July 6, 2008.
Welcome to the game recap, your place for all your reactions following the action. As usual I'll toss out some questions, and then you can add some of your own takes from what you saw in the game as well.
* Who are your stars of the game?
Glen Perkins, Denard Span, Nick Punto
* Best defensive play of the game goes to?
It's not really a play. Just Cliff Lee running his trap at Carlos Gomez, and Gomez running it right back.
* Should this game have turned out any differently?
See below.
* What's your evaluation of Perkins' performance?
See below.
This is one of those games where I'm more happy with the result than any of the individual perfromances. We were able to put together a string of walks, singles and just a bit of luck to mound that three-run seventh: Monroe walks, Young hit an infield single, Harris singles into right field, Punto singles to center to score Monroe, Span walks to score Young and then Gomez ground out to third to score Harris. Only two of those balls were well-hit.
Perkins wasn't at his best tonight, but he was efficient and fun to watch. He struck out three, walked one and allowed three runs. Peralta's 2-run bomb in the top of the sixth was the worst that happened, and considering the outcome...that's okay.
I think this one could have turned out differently. If Lee would have kept his composure in the seventh, or if the Twins didn't have speed on the bases (or at the dish) in a couple of instances, things could have been different. But overall I think the Twins as a team did just enough to win, and Cleveland gave us a little help.