APRIL 11, 2010 -- CHICAGO 5, MINNESOTA 4

The Twins find a way to lose on Sunday, barring them the chance of entering their new ballpark on a six-game winning streak. Nick Blackburn was in continuous "lets-give-up-the-lead" mode all day long, as he surrendered three home runs to the White Sox. Paul Konerko's two-run shot in the first was at least hit by a guy who you expect to go deep. Blackburn giving up homers to the likes of Mark Kotsay and Gordon Beckham, however, are not. If you want to win, you've got to get guys like Mark Kotsay out every time at bat, and certainly you don't give up home runs against them. But Sunday was not without its share of goats. There's Ron Gardenhire for putting Nick Punto in the starting lineup. Punto's double-play grounder early in the ballgame was crucial, as the Twins were threatening to make it a short day for Mark Buehrle. So predictable was Punto's failure at the plate that it made Brendan Harris' walk in the previous at-bat look genius. But Ron Gardenhire is a goat of every Twins loss; what makes the Twins unique is how often the spread around the love, so to speak, in terms of losing ballgames.


Scott Ullger has to be one of the stupidest men working in the major leagues. That's saying something, because not many members of the Twins management are going to get into Mensa anytime soon. But the game ended so pathetically that Scott Ullger must be chided for his ultimate stupidity in the ninth inning. With J. J. Hardy at first base and two outs, pinch-hitter Jim Thome doubled off the wall in left field. Hardy of course was off with the crack of the bat, but had not quite made it to third base when the ball was relayed to the infield. What does Ullger do? He sends Hardy, and he's thrown out by forty-five feet. I realize that you want to make things happen, Ullger, but my God -- that was absolutely pathetic! It's true that Nick Punto was the on-deck hitter, likely to be replaced by a pinch hitter (though with Ron Gardenhire, you might very well see Punto hitting for himself in that theoretical situation -- or he'd send up Alexi Casilla). Maybe that was what motivated Ullger to make such a stupid decision. And in the post-game interview, it was suggested that perhaps Hardy made the decision to go on his own. Either way, the third-base coach needs to do his job there. Hardy doesn't have eyes in the back of his head, and Ullger has a clear view of the play. Who knows what would have happened if Hardy would have rightfully stayed at third, but at least don't make it look that pathetic.


Now the Twins return home for the first time, and for the first time since 1981, the Twins will be playing outdoors in their home whites. Tomorrow, readers will be treated with co-blogger Hank Rickenbacker, who will have a report from the game. It's the first game that Hank's attended since the old Met, and he'll be able to give us a full report on Target Field as well as the Red Sox-Twins game. Looking forward to it Hank!

JUNE 5, 2009 -- MINNESOTA 2, SEATTLE 1 (10 innings)

Talk about pure cheese. The Twins win in the tenth inning Friday compliments of an error by Seattle left fielder Wladimir Balentien, who misplayed Matt Tolbert's line drive into a game-winner. Balentien no doubt reminded Twins fans of a certain Seldom Delmon Young by letting the outfield play him. Though the victory was no doubt cheesy, and mistakes in the game were rife, it's a win, and the Twins should be grateful to win a game started by Felix Hernandez, who looked pretty sharp for the M's. On a positive note, Francisco Liriano turned in a fine pitching performance, a rarity this year. Sure, the lineup that he faced featured an over-the-hill Mike Sweeney batting clean-up -- definitely not Murderer's Row. But Liriano needed this start badly, as maybe he can gain some confidence from his six-inning performance.

