I forgot the game was this afternoon, so I missed the first eight innings. It didn't matter much, because I saw everything I needed to see in the final two innings. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, Justin Morneau picked up a one-out walk off of Damaso Marte. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen lifted Marte for closer Dustin Hermanson, who got Matthew LeCroy to pop out to short. Luis Rodriguez was then brought in to pinch run for Morneau - a move which would be critically important later to the outcome of the game. Michael Ryan stepped up and slapped a hard liner down the first base line. The ball hit off of first baseman Paul Konerko's glove and rolled over by Chicago's bullpen. Konerko was too busy arguing that the ball had been foul (television replays were inconclusive) to chase down the ball. Luis Rodriguez - in disbelief both that the ball was in play and that Konerko wasn't bothering to chase after it - kept looking back, but eventually made his way around to score. Second baseman Geoff Blum grabbed the live ball and threw it to Konerko, who could have easily thrown out Rodriguez at the plate, but he dropped the ball again, which allowed Rodriguez to score and Ryan to reach second. Astonishingly, there was no error called on Konerko for either fuck up.

A tie ballgame meant we were headed for extra innings. Rodriguez stayed in the game at third, and Terry Tiffee moved from third to first for Morneau. Geoff Blum led off with a double to the wall in center. Joe Crede stepped into the box next and tried to bunt. Jesse Crain threw high-and-tight, and the pitch hit Crede's hand as he tried to bunt it. He was then lifted for pinch hitter Pablo Ozuna. Ozuna tried to bunt, Crain again threw high-and-tight, and Ozuna also bunted foul. With the 0-2 pitch, Crain and Mauer incorrectly guessed that Ozuna wouldn't bunt, but that wasn't the real mistake on the play. Ozuna's bunt went right back to Crain, who picked it up and threw to Rodriguez at third. The throw easily beat Blum to third, but Rodriguez missed the tag by over a foot, and then, instead of trying to tag him again, he spun around off the base and tried to flash his glove at the umpire as if to claim he had tagged Blum, even though it was visible even to the fans sitting in the last row of the upper deck that he had fucked up the tag. Timo Perez followed with a single that scored Blum, the Twins rolled over and died in the bottom half of the inning, and that was the ballgame.

So, with consecutive losses last night and this afternoon, the Twins are quickly extricating themselves from the Wild Card chase. Having Shannon Stewart and Jacque Jones out of the lineup the last two games hasn't helped any either. The good news is that the Twins are considering moving Joe Mays to the bullpen. There's a possibility that Scott Baker could get called up and get the start in Mays's place on Monday at Kansas City. Anything that gets him out of the rotation has to be a good thing, as he has clearly lost whatever stuff he once had.

After losing two of three against Chicago at the Metrodome, it's back on the road for the Twins. They open a three-game series with the Texas Rangers Friday night in Arlington. Kyle Lohse (8-11, 4.09 ERA) is expected to get the start against Kameron Loe (5-4, 4.17 ERA) for the Rangers. Lohse is 1-1 in August with a 2.39 ERA in 4 starts. His lone loss of the month came in the 1-0 loss to Seattle on August 9. It's his best month since May, when he was 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA in 4 starts and one relief appearance. As for Loe, Friday night's game would be his first start of the season and second of his career. He has made 40 relief appearances for the Rangers this season.

Hello everyone! I'm back and ready to continue my coverage of the Minnesota Twins and the rest of Major League Baseball. I left off last week after the second game of the three-game series between Minnesota and Chicago at U.S. Cellular Field, and tonight is the second game of a three-game set between Minnesota and Chicago at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Since I last posted, the Minnesota Twins went 5-1. They finished off the sweep of the White Sox with a 5-1 last Wednesday night. They then returned home for a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners, taking three of the four games. The only loss came in Saturday's 8-3 10-inning affair that saw Seattle score six runs in the tenth.

Last night's game was October baseball played in late August. Minnesota managed only one hit off White Sox started Freddy Garcia, but it was a big one - Jacque Jones's leadoff homerun in the eighth - that propelled the Twins to a 1-0 win. Johan Santana pitched another second-half gem for Minnesota, going 8 innings, allowing 3 hits and a walk, striking out 7, and holding Chicago scoreless. Joe Nathan came on and pitched a scoreless ninth for his 32nd save. Both teams were helped by tremendous defense, but one of those plays was a tough blow for the Twins, as Shannon Stewart left the game with an injured shoulder. In addition to the loss of Stewart, Jones will miss the rest of the series attending a funeral, leaving the Twins - already depleted in the outfield by the loss of Torii Hunter - extra thin.

So now we come to tonight's game between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox. Taking the mound tonight for the Twins is Joe Mays (6-8, 5.00 ERA). Mays picked up his first win since the beginning of July last Thursday night against Seattle. Mays gave up 9 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs over six innings in the game, but yet another offensive output by the resurgent Twins powered him to victory. He will face Mark Buehrle (13-6, 3.07 ERA), who took the loss in his last start - last Wednesday's 5-1 loss to Minnesota.

The Twins present a totally reshuffled lineup tonight with loss of their three starting outfielders. Nick Punto will lead off and play second base, followed by Brent Abernathy playing left field, and Joe Mauer as the designated hitter. Matthew LeCroy gets the start again at first base and hits cleanup, followed by center fielder Lew Ford and right fielder Michael Cuddyer. The bottom third of the lineup sees Terry Tiffee batting seventh and playing third base, Mike Redmond batting eighth and catching, and Jason Bartlett batting ninth and playing shortstop. Bartlett is the only opening-day player playing tonight in his opening-day position.

The Twins are aiming to make it five straight victories over Chicago tonight, but the first-place White Sox will have something to say about that. First pitch is coming up....

UPDATE: It didn't take long for Joe Mays to show why he's the weak link in the Twins starting rotation. After getting Timo Perez to groundout to short on the first pitch of the game, he got an 0-2 lead on Iguchi before throwing four straight balls to walk him. Carl Everett stepped up and sent a 1-1 pitch into the bleachers in right field for an early 2-0 lead.

Konerko and Pierzynski followed with back-to-back singles before Dye flied out to right on a 3-1 pitch for the second out and Rowand flied out to right on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. Mays threw 28 pitches in the first inning, including 12 balls. Middle of the first, Chicago leads 2-0.

UPDATE: You should have seen the look on Gardy's face! With one out in the top of the third, Carl Everett hit a long fly ball to left field, which Brent Abernathy caught as he crashed into the wall. Abernathy looked a little shaken up, and FSN's cameras showed Gardy standing at the top of the dugout shaking his head. Minnesota's bench tonight consists of Justin Morneau, Luis Rodriguez, and Michael Ryan.

In the bottom of the inning, Terry Tiffee finally got the first hit for the Twins, but Redmond hit into a double play, and Buehrle has still faced the minimum through three.

UPDATE: The Twins still aren't getting much off Mark Buehrle, but at least they might make him work the second time through the lineup. He needed only 32 pitches through the first three innings, but Punto, Abernathy, and Mauer combined for 21 pitches, including a seven-pitch at-bat by Punto and a ten-pitch at-bat by Abernathy. At the end of four, still Chicago leading 2-0.

UPDATE: A bunt-single by Perez, a double to left by Iguchi, and a two-run single by Everett put Chicago up 4-0. With the role Buehrle is on once again tonight, that could be enough.

That wasn't all the excitement in the inning. With one out, Pierzynski hit a double to left-center between Abernathy and Ford. Ford fielded the ball of the wall, threw it to cutoff man Bartlett, who spun around and threw a strike to Mike Redmond at the plate. Everett was trying to score from first, but Redmond's tag got him at the plate. Pierzynski progressed to third on the throw. Jermaine Dye followed with a double off the baggy in right-center that scored Pierzynski and finally chased Joe Mays. Mays has pitched 4-2/3, given up 5 runs, and is still responsible for Dye on second. Matt Guerrier is coming in out of the bullpen.

UPDATE: The Twins had a scare when Rowand fouled a pitch off Redmond's helmet, and he sat dazed behind the plate for a few minutes, but decided to continue on. The Twins would be in a tough spot if Redmond were to need to come out, as all three catchers are in the game. If Mauer took over at catcher, the pitchers would have to hit. The only other option would be for LeCroy to catch and Justin Morneau to take over at first. Guerrier got Rowand to ground out to get out of the inning, but the White Sox lead now 5-0. Mays's final numbers on the night: 4-2/3 IP, 9H, 5R, 5ER, 1BB on 93 pitches.

UPDATE: Lew Ford got Minnesota's second hit in the fifth, and Cuddyer followed with their second double-play to end the inning. Through five, Buehrle has still faced the minimum, and Chicago still leads 5-0.

It's too bad the Twins are struggling tonight, because Wild Card leaders New York and Cleveland are both getting blown out tonight. Oakland appears to be headed to the winning end of a blow-out against Detroit after touching up Jeremy Bonderman early.

UPDATE: The Twins must have used up all their good luck last night. In the bottom of the sixth, Redmond hit a one-out single, and Bartlett followed with a double that moved Redmond to third. Nick Punto then lined out to Jermaine Dye in right, who threw out Redmond trying to tag-up and score from third. Once again, the Twins try to rally but are foiled by an inning-ending double-play. Terry Mulholland is taking over for Guerrier to start the seventh, Chicago leads 6-0.

UPDATE: At least the Twins have SOMETHING to cheer about tonight offensively. With two outs in the seventh, Matthew LeCroy hit his 14th homerun of the year to straight-away center. It was his third in his last two games against Buehrle. Through seven, Chicago leads now 6-1.

UPDATE: They rallied furiously in the ninth, but Minnesota couldn't overcome all the runs given up by Mays early. Chicago pulled Buehrle for Cliff Politte to open the ninth. Jason Bartlett opened with a double to right-center. Punto followed with a homerun to right-center to pull to 6-3. After Abernathy flied out to right, Politte was lifted for Damaso Marte. Joe Mauer slapped Marte's first pitch to center, and Marte was lifted for closer Dustin Hermanson. LeCroy then doubled to center, scoring Mauer from first, and pulling to within two with only one out. Luis Rodriguez came on to pinch run for LeCroy. Lew Ford flied out, bringing up Michael Cuddyer. It was Cuddyer's game-tying ninth-inning homerun in last week's 16-inning game that took the save away from Hermanson then, and here he came again with a chance to do it again. Li'l Rod advanced to third on a wild pitch by Hermanson, but Cuddyer ended up lining out to Timo Perez in left field to end the ballgame. Chicago wins 6-4.

