Okay, let's be honest - the Minnesota Twins are not going to get a stadium approved in 2006. "But Kris," you say, "both the Minnesota House and Senate have passed versions of a bill to approve a stadium for the Twins." Ah, but that's where you're wrong. The House passed a bill which could have been worth it, but once again, those ass-clowns in the Minnesota Senate have fucked the Twins.

You see, the House bill would have financed an open-air ballpark in downtown Minneapolis for the Twins utilizing a combination of private funding by the team and a sales tax in Hennepin County. Oh, and it wouldn't have required a referendum. The Senate bill, on the other hand, includes funding for transportation and new stadiums with retractable roofs for both the Twins and the Vikings. The stadiums would be financed through a combination of private funding by the teams and a sales tax in the seven-county metro area, requiring a November referendum. There are so many problems with the Senate bill that I don't even know where to begin.

First of all, the Vikings don't need a new stadium. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Metrodome as a venue for football. The Metrodome was built less than twenty-five years ago specifically for the Vikings, and there's no reason why they should be given a new stadium. To compound this problem, the idea of a football stadium with a retractable roof is perhaps the most idiotic idea I've heard in my entire life (and I've heard some real whoppers thanks to the many stoners I've had the opportunity to meet). Plus, the Vikings want to build out in the 'burbs, where poor city folk won't be able to attend games. Fuck the Minnesota Vikings and fuck the Minnesota Senate.

Then there is the issue of the retractable roof on a stadium for the Twins. Sure, that would be a nice luxury, but to be entirely honest, it's not necessary. I would hate to see a stadium bill for the Twins get rejected because too many people deem the added cost of a retractable roof an unnecessary luxury.

And finally, no stadium bill, whether it be the House version or the Senate version, is going to pass a public referendum. I guarantee that if legislators put either bill to the people in November, it's going to get rejected, and we'll be right back to square one. I'm so sick of pussy-ass city councils and state legislatures putting everything to referendums. Look, I didn't vote your ass into office so you could turn around and force me to make all the decisions. I have other shit to do with my life. I elect YOU to study the options, weigh the pro's and con's, and make decisions that are in my best interest. If I think you're making decisions that are in my best interest, then I will re-elect. If I think you're not, then I'll help vote you out at the next election. In the mean time, grow some balls and start making some decisions on your own rather than forcing me to vote on it in a referendum. WE LIVE IN A REPUBLIC, NOT A DEMOCRACY.

» Senate passes bill to finance ballpark [twinsbaseball.com]

After last night's pathetic offensive effort on the part of the Minnesota Twins, they looked much better tonight. Granted, Josh Towers is no Roy Halladay, but that doesn't change the fact that they put good wood on the ball tonight.

The game started in typical Brad Radke fashion. Radke gave up back-to-back home runs in the first inning tonight to Troy Glaus (two-run homer) and Lyle Overbay, and later another RBI single to Glaus in the third. After falling behind 4-0 early, the Twins scored 13 unanswered runs to win 13-4. They didn't show much offensively tonight the first time through the order, but starting the second time through the lineup, they started to put the bat on the ball, and when you combine that with some absolutely horrible defense by the Blue Jays, that lead to four Minnesota runs in the fourth inning to tie the game. Shannon Stewart hit his second home run in as many days in the fifth inning, Torii Hunter blew the game wide open with a grand slam in the eighth, and Luis "Li'l Rod" Rodriguez hit an opposite-field pinch-hit home run in the ninth. They also got three runs in the seventh off a couple of a hits, some bad throws, and a wild pitch. Brad Radke (1-0) picks up his first win of the season, while Josh Towers (0-1) takes the loss.

So, the Twins and Blue Jays play the rubber match at the Rogers Centre tomorrow at 6:07pm CDT. Carlos Silva makes his first start of the season for the Twins against Gustavo Chacin for the Jays.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Opening day for the Minnesota Twins is finally upon us! The Twins and Toronto Blue Jays are the final two remaining teams yet to debut in 2006, but the season begins in a few minutes for these two teams.

The Twins enter the game with a revamped lineup hoping to inject a little offensive punch where none existed in 2005. Leading off tonight and playing left field is Shannon Stewart, followed by Luis Castillo at second base, Joe Mauer catching, and the designated hitter Rondell White hitting cleanup. White is followed by center fielder Torii Hunter and first baseman Justin Morneau. The bottom third of the lineup tonight for Minnesota consists of third baseman Tony Batista, right fielder Jason Kubel, and shortstop Juan Castro.

Only four of those nine (Stewart, Mauer, Morneau, and Hunter) were in the starting lineup when the Twins lost last year's opener against the Seattle Mariners 5-1. Last year's opening day shortstop Jason Bartlett was sent to Triple-A Rochester at the end of spring training, replaced tonight by Castro. Last year's right fielder Jacque Jones is now with the Chicago Cubs, while last year's designated hitter Lew Ford and third baseman Michael Cuddyer start on the bench. Luis Rivas is apparently without a team.

Taking over as the opening day starter for the Twins in 2006 is 2004 American League Cy Young winner Johan Santana. He will be dueling this evening with 2003 AL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay.

The game starts shortly....

UPDATE: And Shannon Stewart opens the season by singling to left on a 1-0 pitch from Halladay.

