Despite being distracted by the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia marathon on Comedy Central (or perhaps that was just me), the Twins displayed some early power against the American League's ERA leader and were able to hold on for a 5-4 victory over the kind of awful Seattle Mariners.
A 2-run blast by Delmon Young in the 2nd, followed by back-to-back solo dongs from Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel in the 4th, gave the Twins a lead that they would not surrender. This was all the more impressive coming off Doug Fister, who entered the game with a 2.07 ERA and a .98 WHIP.
Meanwhile, Francisco Liriano was good-not-great, notching 7 Ks while allowing a 3 runs over 6 innings. Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier pitched one perfect inning each. Jon Rauch felt compelled to make it interesting, giving up a double and single to make it a one-run game before eeking out a save.
Studs:
Justin Morneau: 3-for-4 with two doubles. Bonus points for extending an 8th inning rundown with some Canadian cunning and guile. Extra double bonus points for starting the double play that ended the game.
Michael Cuddyer: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI. As careful viewers may have noticed, he played second base Monday night. For tomorrow night's stunt, Joe Mauer will pitch, Nick Blackburn will catch and what the hell, Tom Brunansky will play in right.
Set-up Fellows: Jesse Crain was startlingly competent, Matt Guerrier was more typically swell.
Duds:
Jon Rauch: not cool, dude. Eddie Guardado took five years off my life. Quit doing that.
Notes:
(I JUST WOKE UP UPDATE: Literally right after I went to bed, the Twins placed Alexi Casilla on the DL and called up, you guessed it, Matt Tolbert. Casilla has bone chips in his right elbow, and if he elects to have arthroscopic surgery to clean them out, could be out up to four weeks.)
Robby Incmikowski took a shot at Anthony Lapanta's hairpiece. In other news, I'm starting to like Robby Incmikowski.
There has to be a better way to honor Memorial Day than those white hats. They look like something you would buy at the checkout of a Piggly Wiggly.