AUGUST 5, 2009 -- CLEVELAND 8, MINNESOTA 1

That's the Minnesota Twins' 2009 season in a nutshell -- two games that tell you how this team has played for four months. On Tuesday, they absolutely demolish a horrendous Cleveland Indians team, riding seven strong innings from Scott Baker, getting timely hitting from both the usual suspects (Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel) as well as unlikely sources (Carlos Gomez anybody?) and playing clean defense. The 10-1 victory was about as smooth-sailing as a victory can get. You'd think that the team might use that win as momentum to come back the next day and again outperform an inferior opponent. But Francisco Liriano was on the hill, and by the time the game was over, the Twins had fallen 8-1 to these Indians, in one of their most pathetic showings of the season. Aaron Laffey predictably breezed through the Twins lineup, going eight innings and allowing only one unearned run. Liriano was again lost on the mound, just struggling to get outs and falling behind hitters all night long. Frankly it was the same Liriano we've seen all year long, and it's more indicative of the kind of leash that the on-field staff has with this guy.

I'd say there have been five or six starts alone that would have prompted a good manager to address the problem and make a change, either by sending Liriano to the bullpen or down to Triple-A like they did last season. A guy leading the league in losses (and they're not tough-luck losses, either) and second in the league in walks has no business being in the starting rotation for a "competitive" club. But, according to Ron Gardenhire, he'd rather keep putting a confidence-drained Liriano on the mound rather than trying to get someone else to take his rotation spot: "The options are very limited. We can't go with a four-man rotation, and we just don't have much starting pitching left. It's not like we can just say, ah, let's take him out and put somebody else in." You can't say that, eh? You can't say, we have a better chance of winning with just about anybody on the mound? Brian Douchebag did better than Liriano could have ever done in a spot start last week; I'm not saying that's the answer, but it would be an upgrade. What this whole situation really emphasizes is how poorly the Twins did to address their holes both in last offseason and at the trading deadline. They're pretty pitching-thin right now, reliant on guys like Bobby Keppel and R.A. Dickey to get outs that just aren't in them at this point, and they desperately needed to get somebody, anybody to help the staff -- if they want to compete. And that's a big if considering the on-field staff and the front-office, who seems content as long as they stay "competitive" for the bulk of the summer (i.e. keep putting butts in the seats).

The fourth inning in Wednesday's contest was perhaps a classic '09 Twins inning, one in which it was so pathetic to experience that I'm struggling to recap it for you. Already down 2-0, Liriano started the inning by getting the first two batters quickly. Ninth-place batter Trevor Crowe singled up the middle, and moved to second on a boneheaded bobble by Carlos Gomez (who, by the way, resolutely fell back down to earth on Wednesday, not only with the error but with his more Gomez-esque 0 for 4 day at the plate). Joe Mauer allowed Crowe to go to third due to a passed ball, and three singles later, the Indians had a 4-0 lead, and with the Twins offense phoning it in against Laffey, that was as good as a rout. The bullpen quickly restaged its oft-performed act that it has reprised of late, meaning that they inherited a respectable deficit (4-1 in this case) and turned that score into a laugher. It was 8-1 before Bobby Keppel could get an out in the sixth inning, to say nothing of R.A. Dickey's zero-out, three-runs allowed performance. What's funny is that Orlando Cabrera is tearing the cover off the ball for the Twins -- he was the only hitter, seemingly, not to be in a catatonic state on Wednesday, going 3 for 4. Had the Twins at least attempted to patch their pitching holes, they may have a decent shot at making the playoffs. But the way that the pitching staff is comprised currently -- really one or two semi-reliable starters, a great closer whose value is greatly diminished when he's rarely needed to save games, and zero dependable arms in between -- seriously undermines their chances of even getting into second place.

JULY 20, 2009 -- OAKLAND 14, MINNESOTA 13

Buckle up, folks. This one's going to be a long one.

Many people might come here and expect a nice long rant on how home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski blew the call at home to end the game, calling out Michael Cuddyer trying to score from second base on a wild pitch. And let's get it straight -- Cuddyer was very safe; it really wasn't close at all. Muchlinski's horrible call cannot go unnoticed, as it probably is one of the worst, most gutless calls I've ever seen in my life. But the fact remains is this -- to cry over a bad call in the ninth inning in a game in which the Twins led by ten freaking runs is not the correct emotion to cling to. This was a game so classically Gardenhire-esque and so pathetic and yet so predictable that Muchlinski probably made the right call. The Twins had no business even being close in this game. They were as far from deserving to win on Monday as any team in the history of major league baseball. This is the real Twins, folks. These players and this manager -- these pathetic excuses for baseball people are what we stress out over for six months of the year.