UPDATE: Luis Castillo moved Stewart to second on a sacrifice bunt down the third baseline, and then Joe Mauer reached base and moved Stewart to third on an error by first baseman Lyle Overbay. Rondell White's deep fly to center was caught at the wall by Vernon Wells, but it was more than deep enough to allow Stewart to tag-up and score. Halladay got out of the inning by getting Hunter to groundout to second. Twins lead 1-0.

UPDATE: Alex Rios hit a one-out single to center, but Wells popped out to Castillo and Santana struck out Troy Glaus to get out of the inning. At the end of the first, Twins lead 1-0. Due up are Morneau, Batista, and Kubel.

UPDATE: The Twins go down in order on three groundouts in the second. Overbay, Hillenbrand, and Molina due up for Toronto to face Santana.

UPDATE: Toronto also goes down 1-2-3 on a strikeout and two groundouts. At the end of two, Minnesota leads 1-0. Castro, Stewart, and Castillo are due up for Minnesota in the third.

UPDATE: Castro singled to center on the first pitch from Halladay, but Stewart hit into a 6-4-3 double play and Castillo struck out to end the top half of the third. Hill, Adams, and Johnson are due up for Toronto in the home half of the third.

UPDATE: The Blue Jays threatened in the third. After Hill flied out to right, Adams walked and Johnson singled to left. Alex Rios flied out to Hunter in deep right-center, allowing Adams to tag up and move to third, but Santana escaped by striking out Wells for the third out. Blue Jays stranded two, and Minnesota still leads at the end of three 1-0. Santana's strikeout total stands at three. Due up for Minnesota in the fourth are Mauer, White, and Hunter.

UPDATE: Mauer reached again on a two-base throwing error by Russ Adams, but groundouts by White and Hunter and a strikeout by Morneau stranded him at second. Glaus, Overbay, and Hillenbrand due up for the Jays in the fourth.

UPDATE: Toronto finally got to Santana in the fourth. Glaus led off with a double to right, moved to third on a single by Overbay, and scored on a sac fly to right by Hillenbrand. Molina followed that with a deep two-run homer to left to take a 3-1 lead. Hill grounded out 1-3, and Adams reached on an error by Castillo, but should have been out when he took a step toward second and Morneau alertly tagged him out. Ump was having none of it. Douche bag. Stewie got Santana out of the inning with a fabulous catch at the wall right in front of the 375 sign. Jays lead 3-1. Batista, Castro, and Kubel due up for Minnesota in the fifth.

UPDATE: Only took seven pitches for Halladay to retire the Twins in the fifth. Doc is locked in at this point, and the Twins don't appear to stand a chance unless Halladay gets pulled.

UPDATE: Wells singled, but Toronto was held scoreless, and still leads 3-1 at the end of five.

UPDATE: Well, the umps have now officially turned against the Twins. After the first base ump fucked up a call in fourth, home plate ump rung up Castillo and White on dubious called third strikes that were both nowhere near the strike zone. As if Halladay's pitching weren't tough enough, now the Twins have to deal with biased umps as well. Still 3-1 Toronto entering the bottom of the sixth.

UPDATE: Santana looked good through the first three innings, but fell apart after that. The umps gave one back to the Twins by incorrectly calling Aaron Hill out as the second part of a 5-4-3 double play, but Russ Adams drove Shea Hillenbrand home on the next at-bat, and Reed Johnson chased him with a single to left. Juan Rincon is now in for Santana.

UPDATE: Rincon gave up a single to Rios, but struck out Wells with the bases loaded to get out of the inning. Toronto leads at the end of six 4-1. With that, the book is now closed on Johan Santana in his first ever opening day start - one which he will certainly hope to forget. He pitched 5-2/3 innings, giving up four runs (all earned) on ten hits, with one walk and three strikeouts. Hunter, Morneau, and Batista bat for the Twins in the seventh.

UPDATE: Well, it's not over just yet. Hunter flied out, and Morneau and Kubel grounded out, but Batista hit a home run to left to cut Toronto's lead to 4-2 at the seventh inning stretch.

UPDATE: Rincon was aiming for a quick 1-2-3 seventh, but Hillenbrand spoiled that with a single to right. Instead he had to retire the fourth batter, Molina, on a 4-3 ground out to end the inning. At the end of seven, Jays lead 4-2.

UPDATE: Stewie pulled the Twins one more back in the eighth. After Lew grounded out pinch hitting for Castro, Stewie homered to left. Castillo then grounded out and Halladay was pulled in favor of Schoeneweis to face Mauer, who also grounded out. Jays still lead 4-3. Punto replaced Lew defensively at short, while Jesse Crain takes over for Rincon on the mound.

UPDATE: You can pretty much count the Twins out now. Crain retired the first two batters he faced, but then Reed Johnson singled and Alex Rios homered to right. He got Vernon Wells to fly out to center, but the damage had already been done. Blue Jays lead 6-3 at the end of the eighth, and closer BJ Ryan is on his way in to close out the ballgame. He'll face Rondell White, Torii Hunter, and Justin Morneau.

UPDATE: White lined out to Glaus, while Hunter and Morneau each struck out. Blue Jays win 6-3. Roy Halladay (1-0) gets the win, while Johan Santana (0-1) takes the loss. BJ Ryan gets the save, his first as a Blue Jay.

