MAY 28, 2009 -- BOSTON 3, MINNESOTA 1

The Twins can't take three out of four against the Red Sox, struggling to get anything off of Boston ace Josh Beckett, and losing 3-1. The lone Twins run came on a Joe Crede bomb to left field, but other than that the Twins rarely threatened against Beckett and the bullpen. The seventh inning was certainly an eventful frame, as both teams saw their catcher and manager being tossed in that inning. It really hurt the Twins, as they were forced to use Joe Mauer behind the plate and lose the designated hitter for the remainder of the game. This probably will now make Ron Gardenhire wary of using both Mike Redmond and Joe Mauer in the same game, and he'll probably resort to just resting Mauer and not using him as a DH. It may also prompt Gardenhire to call up Jose Morales as a third catcher, which I would welcome. What value does Luis Ayala have on this team? Zero, and his days on the roster should be coming to a close, which could make room for a third catcher. In all reality, Redmond has no serviceable talent available anymore, but he's a "clubhouse guy" and "gritty," as Gardenhire would say, and he has a sick aversion of keeping talent-deficient "character" guys on his team (Punto, Tolbert, Redmond, et al).


Anthony Swarzak pitched good enough to win the ballgame for the Twins, pitching into the seventh inning and allowing only three runs. Now I know that young pitchers have a tendancy to do well in their first few starts, before teams have a good knowledge of how the pitcher approaches at-bats and what stuff he has. It's not wise to assume that Swarzak is going to be lights-out all season long. But it is refreshing to see a pitcher on the mound who is confident in his pitches. Swarzak is a pitcher's pitcher, a pitcher and not merely a thrower, who has appeared to be wise beyond his years in his first two starts. Conversely, Glen Perkins looked like a deer in the headlights in his last four or so starts, Francisco Liriano seems to have zero confidence in his ability right now, and Scott Baker doesn't exactly own the mound at this point either. Swarzak's poise is really his number one asset, and I don't think you can remove him from his starting spot until he appears to lose that poise. I reiterate that I believe the best situation for the team is for Liriano to move to the bullpen -- and don't think of it as a demotion to the bullpen, but rather perceive it as having both the team and the pitcher's best interest in mind when making the move. Liriano has devastating stuff when he's on, but he seems to lose that edge rather quickly in his starts. Bottle that lights-out stuff and expose it for an inning or two at a time; it can help the team drastically, because we all know that the middle-relief is the Achilles heel of the franchise. Joe Nathan isn't going to be around forever, either, and Liriano potentially has closer material. Moving Liriano to the 'pen makes logical sense, which probably means that the Twins will never do it.


Here's a Nick Punto update for all you fans. Punto sat out on Thursday due to a sore groin, and passionate Twins fans can only hope that that groin problem does not improve. He's hitting a feeble .187 with an OPS of an almost-unimaginable .501. Punto is about ten plate appearances from qualifying for batting average statistics, but just to put that in perspective -- the next lowest OPS in the American League is .544, by Tampa Bay's Dioner Navarro. The numbers don't lie -- Punto is far and away the worst offensive player in the league. His defense, the attribute normally cited as the reason he makes $4 million a season, isn't so hot either; his fielding percentage is 15th out of 22 qualifying major-league shortstops, and he's made the seventh-most errors out of any shortstop in the league so far (5). Pretty pedestrian numbers for a guy with the fifth-highest contract on the team. And if you want a really good laugh, check out the Official Nick Punto Fan Club. So funny that it almost made me throw up.


The Twins travel to Tampa Bay, who are reeling right now, losers of five straight games and decimated with injuries. Scott Baker pitches tonight for the Twins against James Shields, a pitcher whom the Twins have had good success against.