OK -- you don't call yourself a competitive team -- no, scratch that; you don't call yourself a major-league team if you're losing games in which you were leading the second worst team in the American League by TEN runs. This is a mockery of the game to lose a game like this. A mockery of the game. The sad part about it is that a lot of people will forget how pathetic the Twins actually were and remember only Muchlinski's bonehead call. We need not to forget about such games -- that's Ron Gardenhire's awesome idea, to just forget about it and move on. No -- we need to examine how games like this get out of hand so it never, EVER happens again. Ron Gardenhire needs to look at his own managerial style and see how this game was lost well before it even began. I'm sorry -- in a game in which you have a ten run lead and you lose, it's not all on the players. A lot of the blame must be thrown on the manager here, and this was one of the worst managed games I've ever been a witness to. Quite often here at the MTRC, I tend to overplay my hatred for Ron Gardenhire and I might be a little harsh on him at times. But it's these kind of performances that just reaffirm Gardenhire's status as truly one of the worst in-game managers in the game. It's absolutely cuckoo to me how this man can sleep at night.

Gardenhire's first folly: deciding (whenever it was) that his staff ace, sinkerballer Nick Blackburn should get nine days between starts, giving some bullshit excuse like "he's worked a lot of innings in the first half of the season." That's ridiculous right off the bat, because Blackburn's been your ace in the season and you ride your best pitcher, not give him nine days off and throw off his rythym. More importantly, it doesn't take a lifelong baseball fan to know that nine days between starts for a sinkerball pitcher would tend to make Blackburn a little too strong for his start on Monday, thereby putting too much force on the sinkerball and straightening it out. I was curious why Blackburn was skipped on Friday when he should have started, and to hear that Blackburn's workload was perhaps a little "taxing" in the first half of the season was pure Gardenhire blather that makes little to no logical sense. Not surprisingly, Blackburn put forth his worst performance of the season, giving up thirteen hits and seven runs in five innings of work. But when you get a week and a half between starts, that's only going to screw with the winning rythym he had set in the first half. Good one, Gardy.

Then the bullpen. I had to do a double take last night when I heard Ron Gardenhire's post-game comments (usually I don't, but I had to see what he was going to say after this one). I don't have the exact quote, but Gardenhire said something like, "You're used to seeing this happen to the other team and not ours," referring to a bullpen meltdown. Ah--whaaaaat? Does the year 2008 mean anything to you? Remember when you brought Matt Guerrier in every freaking game to blow leads and lose games down the stretch? Apparently this has all been taken care of thanks to Ron Gardenhire's patented GARDY 2K8 Amnesia Therapy, and it's another reason why forgetting about what didn't work at one time is a terrible philosophy not only to manage a baseball team but life in general. It's one thing that Ron Gardenhire's a terrible manager, but it's even worse when he goes Last Year at Marienbad on us all. Good managers have the ability to adapt, and acknowledge what didn't work once and try a different approach. Monday's game and his bullpen management was predictably bad, but I still can't figure out the logic behind any of it.

1) He brings in Brian Douchebag in the sixth inning. Douchebag was apparently Gardenhire's bridge from Blackburn to the eighth inning, which makes zero sense considering Duensing had pitched in Sunday's game (and took the loss). Douchebag's sixth inning was a struggle, as he allowed the first two batters to reach before being bailed out by a double-play ball. You'd think after Douchebag struggled so mightily in the sixth inning that Ron Gardenhire would come to his senses. Why he didn't go to R.A. Dickey in the sixth and the seventh is beyond me; Dickey had pitched Sunday too, but only threw six pitches, and hadn't pitched for eight days prior to that. Besides, he's the staff junkballer and you've boasted the fact that Dickey can give you four innings each night. But there was Douchebag on the mound for the seventh, and the same scenario unfolded: this time the first three batters reached, and then Ron Gardenhire waddled out to the mound to make a pitching change.