For the first time this season, the bottom of the lineup outperformed the top half, as the combo of Brendan Harris, Brian Buscher, Carlos Gomez, and Alexi Casilla combined to go 7 for 16. When it mattered, the bottom of the order choked, of course, and Matt Tolbert -- what can I say about this pathetic excuse for a major league player? He entered the game in the eighth inning pinch running for Joe Crede. Tolbert did end up stealing a base in the inning, and then Tolbert and third base coach/idiot Scott Ullger conspired to run themselves out of the inning. Buscher's infield single to second base was apparently enough for Ullger to send Tolbert home on the play, who was out by ten feet at the plate. Obviously Ullger had flashbacks to last Saturday, when he failed to send Joe Crede on an overthrow in which Crede likely would have scored. The batter on deck that day was Alexi Casilla, and Casilla would have been the next batter on Friday night, so it's not like I disagree with the decision -- Casilla sucks, and for him to get two hits in a game (much less two hits in a week) is a miracle in itself, so you can't bet on him getting a third hit, especially one in a clutch situation.

Then there's Tolbert's at-bat in the tenth inning. With the game on the line, Ron Gardenhire had apparently no move in which to pinch-hit for Tolbert -- which is a shining example of how thin this bench is at this point. If Michael Cuddyer can't pinch hit in this spot, you might as well put him on the disabled list. Cuddyer's terrible, too, of course, but anybody in the building is a better option that Matt Tolbert. Dare I say Seldom Young would have presented a better chance to get the run home? With runners on first and third and one out, Tolbert was at the dish because of Ron Gardenhire's insanity, and even Gardenhire is apparently aware of Tolbert's lack of skill, as he called for the suicide squeeze. Considering Tolbert's role model appears to be Nick Punto (his stats reflect a certain Puntoesque Patheticness), I think everyone in the park thought that the only way Tolbert was going to get the job done was with a bunt. With the worst hitter on the current 25-man roster at the plate (basically a pitcher batting), the element of surprise isn't there -- it's not like Joe Mauer was at the plate or somebody halfway decent. Tolbert squared to bunt, and the pitch was way outside, though not too far off the plate for Tolbert to at least make contact with. Because he failed to foul the ball off, Mauer was hung out to dry coming home, and the Twins were bailed out by the Seattle defense on the next play. It just emphasizes a major point -- this team is under the belief that they can win the division and they're putting guys like Matt Tolbert and Alexi Casilla and Carlos Gomez and Seldom Young and Nick Punto and Brian Buscher and Mike Redmond into the lineup on a consistent basis. If your team is asking Matt Tolbert to drive home game-winning runs in extra innings, competing for a pennant should be the last thing from your mind.

Well, the Twins got a win in Seattle, which I thought would be a tough challenge. Now they get their ace Nick Blackburn on the mound this afternoon against Jerrod Washburn, a guy with mediocre stuff that the Twins have never really figured out. Washburn, by the way, is the pride of Webster, Wisconsin -- an area that I spend parts of my summers in. Blackburn goes for win #6 on the year today.

MAY 30, 2009 -- TAMPA BAY 5, MINNESOTA 2

The Twins are unable to get anything off of Tampa Bay starter David Price, who struck out eleven batters in 5 2/3 innings on Saturday, and Francisco Liriano gave the Twins yet another subpar start, lasting only four innings and giving up four runs. The big inning for the Rays was the third, when Tampa batted around and scored four runs off Liriano. This followed Twins-on-the-road protocol, which states that once the team has a lead on the road, their pitchers must give that lead back immediately and usually take the team out of the game while they're at it. Liriano cruised through the first two innings, and then the third inning saw him throw 47 pitches and give up the four runs.


Fox analyst Eric Karros was partly blaming the defense for some of the runs scoring, and it's not like Liriano was hit very hard in the inning; a lot of seeing-eye hits and ground-ball bleeders led to the four runs. But Liriano did a few things that are unacceptable: 1) he gave up a home run to a guy named Joe Dillon -- you don't give up hits to this slug, much less home runs; 2) he walked two batters to prolong the inning and 3) most importantly, he struggled with command and looked lost on the mound. He hasn't shown a whole lot of mound presence in his last few starts, and especially when he gives up a run, Liriano seems to lose confidence quickly and he spirals into a huge inning. I for one don't see the defense as the reason for the four runs; even Nick Punto and his "better range" than Brendan Harris wouldn't have been able to stop the bleeding.


