Oh, Jesse Crain. How wonderful you've been these last few months. So wonderful, in fact, that some have even called for you to close games for the Twins. Tonight, he offered a reminder of the old, bad times, with a vintage Crainwreck that led to Toronto's 6-3 victory.
First, though, the positives. Carl Pavano was a pure delight, working quickly and throwing strikes as he's so often done in 2010, and pitching well enough to get his 18th win. As is, he'll have to settle for a job well done: 7 IP, 2 R, 3K, 9 H, 100 pitches, and a mustache of grace, knowledge and virile carnality. Delmon Young gave the Twins an early lead with another home run, Joe Mauer notched an RBI and caught the entire game without his knee falling off his body and Jim Thome had two at-bats and did not die.
Which brings us to the 8th inning. Jesse Crain entered, walked the first batter, gave up a sharp single to the second, then got the next two batters. With the count 1-2 to John Buck, Crain gave up the go-ahead single, then followed it up with a middle-in pitch to Edwin Encarnacion, who deposited it in the left field seats for a 3-run home run.
The Twins did make it interesting with a 2-out rally of their own in the bottom of the 9th. Trevor Plouffe, whose natural power and brawny physique made him the natural replacement at DH for Thome, hit a solo home run to make it 6-3. Cuddyer lunged at a bad pitch for a double, Kubel drilled a single to right, and hey, Toronto has to bring their closer in to face Danny Valencia. Which worked, unfortunately, as Kevin Gregg got the rookie to pop up in the infield to end the game.
Studs:
Pavstache
Mauer
Ricky Romero: pitched very well for the Blue Jays.
Edwin Encarnacion: one home run away from being the 32nd Blue Jay to hit 20 home runs this year.
Duds:
Jesse Crain: DON'T DO THAT AGAIN.
Tampa lost to KC again. New York got rained out, so as of right now, the Twins would play the Rays at Target Field on Wednesday.
Enjoy your weekend, everybody.