A nice breezy win like this does not come without serious points of contention to discuss here. Kevin Slowey's fifth win of the season was much like his previous four -- sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. He gave up eight hits and two walks in six innings and was able to consistently wriggle out of trouble -- something that will not happen in his next outing against the Yankees. Jesse Crain came into the game in the seventh and promptly gave up a home run (to weak-hitting Ramon Santiago, no less) and a walk, further telling "The Brain" that Crain cannot get guys out. Unfortunately for Twins fans, Ron Gardenhire will continue to go to Crain and it's likely that the team will lose games just because they want to get work in for the terrible righthander.
The offense again carried the Twins, as Joes Mauer and Crede belted home runs off of Tiger starter Armando Galarraga, against whom the Twins are now 5-0 against. It's about time that Crede starts producing, as he has been yet another offseason-signing-turned-bust so far for the Twins, suggesting the similar free-agent busts of past seasons (Craig Monroe, Mike Lamb, Rondell White, etc). It's silly why the Twins decide to give money to these guys, because as soon as they come to spring training, Joe Varva is working on their swings in order to make them "Twins hitters," i.e. opposite field singles-hitters. Monroe, Lamb, and White were all guys that had decent power numbers prior to coming to the Twins and all three were pitiful excuses for major league players because you could tell them trying their darnedest for cheesy slap hits. They've been taught their whole careers to go with their strengths and all it takes is one month in Fort Myers for Joe Varva to screw everything up and try to make them different hitters. You can't teach old dogs new tricks; you especially can't expect Joe Varva (a guy who never sniffed the big leagues, a career .261 hitter at Triple-A) and Scott Ullger (.190 in 79 big league at-bats) to radically change things for the better.Dontrelle Willis makes his 2009 debut for the Tigers tonight against Glen Perkins. The last two years have been an absolute nightmare for Willis, as he completely lost control of his pitches and has had to work his way back from Single-A ball to the big leagues. Expect dominance from Willis tonight. The Twins always seem to make good stories great stories, so what better than a complete-game two-hit shutout from a beleagured pitcher off the scrap heap?
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