2) We were all waiting in steep anticipation for the Bobby Keppel Meltdown. What we were waiting for is the most pathetic opportunity for that to happen, and when Keppel was called on to "extinguish" the situation on Monday, I knew that Keppel was giving up the lead like nothing else in the world. If I were in Las Vegas, I would have made a killing on that, because that is the perfect situation for this career 7+ ERA wash-up never-even-has-been to finally implode. Why this guy was even called up from the minors when stud prospects like Anthony Slama and Rob Delaney continue to post impressive numbers still confuses me. Of course, with Ron Gardenhire, all you have to give him is two or three good outings out of the bullpen and you are then called on to blow games on a regular basis, and after Monday, we'll probably get to see a few more Bobby Keppel Meltdowns before that whole experiment officially goes kaput. It was pretty quick with Keppel -- bloop double, walk, and game-tying grand slam -- and in came Jose Mijares to give up the game-winning home run on the first pitch he threw to Jack Cust.

3) Then there's the situation in the top of the eighth inning. Joe Mauer had been given the night off, apparently because he's been struggling of late, but now with the Twins behind on the scoreboard, now Ron Gardenhire had the luxury of having the best hitter in the American League on his bench, and he could use him in a number of favorable situations. Brendan Harris led off the eighth with a single off reliever Brad Ziegler, and Mike Redmond strode to the plate. I figured that Gardenhire was going to save Mauer for the ninth inning or, if Redmond can at least move Harris to second base, pinch hit in the eighth inning for Alexi Casilla. Gardenhire had already dug himself a hole when he used Nick Punto in the #2 hole, and with Casilla also playing, the Twins had two sore thumbs in the batting order, but at least they had their ace in the hole in Joe Mauer (Casilla and Punto, by the way, went a combined 0 for 8, with two strikeouts and five pop-ups -- again, how long does it take Mark Grudzielanek to get into game shape?). Redmond's bunt attempts (he hadn't sacrificed in over three years, by the way) were for naught, and you had the sneak feeling that Redmond better strike out, because if he puts the ball in play, he's going to hit into a double play. Well, that's exactly what happened. With two out and nobody on base, up strode Joe Mauer to pinch hit for Casilla. This one I still can't fathom the logic behind. What are you doing, Ron Gardenhire? In essence, he wastes Mauer -- what, does he think he's going to hit a home run? Compounded on that was the fact that Mauer took over for Redmond behind the plate in the bottom of the eighth. So instead of pinch hitting Mauer for Redmond -- which is the logical move if you're planning on putting Mauer at catcher anyway -- Gardenhire uses his best hitter in a meaningless spot and lets Mike Redmond take their team out of the inning a batter before. With two out and nobody on, I'd might as well let Alexi Casilla make the third out of that inning and save Mauer for the ninth, because you have Nick Punto in the #2 hole that you need a pinch hitter for, too. As it turned out, Gardenhire had to use Brian Buscher, his other pinch-hitting option, at third to take over Redmond's spot in the lineup, and Punto had to hit in the ninth. Basically, with that beyond-stupid move, Gardenhire made three outs with one move -- Redmond made two outs when he should have been pinch-hit for, and Punto struck out because Gardenhire pinch hit Mauer in the wrong place and had to waste his other pinch-hitting option for defense. Absolutely demented managing.

Well, I'm done with this one. For all those out there who still think this team is competitive and can win this division, I hope you can look at this game and see who the real Minnesota Twins are. And the fact is, this has been the team all along. They've been masquerading as a .500 club up to this point, and all it takes is one West Coast classic like this one to prove to everyone that the Twins aren't going anywhere this season and as long as Ron Gardenhire manages this bunch of clowns, they'll never do anything.

JULY 19, 2009 -- TEXAS 5, MINNESOTA 3 (12 innings)

Ian Kinsler started the game with a home run off Francisco Liriano and ended the game some twelve innings later, belting a two-run shot off R.A. Dickey to give the Rangers a much-needed 5-3 win. In between Kinsler's home run, the Twins' offense was pretty much non-existent against the always subpar Texas pitching staff. They got only three runs off a lost rookie lefthander, Derek Holland, and those runs were produced by Nick Punto (on a home run -- yes, miracles do happen!), Alexi Casilla and Denard Span. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau continued to phone it in during the three-game series, and the Twins' 3-4-5 hitters went a combined 0 for 15 in Sunday's game. That's just ridiculous folks, and it's almost amazing that the game went 12 innings to begin with. The Twins struck out thirteen times against Holland and company and went 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position. There was a huge shortage of clutch hitting, which is quickly becoming a theme for this team.