The Minnesota Twins were as pathetic offensively as they were last season, despite bringing in five new starters. Hell, they were probably worse. Shannon Stewart was the only Twins player that actually earned his paycheck today. Batters two through six (Castillo, Mauer, White, Hunter, and Morneau) were a combined 0-for-18 with six strikeouts. They also left eight men on base. Stewart, on the other hand, had three of the team's five hits and scored two of their three runs. I know it was only one game, but I've already seen enough to lose most of the excitement I had in anticipation of the season. If this is going to be any indication of the team's offensive prowess in '06, then the other 161 games might be even more excruciating to watch than this first one.

For the second consecutive year, the Minnesota Twins will enter the season playing with heavy hearts. Last year, they lost longtime PA announcer Bob Casey right before the season started. This year, Hall of Fame former Twin Kirby Puckett passed away on Monday, one day after suffering a stroke at his Arizona home.

» Twins left to mourn Puckett's death [twinsbaseball.com]
» Baseball reacts to Puckett's death [twinsbaseball.com]
» Notes: Doing what Kirby wanted [twinsbaseball.com]
» Twins try to play on through sadness [twinsbaseball.com]
» Twins PA Announcer Dies at 79 [blueflower.org]

Hall of Fame former Twins outfielder Kirby Puckett suffered a stroke Sunday morning at his home in Scottsdale, AZ. There hasn't been much in the way of updates, although he's said to be in critical condition.

» Shock, dismay at news of Puckett [twinsbaseball.com]

Having already lost the lottery for Bill Mueller, and apparently out of the running for Nomar Garciaparra, the Twins turned to the other side of the Pacific to find a new third baseman. The Minnesota Twins announced earlier today that they've agreed to a one-year deal with former Major Leaguer Tony Batista, who spent last season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. Batista is a career .251 hitter in the majors with 214 homeruns and 681 RBIs.

The Twins also announced that they signed 33-year-old catcher Shawn Wooten to a Minor League contract, and he will be invited to Spring Training.

» Twins give Batista one-year deal [twinsbaseball.com]

J.C. Romero's rocky career as a Minnesota Twin is over. The Twins traded the left-handed reliever to the Angels on Friday for Minor League infielder Alexi Casilla. Casilla in 2005 batted .325 with 62 runs scored and 47 stolen bases for Class-A Cedar Rapids. His 47 stolen bases ranked fourth in the Midwest League.

This is pure speculation, but with Romero being sent to the Angels and Old Man Mulholland not being offered arbitration, the Twins no longer have any lefties remaining in the bullpen, so don't be surprised if the team retains Kyle Lohse and Scott Baker as their fourth and fifth pitchers in the rotation, while lefty Francisco Liriano spends a year in the pen like the team did with Johan Santana before he finally made the rotation. The team also has lefty Dave Gassner, who made two starts in place of Carlos Silva in 2005 when it was thought Silva was done for the season, and he might get called upon to move into the pen as well.

This may be only of interest to me, but with Mulholland gone, do you know who the oldest player on the team's 40-man roster is? 34-year-old backup catcher Mike Redmond. Redmond turns 35 on May 5th. And the second- and third-oldest? Juan Castro and Brad Radke are both 33, with Castro four months older than Radke. I only note this because Redmond and Castro were the team's two free agent signings last off-season, while Radke, who was also a free agent at the time, re-signed with the team, meaning that if you consider Radke a free agent signing last season, then the three free agents the team signed last off-season are the three oldest players on the team. But, lest you think the older guys aren't much help, Redmond led the team in batting average in 2005 (among guys with at least 100 at-bats - Glenn Williams hit .425 in 40 at-bats, Joe Mays hit .333 in 3 at-bats, and Jason Tyner hit .321 in 56 at-bats, but Redmond hit .311 in 148 at-bats) and Castro led the team in sacrifice hits (9 - fellow utility infielders Nick Punto and Luis Rodriguez were second and third, respectively, with 7 and 6 sacrifices each). Workhorse Radke, on the other hand, was second on the team behind Santana, with 200-2/3 innings pitched.

» Twins trade Romero for Minor Leaguer [twinsbaseball.com]

No beating around the bush today, here is the latest free agent and trade news:

The Yankees are sending disappointing second baseman (we won't even talk about his outfield abilities) Tony Womack to Cincinnati for a couple of minor leaguers.

Edgar Renteria is on the move again. Only one year after signing the shortstop as a free agent, Boston traded Renteria and $11 million to Atlanta for minor league prospect Andy Marte. The Red Sox have rebuilt three-fourths of their infield in the last few days, having sent Renteria to Atlanta and acquired third baseman Mike Lowell from Florida and second baseman Mark Loretta from San Diego. Having also sent Hanley Ramirez to Florida in the trade that brought in Lowell and Josh Beckett, it looks like the Red Sox will be turning to Alex Cora at short, who they acquired at the trade deadline in July from Cleveland. The Red Sox are also rumored to have interest in former Marlins shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

I mentioned yesterday that the Reds and Pirates were close to a deal to swap Sean Casey and Dave Williams. That move has apparently now been confirmed.

41-year-old Kenny Rogers is on his way to Detroit, where he'll be the veteran presence among a good young starting rotation after agreeing to a two-year, $16 million deal with the Tigers. I'm sure Bonderman, Maroth, and Robertson can use tips on how to properly attack a camera man and get off easy.

