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.

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.

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.