Casilla finished the day 1 for 5 and completed the series going 2 for 14, which actually lowered his already low batting average from .180 to .176. Compounded to his absolute patheticness at the plate, Casilla made yet another defensive lapse in the field, letting a catchable foul ball drop because he wanted Justin Morneau, who had a much worse angle at the ball, to catch it instead. Casilla grounded into a double play in the first inning, too. With the Twins signing veteran Mark Grudzielanek on Sunday, the only question I have is this: how long does it take Mark Grudzielanek to get into game shape? I'm not saying that Grudzielanek is the be-all and end-all option at second base. He's old (39) and he hasn't played at all since last August. But considering who the Twins have (Casilla, Punto, Tolbert -- or in other words, Bad, Terrible, and God-Awful) Grudzielanek might as well be Joe Morgan. Seriously, how can Grudzielanek be any worse than what the Twins already have? Here's a guy who has always hit consistently (.290 career hitter) and he even won a Gold Glove in the later part of his career, in 2006 with the Royals. Most importantly, the guy is experienced and he's not going to make the mental errors that Casilla has been making every single game that he plays. And, it's going to be a lot less embarrassing to pencil in a guy like Grudzielanek in the #2 hole instead of guys hitting below the cost of a gallon of gasoline. This being said, even if Grudzielanek comes to the Twins, you know Ron Gardenhire's going to look at his infield -- Joe Crede at third, Brendan Harris at short, Grudzielanek at second, Morneau to first -- and say that that's way too good, and insist on putting Nick Punto somewhere. An infield just wouldn't be an infield for Ron Gardenhire if there wasn't at least one guy hitting under .200.

Well, the Twins won a series against the competing Rangers, and now they get to travel to Oakland to face the bottom-feeding Athletics, who have the second-worst record in the American League. The first time the Twins went to Oakland they let the A's win two games which the Twins should have won, but this time around if the Twins don't win the series (they really should sweep Oakland) it would be a major disaster, especially considering that the Twins actually face a competent opponent next weekend in the Angels. Staff ace Nick Blackburn goes for the Twins against southpaw Gio Gonzalez.

JULY 11, 2009 -- CHICAGO 8, MINNESOTA 7

The Twins return to form on Saturday, getting a vomit-inducing start from Glen Perkins, who looked like he was still sick when he was on the mound. All I can hope from Perkins is that he was smart and considerate enough not to spread that crap to the rest of the team, because whatever he had had a small touch of suck-itis on the side. Perkins excelled at his game plan, which is to take his team out of the game as soon as humanly possible, and he did that in spades. The Twins were down by three after two innings, and then fell into a 5-0 deficit before Perkins finally gave way to R.A. Dickey, who showed signs of his early-season horridness by giving up what would eventually turn out to be the winning runs of the game. Actually the last three runs were a tandem effort, as Dickey walked the bases loaded in the sixth and then Brian Douchebag (aka Duensing) did his best Sean Henn impression when he gave up a bases-clearing double to the first batter he faced, Jim Thome. Duensing’s been absolutely dreadful so far in his audition for the Twins, who continue to fill their major holes in the bullpen with minor-league washups, retreads, and non-prospects. Either get Slama or Delaney up here ASAP or trade for somebody – or watch as you finish in third place, out of first place by a double-digit deficit. It’s your choice, Bill Smith.

The Twins would make it close thanks to a couple home runs from ex-White Sock Joe Crede and had a chance to tie it in the ninth after Jose Morales cut the gap to one run when he hit a two-run single off Bobby Jenks. Brian Buscher represented the tying run at second base, but then Denard Span grounded into a terrible double play to end the game, and that was all she wrote. Two-out hitting killed the Twins again, both giving up two-out hits to Chicago and then failing at clutch hitting when they were taking their hacks. I don’t believe there is a stat out there that collects a sort of two-out hitting differential (take the Twins’ batting average with two-outs and subtract their pitcher’s opponents batting average with two outs) but if there was, I would imagine that the Twins’ would be brutal. Last year’s success has proven to be an aberration; remember when the 2008 Twins led the world with batting average with runners in scoring position? Yeah, that was a fluke, and they’ve displayed their real talent for clutch hitting this year. On Saturday, the Twins were giving up two-out hits left and right, twice giving up run-scoring hits to Brian Anderson with two out in an inning. Okay, you don’t give up hits to Brian Anderson, much less big ones. Another example of the sore thumb of an opponent’s lineup coming back to bite you in the ass. Meanwhile, the Twins went 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position (the White Sox went 5 for 19 – nineteen at-bats with guys on base just tells you how effective Perkins and company were Saturday). The 7-8-9 hitters for the White Sox (Jayson Nix, Gordon Beckham, and Anderson) went a combined 7 for 13 – it’s the second time this homestand that the bottom third of the opponent’s order has been the reason that the Twins have lost – that’s just pathetic.

