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By sundown, Twins could be in first place
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Nick Blackburn (AP)
A few weeks ago, the best Twins fans could hope for was to somehow avoid finishing in third place in a weak American League Central division. Now, we may be a few hours from first place.
Nick Blackburn pitched a gem, throwing 111 pitches (I thought that was illegal!), allowing one earned run over seven innings, and the Twins bullpen or Jose Mijares (2/3), Jon Rauch (1-1/3), and Joe Nathan (45th save) was excellent.
This afternoon's game was one that the Twins are supposed to win. Yes, we can't slug with teams with $200 million payrolls, but we usually execute well, and play good defense, which is how we've crept within a single game of a much more talented Tigers team. In short, the Twins don't usually "win sexy."
Trailing 1-0. the Twins scored on a Denard Span sac fly. Tied at one, the Twins tried to go ahead in the top of the ninth on a suicide squeeze, but Nick Punto's bunt was a poor one, was caught by the pitcher, and the runner, Alexi Casilla, was doubled up to end the inning. In the bottom half, Span made a game-saving catch in deep center to end the inning.
In the top of the 10th, the Tigers showed why talent doesn't always equate to wins. Span led off with a single, and both managers had their strategies ready. If the Twins had Orlando Cabrera bunt Span to second, Joe Mauer would be walked, and it would be up to Michael Cuddyer to get the big hit. Unfortunately for the Tigers, strategy went out the window when Tigers' pitcher Brandon Lyon threw two wild pitches to move Span all the way to third with no one out. Cabrera followed with a flare RBI single, and eventually scored on a Delmon Young sac fly. Nothing sexy about that!
Leading 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Nathan allowed a leadoff homer to Curtis Granderson, but retired the next three batters to end the game.
The boxscore wasn't too impressive for either team except in the pitching department. Mauer was hitless (stop the presses), and Minnesota left 15 runners on base. The Tigers could only muster seven hits off Twins pitchers, though, and left 19 runners stranded.
Tonight's matchup of Brian Duensing and Justin Verlander could be another low-scoring affair. But, if I were the Tigers I would be worried because a .370 hitter, like Joe Mauer, probably won't take the collar two games in a row!
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