The Twins were basically non-existent at the plate against Price, who looked overpowering in his first major league win. They did, however, squander two runs while Price was on the mound, one of which was courtesy of third base coach/idiot Scott Ullger. Price had walked Joe Crede in the second inning and pitched to Carlos Gomez, who (not surprisingly) swung pathetically and tapped back to the pitcher. Price then threw wildly to first base, overthrowing everybody. Crede made it to third, rounded the bag, and then Ullger held him up. The replays confirmed that Crede would have likely made it home on the play, but Ullger held him up while he was positioned near home plate. Karros was correct in criticizing Ullger on the play, as you need to 1) force the issue, 2) realize that Price is throwing almost-unhittable stuff and you aren't going to get many opportunites to score against him and 3) most obviously, you need to know who is on deck. Alexi Casilla was on-deck, and Ullger apparently forgot about that in his over-conservative basecoaching, or he was showing a perverted sense of confidence in the beleaguered infielder. Casilla, obviously, failed to get the run home, and the Twins, thanks to their base coach, were stripped of a run. Come on, Ullger -- it was going to be an easy play to end the inning, and now you have a good chance of getting a cheap run across the plate. Everyone in the building knows that Casilla is a minor-league player; force the freaking issue.


Michael Cuddyer also failed to get a run across in the third inning. With Joe Mauer at third base and one out (with one run already in), Cuddyer struck out on a pitch way out of the strike zone. As I said after Cuddyer's cycle last Friday, the guy loves to fail in clutch situations. All he's done since the cycle is hit two solo home runs in losing efforts. Cuddyer's a lot like the erstwhile Torii Hunter in that they love to pad stats in blowouts and they wilt at the knees in clutch situations. I don't think Hunter had one hit in the clutch in his entire career with the Twins, and I'm struggling to think of a big hit that Cuddyer has had. He was the beneficiary of hitting between Mauer and Morneau in 2006 and he put up some good numbers that year; he's parlayed his one good year in the majors into a large contract, and the Twins are paying for it now. For most of the season Cuddyer has looked old, frankly, and his serviceability for the Twins is really limited. But, like Nick Punto, Cuddyer's contract isn't going to be easily moved, and the Twins are essentially stuck with him.



Randy Choate came in to shut the door again on Saturday, recording his second major league save the day after his first. Ex-Twins great Grant Balfour had provided a more-than-adequate bridge between Price and Choate. Boy, wouldn't the Twins love to have Balfour right about now. Just another example of the Twins being overrated in their talent-appraisal department; they let guys like Grant Balfour and Casey Blake and Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett go and they keep guys like Nick Punto and Matt Tolbert and Alexi Casilla. Tolbert, by the way, lost his second-base job to Casilla, and Brendan Harris will play short until Nick Punto is healthy, which hopefully is never. It's the second time this year that the Twins have replaced someone at the major-league level with a minor-league callup, which is simply ridiculous. Casilla and Tolbert were in the minor-leagues for a reason -- they suck, and in both cases, they were called up from Rochester and inserted into the everyday lineup. For how bad Tolbert is, I think Casilla might actually be worse, but his bloated 2008 numbers mean that he'll get the benefit of the doubt. Just like the Twins are still banking on Punto to replicate his 2006 numbers, the Twins will probably give Casilla three years of sucking until he finally proves to the team that 2008 was a fluke.


Nick Blackburn, suddenly the staff ace (which doesn't strike fear in anyone), goes today to prevent another road sweep. Matt Garza opposes Blackburn, marking the first time that Garza will pitch against his former team. Garza's been a lot better than his 4-3 record would indicate, and we all know that it is protocol for ex-Twins to kill their former team at least once (Corky Miller) if not repeatedly (Casey Blake). Bank on a Rays sweep.