I have the great opportunity to attend today’s Twins game, but when I looked at the pitching match-up – Mark Buehrle against Scott Baker – frankly I’m pretty sure that I’m going to be seeing a White Sox victory Sunday. Buehrle is just so nasty on the Twins and Baker is just so terrible against everyone that I don’t expect the Twins to pull it out today. But I hope that my expectations are wrong and that I see a victory.

JULY 3, 2009 -- DETROIT 11, MINNESOTA 9 (16 innings)

If ever there is a baseball team that should have won a game that they had trailed by six runs, it’s the Minnesota Twins. The Detroit Tigers prove to be a resilient team, rebounding from the huge shift in momentum that occurred when the Twins rallied to tie the score at seven in the middle innings. Then the game went on and on…and on and on…and on to the sixteenth inning. Fortunately for everyone involved, R.A. Dickey was the last pitcher left for the Twins, and he provided a flashback to April, when Dickey was one of the most hittable, slop-throwing pitchers I’ve ever seen. All the respect that Dickey had gained from this writer over the past few months he lost in three little innings in which he gave up nine hits and four runs. The Tigers’ run they scored in the fourteenth inning didn’t hold up, because the last pitcher in there bullpen was the shaky Freddy Dolsi, and the Twins quickly tied the score, but thanks to Justin Morneau and Dan Gladden, they couldn’t win the game. That’s because Gladden, who inexplicably was calling play-by-play in crucial extra innings, claimed that, after Dolsi had allowed hits to Joe Mauer and Morneau to start the inning, the Twins “were going to win this game because of Dolsi’s ineffectiveness.” Good one, Dazzle. After you mentioned that, you officially jinxed the Twins and they were certainly not going to win. Justin Morneau helped that cause in the very next at-bat, when he stupidly tried to go to third on Michael Cuddyer’s game-tying single. Morneau was easily thrown out, thereby committing the cardinal sin of getting making the first out at third base. Still not sure what Morneau’s thinking – dude, you’re not fast, and you don’t need to try to be Superman. Park your ass at second base and don’t be an idiot.

The game was really classic Twins – providing more than a glimmer of a hope that they would win the game, and then teasing fans for sixteen wretched innings just so they can lose. It was a dickhead effort in every sense of the word – if you were going to lose, why not just take that 6-0 deficit that Kevin Slowey put you in after the third inning, bring in R.A. Dickhead right then and there, and cruise to a 15-0 loss? Instead, the Twins had to get their money’s worth, tire out all their pitchers in the bullpen, make Joe Mauer catch all sixteen innings (most certainly he’ll DH today because of that) and embarrass their fans at the end of the game. The top of the sixteenth was an abomination in the Biblical sense, as Dickey was throwing batting practice to the Tiger hitters. Though the Twins patheticness was the hallmark of Friday’s game, the Tigers also have to be commended, as they showed everyone which of the two teams belonged in first place. Though they haven’t run away with it yet, making certifiable idiots like Dick Bremer get ants in his pants over the fact that the Twins are only four games out of first place, the Tigers are clearly the best team in this division. One thing that they proved on Friday is that they are able to win games that they should have lost. True, they had led the game by six runs, but after the fourteenth inning started, the Twins should have been able to get across the winning run. Good teams take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes; the Tigers did that in spades, while the Twins just couldn’t do enough.