The story of the game was Mark Buehrle. After losing his last two starts against Boston and Minnesota, respectively, he came back and threw eight strong innings and stymied the Twins most of the night. Minnesota finally put three more runs on the board after Buehrle was relieved in the ninth, but it ended up being too little too late. Nevertheless, kudos to the Twins for once again never giving up.

In tomorrow afternoon's rubber match at the Metrodome, Carlos Silva (8-6, 3.35 ERA) will take the mound for Minnesota against Jon Garland (16-7, 3.43 ERA). Gametime is 1:10pm ET/12:10pm CT.

My fantasy team hit a combined 1/30 (.033) on Friday. The only hit was a single by Alex Rodriguez. They scored no runs, drove in no runs, and stole no bases. The players on the bench were no better, hitting 0/8. This isn't the only bad day I've had this week. Let's hope they don't all slump like this come playoff time.

Here's an interesting note: A week after participating in setting the record for the shortest game ever at Safeco Field in Seattle (2:01), the Twins were involved last night in setting the record for the longest game ever at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago (5:09).

Let me tell you why the Minnesota Twins have to be the most feared team in the American League in 2005.

1) They're 13 games back in the AL Central, but only 5 games back for the AL Wild Card.
The Twins are team with virtually nothing to lose. Chicago has a nearly insurmountable lead in the Central Division, meaning the Twins are battling for a Wild Card spot more than they're battling for a division championship.

2) The last three World Series champions were Wild Card teams.
The Angels in 2002, the Marlins in 2003, and the Red Sox in 2004 all won the World Series after qualifying for the postseason as Wild Card teams. It has been thoerized that the momentum gained by a tough fight for the Wild Card spot carried them through to World Series championships.

3) Their schedule.
Minnesota has seven more games with the Kansas City Royals, six more games against the Detroit Tigers, the Texas Rangers, and the Cleveland Indians, four more games against the Seattle Mariners, three more games against the Oakland Athletics, and eleven more games against the Chicago White Sox. Only three of those teams (Chicago, Cleveland, and Oakland) have a winning record. They have no more games against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or any of the teams in the American League East. While this year might be different, Minnesota has owned the White Sox and Indians down the stretch the last few years.

4) Kyle Lohse, Joe Mauer, and Joe Nathan
Kyle Lohse is the pivotal member of the Twins rotation. With the exception of Joe Mays, four of the five Twins starters have been dominant in recent weeks, including Kyle Lohse. Ever since Kyle Lohse took extra pullpen sessions and pitching coach Rick Anderson reduced Lohse from three pitches to five (they took away his curveball and four-seamer), he has pitched much better. If the Twins can count on four dominant starters down the stretch (Lohse, Johan Santana, Brad Radke, and Carlos Silva), nobody in the American League is going to match that. Joe Mauer has been on fire for the Twins lately. He had three more doubles in Minnesota's 9-4 win over Chicago on Tuesday night and is far-and-away Minnesota's best and most consistent hitter. If Mauer is hitting, Minnesota is going to win. Joe Nathan's 2.61 ERA is deceiving. Nathan struggled early in the year in non-save situations. Nathan has not given up a run since July 10 and has only give up one run since June 26. His ERA since June 26 is 0.42! His strikeouts-to-walks ratio in that span is 29:5 or 5.80 strikeouts per walk. Opponents in that span are hitting .099 (7/71) off of him! He also has 12 saves in that span, and that's even despite having no saves between July 27 and August 14.

5) September Call-ups
If you think the Twins are tough now, just wait until September when they add the likes of Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano to their roster. My mouth is watering just at the thought.

The Twins have 43 games left - and that's a lot of baseball - but with everything the Twins have going for them, I can't imagine any team I would want to face less down the stretch than the Minnesota Twins.

Tonight is game two of the three-game series between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on the southside of Chicago. The Twins beat the White Sox last night 4-2 in the series opener behind starter Kyle Lohse. Brad Radke (7-10, 3.71 ERA) takes the mound tonight for the Twins. He's 14-13 in 30 starts in his career against Chicago with a 4.55 ERA. He had a no-decision in his last start - Minnesota's 14-inning, 7-3 victory over Seattle on August 10. Radke last picked up a win in Minnesota's 12-0 shutout victory over Boston at the Metrodome on August 5. Starting for Chicago tonight is Freddy Garcia (11-5, 3.64 ERA). Garcia is 5-3 in 11 career starts against Minnesota with a 4.48 ERA.

Perhaps looking for a bit of consistency and trying to find some momentum with last night's victory, manager Ron Gardenhire made no changes in the starting lineup from last night's team.

It's time for the first pitch.

UPDATE: Leadoff batter Shannon Stewart ended an 0-for-17 slump with a double to open the game.

UPDATE: Nick Punto moved Stewie over to third with a sac bunt, and Joe Mauer followed with a double down the right field line to score Stewie. Garcia then struck out Morneau and LeCroy to get out of the inning, but at the end of a half-inning, Minnesota leads 1-0.

UPDATE: Brad Radke had much-publicized struggles in the first inning of games earlier in the season, but once again, Radke escaped the first without so much as a baserunner. Perez and Iguchi grounded out before Radke struck out Carl Everett to end the first. At the end of one, Twins lead 1-0.

UPDATE: To update the info on Radke's improvement in first innings, the last team to score against Brad in the first inning was Kansas City on June 29. The Royals scored 2 runs in the first inning of that game, and went on to win 3-1.

UPDATE: Lew led off the second with a single that rolled slowly down the third base line, but never went foul. Michael Ryan apparently missed a hit-and-run sign, because Lew was hung out to dry in what appeared to be the worst attempted-steal ever, and was tagged out trying to return to first. Middle of the second, still 1-0.

UPDATE: Groundout, flyout, strikeout. 1-0 Minnesota at the end of two.

UPDATE: Welcome to the Majors, Brian Anderson, meet Brad Radke's changeup. Radke has ended all three innings with a strikeout. Through three, Minnesota leads 1-0.

UPDATE: Minnesota got back-to-back one-out infield singles by Morneau and LeCroy in the fourth, and both advanced a base on a wild pitch by Garcia, but groundouts by Ford and Ryan wasted the scoring opportunity. Middle of the fourth, still 1-0.

UPDATE: Sox finally got to Radke in the fourth. Timo Perez led off with a double to deep left-center and scored on a bloop single to right by Iguchi. Everett flied out to left, but Konerko singled on a grounder to left. Pierzynski moved Iguchi to third with a fly out to center, but Aaron Rowand lined out to Radke to end the inning. At the end of four, the game is now tied 1-1.

UPDATE: Soft grounders and bloop fly balls. The Twins deceivingly have 7 hits in the game, but they haven't done much with them after the two doubles in the first. A pair of singles to lead off the fifth by Cuddyer and Abernathy were wasted when Stewie hit into a double-play. Punto grounded out to the pitcher, and that was it for the Twins in the fifth. Still 1-1 headed to the bottom of the fifth.

UPDATE: Radke worked his way out of a leadoff single by Uribe with a popout, a groundout, and a flyout. In addition to his 3 strikeouts, Radke has 2 putouts and an assist tonight. Through five, it's still 1-1.

UPDATE: The M&M Boys ride again! Mauer walked to lead off the sixth and Morneau sent a 92 mph 1-0 pitch to deep, deep right. 3-1 Minnesota with no outs in the sixth.

UPDATE: Following Morneau's homerun, LeCroy singled to left, but back-to-back forceouts by Lew and Ryan and a strikeout of Cuddyer ended the inning. Cuddyer was about 1/4-inch from a double down the left field line before striking out. Headed to the bottom of the sixth, it's Twins 3, White Sox 1.

UPDATE: Carl Everett sent a one-out, first-pitch changeup about 430 feet to right-center to pull one back for Chicago. 3-2 Minnesota headed to the seventh. Everett's homerun was the 26th given up this year by Radke, which puts him back in a tie with Cleveland's Scott Elarton for most in the American League.

UPDATE: Walks kill. With one out, Radke gave up his first walk of the night in the bottom of the seventh. After Crede flied out, Brian Anderson picked up his first Major League hit when he stuck the bat out and flipped the ball to left, moving Uribe to second. Gardy, as he often does, left Radke in one batter too long, and the Sox made him pay. Timo Perez stepped up and sent a 1-0 to deep left-center for a two-run double. Radke's night is done, but a little too late. Juan Rincon takes over and gets Iguchi to groundout to short. Nevertheless, the damage is done. Sox lead 4-3 headed to the eighth. Radke's final numbers on the night: 6-2/3 IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 4K on 98 pitches.

UPDATE: Wild tenth inning in Detroit tonight. Tigers and Red Sox were tied 3-3 at the end of nine. Boston scored 7 runs in the top of the tenth, and Detroit answered with a grandslam in the bottom of the tenth, but could muster no more. Boston won 10-7.

UPDATE: Twins are down to their last 3 outs. Mauer struck out and Morneau lined out against Marte. Sox brought on Politte, who walked LeCroy, but got Lew to line out. Headed to the bottom of the eighth, Sox lead 4-3.

UPDATE: Matt Guerrier took over for Rincon to pitch the eighth. He gave up a two-out single to left to Pierzynski, but that was the extent of the damage. Guerrier has now pitched 17-1/3 innings without giving up a run. The last time he gave up a run was on July 9, when he conceded 2 runs to the Royals in the eighth inning.

Dustin Hermanson is on to try to pick up another save for Chicago. He'll face Ryan, Cuddyer, and Abernathy in the ninth.

UPDATE: HUZZAH! We have ourselves a new ballgame in Chicago! Cuddyer fouled off several pitches from Hermanson before sending a 2-2 pitch deep into the seats in left. 4-4 tie in Chicago in the ninth.