In one of the more surprising announcements, Baltimore and free agent catcher Ramon Hernandez have come to terms on a four-year, $27.5 million contract, which immediately inspires questions about Javy Lopez's future with the club. Judging by the fact that the Orioles did not offer arbitration to Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, B.J. Surhoff, and Eli Marrero, it looks like the O's may be looking to get younger, and if Lopez isn't moved to first base, he could be on his way out as well.

The Yankees picked up another Boston cast-off, agreeing to a two-year, $2.4 million deal with pitcher Mike Myers. I'm still confused by the Yanks blowing so much money on offense, but only going out and picking up over-the-hill has-been's and never-were's to take the mound.

The White Sox beefed up their infield and offloaded surplus from the bullpen by sending Damaso Marte to Pittsburgh for utility infielder Rob Mackowiak. Chicago has proved to have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to late-inning pitchers, making Marte expendable.

The Mets have continued their offseason spending spree, signing 36-year-old infielder Jose Valentin. Along with all the new acquisitions, the Mets have cut ties with several veterans, having not offered arbitration to Mike Piazza, Braden Looper, Miguel Cairo, Danny Graves, Felix Heredia, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jose Offerman, or Shingo Takatsu (among others).

Veteran pitcher Jose Mesa is on the move once again, having agreed to a one-year deal with Colorado, with a club option for a second year.

And finally, two bits of Twins news:

Jacque Jones' career in Minnesota might not be over just yet. The Twins offered arbitration to the free agent outfielder, meaning there's still a possibility that Double-J could be back patroling right field at the Metrodome in 2006. Who knows?

And finally, the Rule 5 Draft. Minnesota took outfielder Jason Pridie from the Devil Rays. Because Pridie will have to stay on the team's 25-man roster for the full season (or be sold back to the Devil Rays), the Twins have quite the surplus in the outfield, meaning it would be quite surprising should the team actually retain Jacque Jones. The team also added three players in the Triple-A part of the draft, getting pitcher Jose Lugo from Oakland, pitcher Alexander Farfan from Cincinnati, and outfielder Erold Andrus from the Yankees. No Twins players were drafted in the Rule 5 Draft.

Whew, that's enough for today, isn't it?

» Reds acquire Womack from Yankees [mlb.com]
» Braves get Renteria, trade Marte [mlb.com]
» Notes: Gonzalez could fill shortstop gap [redsox.com]
» Bucs get Reds' Casey for Williams [mlb.com]
» Rogers agrees to deal with Tigers [mlb.com]
» Catcher adds pop to O's lineup [mlb.com]
» Lefty Myers, Yankees agree to deal [mlb.com]
» White Sox acquire Mackowiak [mlb.com]
» Mets sign infielder Jose Valentin [mlb.com]
» Rockies sign free agent RHP Jose Mesa to one-year contract... [mlb.com]
» Twins offer Jones arbitration [twinsbaseball.com]
» Twins take outfielder in Rule 5 Draft [twinsbaseball.com]

Gold-Glove Second baseman Luis Castillo Is Now a Twin (photo by Getty Images)

The revamp is now complete. With first baseman Carlos Delgado traded to the Mets, third baseman Mike Lowell to the Red Sox, shortstop Alex Gonzalez a free agent and possibly not returning (especially after the acquisition of Hanley Ramirez from Boston), and now second baseman Luis Castillo sent to the Twins, the Marlins have officially dismantled their entire 2005 starting infield. Wow, congratulations Florida.

On the other side of the coin, the Minnesota Twins finally found their new second baseman, and for much less than Alfonso Soriano would have cost them. The Twins sent pitchers Travis Bowyer and Scott Tyler to Florida in exchange for the 30-year-old Castillo. In acquiring the switch-hitting Castillo, the Twins get a player who has a lifetime .291 average and who has won the National League Gold Glove at second base the last three seasons. Although Castillo only hit 4 homeruns last year (he has only 20 in his career), he set a career-high with 18 sacrifices, and had an on-base percentage of .391 - his highest since 2000, when he had an OBP of .418 and stole 62 bases. He stole only 10 bases in 2005 while being slowed by hip and quadriceps injuries. Manager Ron Gardenhire says he has not decided yet whether he will use Castillo or left fielder Shannon Stewart in the Twins leadoff spot in 2006.

In sending Bowyer to Florida, Minnesota appears to be signaling that they have no intention of parting ways with closer Joe Nathan anytime soon. Bowyer had 23 saves for Triple-A Rochester in 2005 and was considered a potential replacement for Nathan should the Twins need to use him as trade bait. The trade also demonstrates that the Twins didn't feel comfortable with handing second base over to Michael Cuddyer, who is now expected to compete for the starting spot in right field with utility outfielder Lew Ford and Jason Kubel, who missed the entire 2005 season due to injury. Twins GM Terry Ryan insists that Minnesota is not done making offseason moves just yet, intending still to fill needs at third base and designated hitter.

» Twins strike deal for Castillo [twinsbaseball.com]

New sleeveless jersey the Twins are set to unveil tomorrow

I feel like I've just died and gone to hell. I went to the Twins website today and was rudely greeted with the above photo and this quote:

WHAT?! Those sleeveless jerseys worn by other teams are the ugliest fucking things of all time! I've been so proud of the Twins for not joining in on this horrible trend for so long (I can't believe I never posted on how ugly sleeveless jerseys are - I know I meant to), and now it's all been ruined. Let's all hope that Carlos Silva is the only one who ever elects that the team use them on his day, because these sleeveless jerseys being sported around the league are friggin' ugly! Blah.

