Last night was a fantastic win, and I'm still riding high. None of it matters come 3:10, because there's still a pretty big deficit to overcome. Winning today would guarantee we don't leave this series any worse off than three games out (a manageable number) and would also set the Twins up for the unthinkable at this point--the series sweep to move within a single, solitary, teensy game.
Carl "The Tiger Killer" Pavano gets at least one more opportunity to lend some credibility to that monicker, having beaten Detroit four times this season already, including his first start as a Twin. He's compiled five quality starts in a row, meaning that when you look at that stat widget about an inch north of this sentence, you see some pretty good numbers. This is his biggest game so far in a Minnesota uniform, and I'd love to see him step up to the challenge.
The bigger they come, the harder they fall? If the Twins want to make a run at a weekend sweep they're going to need to go through Justin Verlander to do it. Having a Cy Young worthy year, Verlander throws smoke. He's dangerous, and there's no doubt he's looking to turn back a scrappy, rag-tag bunch of try-hards. Minnesota has faced him twice this season and won both times. Can we make it three-for-three?
There aren't any lineups at the time of this writing, and because I'm six hours ahead of Minnesota time it means I'll be out at a birthday party when the first pitch is thrown. Post the lineups in the commens if you like and leave the light on--hopefully I'll be back to catch the end of the game. If not, I'll see you for the recap later tonight!
WIN TWINS!!