UPDATE: Abernathy and Stewie both flied out, but Cuddy-bear got the Twins back into the game with his ninth homerun of the year. We're tied at 4-4 going to the bottom of the ninth. Uribe, Crede, and Anderson will face Guerrier in his second inning of work.

UPDATE: Groundout, flyout, flyout. We're headed to extra innings in Chicago, tied 4-4.

UPDATE: More wasted opportunities by the Twins. Punto got a leadoff single and stole second, but Mauer struckout, Punto got picked off leading too far off second, and Morneau struckout. Headed to the bottom of the tenth, we're still tied at 4. Dye, Iguchi, and Everett will face Guerrier on to start his third inning of work tonight.

UPDATE: Strikeout, flyout, groundout and Guerrier has pitched three scoreless innings tonight to run his streak to 19-1/3 scoreless innings. Bartlett (pinch-ran for LeCroy in the eighth), Lew, and Ryan due up for Minnesota in the top eleventh to face new reliever Vizcaino.

UPDATE: I've said it before and I'll say it again - LEW FORD SHOULD NOT BE BUNTING. Jason Bartlett got a leadoff single, but Lew popped out on an attempted bunt, Michael Ryan popped out to short, and Cuddyer struckout to end the top of the eleventh. Headed to the bottom of the eleventh, Blum, Pierzynski, and Rowand will face Guerrier out for his fourth inning.

UPDATE: As if it hitting the game-tying homerun weren't enough for Cuddyer, he saved the game again in the eleventh. Blum got a leadoff single and was bunted over by Pierzynski. Rowand was walked to set up the double-play and Uribe popped out to second. With two out and men on first and second, Joe Crede hit a sharp grounder down the third-base line, but Cuddyer - guarding the line - snagged it and threw out Crede at first. Guerrier finished his fourth scoreless inning and we're headed to the twelfth in Chicago.

UPDATE: Nick Punto picked up a two-out walk, but Joe Mauer grounded out to second to end the half-inning. So, we're headed to the bottom of the twelfth still tied at 4. Looks like Guerrier's night is finally done after pitching four scoreless innings. Jesse Crain is coming on with Anderson, Dye, and Iguchi due up for Chicago.

UPDATE: Crain walked Iguchi with two outs, but Everett grounded out to Morneau at first, so we're headed to the thirteenth.

I think it's about time to look around the AL tonight. Boston beat Detroit 10-7, Cleveland over Texas 8-2, Tampa Bay was victorious over New York 4-3, Baltimore and Oakland are tied at 1 in the sixth, Kansas City and Seattle are tied at 3 in the sixth, and Los Angeles leads Toronto 3-2 in the seventh.

UPDATE: Bobby Jenks came out throwing gas against Minnesota in the thirteenth with good results. He struckout Morneau, got Bartlett to groundout to short, and then struckout Lew.

Lew had 15 homeruns last year, but only has 4 this year. He hasn't homered since June 16 against San Francisco. He's about due, don't you think?

Blum, Pierzynski, and Rowand due up to face Crain in the bottom of the thirteenth.

UPDATE: Twins escaped again in almost identical fashion to the eleventh inning. Pierzynski hit a one-out double to left-center and Rowand was intentionally walked. Uribe flied out to center and Crede lined out to first to end the inning. Headed to the fourteenth for the second time in a week.

UPDATE: Chicago's turn to escape. Abernathy got a two-out single and stole second. Stewie hit a soft grounder fielded by the pitcher, but he had no play on Stewie, and Abernathy moved up to third. Punto then flied out to right-center to end the top of the fourteenth. Headed to the bottom of the fourteenth, Anderson, Dye, and Iguchi are due up against new reliever J.C. Romero.

UPDATE: Brian Anderson got a leadoff single, but Romero struckout Dye and got Iguchi to hit into a 6-4-3 double-play to end the inning. Headed to the fifteenth and Mauer, Morneau, and Bartlett are due up again for Minnesota.

UPDATE: Twins failed to capitalize once again. Mauer got a leadoff double to left-center that skidded under Rowand to the wall. Morneau moved him over to third on a deep flyout down the left field line. But, with Mauer on third and one out, Tiffee pinch-hit for Bartlett and popped out to third, and then Lew flied out to center. Headed to the bottom of the fifteenth.

UPDATE: Everett popped out, Blum singled to short, Pierzynski struckout on a check-swing foul tip, and Rowand flied out to center. Yes, folks, we're headed to the sixteenth inning. Ryan, Cuddyer, and Abernathy are due up for Minnesota against Jon Adkins. Adkins was the last man in Chicago's bullpen.

UPDATE: FINALLY!! Michael Ryan singled to lead off the inning. Michael Cuddyer bunted into a force at second. Abernathy walked to put men on first and second. And then - finally - Stewie came through with a single down the third base line, scoring Cuddyer and moving Abernathy to second. Punto fouled off many pitches, and after the ninth one, Stewie pulled up gimpy and was pulled for pinch-runner Jacque Jones. Punto then popped out on the tenth pitch of the at-bat. Mauer followed with a double to right that scored Abernathy and moved Jones to third. It was Mauer's third double of the night. Chicago then intentionally walked Morneau to get to Tiffee, who hit a single to right, scoring Jones and Mauer, and moving Morneau to third. Next it was Lew's turn. Lew singled to right, scoring Morneau and moving Tiffee to second. Michael Ryan - the tenth batter of the inning - popped out to short to end the top of the sixteenth. Minnesota now leads 9-4, and although it's no longer a save situation, Joe Nathan is on his way in to finish it off. With Chicago having used their entire pen and Minnesota having used everyone but Terry Mulholland (whoe is ailing with a sore back), both teams will be hoping starters Santana and Buehrle pitch deep into the game tomorrow night (or should I say tonight?).

UPDATE: Time for those West Coast finals. Baltimore beat Oakland 4-3, Toronto beat Los Angeles 4-3, and Seattle beat Kansas City 4-3. The Royals have now lost 17 games in a row.

UPDATE: Joe Nathan came one, struck out the side, and... THE BALLGAME IS OVER! Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4. J.C. Romero pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the win and improve to 3-3, while Jon Adkins got hammered for 5 runs in the sixteenth and takes the loss, dropping to 0-1.

The win tonight means Minnesota will win their second consecutive road series. The last time that happened goes all the way back to the first two road series of the year. Minnesota took 2 of 3 in Seattle April 4-6, and then took 2 of 3 in Cleveland April 15-17.

With the win and another Oakland loss, Minnesota pulls to only 5 games back in the Wild Card standings. Toronto won to also pull to 5 back. The Indians won to pull up to 3 games back, while the Yankees lost to stay at 1.5 games back.

Whew. So, Johan Santana (11-6, 3.48 ERA) will take the mound Wednesday night for Minnesota against Mark Buehrle (13-5, 2.99 ERA) of the White Sox in a battle between two of the best lefties in the American League. Gametime once again is 8:05pm ET/7:05pm CT.

As I am going on vacation, I will not be liveblogging any games for the next week. See you all next week!

Kansas City looks to be well on their way to losing their 16th straight as they trail Seattle 8-1 in the seventh.

The Angels had a 3-1 lead entering the seventh, but have thus far allowed 2 runs by the Blue Jays, and the game is now knotted up at 3-3.

Most interestingly, Oakland has fallen apart against Baltimore in the seventh. In fact, it really started falling apart about the same time that one of Oakland's tv broadcasters announced that Chicago beat Minnesota 7-4 tonight. Barry Zito cruised through the first six innings before the wheels fell off. Chris Gomez led off the inning with a double. Melvin Mora popped out to third for the first out. Miguel Tejada singled, moving Gomez to third. Zito then hit Javy Lopez, which loaded the bases. Sammy Sosa singled on a dribbler which Zito tried to scoop up and toss to the catcher, but he fell over instead, Gomez scored, and all runners were safe. Zito then walked Alejandro Freire, which scored Tejada. A throwing error by Bobby Crosby allowed Jay Gibbons to reach, Lopez and Sosa to both score, and Freire to advance to third. With Baltimore now leading 4-2, Zito was lifted for Kiko Calero, who hit Luis Matos with his first pitch to reload the bases. Eric Byrnes then fouled out to catcher Jason Kendall for the second out. Chris Gomez, who led off the inning with the double, walked, which scored pinch-runner Brian Roberts. Finally, Melvin Mora, who was the first out of the inning, became the third out of the inning when he popped out to shortstop Crosby. Baltimore now leads 5-2.

UPDATE: Toronto now leads the Angels 4-3. Shea Hillenbrand hit a double to right, scoring Orlando Hudson from third. Frank Catalanotto must have just arrived on the planet from Neptune, because he tried scoring from first on Vladimir Guerrero, of course, threw him out at the plate to end the inning.

In Seattle, Ichiro hit a two-run homerun in the eighth, extending their lead over Kansas City to 10-1.

UPDATE: They've gone final in Seattle. The Royals added two more runs in the ninth, but still fell well short, as they lost their 16th game in a row. Mariners win 11-3.

Baltimore just added another run and lead 6-2 in Oakland. Toronto still leads Los Angeles 4-3 in the eighth in Anaheim.

UPDATE: Oakland showed a little life with two outs in the ninth against Orioles closer B.J. Ryan. Back-to-back singles put runners on first and third, but Mark Kotsay flied out to David Newhan in right to end the game. Baltimore wins 6-2 and Oakland has now lost 3 of 4.

In Anaheim, the Angels tied the game with a run in eighth. Now 4-4 with one out in the top of the ninth and K-Rod is in the game for Los Angeles.

UPDATE: The Angels escaped in the ninth. With one out, Rodriguez walked Orlando Hudson, gave up a single to Russ Adams, and walked Alex Rios, but Vernon Wells and Shea Hillenbrand both popped out to end the threat. Going to the bottom of the ninth, still tied 4-4. Erstad, Guerrero, and DaVanon due up.

UPDATE: The Angels finally won it in the bottom of the eleventh. Orlando Cabrera led off with a double and scored on a single by Darin Erstad. Final score: Los Angeles 5, Toronto 4.