» Twins unveil new jerseys for '06 [twinsbaseball.com]

The Minnesota Twins announced their spring 2006 schedule today, and fans have only 103 days to wait. The key date here is February 19, because that's the day that pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report for spring training, with the full squad set to report five days later on the 24th. The team's first spring training game will be on March 2 against the Grapefruit League crosstown rivals Boston. The team's final spring training game will be against Triple-A affiliate Rochester on April 2, two days before the regular season opener against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

» Twins release spring schedule, tix info [twinsbaseball.com]

My busy schedule of late kept me from jumping on this story earlier, but when the Rawlings Gold Glove winners for 2005 were announced on Tuesday, there was a big surprise in the American League - the Twins' Torii Hunter, who missed the last two months of the season due to injury, won his fifth-straight award. Although there is no doubting Hunter's credentials - those get highlighted every night during the season on "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight" - the award was mostly surprisingly because of the amount of the season that he missed, highlighting once again that sometimes reputation counts for more than anything else. Even so, Hunter isn't exactly ready to hand back the award, and we don't think he should either. Congratulations once again to Torii Hunter.

» Hunter's short season was golden [twinsbaseball.com]

Following the departure of third base coach Al Newman, the Minnesota Twins have announced their new coaching staff for 2006, including a new hitting coach. Taking over as hitting coach for the Twins will be Joe Vavra, who had been the team's Minor League field coordinator. He'll face the daunting task of reviving an offense that was the difference between third-place and a potential World Series title. Former hitting coach Scott Ullger will remain with the club, replacing Newman at third base, while the rest of the team's staff from 2005 will remain the same. Manager Ron Gardenhire will take over Newman's role of working with infielders.

» Twins name Vavra new hitting coach [twinsbaseball.com]

Hall-of-Fame former Twin, Brewer, and Blue Jay Paul Molitor has decided to pass on the opportunity to become the new hitting coach for the Minnesota Twins. With Al Newman's departure to join the staff of the Arizona Diamondbacks, a spot opened up in the Twins coaching staff. Should Molitor have accepted an offer from the Twins, it was speculated that he would have taken over as hitting coach, while current hitting coach Scott Ullger would have taken over Newman's former duties as third base coach. Molitor cited wanting flexibility in his schedule and more time to spend with his family as reasons for passing on the job.

» Molitor says no to coaching job [Minneapolis StarTribune]

A week after announcing that outfielder Jason Tyner had been outrighted to Class-AAA Rochester, the Twins announced today that Tyner has been signed to a Minor League contract. The team is still expected to invite the outfielder to spring training with the Major League club in 2006.

The team also announced that outfielder Jason Kubel and pitcher Grant Balfour have been reinstated on the big-league team's 40-man roster. Both players missed all of the 2005 season due to injury.

» Twins sign Tyner to Minor League deal [twinsbaseball.com]

The Minnesota Twins made four more roster moves today, as they announced that designated hitter Matthew LeCroy, outfielder Jason Tyner, and third basemann Glenn Williams were all outrighted to Triple-A Rochester, while they also decided against picking up their 2006 option on pitcher Joe Mays and bought out his contract. The Twins are expected to invite Tyner and Williams to spring training if they don't sign elsewhere.

LeCroy started his career as a catcher, but a weak throwing arm made him a bit of a liability behind the plate, and he was mostly considered a back-up first baseman and designated hitter. He came up with the occasional clutch hit, but more often than not was streaky rather than consistent. Although we wish only the best for Mattie, one only hopes that he doesn't go on to be another David Ortiz, who sucked donkey dick while he was with the Twins, but has hit 72 homeruns and driven in 240 in the last two years for the Red Sox.

Joe Mays was an All-Star in 2001 when he won 17 games and finished with a 3.16 ERA in 34 starts, but he was signed to a big contract at the end of the season and never lived up to the expectations. In the three seasons since (he missed half of 2002 with injuries and all of 2004 after Tommy John surgery), he has only 18 wins combined (and 26 losses), with a 5.81 ERA in 79 appearances (64 starts). He lost his spot in the rotation this season after a series of poor performances, and operated out of the bullpen until injury concerns (and elimination from postseason contention) sidelined Carlos Silva and Brad Radke for the rest of the season.

Truthfully, outrighting Tyner and Williams was probably the most surprising of the roster moves made today. Glenn Williams was called up from Rochester in June and batted .425 - with a hit in all thirteen games he played - before dislocating shoulder and being put on the disabled list. Similarly, Tyner batted .321 in eighteen games as a September call-up, including a twelve-game hit streak at one point, and was an able replacement both offensively and defensively for Shannon Stewart when he injured his shoulder.

The Twins have disposed of seven players, along with third base coach Al Newman, since the close of the season. Additionally, outfielder Jacque Jones and pitcher Kyle Lohse are likely to test the free agent waters this offseason. Either Terry Ryan is going to be pretty active in free agency this year or the Twins are planning on getting even cheaper and younger than they were in 2005.

» Twins cut Mays, LeCroy loose [twinsbaseball.com]

Minnesota Twins third base coach Al Newman is the latest member of the team to part ways with the organization. Newman is on his way out to be an advance scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It is being said that Newman is not being made a scapegoat for the team having fallen short of making the postseason for the fourth-consecutive season, but rather just that he had some philosophical differences with manager Ron Gardenhire and others in the organization.

