... or so stands the tally for the three-game set in the Bronx, with five Yankee runs coming Wednesday against a singleton for the Twins.
The biggest play of the game mus have been a clutch two-out, two-run double from super-green rookie left fielder Justin Christian, who was playing in only his 10th major-league game. With runners on first and third in the fifth, Glen Perkins threw a fastball that caught entirely too much of the plate, and Christian chopped it hard down the left-field line. Delmon Young, as is his wont, played the carom in the corner with all the skill of a man doing line-dances in roller skates, and this allowed Jose Molina, of the Famous Traveling Catching Molina Brothers, to chug all the way around from first base to score, something that shouldn't happen even if the ball is eaten by a goat before the fielder can reach it.
This all happened after Alexi Casilla forgot that there was only one out, and thus merely touched second on an infield ground ball instead of trying to turn two. Two pitches later, the ball was rolling into the left-field corner. Casilla has not exactly been keeping his head in the game lately, and is likely on the receiving end of regular Gardy lectures.
Perkins had been one good pitch from getting out of the fifth, and instead he trailed 2-0 - and with the Twins whiffing at everything Mike Mussina threw (he had faced two over the minimum at that point in the game), it might as well have been 14-0. Alex Rodriguez confirmed things in the sixth, blasting one off the fence in deep left-center to score two more.
Perkins did some glove-throwing and water-cooler kicking after leaving the game. You can hardly blame him.
The lone bright spot for the Twins might be Mike Lamb, who got three hits, thereby nearly doubling his summer hit total (he had four in June and July combined, entering the day). Denard Span also continued his newfound tradition of making nice running over-the-wall catches in foul territory down the right-field line, but that was about it.
Your thoughts on the game? What can the Twins do to right the ship? And did you notice that the Tigers are only three back now?