With the win, the Angels move two games clear of Oakland atop the AL West standings. Oakland's loss allowed Minnesota and New York to each climb a game closer in the wild card standings. Minnesota is now tied with Toronto at 6 games back, idle Cleveland is 4 games back, and New York is now only 1.5 games back. With Boston's loss to Detroit, the Yankees are also now only 3.5 games back in the AL East. Good night all.

And so tonight the season series picks up again between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox. The two teams last faced off in a two-game series in Chicago April 18 and 19 which the White Sox swept 5-4 and 3-1. Chicago leads the season series 4-1. Entering this three-game series, Minnesota trails Chicago by 15 games in the AL Central standings.

The starting pitcher tonight for Minnesota is Kyle Lohse. Like Joe Mays and Carlos Silva, Lohse hasn't won a decision since the July 2-4 series sweep of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Lohse pitched extremely well in his last start - a 1-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners on August 9. Lohse gave up only 4 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run over 7 innings in the loss. He'll be facing Jose Contreras, who allowed only 3 hits, 2 walks, and no runs in his start on August 9 - a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees.

In the starting lineup tonight for Minnesota, Stewie is leading off and playing in left, followed by Nick Punto, playing short. The M&M Boys are third and fourth, followed by Matthew LeCroy as the designated hitter. Lew Ford plays center and bats sixth and Michael Ryan gets the start in right again for injured Jacque Jones and bats seventh. Michael Cuddyer bats eighth and plays third base, and Brent Abernathy makes his return to the Twins lineup, batting ninth and playing at second base.

And now... time for the first pitch.

UPDATE: Chicago has held at least a share of the division lead ever since opening day, but the last time these two teams played back in April, they entered the series in a tie for first place, with both teams having lost the day before. Chicago swept the series to start an 8-game winning streak and hasn't looked back since.

UPDATE: Kyle Lohse had a long first inning (29 pitches), but escaped without any damage. With one out in the inning, he hit Juan Uribe and walked Carl Everett. Paul Konerko ended a nine-pitch at-bat by popping out in foul territory to Morneau, who stepped on first base for the inning-ending double play.

Clay Matvick just announced on FSN North that Jacque Jones will be sitting out the entire series with Chicago. Gardy is hoping that by sitting Jones three more days, he'll be ready to play on Thursday as the Twins open a seven-game homestand against Seattle and Chicago.

UPDATE: With two out in the top of the third, Brent Abernathy got the first hit of the game for either team with a single up the middle, but Stewie followed with a 6-4 force out that retired Abernathy at second to end the inning.

UPDATE: In Philadelphia, the Nationals lead the Phillies 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth. Starting pitchers in the game are Livan Hernandez for Washington and Brett Myers for Philly. I had to release a pitcher from my fantasy team earlier this week to open a roster spot for Todd Helton's return from the DL, so Hernandez was the casualty. Go figure that the pitcher I waived is beating the pitcher I kept. Grrr.

UPDATE: Geoff Blum for the first hit for Chicago with a leadoff double in the third, but Lohse struck out Joe Crede, and Timo Perez and Juan Uribe both grounded out to Punto at short to end the inning. Punto made a sweet back-handed snag to steal a hit from Perez and potentially save a run. As always seems to happen, Punto leads off the next inning... and singles.

UPDATE: The Twins finally put some runs on the board for Kyle Lohse in the fourth. Following Punto's leadoff single, he stole second, but Mauer was walked a pitch later to put runners on first and second. Morneau hit into a fielder's choice that got Mauer out at second, but moved Punto to third. Matthew LeCroy then walked to load the bases, and Lew Ford followed with a sharp single to left that scored Punto and Morneau and moved LeCroy to second. Michael Ryan followed with a single that reloaded the bases. Cuddyer struck out, but hot-hitting Abernathy singled to right, which drove home LeCroy and Ford, and moved Ryan to second. Stewie flied out to Rowand in center to end the inning, but the Twins got a couple big bases-loaded base hits and are now ahead 4-0.

UPDATE: Chicago finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, but while scoring one, they also wasted one. With runners on second and third and two outs, Juan Uribe singled to center. Geoff Blum scored easily from third, but Joe Crede - trying to score from second - was thrown out by Lew Ford. It was a good throw by Ford, but it was also poor baserunning by Crede. Uribe's hit was a line drive that got to Ford quickly and not very deep. Third base coach Joey Cora sent Crede anyway, and Crede's late slide allowed Joe Mauer to turn and tag his back before he could touch the plate. End of the fifth, Twins still lead 4-1.

UPDATE: Kyle Lohse's night is done with one out in the sixth. He gave up back-to-back singles to Carl Everett and Paul Konerko to open the bottom of the sixth. On Konerko's long drive down the line in left, Everett advanced first-to-third, and Konerko was called out trying to advance to second. Replays showed Konerko beating Abernathy's tag at second, but he was called out. Kyle Lohse then hit A.J. Pierzynski, which prompted Gardy to jump out of the dugout and pull Lohse for Jesse Crain. Jermaine Dye hit a deep sac fly to center, which allowed Everett to score, and Aaron Rowand followed with another deep fly out to Ford in center. Crain threw two pitches and got two outs, but Everett scored to make it 4-2. Lohse's final numbers: 5-1/3 IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 1K and he hit 2 batters on 103 pitches.

UPDATE: Contreras's night is done for Chicago with 105 pitches in 6-2/3 innings. With two outs in the seventh, Nick Punto singled to right, and Joe Mauer followed with a bunt single to third, advancing Punto to second. Contreras is still responsible for the baserunners, but he has been replaced by Damaso Marte.

UPDATE: Punto the thief? Nick Punto has three stolen bases in the game, and now Mauer just stole second, but it was all for naught, as Marte struck out Morneau to get out of the inning. Nick Punto has three hits and three stolen bases in the game. Punto's three stolen bases in the game give him nine on the season, which tied him temporarily with Mauer and Jones for tops on the active roster, but Mauer's 10th stolen base on the next pitch regained him the active team lead (Torii Hunter has a team-leading 23 stolen bases on the year).

UPDATE: Elsewhere around the American League tonight, New York beat Tampa Bay 5-2 for their fifth straight victory. Curt Schilling blew a save as Boston lost to Detroit 7-6, ending their six-game winning streak. Oakland has an early 1-0 lead against Baltimore. The Blue Jays and Angels are scoreless early in Anaheim.

UPDATE: I lamented earlier Livan Hernandez winning the duel with Brett Myers in Philly. Well, as some consolation, Todd Helton hit a two-run homerun against Ben Sheets in the fourth out in Colorado. After a slow start to the season, Helton has been on fire since June 21. He has hit successfully in 32 of 35 ballgames played stretching back to June 21. Helton just singled again in the bottom of the sixth, giving him yet another multi-hit game. Through the sixth inning tonight, Helton is hitting .397 (52/131) over that 35 game stretch. Wow.

UPDATE: Bottom of the eighth in Chicago, Juan Rincon replaced Jesse Crain, and Luis Rodriguez took over defensively for Brent Abernathy at second base. After giving up a leadoff single to Juan Uribe, Rincon struck out Everett, Konerko, and Pierzynski in order to end the inning. Going into the ninth, Minnesota still leads 4-2, and Joe Nathan is getting warmed up in the bullpen.

UPDATE: Cuddyer reached and advanced to second on a throwing error by third baseman Joe Crede to start the ninth, but 6-3 groundouts by Luis Rodriguez and Stewie and a lineout to first by Punto wasted the baserunner. So, we're headed to the bottom of the ninth in Chicago, and Joe Nathan is coming to attempt his 30th save of the season.

UPDATE: Triple-A pitcher Francisco Liriano's scoreless innings streak ended tonight when he gave up 3 runs in the first inning of a doubleheader against the Pawtucket Red Sox.

UPDATE: There it is: a groundout by Dye and flyouts by Rowand and Blum, and Joe Nathan picks up his 30th save as Minnesota beats Chicago 4-2. Kyle Lohse finally gets another win to improve to 8-11, while Jose Contreras takes the loss and drops to 7-7. Nick Punto's three stolen bases are a single-game team high for the season. FSN said the last time a Twins player stole three bases in a game was Cristian Guzman on May 15, 2001 against Boston. And, all of a sudden, a team which looked dead in the water just a week ago, has now won 4 of 5 and is trying to work their way back into the playoff race.

Taking the mound for Minnesota Tuesday night will be Brad Radke (7-10, 3.71 ERA). Radke got a no-decision in his last start - Minnesota's 7-3, 14th-inning win over Seattle on August 10. He'll be facing Freddy Garcia (11-5, 3.64 ERA) for the White Sox. Gametime once again is 8:05pm ET/7:05pm CT.

UPDATE: Top of the seventh in Oakland, one of the broadcasters for FSN Bay Area just announced that Chicago beat Minnesota 7-4. What?! Where is he getting his information from?

With a 2-1 win today in Oakland, the Twins won their first road series since taking two of three from the Diamondbacks June 7-9. Most importantly, they kept themselves alive in the AL Wild Card race. Other teams in the race had varying success this weekend. While the Yankees swept four games from the Rangers, the Indians were swept in three games by the Devil Rays. Toronto took two of three from Baltimore, the White Sox lost the first two against the Red Sox (today's game has been delayed by the rain), the Angels are closing in on a sweep of the Mariners, and Oakland, of course, lost two of three against Minnesota.

As for today's game, Rich Harden was nearly unhittable. The Twins had only one hit off of Harden today - a third-inning homerun by Michael Ryan. Thank goodness for the Twins, Harden threw 115 pitches in eight innings, so was lifted for All-Star reliever Justin Duchscherer in the ninth. Joe Mauer led off the inning with a double down the line in left and advanced to third on Morneau's groundout to first. Matthew LeCroy drove in the go-ahead run with a single out of shortstop Bobby Crosby's reach up the middle. He was lifted for pinch-runner Jason Bartlett, who was subsequently picked off at first (?!). Lew Ford then singled, but Ryan fouled out to end the inning. Joe Nathan came on and retired Crosby, Eric Chavez, and Dan Johnson in order to pick up his 29th save on the season. Juan Rincon pitched a perfect eighth to get the win and improve to 5-4, while Duchscherer takes the loss and drops to 6-3. Conceding just one run over seven innings, Carlos Silva's ERA dropped to 3.33.