Frankly, if any coach should be on the way out, it's hitting coach Scott Ullger, since the number one reason the Twins are sitting at home right now is because of their inability to hit. I have no personal issues with Scotty, but it was abundantly clear the entire season what the team's foremost deficiency was. Instead of being fired, it's being rumored that Ullger could possibly take over Newman's spot at third base, in which case he would be replaced as hitting coach by the likes of former Twin and Hall-of-Famer Paul Molitor or Triple-A Rochester hitting coach Bill Springman.

» Al Newman leaves for Diamondbacks [Minneapolis StarTribune]

NEWS
The Minnesota Twins made their first offseason moves toward rebuilding for next season on Tuesday when they outrighted Luis Rivas, Michael Ryan, and Brent Abernathy to Triple-A Rochester. Rivas was the final member of the starting infield from the Twins teams that won back-to-back-to-back AL Central titles in 2002-2004. After a couple season bouncing back-and-forth between the Majors and Triple-A, Michael Ryan spent a good portion of this season with the Twins (especially after Torii Hunter was lost for the season), but was used mostly as a pinch-hitter and to spell the starting outfield tandem of Jacque Jones, Lew Ford, and Shannon Stewart. Twins GM Terry Ryan suggested that Abernathy could be brought back to the Twins if a new deal can be worked out.

OUR VIEW
Rivas has struggled recently both offensively and defensively. While he used to have good mobility at second base, and could turn a double-play like nobody's business, at only 26 he seems to have lost any chance he had of living up to the hype. Ryan was another of the many, many outfielders who have risen through the ranks of the minors for the Twins in recent seasons but been unable to catch in Minnesota due to the dependability of Hunter and Jones. Even if Double-J does depart in free agency, the chances of Ryan winning the starting spot in right field were slim. Abernathy has been serviceable as a utility infielder on a roster loaded down with utility infielders. He played well in left field filling in for the injured Stewart late in the season, but isn't likely to be viewed as a long term solution for the aging Stewart. With Luis Rodriguez, Nick Punto, and Juan Castro likely to be back next year, the Twins are really in need of an everyday second baseman, not another utility infielder. In all likelihood, none of the three will be back in 2006.

» Twins sever ties with Rivas, others [twinsbaseball.com]

Here we are folks - game number 162. The Minnesota Twins play their final game of the 2005 season today in Minneapolis against the Detroit Tigers. Minnesota's 3-0 win over Detroit last night was win number 82, which guaranteed the Twins a winning record for the season. In today's final game, they'll look to close out the season with a sweep of the Tigers.

There's more to look forward to in today's game - especially as concerns starting pitcher Johan Santana. With Padres pitcher Jake Peavy being rested in preparation for the postseason, Santana is virtually guaranteed to be the first pitcher in team history to lead the majors in strikeouts. He has 229 on the season entering play today, with Peavy second at 216.

Santana will also aim to lead the American League in ERA. He is currently second in the league at 2.92 behind Kevin Millwood of the Indians, who has an ERA of 2.86. To lower his ERA below that of Millwood, he has to pitch at least 5-1/3 innings without giving up an earned run. Should he give up one earned run, he'd have to pitch at least 8-1/3 innings total giving up no more than that one earned run.

The game has started, so here we go....

UPDATE: One-two-three top-of-the-first, including a strikeout of Brandon Inge to add to his strikeout lead. Strikeouts: 230 / ERA: 2.91

UPDATE: Minnesota's starting lineup for today's season finale: Jason Tyner leading off and playing left field, Luis Rodriguez second and playing third base, then Joe Mauer at catcher, and Matthew LeCroy hitting cleanup as the designated hitter. He's followed by Michael Cuddyer (right field), Justin Morneau (first base), Lew Ford (center field), Luis Rivas (second base), and Jason Bartlett (shortstop).

UPDATE: Santana got some early run support thanks to Matthew LeCroy. Tyner and Rodriguez led off with back-to-back singles. Mauer reached on a fielder's choice, Tyner moved to third, Rodriguez out at second. LeCroy followed with a three-run homerun to left, putting Minnesota up 3-0. Cuddyer followed with a 5-3 groundout, and Morneau struckout to end the inning. End of the first, 3-0 Twins.

UPDATE: Santana struck out the side. Strikeouts of Marcus Thames, Carlos Pena, and Omar Infante. Strikeouts: 233 / ERA: 2.90

UPDATE: Lew Ford led off the bottom-of-the-second with a single, but Rivas flied out to center and Bartlett grounded into a 5-4-3 double-play. End of the second, Twins still lead 3-0.

UPDATE: No strikeouts in the third for Santana, but he got some help from his defense. Vance Wilson hit a chopper up the middle, but Bartlett was able to field and throw him out 6-3. John McDonald hit a line drive to right that Cuddyer caught on the run. Nook Logan fouled out to Morneau. Striketous: 233 / ERA: 2.89

UPDATE: Looking around baseball at the Wild Card races, White Sox lead Cleveland 3-0 in the fifth, while Boston and the Yankees are tied 0-0 in the second. In the National League, Houston leads the Cubbies 2-0, while Philadelphia leads Washington 4-0 in the sixth.

UPDATE: Twins go down in order in the third. Tyner grounded out to the pitcher 1-3, Rodriguez flied out to right, and Mauer grounded out to first. Mauer is virtually guaranteed to come up short now in his bid to hit .300 on the season. At the end of three, Twins lead 3-0.

