MAY 14, 2009 -- MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 5

Another improbable comeback from the Twins, who rallied from five runs down in the seventh inning to beat the Tigers. Justin Verlander cruised through six innings, striking out a baker's dozen in all, but once the bullpen entered the game, things became unraveled. Sound familiar? That's usually what happens with the Twins, but I guess turnabout is fair game. Actually, had Ron Gardenhire controlled the Tigers for a day, Verlander probably wouldn't have started the seventh inning. Jim Leyland stretched Verlander out to over 120 pitches -- anathema for Ron Gardenhire, who believes that 100 pitches is far too many.

The Brain notched his first ejection of the season during that crucial seventh inning, and it was laughable why he got thrown out. He was "defending" Michael Cuddyer, who deserves a Razzie Award for his horrible acting trying to claim that he was hit by a Zach Miner pitch. The ball didn't quite come within a foot of hitting Cuddyer, but for some reason (probably well aware of his lack of talent), Cuddy tried to say he was hit by the pitch. It made Gardenhire's animated display with umpire Paul Neuert that much more pathetic. C'mon Cuddyer -- are you that terrible that you just don't even want to be in the batter's box?

No doubt Gardenhire was still pulling the strings from the clubhouse; either that's the case or Gardenhire has indoctrinated his brainless underlings on the ways of bad managing. In the eighth inning, with a man on and two outs, Scott Ullger summoned Matt Guerrier into the game to get one out. Whether or not Gardenhire made the move or not, the point remains the same. Why are you taking the risk of losing the game with your fourth-best reliever when your relief ace and $12 million-a-year man Joe Nathan sits on his ass? I'm fairly confident that Joe Nathan is capable of getting four outs on his own. It worked this time, but (like in Wednesday's game) more often than not Guerrier implodes and loses the game for you. Apparently Gardenhire is going to the grave with Joe Nathan not throwing more than 50 innings in a season, and with that philosophy goes your World Series chances.

Now Gardenhire and the Twins travel to the Bronx to face the so-so Yankees. Gardenhire must be thrilled that the Old Yankee Stadium is but a museum, as he could not win there to save his life. He was an amazing 3-19 against the Yanks at the House that Ruth Built; he nearly won as many playoff games (2) in four games than he won in twenty-two regular season affairs over seven seasons. It can't get much worse for Gardenhire. The Twins do catch a break by missing C.C. Sabathia in the four-game series, but consider taking one out of four to be a serious accomplishment. With Gardenhire, you learn the value of "baby steps."