Tomorrow starts the series we've all been waiting for. The Twins haven't played the White Sox since April 19, and are 1-4 against Chicago this year. The Twins open a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field on the southside tomorrow night as Kyle Lohse (7-11, 4.21 ERA) will face Jose Contreras (7-6, 4.18 ERA). Gametime is at 8:05pm ET/7:05pm CT.

Extremely short on healthy bodies, the Minnesota Twins have relented and placed utility infielder Juan Castro on the 15-day disabled list. The move frees up a roster spot, which will be filled by recalling second baseman Brent Abernathy from Triple-A Rochester. Castro was lifted for a pinch runner in the tenth inning on Wednesday night visibly in pain from a strained patella tendon in his left knee. In a previous stint with the Twins this year, Abernathy hit .263 with one homer in eight games in June and early July. After a stint on the DL of his own, he was sent back to Rochester to open a roster spot for Scott Baker.

Jacque Jones could still be the next one sent to the disabled list. The Twins are reluctant to place Jones on the DL, as that would mean losing his services for at least 15 days - a span that would include six games against the White Sox. Nevertheless, if Jones fails to show improvement physically, he may be sent to the DL on Sunday so the team can go travel to Chicago with a full squad.

Even a full squad wouldn't mean a healthy squad. Michael Cuddyer is continuing to play through pain, and Shannon Stewart is sore after the hard landing he made after making a diving catch in foul territory to end the sixth inning on Friday night. The injuries are piling up quickly for a team trying to find a way out of a very deep hole and back into the AL Wild Card race.

» Castro placed on disabled list [twinsbaseball.com]

Game two of the three game series in Oakland between the Twins and Athletics is in progress. I, unfortunately, am unable to watch the game due to a national live television blackout (damn you FOX!). A few changes in the lineup again today for the Twins. Mike Redmond is catching and batting eighth and Jason Bartlett is at shortstop and batting ninth. Joe Mauer is still in the lineup as the designated hitter and he is followed once again in the lineup by Morneau. Lew Ford and his hot bat moves up to fifth in the lineup, while the Michaels Ryan and Cuddyer move up one spot in the lineup. With Bartlett in the game for Punto, Luis Rodriguez moves up to the second spot behind Stewie, leaving Bartlett to bat ninth.

The game is entering the bottom of the fourth as I type, and we're still tied 0-0. The teams have two hits a piece, and Joe Mays has one walk and one strikeout. The two Twins hits belong to Redmond and Bartlett. More to follow later....

UPDATE: The M&M Boys ride again! With one out in the top of the sixth, Joe Mauer hit a single to left, and Morneau followed with a two-run homerun to right. Ford grounded out and Ryan flied out to end the inning, but the Twins take a 2-0 lead.

UPDATE: Forget a win in this one - Mays once again couldn't hold a lead. His contract ends after this season, and let's hope they don't bring him back. Mays got Kotsay to ground out, but it all fell apart after that in the bottom of the sixth. Crosby tripled to the wall in right, Chavez walked, and Dan Johnson singled to right, scoring Crosby and moving Chavez to third. Jay Payton followed with a three-run homerun, putting Oakland up 4-2. With Minnesota's inability to score runs, this one could be over. J.C. Romero is in now to replace Mays... but it's a couple batters too late.

UPDATE: Out of the inning, but damage done. Romero got Hatteberg to ground out, but then gave up a single to Swisher. He was then replaced by Jesse Crain, who struck out Ellis, but Oakland is up 4-2. Saarloos is out of the game now, having been replaced by Kiko Calero.

UPDATE: So that's that. Joe Mays blows a lead and nobody can drive in runs. Huston Street came on in the ninth with a 5-2 lead and gave up a walk to Cuddyer and a single to Redmond. Cuddyer and Redmond each advanced on a fielding error, putting men on second and third with nobody out. Street then proceeded to strike out Bartlett, Stewie, and pinch-hitter Tiffee to end the game. Oakland wins 5-2 and Minnesota's playoff hopes are virtually gone.

Kirk Saarloos gets the win to improve to 8-6, while Joe Mays takes the loss and drops to 5-8. Huston Street picks up his 15th save.

Mays hasn't won since July 3 - a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay - and has now dropped 5 straight decisions. Unlike the rest of the team, he's not entirely suffering from a lack of run support either. In his last 7 starts - all Twins losses - the Twins have averaged 4.14 runs per game, but his ERA in those last 7 starts is an astounding 8.31! I almost hate to say it, but if the Twins want any chance yet this year, they might have to waive Mays and call up either Baker or Liriano to take his spot in the rotation, because an 8.31 ERA is virtually going to guarantee a loss every time he pitches. Even Boston's offense couldn't overcome that poor of pitching.

So, we come to the rubber match tomorrow in Oakland. Carlos Silva (7-6, 3.42 ERA) will take the mound for Minnesota against Rich Harden (9-5, 2.90 ERA). Silva also hasn't won since July 4, but he's 0-3 in six starts with a 2.80 ERA since that last win, and the team is only averaging 3.17 runs per game behind him (they won 2 of his no-decisions). He could ever get some run support, he could be headed toward a year like last year's 14 wins. Game time tomorrow is again 4:05pm ET/3:05pm CT.

The Minnesota Twins are back in action tonight in Oakland following yesterday's travel day. They come into the game fresh off their fourteenth inning win Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners to avoid the sweep. Oakland enters tonight's game in sole possession of first place in the American League West following last night's win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Surely everyone by now has seen the replay of Jason Kendall's game-winning run in the ninth when Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez failed to catch a return throw from the catcher allowing Kendall to score.

2004 AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana (10-6, 3.68 ERA) takes the mound for Minnesota against rookie Danny Haren (10-7, 4.08 ERA) of the Athletics. The Twins made quite a few lineup and roster changes for tonight's opener in Oakland from Wednesday's starting lineup in Seattle. Stewie leads off, followed by Punto (shortstop) and Mauer. Justin Morneau moves back into the cleanup spot, finally reuniting the M&M Boys. Matthew LeCroy drops to fifth, followed by Lew Ford (center). Michael Ryan gets the start again in right field and bats seventh. Michael Cuddyer makes his return to the starting lineup at third base and bats eighth, and Luis Rodriguez bats ninth and plays second base. Jacque Jones gets the night off after going 1-for-7 on Wednesday night with an RBI and 2 strikeouts.

Entering tonight's games, the Twins trail the White Sox by 16-1/2 games and the Indians by 4-1/2 games in the AL Central. The Angels lead the AL Wild Card standings, followed by the Indians (2-1/2 back), the Yankees (3-1/2 back), the Blue Jays (6 back), and the Twins (7 back).

First pitch tonight is at 10:05pm ET/9:05pm CT.

UPDATE: Twin-killing Minnesota native rookie Dan Johnson got the first hit of the ballgame with two out in the bottom of the second, connecting with a ground-rule double down the line in right, but Jay Payton fouled out to end the inning. Through two in Oakland, still 0-0.

UPDATE: Santana already has 3 strikeouts through three, giving him one more than he had in his entire previous outing last Saturday against Boston.

UPDATE: I mentioned before the game that the M&M Boys are reunited in the 3-4 spots in tonight's lineup. This is the 28th time this season that Mauer and Morneau have batted third and fourth, respectively, in the lineup. With LeCroy's troubles, the Mariners had no trouble intentionally walking Joe Mauer twice on Wednesday, so Morneau was moved back into the fourth spot tonight to protect Mauer. In the previous 27 games that they've batted back-to-back, the team is 14-13. They were a regular duo through May 23, but Gardy broke them up for the game on May 24 to insert a righty in between them. Since May 24, they've batted third and fourth five times, most recently July 15, and the team has gone 2-3 in those five games.

Morneau got the first hit for the Twins tonight with a two-out single in the top of the fourth. Lew Ford was the first Twins baserunner with a walk in the second.

UPDATE: Early games in the American League are now all final. Yankees beat Rangers 6-5, Red Sox beat White Sox 9-8, Tampa Bay beat Cleveland 8-6, and Blue Jays beat Orioles 12-0. Royals missed out on an opportunity to end their 13-game losing streak when their game against Detroit was postponed due to rain. Angels and Mariners are tied 2-2 in the third.

UPDATE: Twins take a 1-0 lead after the top of the fifth. Lew Ford got a leadoff walk and stole second. Ryan struckout looking, but Cuddyer followed with an RBI single to right-center. L'il Rod hit into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double-play, but the run has been scored.

UPDATE: Dick and Bert were discussing the 1965 Twins bobbleheads during the bottom of the fifth. They mentioned a program to trade them, and Bert asked Dick what one would do if they got a Harmon Killebrew and didn't want it. Dick replied, "Then you need to get your head examined. I mean, who wouldn't want a Harmon Killebrew bobblehead?"

UPDATE: Santana has his strikeout pitches working again tonight. He struck out the side in the fifth and now has seven strikeouts in the game.

UPDATE: This game is flying by. Just over an hour since the first pitch and we're already heading to the bottom of the sixth. Tuesday's 1-0 loss to Seattle clocked in at just 2:01 - a Safeco Field record. Could we be even faster tonight?

UPDATE: Santana gets another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and has now sat down twelve Oakland batters in a row, including six strikeouts in that span (five in a row at one point). Last out in the sixth came on a diving catch in foul territory by Stewie. Santana has also been very efficient tonight. Even with 8 strikeouts through six innings, he's only thrown 68 pitches.

UPDATE: With a single in the seventh and walks in the second and fifth, Lew has reached base in six consecutive at-bats going back to Wednesday night's game. He also has the only run in the ballgame.

Santana sat the A's down in order once again in the seventh and now has retired 15 A's batters in a row.

UPDATE: The Twins website is reporting that both Jacque Jones and Juan Castro could be headed to the disabled list. Castro strained a patella tendon in his left knee in the tenth inning on Wednesday was lifted for pinch-runner Jason Bartlett. Jones apparently has a strained oblique muscle. He played through the pain on Wednesday, but is out of the lineup tonight. Gardy says he'll give Castro and Jones off tonight and tomorrow, and then they'll evaluate on Sunday whether the two need to go to the DL. Word is that catcher Mike Redmond is on alert in case he needs to come in and play third base tonight....

