SWEEEEEP!!

Take that, Washington.

Or, as my grandma with her this Minnesotan accent pronounces it, "Warshington".  Somewhere along the line, an 'R' gets thrown in there.  Just like "wrestling" is "wrassling", "yes" is "ya"...or "oh ya", and superfluous "then"s are tacked onto the end of sentences.

Well, the Twins took three in a row from the Nationals, then.  It was nice to see both the pitching and the bats come together for the first time in a while, and it was even nicer to see the Twins sweep a team they should have swept.  The Twins are now a game up in the win column, and just 4.5 games out and riding a modest winning streak, how can you not feel a little optimistic?

One thing I've started to pay special attention to:  Joe Mauer's plate appearances.  He's going through a stretch right now where he really seems to be locked in, where every cut results in solid contact and every ball in play seems to find the hole.  After the sweep he's batting .400/.417/.618 on the month, and his 6-for-11 (with three walks and a double) mark over the three-game series certainly helps.  It's so amazingly clear that we're watching one of the most talented athletes and hitters in baseball, who by physical standards isn't even in his prime yet, and it's a treat.

Glen Perkins went eight innings this aternoon, and for the most part it was a great outing.  He scattered 10 hits and only struck out two, but was able to work himself out of a sticky situation and or course the defense picked him up.  Specifically, a pair of nice grabs by Senior Le Dimples, Michael Cuddyer.

Ultimately, the number one thing I took away from this mid-week series versus the Nationals was that the Twins aren't dead.  I was starting to feel a bit negative on the team for a while last weekend.  It's amazing what a few wins will do for your mood.

One last thing:  If you haven't voted for this year's All-Star game yet, get to it.  As of June 16th, the AL Ballots were stacking up thusly in regards to the Twins:

We all know that Joe Mauer deserves a start over Varitek, and we all know that Justin deserves a spot on that roster.  Get out there and support your Twins, then!