I should apologize to my readers today, as I was unable to post an blog entry on Friday. Though Thursday was an off-day and I had no game to recap, I was planning to complete Matt Guerrier’s Doghouse post, but some unfortunate events occurred that had me flying to San Diego in a huff. See, some people would have heard of the 53-minute delay that occurred at Petco Park in San Diego on Wednesday, a delay that was caused by a mammoth swarm of bees. It was unfortunate to see the gentleman who was called upon to quell the situation and because of that, I needed to make a quick trip to San Diego on Friday. The apiarist that they called upon to take care of the bees was a Mr. Mark Goldsmith, who just so happened to be mentored by yours truly in the 1980s. Being the lone certified apiarist in the county in which I reside, I was the one to go to if you had apiarist ambitions, and Goldsmith was one of those people. Since he became certified, Goldsmith has resolutely turned his back on me and frankly I resent that. I know that this may not be the appropriate medium to utter these words, but Goldsmith and I are now rivals, and I happened to catch Goldsmith’s actions on Wednesday. Knowing that the cameras were rolling and that it may be the only time that he would get any exposure from his job, Goldsmith frankly was rude and condescending and as a fellow apiarist, I took great umbrage, so much so that I had to fly to San Diego and talk to a man that I had not spoken to in over ten years. He’s gone California with his career and has forgotten his roots, and I felt that I needed to speak to him desperately. When you’re in the bee business, you learn that it’s more often the people than the bees that really sting, and I hope that by talking to Goldsmith, he now understands that.

Francisco Liriano pitches tonight against Edwin Jackson. Liriano pitched well in St. Louis after turning in a terrible five-inning performance in Milwaukee. He’s won two games in a row, but I still think that Liriano is best suited for the bullpen. Jackson has been perhaps the best acquisition of any team from last offseason, and he’s a major reason that the Tigers are where they’re at. The game starts at 3 PM today.

JUNE 25, 2009 -- MINNESOTA 6, MILWAUKEE 4

The Twins pick up a nice win in Milwaukee, winning two out of three games at Miller Park. That seems to be the protocol for the Twins against the Brewers the last few years -- they've fared quite well against their neighbors to the east. Scott Baker pitches five solid innings and then hits the wall like he usually does in the middle innings. Fortunately, the Twins lead was such that his two home-run, three-run sixth inning did not give up the lead, and the Twins would tack on a couple of runs the following inning and extend the lead to a safe 6-3 margin. Denard Span had a marvelous return from the disabled list, reaching base four times and really providing that spark that was desperately missing for two weeks. Brendan Harris was doing a fine job there until Ron Gardenhire inexplicably changed things up and put one of his worst players in that spot (either Matt Tolbert or Carlos Gomez). Span is really the only guy on the team who's a natural fit in the lead-off position, and him being healthy means that Ron Gardenhire doesn't have to exercise any more of the all-too seldom brain cells that he has in order to decide who will lead off. For those who didn't think Span was invaluable to the team were supremely educated on Thursday. The Twins won't be winning a division title this season, but Span's presence can at the very least preserve a .500 record.

The bullpen has continued to pitch decent enough, and Ron Gardenhire surprised me by putting R.A. Dickey into the game in the seventh inning. All indications are that it might be Dickey after all who could assume the role that Luis Ayala had on the club (seventh-inning guy), and it appears that Dickey is not as hellbent on extending leads as Ayala apparently was. He's a junkballer, yes, but he's been an effective one at that, and he might as well assume the eighth inning role as well. Matt Guerrier's been garnering some favorable press as of late, but let's remember that he started last season off pretty well too. The cookie that Guerrier threw to Ryan Braun in the eighth inning -- you could see Braun's eyes pop when he saw that pitch -- that's the real Guerrier, folks. He cannot be trusted with leads; well, apparently Ron Gardenhire has faith in Guerrier. He had so much faith last year in Guerrier that he chose the right-hander to be the guy to block them from making the post-season. The frequency of which Gardenhire chose to put the ragged-armed Guerrier into close ballgames last year should raise red flags to gambling monitors. By September if Guerrier was brought into the game it was 100% certain that he was giving up runs. The lingering resentment of one lost division title is the main reason that Guerrier has a permanent spot in The Doghouse, and even if he pitches to a 1.50 ERA this season, he's there for life.

Now the Twins will stop in St. Louis for a three-game series, and will be playing their first games in the New Busch Stadium, which if anything is good for the Twins. The Old Busch Stadium was a bit of a nightmare for Tom Kelly, who went 2-10 there (including, of course, the 1987 World Series). Ron Gardenhire will be managing against the Cardinals for the first time in his career, and it's a long time coming, because Tony LaRussa is probably the manager that Gardy takes after the most. It's LaRussa, after all, that is primarily responsible for introducing the concept of the modern bullpen to the game, wherein the team's designated closer rarely goes more than one inning per appearance, and set-up men, previously a role unheard of, bridged the gap from the starter to the closer. It's revolutionized the game, and no doubt LaRussa has his critics, but you can't argue with two World Series championships, five Series appearances, and umpteen playoff appearances. Pretty sure Ron Gardenhire won't touch that.