UPDATE: Santana has yet another 1-2-3 inning in the eighth. That's 18 in a row for those of you keeping track at home. A's haven't had a baserunner since Nick Swisher's leadoff single in the third. With only 89 pitches through 8 innings, it looks like he might be headed for a complete game.

A's starter Dan Haren is also still in the game and has mostly kept the Twins batters in check as well. Twins have had only six baserunners in the game, and Lew Ford accounts for half of them.

UPDATE: Santana is getting set to come out for the bottom of the ninth. Twins still lead 1-0.

With the injuries, the only bench players Minnesota has available tonight are Jason Bartlett, Mike Redmond, and Terry Tiffee. Twins will only have three bench players available tomorrow as well.

UPDATE: Mark Kotsay hit a two-out double to end the streak. Santana had retired 20 batters in a row.

UPDATE: Whew, it's over. After Kotsay's double, Bobby Crosby worked a walk, but Eric Chavez flied out to Lew Ford in center to end the ballgame. Both pitchers went the distance, but Santana picked up the win to improve to 11-6, while Haren get his first loss since May 26 and drops to 10-8. Santana's final numbers on the night: 9IP, 3H, 0ER, 1BB, 9K. He got his second shutout of the season and third of his career. Most importantly, his changeup and fastball were working again tonight. He last struck out 9 batters on July 1 against Tampa Bay. Tonight's game clocked in at exactly 2 hours - one minute less than Tuesday night's game in Seattle.

The Twins will look to pick up their third win in a row tomorrow afternoon as Joe Mays (5-7, 4.95 ERA) takes the mound against Kirk Saarloos (7-6, 4.21 ERA). The Twins last won three in a row July 19-21.

So it falls to Brad Radke to try to avoid the sweep by the Mariners. Luis Rodriguez takes over for Nick Punto at second and bats second. Jacque Jones moves over to center field and Michael Ryan starts in right, batting eighth. Jones and Morneau bat 5-6 once again. Juan Castro gets the start at shortstop for Jason Bartlett and bats ninth. Terry Tiffee gets the start once again at third base for Cuddyer and bats seventh.

UPDATE: Radke's control was less than spectacular in the first. He went to a three-ball count against four consecutive batters, including issue a walk to Richie Sexson. He started several batters 1-0, but managed to escape without giving up a run.

UPDATE: Hitting woes with runners in scoring position continue. After LeCroy and Jones struck out, Morneau and Tiffee hit back-to-back singles, but Michael Ryan grounded out to first to end the top of the second.

UPDATE: Bradke is a control pitcher. When his control isn't there, he has nothing. He has walked two or more batters on only three occasions this year, and he lost all three games. He walked his second batter already of the game, Jeremy Reed, to lead off the bottom of the second. He has been lucky not to have been burned yet by a walk, but when his control isn't on, it's only a matter of time. He typically starts throwing fastballs right down the middle of the plate or hangs an off-speed pitch, and next thing you know, the ball ends up in the outfield seats.

UPDATE: Still wondering if Lew Ford is injured, but haven't heard or read anything. He left last night's game in the bottom of the sixth and isn't in the starting lineup tonight. Could just be Gardy wanting to give him a night off and get Ryan some playing time, but it just seems a little bizarre.

UPDATE: One is better than none. Jones and Mauer on first and second with one out, Morneau hit a bloop single to left scoring Mauer. Tiffee grounded into a double-play to end the inning, but the Twins lead 1-0 going into the bottom of the fourth. Good thing too, because the Mariners tv analysts were mentioning earlier in the inning that the Twins hadn't scored since the third inning of Monday's game.

UPDATE: That didn't last long. One out in the bottom of the fourth, Richie Sexson hit the fourth homerun of his career off of Radke to tie the game 1-1.

UPDATE: In Oakland, Angels lead the A's 2-1 going into the bottom of the fourth. Barry Zito has walked five Angels batters in the first four innings.

UPDATE: The guy I'm facing this week in my fantasy league has had a huge day so far today. There have been a lot of high scoring games around the majors today, and his players have been on the winning end of every one.

UPDATE: Not much doing in Seattle. Mauer hit a one-out double to the wall in left, but LeCroy grounded out to third and Jones grounded out to second to end top of the sixth.

UPDATE: The sweep is starting to look certain. Radke got smacked around in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up a leadoff double to Bloomquist, who scored on a single by Ibanez. Radke walked Sexson for the second time in the game, and then Beltre smacked another single to load the bases. Reed grounded into a double play, but it scored Ibanez and moved Sexson to third. Radke escaped by getting Betancourt to pop out, but the M's now lead 3-1 at the end of six.

UPDATE: Radke came back out in bottom of the seventh and sat the Mariners right back down 1-2-3, including strikeouts of Snelling and Ichiro. Too little too late, M's still lead 3-1.

UPDATE: What would the Twins do without Joe Mauer? Castro led off the eighth with a single and moved to second on Stewie's groundout. L'il Rod then grounded out as well to bring up Mauer with two outs. Mauer singled to left, scoring Castro to cut the lead to 3-2, and then stole second with LeCroy at the plate to get himself into scoring position. LeCroy struckout for the third time in the game, but Mauer did everything he could to give the team a chance to win. Going into the bottom of the eighth, Twins still trail 3-2. Radke is replaced by Matt Guerrier in the bottom of the inning. Radke's numbers tonight: 7IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 4K.

UPDATE: Oakland tied it up 2-2 in the seventh on an RBI single by Nick Swisher that scored Jay Payton.

UPDATE: Going to the ninth in Seattle, Mariners lead 3-2. Eddie Guardado is coming on to try to pick up another save.

UPDATE: Looking around the league at other postseason contenders, White Sox beat Yankees 2-1, Boston beat Texas 16-5, Cleveland beat Kansas City 6-1, Toronto beat Detroit 4-3, and Oakland is now leading the Angels 4-2.

UPDATE: It's a whole new ballgame! With two out in the ninth, Gardy sent Cuddyer to pinch-hit for Tiffee, and he singled up the middle. Bloomquist's throw to Sexson at first was well over his head and sailed into the stands to advance Cuddyer to second. Punto came on to pinch-run for Cuddyer. Gardy then sent Lew Ford on to pinch-hit for Ryan, and he singled to left, which scored Punto from second. Lew tried to advance to second on the throw, but was thrown out by catcher Gonzalez to end the inning. The game is tied 3-3 and Guardado's consecutive saves streak is over. Punto stays in to play third for Tiffee and Ford takes over in right for Ryan.

UPDATE: It's Huston Street time in Oakland. Angels and A's go to the ninth with Oakland up 4-2.

UPDATE: Angels pulled one back on a leadoff homer by Steve Finley, but Oakland held on to win 4-3. Angels and A's are tied again atop the AL West and the AL Wild Card.

UPDATE: LeCroy blows is AGAIN. Castro got a leadoff single in the tenth and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Stewie. L'il Rod flied out to left and Mauer was intentionally walked. Castro pulled himself out signalling an apparent leg injury, so Bartlett was sent on to pinch run, but it didn't matter, because LeCroy popped out to the catcher to end the inning. Bartlett stays in the game to play short for Castro.

UPDATE: Word from the Mariners broadcasters is that Castro has a left knee strain.

UPDATE: I see Lew is clean-shaven tonight. Did I miss that earlier in the week or is that new tonight? He nearly connected on a two-run homer down the left field line in the eleventh, but the ball sailed just foul.

Twins are down to just Mike Redmond on the bench and just Rincon, Romero, and Nathan in the bullpen.

Punto singled with two outs and Lew followed with a single to second that moved Punto to third, but Bartlett flied out to Ichiro in right to end the threat in the eleventh.

UPDATE: DAMN YOU MATTHEW LECROY!!! Stewie got a leadoff double in the 12th and was sac bunted over to third by L'il Rod. Mauer was intentionally walked once again to bring up Matthew Friggin' LeCroy who... get this... grounded into an inning-ending double play. If the Twins get around in the lineup again, here's hoping Gardy sends Redmond in to pinch-hit for LeCroy. Sheesh. Nathan takes over for Jesse Crain in the bottom of the twelfth.

UPDATE: Whew! Nathan escaped a jam. He walked pinch-hitter Hansen, who was then lifted for pinch runner Torrealba. Ichiro bunted off the plate and Mauer and Punto collided fielding the ball. Punto's throw to first was late and the M's had runners at first and second with nobody out. Nathan then ditched the change-up and the slider and started throwing mid-nineties gas. Bloomquist popped out to Mauer, Ibanez struck out, and Sexson grounded out to end the inning. Going to the thirteenth tied 3-3.

UPDATE: Nathan stays in for another inning. After striking out Beltre and Reed, Betancourt singled to short, but was caught trying to steal second to end the inning... and we go to the fourteenth. Due up for the Twins: Lew, Bartlett, and Stewie.

UPDATE: Leadoff walks kill. Nelson walked Lew to start the inning. Bartlett popped out to first trying to bunt, and then Nelson plunked Stewie. Li'l Rod scored Lew with a single to left and Mauer scored Stewie and Li'l Rod with a double to left-center. LeCroy singled to left moving Mauer to third. Jones reached on a fielder's choice scoring Mauer, LeCroy out at second. That brought up Morneau, who reached on a throwing error by second baseman Bloomquist, moving Jones to second, and the Mariners finally got out of the inning when Punto hit into a fielder's choice - Morneau out at second. The Twins hit around in the inning and put four on the board in top of the fourteenth. Juan Rincon is coming on now to try to finish the game off.

Mauer's stats at the plate tonight are sweet: 4-5, 2 1B, 2 2B, 2IBB, 2R, 3 RBIs.

UPDATE: It's over! The game is over! The losing streak is over! After giving up a leadoff single to Chris Snelling (who was lifted for pinch runner Scott Spiezio), Rincon struck out Torrealba and got Ichiro to hit into a game-ending double play. The final in fourteen innings, Minnesota wins 7-3. Joe Nathan picks up the win to improve to 5-3, while Jeff Nelson takes the loss, dropping to 1-2. The win ends Minnesota's three-game losing streak and six-game road losing streak.

