Ponson turns in a quality performance.
Even rolling the dice, it had to happen eventually. Coming into Tuesday night, there was a single quality start between the starting pitchers in 2007. After the game, each pitcher has one in five starts.
Edwin Jackson and his fastball were tagged for six runs (four earned) in just 1.1 innings, as he allowed five hits and two walks. The only highlight of the night for Tampa Bay was a solo shot by Delmon Young (4) off of Ponson in the fourth inning.
Oddly enough, that run is all that one of the league's most prolific offenses was able to coax out of Sidney Ponson. Ponson was able to locate most of his pitches, and kept a downward slope on his fastball to keep it from floating into the sweet part of the strike zone. His final line: seven innings pitched, five hits, one run allowed with five strikeouts and just two walks.
At the dish, the Twins started hot and added insult to injury as the game ran its course, scoring six runs in the first two innings and tacking on one run in each of the final three. Luis Castillo, back in the lineup, was 3-for-6 with two runs scored. Joe Mauer left the game batting .378 after collecting three hits. Extending his hitting streak to sixteen games, Torii Hunter collected a hit, two runs scored and a base on balls. Finally, Jason Tyner continues to produce at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a walk, run and RBI. He's now hitting .346 in 52 at-bats.
By winning Tuesday night, the Twins keep pace with the Tigers to stay one game behind the Indians, who also picked up a victory. Kansas City fell to the Angels, and the White Sox currently lead the Mariners 1-0 in the third inning at the time of this post.