So I'm relieved. The Twins, after blowing four straight games they easily could have one, finally pulled a victory out of thin air Wednesday. It was a good win, a tough win. Starter Glen Perkins wasn't all that great on the mound, but then again, he didn't have to be spectacular vs. a very vulnerable Ryan Feierabend/Mariners bullpen. The Minnesota bats teed off for six runs on 14 hits, and kept the pressure on until scratching for three eighth-inning runs, and eventually the win. On the heels of an ugly stretch of games, the Twins bounced back, and that's all you can ask for. The team got lucky that Chicago faltered a bit against Baltimore, and now goes head-to-head vs. the Red Sox this weekend. Now let's see if Minnesota can make up ground against another beatable team in Oakland.
Mariner Series Notes: DH Randy Ruiz hit 4-for-11 with his first MLB homer during the series, and is batting .340 in 47 at bats since his call up... Despite going 5-for-14 (and a current four-game hit streak) in the Seattle series, Justin Morneau failed to notch an RBI, leaving five men on base... Minnesota is 5-4 against the Mariners this season, a team that has the worst record in the American League... Twins starters threw 19 2/3 innings during the series and had a decent 3.66 ERA, 1.47 WHIP. The problem is, they only struck out 4.11 batters per nine innings, which leads to a ton of trouble when you allow that many baserunners... After scuffling through the entire month of August, reliever Matt Guerrier now has 4 1/3 scoreless inning streak over his past four appearances. Hooooorrrray Matt!
Oakland Series Preview: Let me just start by saying I hate Oakland. Really. Maybe it's because they have a similar mindset to the Twins, but they just seem like a bunch of A-holes. Led by Frank Thomas, of course. And I hate that they're using all left-handed pitchers, too. That's bush league.
The first game of the series is tonight at 9:05, and the Twins will run Nick Blackburn (9-8, 3.78 ERA) out there to face Dana Eveland (8-8, 4.30 ERA). Friday night, Kevin Slowey (10-8, 3.74) will try to continue his four-game "two runs or less" streak against a very hittable Dan L. Meyer (0-2, 5.95 ERA). The Saturday night 8:05 p.m. "prime time match up" will feature Francisco Liriano (4-3, 3.83 ERA) and Dallas Braden (4-3, 4.13 ERA), who squared off in the Metrodome last week. Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m., Scott Baker (7-4, 3.75) will try to get back into the win column, but he'll have to do it against Greg Smith (6-13, 3.90 ERA). Here's hoping for the first road sweep since interleague play!
Minor League Notes:
- Rochester (AAA) starter Phil Humber put up another excellent start, going seven innings and allowing just two runs last night. Aside from one meltdown on August 7, Humber has pitched like a completely different person since mid-July, and looks ready for major-league competition. We'll see if he's asked up next week.
- Last, Matt Tolbert hasn't looked great in his minor league rehab assignment, going just 1-for his past -11 at bats and batting .265 over his past ten games. However, he's still scheduled to return to the big leagues in September.