The Twins are off on Thursday (thank goodness!), but travel to Oakland, where they'll open a three-game set against the Athletics on Friday. Johan Santana (10-6) will take the mound for Minnesota against Danny Haren (10-7) for Oakland. Gametime is 10:05pm ET/9:05pm CT.

NEWS: The Associated Press is reporting that television analyst Mark Grace "used multiple expletives" during Arizona's 5-0 loss to Florida Tuesday night.

OUR VIEW: Did they just blame Gracie cursing on-air on a faulty button? Is he a robot? If Gracie is cursing on-air, the blame should go on nobody and nothing other than Grace himself. This probably isn't the kind of mistake that should get him fired, but FSN Arizona will (or should) probably fine him and give him a couple days off, because chances are the FCC will be handing them a fine.

Truthfully, I used to like Grace as a player for the Cubbies, but after watching a Diamondbacks-Twins broadcast earlier this year covered by Grace and his partner in the booth Thom Brennaman, Arizona might be better off canning him. He's an awful color man who provides no useful insight whatsoever and sounds stupid on the air. Swearing on air or not, get rid of him!

» D-Backs analyst Grace uses expletives in broadcast [espn.com]

I have questioned several times on this site White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's reluctance to use closer Dustin Hermanson in save situations. It turns out that the back problem that has bothered Hermanson all season continues to be a problem. Being a niggling injury, a spell on the DL doesn't look likely, but it could mean that Guillen will be forced to look elsewhere in his bullpen on days when Hermanson's back is too painful to pitch. Despite not having started the season as the team's closer, and despite missing occasional games because of the back pain, Hermanson has still racked up 30 saves on the season - including two in the last two days against the Yankees - in 31 save opportunities. That's tied with Mariano Rivera for second in the AL behind only Bob Wickman's 31. Hermanson's 1.60 ERA is fourth among AL closers with at least 10 saves, trailing Rivera (1.06), Huston Street (1.31), and Eddie Guardado (1.35).

» Hermanson's back an issue for Sox [mlb.com]

NEWS: Triple-A Rochester pitcher Francisco Liriano continues to dominate the competition in the International League. He pitched another seven scoreless innings against Ottawa yesterday to extend his scoreless innings streak to 26-2/3 innings. He has allowed only one run in his last 43-2/3 innings.

OUR VIEW: Although this is fantastic for the future, it doesn't help the Twins any now. For the most part, the Twins starters have been stellar lately. Kyle Lohse pitched probably the best game of his career last night, but Minnesota's anemic offense failed to help him any as the Twins lost again 1-0. Felix Hernandez was fantastic for Seattle last night, but he wasn't perfect, and the Twins should have had at least two runs against him. The Twins have fantastic pitchers making their way through the minors (Liriano, Scott Baker, Glen Perkins, etc.), but this team is going to fail season after season to advance to a World Series if GM Terry Ryan doesn't go out and find some real offense this offseason.

» Liriano rings up more blanks [twinsbaseball.com]

The Yankees-White Sox series in the Bronx ended with Chicago winning the third game 2-1 in 10 innings to take 2 of 3 in the series. The Yankees won on Monday 3-2, while the White Sox won on Tuesday 2-1. The two teams combined for eleven runs in three games - something you don't see often out of a series involving the Yankees. The fact that Yankees pitchers combined to keep Chicago to only 6 runs was impressive for their beleagured staff, but I think New York being held to only 5 runs over 3 games at home says more. I think it says that, just like Minnesota, New York's going to be spending October watching the postseason instead of participating. When Aaron Small is far-and-away your best starter - and you have Randy Johnson in your rotation - you're in trouble. The only Yankees batter to have a good series was Alex Rodriguez, who was 4-11 (.364) with 2 homeruns. If the Yankees had 9 A-Rods they'd be fine, but without him....

UPDATE: This is amazing. Listening the guys do the post-game show on YES, this has to be the most humble I've ever heard them. I'm used to these guys being so cocky as they invoke time and again that the Yanks have won 26 World Championships and they're the greatest team in the world and nobody else compares and Why do other teams even bother? and blah blah blah. A bit of humble pie sounds quite tasty.

Tonight in Seattle, Kyle Lohse (7-10) takes the mound against young Mariners phenom Felix Hernandez (0-1). Ron Gardenhire is making no changes in the starting lineup or batting order from last night's team that lost 5-4. Terry Tiffee gets the start once again at third in place of Michael Cuddyer, who is still listed as day-to-day. A couple changes for the Mariners. Yuniesky Metancourt gets the start at shortstop and bats seventh. Betancourt replaced Mike Morse defensively in the ninth last night. Wiki Gonzalez will take over catching duties tonight and bat ninth. Yorvit Torrealba did the catching last night for starter Gil Meche.

UPDATE: Stewie led off with a single, but was caught stealing second on a close call even the Mariners broadcasters were questioning. Punto grounded out and Mauer struck out to end the top of the first.

UPDATE: The Great Escape starring Kyle Lohse. After Ichiro pounded Lohse's first pitch for a ground-rule double to left, Lohse struck out Bloomquist, walked Ibanez, struck out Sexson, and got Beltre to groundout to third. Mariners strand two and we're scoreless through one.

UPDATE: Chicago just escaped with a 2-1 win over the Yankees. Konerko added an insurance run in top of the ninth with a solo shot to go up 2-0, but A-Rod responded with a solo shot of his own in bottom of the ninth. Instead of Hermanson, Ozzie Guillen brought in Marte, who got Matsui to line out, walked Giambi, struck out Posada, and gave up a single to Tino, moving pinch-runner Bubba Crosby to third. Joe Torre sent up Bernie Williams to pinch-hit, so Guillen finally brought in Hermanson, who got Bernie to line out to first to end the game. Once again, I question Guillen's unwillingness to bring in his closer with the game on the line. Despite making Hermanson the regular closer, he doesn't seem to trust his ability to close out games on his own. I smell blood in the water in the postseason.

UPDATE: Hernandez is cruising so far. The 19-year-old Venezuelan has faced the minimum through three, as the only man to reach base - Stewie - was caught stealing, and nobody else has come close to reaching.

UPDATE: In Oakland, the Angels lead 7-0 in the second. Vlad Guerrero hit a grandslam in the second. Angels have 8 hits in the first two innings against Rich Harden.

UPDATE: Lohse gave up a bloop leadoff single to catcher Gonzalez, but struckout Ichiro, got Bloomquist to pop out, and Ibanez hit a line drive to Bartlett who snagged it diving to his left. Scoreless through three.

UPDATE: Through four, Lohse is pitching well. He has given up two hits and four strikeouts and two walks. Jeremy Reed walked in the fourth, but was caught stealing second for the third out. As well as Lohse has pitched, Hernandez has been better. Still only faced the minimum through four. He has a nasty sinking fastball and keeps it down well for a kid. Unless he tires out and starts hanging some fastballs, the Twins are going to keep putting a lot of goose eggs up on the board.

UPDATE: Why? WHY?! Runners on first and second, nobody out, and Lew Ford at the plate - why would you ask Lew to bunt? Lew, my friends, is not the team's best bunter by far. Punto you might ask to bunt in that situation, but Lew should be swinging away. Lew bunted right back to Hernandez, who threw to third for the force. They would have even turned the double were it not for Lew's speed. Morneau struckout, Tiffee reached on an errant throw by Beltre, and Bartlett grounded out to the pitcher with the bases load. Twins go 0-4 with runners in scoring position in the inning. Gardy Gardy Gardy....

UPDATE: Running games aren't working tonight. After Betancourt grounded out to short, Chris Snelling reached on Morneau's fielding error, but was caught stealing second by another strong throw from Mauer. Mauer has caught two so far tonight. Gonzalez fouled out to end the inning and we're still scoreless through five.

UPDATE: Is Lew injured? Bottom of the sixth, Punto took over for Lew in center field and Luis Rodriguez is in at second for Punto.

UPDATE: Lohse is still rolling. Through six, he has six strikeouts and has only given up two hits - the leadoff double by Ichiro and the bloop single by Gonzalez.

UPDATE: Hernandez continues to roll. With the exception of the fifth, he's been nearly perfect. I see he made two starts for Class-A Wisconsin in 2003 and struck out 18 in only 14 innings pitched (11.57K/9IP).

UPDATE: M's finally got to Lohse. With two out in the seventh, Jeremy Reed doubled to right-center and Betancourt drove him home with a triple to right-center. Lohse got Snelling to pop out to second to end the inning, but the damage has been done, and the Mariners now lead 1-0 at the end of seven. You have to feel bad for Lohse if he takes the loss in this one, because he's probably pitched his best game of the season, but his teammates haven't been able to get him a run. Again, looking back on Gardy's decision to have Lew bunt in the fifth and scratching my head.

UPDATE: Another blown opportunity. Morneau led off the eighth with a single. Tiffee reached on a fielder's choice, Morneau out at second. Michael Ryan pinch-hit for Bartlett and struckout, but Stewie singled to move Tiffee into scoring position at second. Punto grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning and the Twins are hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position. Rincon takes over for Lohse, meaning the best Lohse can get out of the game is a no-decision. Ryan stays in the game in right field, Jones moves to center, and Punto moves to shortstop - his third position of the game.

UPDATE: Twins lose another one. Eddie Guardado came on in the ninth, got Mauer to ground out to second, struckout LeCroy, and got Jones to pop out to short. Hernandez gets the win to improve to 1-1, Lohse takes the loss to drop to 7-11, and Guardado gets his 28th save. White Sox won today, Cleveland won, Yankees lost, and Angels lead A's 8-0 in the 8th.

The Twins will try on Wednesday not to get swept by the Mariners as Brad Radke (7-10) takes the mound against Joel Pineiro (4-7). Game starts at 10:05pm ET/9:05pm CT.