UPDATE: How anyone can say Santana doesn't deserve another Cy Young is beyond me. After falling behind Granderson 3-0, Santana came back with three straight strikes. He followed it up by striking out both Inge and Shelton. For those of you playing along at home, that's seven K's through four perfect innings. Strikeouts: 236 / ERA: 2.87

UPDATE: After a tough first inning, Robertson has settled down for Detroit. He struckout LeCroy and Cuddyer and got Morneau to lineout to short. Twins lead 3-0 through four.

UPDATE: The perfect-game bid is gone and Santana's hopes of winning the ERA title were seriously damaged in the fifth. After getting Thames to ground out 5-3, Carlos Pena homered to deep center. Infante then grounded out 5-3, and Vance Wilson flied out to right to end the top-of-the-fifth. Santana is pretty much going to have to pitch a complete game now without giving up any more earned runs. Strikeouts: 236 / ERA: 2.90

UPDATE: The Twins got a little help from the Tigers in the fifth. Lew Ford led off with a double when the Tigers lost Ford's fly to left-center. Rivas followed with a bunt single down the first-base line when Pena fielded a ball he should have let roll foul. Bartlett struckout, but Rivas stole second on the called third strike. A base hit by Tyner to right scored Lew and moved Rivas to third. Rodriguez followed with a single to left, which scored Rivas and moved Tyner to second. Mauer flied out to right and Robertson hit LeCroy on the back foot, which loaded the bases with two outs, but Cuddyer flied out to right on a 3-1 pitch to end the threat. End of the fifth, Twins lead 5-1.

UPDATE: Scoring update in the Wild Card races. Chicago leads Cleveland in the seventh 3-1, while Boston leads New York in the fourth 1-0. Houston leads Chicago 3-2 in the fifth, and Philadelphia leads Washington 5-3 in the seventh.

UPDATE: Another scoreless inning for Santana. After striking out McDonald, he walked Nook Logan, but Granderson flied out to Tyner in deep left and Inge grounded into a 6-4 force at second. Striketouts: 237 / ERA: 2.89

UPDATE: Morneau and Ford each grounded out 5-3 before Rivas singled to center, but Bartlett flied out to center to end the inning. Through six, Twins lead 5-1.

UPDATE: Santana escapes a huge one. After giving up back-to-back singles to Shelton and Thames to open the inning, both moved up on a wild pitch to Pena. Santana won a nine-pitch battle with Pena with his ninth strikeout of the game. After issuing a four-pitch walk to Infante, Gardy came out to the mound, and it looked like Santana's day might be over, but he left Johan in, and Santana got Vance Wilson to ground into a 5-4-3 double-play. Strikeouts: 238 / ERA: 2.87

UPDATE: Tyner flied out to center, followed by Rodriguez's third single of the afternoon. Mauer then hit a liner that deflected off of pitcher Robertson. Inge snagged it in the air, flipped to McDonald at second, who threw over to first to double off Rivas and end the inning. Twins lead 5-1 through seven.

UPDATE: They've gone final in Cleveland - White Sox win 3-1. The season is over for the Indians, as Boston will win the AL Wild Card.

UPDATE: Jesse Crain replaced Santana to begin the eighth inning, meaning that Johan will fall short of winning the ERA title by 0.0154. Santana finishes the season with 238 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.87.

UPDATE: Tigers opened with three singles by McDonald, Logan, and Granderson. Inge grounded into a 6-4-3 double-play, but McDonald scored and Logan moved to third on the play. Chris Shelton followed then with a two-run homerun to left, cutting Minnesota's lead to 5-4. Crain has now been lifted with two outs in the eighth and Juan Rincon takes over.

UPDATE: Rincon struck out Thames on three pitches to end the inning. Twins lead now 5-4.

UPDATE: The final home attendance total for the Twins at the Metrodome this year is 2,034,243. It's the first time since 1993 that the Twins have had over 2 million fans in attendance. Corey and I account for 2 of those 2,034,243.

UPDATE: LeCroy walked to open the bottom-of-the-eighth, and Gardy sent Nick Punto on to pinch-run. Punto moved to second on a 5-3 groundout by Cuddyer. Tigers reliever Fernando Rodney should have picked Punto off of second, but his pickoff toss to second was well offline and sailed into center field, which allowed Punto to run all the way around and score. Morneau followed with a double to right, but Lew struckout and Rivas grounded out 6-3 to end the inning. Twins lead is now 6-4 at the end of the eighth, and for the final time this year, it's Joe Nathan Time in Minneapolis. Nathan is looking to pick up his 43rd save of the year.

UPDATE: Nathan struckout Pena and Infante, and then got Vance Wilson to fly out to Lew Ford in center to end the game and the season. Santana picks up his 16th win to finish 16-7 on the year with a 2.87 ERA. Nathan picks up his 43rd save on the year, which ties him for second in the American League with Mariano Rivera. Bob Wickman of the Indians finished at the top with 45. With the sweep of Detroit, Minnesota finishes the season at 83-79 - their fifth-straight winning season.

Things were tenuous in Houston, but with two on and two out in the ninth, Astros closer Brad Lidge got Jose Macias to line out to second to end the ballgame. Houston wins the NL Wild Card with a 6-4 victory over the Cubs. The 2005 postseason teams are now set. In the National League, Houston will face Atlanta, while San Diego will play St. Louis. In the American League, Boston will play Chicago, while New York will play the Angels. The Angels beat Texas, so if Boston holds on to beat the Yankees, the Angels will have home-field advantage in that series.

