MAY 25, 2009 -- BOSTON 6, MINNESOTA 5

The Twins cannot continue their winning ways against the Red Sox, who have resorted to benching the slumping David Ortiz. A 6-5 loss that was very winnable, Ron Gardenhire pretty much lost the game when he turned in his batting order to the umpires before the game. It's pretty surprising to consider the Twins got five runs out of the order that they started the game with -- Carlos Gomez leading off, Matt Tolbert second, Mike Redmond instead of Joe Mauer, Delmon Young reminding us how bad of a hitter he is, Brian Buscher lowering his batting average even more, and Nick Punto being Nick Punto. Squeezing five runs out of that lineup is a godsend, but of course, Francisco Liriano and the rest of the pitching staff had to give up six to a lighter-than-usual Red Sox order. Some major things to get here, so in we go.


Let's start with Liriano, who has been decidedly underwhelming on the mound this season. Only three of his starts have been decent, and most of the time his demand of his pitches is erratic. He walks far too many hitters and his slider that was so dominant in 2006 seems to fade quickly. With Glen Perkins on the disabled list and Anthony Swarzak pitching well in his major-league debut, there might be six pitchers right now battling for five spots in the rotation. Blackburn and Slowey have locks on their spots, and Scott Baker's contract dictates he has a firm grip on his spot. Perkins shined early in the season before imploding quickly, and Swarzak's stuff is certainly big-league material. Here's my suggestion, which may come as quite a surprise to some readers: move Liriano to the bullpen.

I say this for a few reasons. Most importantly, the bullpen is the Achilles heel of the team and the front office has been very reluctant (stupid, really) in addressing that weakness. The Twins have always prefered in-house replacements to acquiring outside help, and Liriano fits that mold. With his stuff, Liriano doesn't need to be just a lefty specialist but, like Eddie Guardado in his prime, could get batters out from both sides of the plate. The numbers suggest that the move could really help the team, too. The first trip through the batting order is hitting under .200 against Liriano, and the batting average really climbs the more that hitters see Liriano. That type of statistic obviously favors short relievers. Another reason to put Liriano in the bullpen is that he really has never had nine-inning stuff. He's never had a complete game in his big-league career and has never exceeded 121 innings in a major-league season. He's had a well-documented history of arm trouble; by putting him in the 'pen, you not only vastly improve your bullpen and your ballclub, but you save his arm and perhaps a few years of his career.


R.A. Dickey did an admirable job of relief, but as usual, the bullpen did just enough on Monday to provide the cushion for the Red Sox to win. The only run that Dickey surrendered was on a home run to Jeff Bailey, one of the sore thumbs of the Red Sox batting order that you need to get out. It's the second time this season that Bailey has went yard against the Twins, which is absolutely ridiculous. Bailey is hitting .197 on the season, and it was his home run that turned out to be the winning run of the game. With Big Papi on the bench, the Red Sox' lineup was not as dangerous as it had been in years previous. They still found a way to get sixteen hits, including four hits by the over-the-hill Mike Lowell. And Gardenhire was at it again in the ninth by bringing in Luis Ayala, who promptly put the Twins in a first-and-third, one out situation. Sean Henn bailed the team out by not allowing the runners to score, which made it still possible for the Twins to come back in the ninth, but the question still needs to be asked: Why is Luis Ayala still on this roster? More importantly, why does Ron Gardenhire continue to use Luis Ayala?


Down 6-3 in the ninth inning, the Twins used a base hit by Jason Kubel and a pinch-hit home run by Joe Mauer to cut the lead to one. Mauer did not start the game, which brings me to the second burning issue of the day: Why? Why is Joe Mauer unable to play DH? The guy is the hottest hitter on the planet right now and Ron Gardenhire chooses to give him a day off completely. Obviously Mauer was ready to play -- he hit a mammoth home run off of one of the game's best closers in Jonathan Papelbon. Idiots like Dick Bremer continue to say that (especially considering Mauer's back/hip injury) he needs a day off. Wait a minute -- don't these guys get paid millions of dollars for playing a child's game? Do you know what goes into being a designated hitter? Not much. You're swinging a bat, and, hopefully, running a little bit. That's it. Yeah, I'm all for giving him a day off behind the plate, but why would you lose that offense? In the four games since Ron Gardenhire made a batting-order adjustment and put Mauer in the two hole, the team had scored 43 runs in 4 games and won every ballgame. And what does The Brain do? Change the batting order. Of course, he loses the game. I think Joe Mauer could DH and get two hits in a coma. Why on earth would you bench the best hitter in the game?


Let's not forget that we're talking about baseball players here. My father was a union electrician for forty years and I can count the days he didn't go to work on one hand. He worked ten hour days all-year round, mind you. Baseball players put in, what, six hours at the ballpark seven months of the year, get paid millions of dollars, and we as fans find it necessary to agree with Ron Gardenhire by giving Joe Mauer a "much deserved" day off? The most overrated sports record is Cal Ripken's consecutive games streak. Don't get me wrong -- the guy was a Hall-of-Fame player without the streak. But people who toil anonymously everyday for their entire lives at their jobs would scoff at such glorification. Two factors go into play with Ripken's streak: a) he was a good player and b) he was lucky. Plain and simple. Had Ron Gardenhire managed Cal Ripken, I'd have a sneak feeling that he would have wanted to give Ripken a "much deserved" day off. Why some people think that Ripken's streak is "unbeatable" is beyond me. All you need to do is be a good player and be lucky. My point here is that Ron Gardenhire's decision to sit Joe Mauer on the bench perhaps cost him the game. For all the mojo that Gardenhire's lineup change created, it all went away with one decision by the skipper.


Nick Blackburn goes tonight against Jon Lester. Blackburn's always been a much better Dome pitcher than on the road, but he's also been pitching well of late, which doesn't quite bode well for tonight. Blackburn's definitely not one of those pitchers who like to carry teams on their backs -- they'd do that, but for only seven innings or one hundred pitches, nothing more.