Holy shit! Bottom of the eighth in the Bronx, White Sox lead 1-0, Womack on first, and Jeter sac bunts him over to second. As it happened, some guy fell out of the second deck behind home plate and landed on the safety net! The game paused for a few minutes as the dude sat dazed on the net, and then he finally decided to climb back up the netting. As he got back to the top, the security guards checked to make sure he was okay before hauling his drunk ass out. Lucky the guy was behind the plate so the netting was there!

Twins fans are in a tough spot this week. There are two critical series being played this week which effect Minnesota's postseason chances. The question is: Who do we want to win?

In one series, the Chicago White Sox are in the Bronx to take on the New York Yankees. Chicago leads Minnesota in the AL Central by 15-1/2 games, while New York is 4 games ahead of Minnesota for for the AL Wild Card. The Twins play 13 more games against Chicago, but are finished with the Yankees for the regular season.

In the other series, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are in Oakland for a three game set against the Athletics. Both teams are tied at 7-1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for the AL Wild Card. The Twins have six more games against Oakland, but are finished with the Angels for the regular season.

So, who do you cheer for? Yankees or White Sox? Athletics or Angels? Is it possible for them all to lose every game?

After the visitors half of the third inning last night in Seattle, Minnesota had a 4-0 lead. Then Seattle scored one in the third, two more in the fourth, and tied the game in the fifth. The offense for the Twins continued to sputter. Jesse Crain walked in the winning run in the eighth and the Twins lost 5-4. Another game got away. More frustration. It even came on a day when the White Sox lost to Yankees, which would have allowed the Twins to gain a game on Chicago. It came on a day when the Angels and A's were off, meaning a missed opportunity to gain a half-game on them. Grrr....

Now, nobody can say that the Twins aren't trying. They're going out, pitching, swinging the bats, and playing defense, but that isn't enough - they need to get angry! Last year at this time, the Twins were sputtering offensively as well. Their lead in the AL Central was dwindling quickly and the whole team was in a funk. They were getting their asses beat on a road trip to Seattle and Cleveland. Losers of 8 of 10, their lead over the Indians was down to only one game following a 7-1 loss to Cleveland on August 14. Things weren't looking good. Then it happened - Corey Koskie got pissed. In the second inning of their game against Cleveland on August 15, his throwing error set up Cleveland's second run. In the fourth inning, he struck out with the bases loaded and one out after being ahead in the count. After that strikeout, he walked back to the dugout and down the hallway, where he slammed a bat against a pole and smashed a chair. Using that same bat, he got hits in his next three at-bats: a double, a single, and the game-winning two-run homerun in tenth.

That wasn't the end of it! Koskie went on a friggin' tear! Over the next two weeks, Koskie went on a 14-game hitting streak. During that streak, he hit .359 with 7 homeruns, 3 doubles, and 14 RBIs. It didn't finally end until he got spiked by Curtis Pride of the Angels on August 28. Playing dirty was the only way that anybody was going to stop Koskie.

That's precisely what the Twins need right now. They're a team that's down, but definitely not out. They have six more games against Oakland, thirteen more games against Chicago, and six more games against Cleveland. They also have a lot of games left against Detroit, Kansas City, Seattle, and Texas. This thing isn't over by a long shot, but they need a spark. They need someone to get angry. They need Lew Ford to put his head through a wall or Jacque Jones to drop-kick a water cooler or Justin Morneau to step up to the plate with a friggin' telephone pole for a bat. Something. Anything. They don't just need guys to play hard, they need guys to get pissed. They need to get frustrated to the point where they take matters into their own hands and go on a huge winning streak. It can happen, but time is ticking, and they need to do it now.

» Twins 4, Cleveland 2 [startribune.com]
» Evaluating Koskie's injury [twinsbaseball.com]

NEWS: Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers has had his 20-game suspension cut to the 13 games already served by independent arbitrator Shyam Das. Commish Selig is obviously disappointed, noting that "[i]t sends the wrong message to every one of our constituents: the fans, the media and our players."

OUR VIEW: Rogers is getting off easy on this one. He was already able to decide when he wanted to take the punishment, and now he's getting the punishment reduced? Why even have punishments and Collective Bargaining when they're reduced to such a joke? The only message being sent now it that it's okay for ballplayers to physically attack members of the media. If it had been a member of the media, he would have lost his job and likely never would have been able to get clearance or press credentials to work in his position again. Not only that, but Rogers would have put up one hell of a shit-fit. On the other hand, now Rogers is barely getting a slap on the wrist. Shameful.

» Rogers reinstated by arbitrator [mlb.com]

Looks like Gardy decided to make a change tonight and split up the lefty bats of Jacque Jones and Justin Morneau. After getting the day off yesterday against Boston, Morneau returns to the lineup tonight against Seattle batting seventh. Batting between Jones and Morneau tonight is Lew Ford. Replacing the injured Michael Cuddyer at third base tonight is Terry Tiffee.

Carlos Silva (7-5) gets the start tonight against Gil Meche (10-8). Meche has more walks on the season (59) than Silva has strikeouts (54). Silva, of course, has only 7 walks on the season in 145-2/3 innings.

UPDATE: Does it count as a pitchers duel if the batters suck? Neither team has a hit through the first two innings, and it looks largely to be more a result of poor hitting than great pitching. Of course, the called third strike against LeCroy in the second was a horrible call....

UPDATE: Goodbye ass-bats. After Morneau grounded out to first, Tiffee singled, Bartlett walked, and Stewie doubled to the gap in left-center. Twins up 2-0. Punto then doubled down the first base line scoring Stewie. Twins up 3-0. FSN Northwest broadcasters are theorizing that Stewie's linedrive off Meche's ass to lead off the game may be affecting his pitching. Mauer popped out to left, but LeCroy singled to left. Chris Snelling's throw to the plate was well offline, allowing Punto to score, but then LeCroy got caught in a rundown between first and second. Middle of the third, Twins lead 4-0.

UPDATE: Chris Snelling homered to right-center to make it 4-1. Too bad, because Silva hasn't even had to break a sweat yet. At this rate, he might hang in for a complete game and give the bullpen a rest.

UPDATE: Back-to-back doubles by Ibanez and Sexson made it 4-2. Beltre hit a high chopper off the plate that advanced Sexson to third. Jeremy Reed followed with a single scoring Sexson and it's now 4-3. Thank goodness a double play got Silva out of the inning.

UPDATE: More missed opportunities. After Tiffee lined out, Bartlett walked and Stewie doubled, moving Bartlett to third. Punto struckout and Mauer was intentionally walked to load the bases before LeCroy flied out to Ichiro at the wall. Still 4-3. Meche's pitch count is getting up there and the Twins could chase him soon with another long inning.

UPDATE: Silva's eighth walk of the year came back to hurt him when Bloomquist doubled in Snelling from second to tie the game. 4-4 through five.

UPDATE: Nevermind that long inning talk. Thornton came on for Meche to start the sixth and retired Jones, Ford, and Morneau in order. Thornton threw all fastballs to Morneau, but Morneau was swinging at breaking balls, because he never came close to catching up to Thornton's fastball.

It will be interesting to see what lineup Twins manager Ron Gardenhire chooses to face Tim Wakefield on Sunday. The Twins have struggled against the knuckleballer in recent years, but most of those veterans are gone. Jacque Jones and Shannon Stewart are the only real veterans around, and Jones's last day off came on July 26, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Michael Ryan get the start in right field. The guys on NESN Saturday night were mentioning that Red Sox manager Terry Francona might give Johnny Damon the day off on Sunday, so who knows?

While Oakland beat the Royals 16-1, the Angels lost tonight to the Devil Rays 6-4, creating a tie atop the AL West. The Angels have won only 4 of their last 12 games. The best-case scenario for all teams chasing the A's and Angels for the Wild Card spot in the AL is for the Angels to keep losing, because it doesn't look like the A's are going to go on an extended losing streak anytime soon. The Yankees, Indians, Twins, and Blue Jays are all within striking distance, but none of them have been able to make any gains with Oakland running away.

I have a bit of a conundrum: I need new starting pitching. My fantasy team is loaded with pitchers, having just recently made Barry Zito the eighth starting pitcher on my team, but several of them are struggling of late. Now, it should be noted that there are good starters still available in our league, so that's not the problem. The problem is in deciding which of my current starters to send packing to open up roster space.

I had been leaning toward waiving Brett Myers about a month ago, but ever since he has been my best pitcher, so it's a good thing I didn't offload him.

Livan Hernandez has only one win since July 1, but his lack of wins stems from lack of run support, not from poor pitching. Although he's not racking up wins, he is racking up innings and keeping the ERA down, so it's hard to part with him.

Bartolo Colon is allowing a lot baserunners and a lot of runs, but he tends to be streaky, and with Oakland putting pressure on the Angels, he's going to have to step up if they're to still win the division.

Jeremy Bonderman is another inconsistent one. He got smacked around again on Saturday by Cleveland, but overall he's been one of my best on the season. Do I risk letting him go and having him get hot again?

Jake Peavy, Dontrelle Willis, and Jason Schmidt are definitely going nowhere. Peavy and Willis are on the "Can't Cut List", so I couldn't offload them if I wanted to, while Jason Schmidt seems to have rediscovered his form as of late. Smitty would have won 4 of his last 5, but he had two no-decisions because his bullpen blew leads.

So, basically it's down to Hernandez, Colon, and Bonderman. One of those three is likely to get the axe in the next few days. On top of it, Todd Helton is set to return possibly the end of the week from the DL, and I may have to offload another of them to open up a roster spot for Helton. It's not like I really need 8 starters anyway, because the team with the second-most in the league has only 6, and after Sunday I'm unlikely to meet that team again until the championship game (assuming, of course, we both make it that far).

As promised, I have chosen to discontinue posting about baseball on my regular weblog, and will for now on post exclusively about baseball on my newest weblog Twins, Etc. As the title of the weblog should indicate, the primary focus of the weblog will be on the Minnesota Twins, but that's not all. This new weblog is devoted to baseball in general, and any baseball-related posts will be posted here - sometimes news, sometimes rumors, sometimes commentary.

It should be noted that I am an independent entity unassociated with Major League Baseball or any of its franchises. All opinions expressed herein are those of the author and should not be construed as representing the opinions of any other entities.

Now that the formalities are over, on with the baseball....