UPDATE: Boston leads 10-1 in the seventh over the Yankees at Fenway, and both teams have pulled almost all their starters. Only Jon Olerud and Trot Nixon are still in the lineup for Boston, while only Ruben Sierra remains in the lineup for New York. Barring a dramatic comeback by New York's benchwarmers, they'll be opening the postseason in Anaheim.

I should begin by apologizing. As you can plainly see, I haven't written here in a month. It started with internet problems here in our apartment, but it was also by this point that Minnesota's hopes of reaching the postseason for the fourth straight season started to completely crumble. All of a sudden, time to update on a daily basis disappeared, and then I wasn't updating at all. As we near the end of the season, updates will be fairly sparse as well. I'll try to keep on top of offseason Twins news - especially player transactions - but I can't guarantee timely and regular updates. Now, as for the Twins of 2005....

We've reached the final week of the season, and the Twins are long since eliminated from postseason play. They finish with a seven-game homestand at the Metrodome, playing four games this week against Kansas City, and then finishing over the weekend with three games against Detroit. Minnesota needs to win four of those seven games against the worst two teams in the division to finish above .500 on the season. It's not going to be easy.

Having seen their postseason hopes disappear, the Twins are a team already thinking about next year. Joe Mays had been moved to the bullpen after pitching horribly in his first season back from elbow surgery, allowing Scott Baker to be called up from Rochester and take a spot in the rotation, but was put back in the rotation temporarily when Brad Radke was rested for the rest of the season. Carlos Silva, who was has been pitching with an injured knee since April, was finally rested for the remainder of the season, his spot in the rotation going to Francisco Liriano. Mays's recall to the rotation may be over already after getting hammered by Chicago over the weekend. Kyle Lohse has an up-and-down season. Lohse - despite his 9-13 record - had his best season as a starter for the Twins. While his strikeout total is down considerably this season (probably owing largely to the elimination of the four-seamer from his pitch selection), his ERA and walks are also down. His little spat with Gardenhire might mean he won't be back next year, but even if he isn't, it's nice to see he made a little improvement this year. And then there's Johan Santana, who continues to pitch like a Cy Young winner. Other names have been thrown around in the American League to win the award this year, but nobody in the league (or, giving Mariano Rivera some credits, no STARTER) has numbers that even come close to those put up by Santana, whether the Twins are in the postseason or not (and, frankly, unlike the MVP, the Cy Young is just about the best pitcher, no matter if his team made the postseason or not). Santana is second in the American League in ERA at 2.98 (Millwood - 2.92), and after the All Star break has far-and-away the lowest ERA at 1.64 (Millwood second at 2.32). He leads the majors in strikeouts at 223, with Randy Johnson second in the AL (and fifth overall) at 201. Opponents are hitting only .212 off him (lowest in the league), and when combined with his 41 walks, he also has the lowest WHIP in the AL at 0.97 (second-best Johnson has 1.14). While his 14 wins are only tied for eighth-best in the American League (leader Bartolo Colon has 20), he is 7-2 since the All Star break. Even more noteworthy is that Santana has 14 wins despite having run support of only 4.67 per game - that's 32nd of 44 qualifying pitchers. Among Cy Young candidates, only Mark Buehrle has gotten less run support at only 4.05 runs per game. It's going to take a lot of explanation from somebody to tell me how Santana doesn't win the Cy Young again this year.

So how does next year's rotation round up? Well, Santana, Radke, and Silva will all be back (and hopefully healthy), leaving two open spots in the rotation. Barring the signing of a top free agent (not likely), there's possibility that those spots could go to Baker and Liriano, although either Lohse or Mays could always be brought back as well. As a team, the Twins have a very good 3.71 ERA to date. Considering what the team has on the current roster and coming up through the ranks in the minors, this looks to be a strong suit again in 2006.

Non-pitchers are another story. While rumors have surfaced of a trade involving Torii Hunter in the offseason, we'll assume for now that those aren't true and look forward simply to his return in 2006. Shannon Stewart, who is being rest for the remainder of 2005, should also be back. Team leader in homeruns Jacque Jones will hopefully be brought back again in 2006, but that's no guarantee. If not, there are several young players in the organization (including Jason Kubel, who missed all of 2005 with a knee injury sustained in spring training), and a replacement will likely come out of one of them. The steadiest position on the team is catcher. Joe Mauer isn't headed anywhere, and if the team is smart, he never will. Backing him up will be Mike Redmond, who leads the team (among batters with at least 100 at-bats) with a solid .311 average. Starter Joe Mauer is second at .300. September call-up Chris Heintz has hit a respectable .278 as well. Where the Twins need to find some stability is in their infield. With the exception of the disappointing Justin Morneau at first, there has been shuffling all season in the infield. Now that the core infield of Koskie, Guzman, Rivas, and Mientkiewicz has been broken up (only Rivas remains, and he's merely a shadow of his former self), the Twins need to find everyday players to fill in. They have too many utility backups and not enough starters. This will surely be the area that Terry Ryan considers the most in the offseason.

So, with seven games left in 2005, the Twins still have a lot to play for, but the fans are really looking forward to 2006, and hopefully we'll have something to cheer for then.

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.

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!

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: 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]

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.

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]

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?