It wasn't the prettiest victory of the young season, but the Twins got plenty of offense and enough out of their bullpen when it mattered, putting Cleveland away by a final of 9-3.
The Twins got off to a great start, with two runs in the first on Justin Morneau's 5th home run of the season, and three more in the second, with Orlando Hudson's 2-out, 2-run single breaking it open.
Meanwhile, Kevin Slowey pretty much cruised through the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth, which took FOREVER to complete. Seriously, it was like an NFL preseason game. By the time it was done, the Twins lead had been reduced to 6-3, and Slowey's night was done. Good enough to get the decision, but that's about it.
After that, it was a battle of the bullpens, with the Twins relievers doing just enough to hold the line. Jesse Crain coaxed a double play out of former Twin Mike Redmond to get out of the sixth, Brian Duensing pitched around a couple baserunners in the seventh, and Matt Guerrier escaped the eighth unscathed after letting the first two batters reach. Meanwhile, Cleveland's bullpen, with absolutely no help from their defense, kept padding the Twins' lead. Austin Kearns kick-saved a 1-run Joe Mauer single into a 2-run hit, and Asdrubal Cabrera's mishandling of a 9th-inning grounder led to the final run of the evening, a Jason Kubel RBI single.
MVP:
Orlando Hudson (3-for-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB).
Ephemera:
Do we have a name for when Jesse Crain comes into the game and nothing bad happens? The best I could come up with was Crainwrecktified, but that sucks. Think on this, people. It's important.