a good career.

Carlos Guillen:  Lots of line drives (22%), lots of walks (14.3% walk rate), good ISO (.204).  He's a doubles machine so far this season (9), and just another dangerous hitter in the Tiger batting order.  He and Miguel Cabrera have flip-flopped playing third and first the last few games.

Stats