Wow
That title just about covers how I feel: wow. As everyone knows by now, the Twins won the American League Central Pennant last night by beating the Detroit Tigers in 12 innings. Almost everyone came up big for the Twins, considering they used 12 position players and eight pitchers.
Scott Baker survived his trademark big inning to turn in a quality start; Jon Rauch continued to impress me with his late inning performances; Bobby Keppel is my new hero; Alexi Casilla (or Sexi Lexi, as I lovingly call him) was clutch for us AGAIN; GoGo made things happen; O-Cab came up big with a go ahead homer and a game saving double play; Punto took great at-bats and got himself on base; Kubel’s moon shot (or Kubes Shot, as I call it); Tolbert’s clutch game tying hit; Nathans fireman work; Mahay’s ownage of Granderson; Cuddy’s good at bats and good defense (for a right fielder, he’s pretty good at getting the tag down when he’s pulled up off the bag); Mauer being Mauer; Delmon scaring them into walking him; Crain, though he gave up a run, pitched well and had great stuff; oh man, I could keep going.
One thing that leaves a slightly sour taste in my mouth was the game had by home plate umpire Randy Marsh. He squeezed Matty G and Baker BAD: I counted 4-5 pitches that came in just below the waist and broke to about 3 inches above the knees, right in the center of the dish, called balls. Porcello was getting those, and Rodney’s pitches (even lower, I might add) were called strikes. I do have to say, though, Nathan did get a LOT of favorable calls which helped us greatly. However, the real source of the sourness was the missed “hit by pitch” call on Inge. Now, it just grazed his jersey and the bases were loaded: the umpire could have totally decided he wasn’t going to let the winning run score that way and that it was so close he could claim he missed it. I’m not saying that’s right, but it could have happened. More likely: it was so loud in the ‘Dome, he just couldn’t hear the hit. It happens, umps miss things like that, but I’m sure Tigers fans are still groaning about it today. And rightfully so.
Time to face the Yanks! With zero time to rest, the Comeback Twins must now find the energy to take on the monster that is the New York All-Star Tea… er.. Yankees. Sure, the Twins are 0-7 against them this year. Sure, the Yanks have the best offense money can buy. Sure, they also bought the two best pitchers available last winter. Who cares? This Twins team has been written off so many times, I can’t put anything past them anymore.
That being said, the pitching match-up isn’t very favorable: Duensing vs. Sabathia. We can only hope that Duensing can be craft enough to fool Yankees hitters who haven’t seen much of him and that Sabathia will continue to struggle in the playoffs. His TERRIBLE final start of the season either means he will have corrected his flaw and be tuned up for the post season, or that he’s fatigued and the Twins might be able to jump all over him. He has wrecked the Twins in the past, so we will have to see.
The Line-up for tonight’s game:
Span CF
Cabrera SS
Mauer C
Cuddyer 1B
Kubel RF
Young LF
Harris DH
Tolbert 3B
Punto 2B
I only have one problem with it: no Carlos Gomez. Jose Morales was schooled by Porcello last night (I think he swung and missed six times, striking out twice) so Harris will get the start instead. While that move by itself is rational and understandable, I would have rather seen Gomez in center, Span in left, Young in right and Kubel DHing. In my opinion, the benefit of having Gomez and Span in the outfield far outweighs the offensive bump obtained by having Harris DH. I shudder every time I think of Kubel and Young gimping and bumbling around at the corners. Gardy’s decisions have works so far, so LETS DO THIS!
I have to admit, it feels really weird to be here without Morneau in the line-up. It makes me a feel a little guilty: its pretty sad to see him sitting on the bench, unable to help his team. If the ‘Dome is going to crack the spine of our MVPs, maybe a couple rain outs will be tolerable after all.
1.0 GB!
Don’t look now, but the Twins are one whole game behind the Tigers after defeating Porcello, the Boy Wonder. Actually, they defeated Brandon Lyon, but that’s besides the point.
I haven’t been posting recently for two reasons:
1) I’ve been super busy
2) I don’t know how I feel about the Twins.
Yes they have been winning, but I feel like they are going to let me down at any time. It’s not because I’m a bad fan, it’s just that they aren’t supposed to be doing this well: They are missing Justin Morneau, Kubel is slumping, the rotation is a mess, Tolbert’s playing third, etc. I was waiting for the Twins to pull even or go ahead before I came out of hiding, but one game back is good enough.
This morning’s match-up was Porcello vs. Blackburn and it was a nail-biter. Both starters left with a 1 -1 tie but the Twins ended up scoring two in the top of the 10th inning after botching a suicide squeeze in the 9th (good job, Punto). Nathan came in a gave up a solo shot to Granderson but held on for the save.
Game 2 is tonight and it looks like the pitching match-up is going to be Brian Duensing vs. Justin Verlander. In my opinion, this is the most important game so far this year: if the Twins win, they are guaranteed at least a series split and make it much more likely that they take three of four. The “three of four” goal is pretty much the Twins only chance at a realistic shot at the post season. Being tied in the standings, Minnesota would just need to win more games than the Tigers to end the season. If they tie they force a one-game playoff in the Metrodome since they won the season series (no more of that ‘coin toss’ bullshit). A split means that the Tigers must lose two of three to the drowning White Sox and the Twins must win two of three in KC against the best pitcher in baseball and a streaking offense.
Hopefully the rain holds off and everyone is ready for Game Two!
Dear Tigers: Prepare to be Duensinged! GO TWINS!!!!!!!