You know those Starburst commercials where they market the candy as being a contradiction? Yeah, like the one with the Scottish Koreans? Well, that was the Twins offense on Saturday. The Twins equaled the Rangers' 13 hits with 13 of their own (plus 4 walks and a HBP), but they were only able to score 2 runs. It was an offense that had no problem putting people on base, but couldn't drive them in, as evidenced by the team hitting 2 for 16 with RISP.
Nick Blackburn did a solid job through 5 innings, but had to leave in the 6th due to a sore shoulder, and has received the dreaded "day-to-day" tag. Gardy's first choice from the 'pen was lefty Brian Duensing, which was a curious choice considering his struggles against righthanded hitters and the Rangers lineup carrying only two lefties (Josh Hamilton and David Murphy). Not surprisingly, Duensing gave up 2 runs, though those were aided by Jeff Gray.
The Rangers tacked on two more runs in the 9th off Glen Perkins, and although the Twins threatened their former closer Joe Nathan in the 9th with 2 runners in scoring position with nobody out, their trend of failing to get the clutch hit continued one last time.
Oh, and Clete "Look at my super-cool hick-sounding middle name because I hate my first name Michael" Thomas joins the team, and Ben Revere gets sent down to Triple-A.
Studs
Denard Span (3 hits, 2 2B), Josh Willingham (2 for 3, 2 BB, 2B)
Duds
Brian Duensing, Jeff Gray, Glen Perkins, and Alex Burnett (combined 3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R), Ryan Doumit, Justin Morneau, Chris Parmelee, and Jamey Carroll (combined 3 for 17, twenty men left on base)