Nick Blackburn pitches shutout ball for the first seven innings, and Joe Crede's three-run home run appeared to be enough for the Twins to take three of four on the road from the Athletics. And then the eighth inning happened, and Blackburn gave up the three tying runs, the big blow coming on a two-run home run to Adam Kennedy. The Twins love to pick below-average opponents as their all-time nemeses; most fans will cringe when they remember that the Twins let Kennedy go Reggie Jackson on their asses in the 2002 ALCS against Anaheim, when he hit three home runs in the clinching game of the series. Kennedy has bounced around from team to team since he left the Angels a few years back, and now has surfaced to kill the Twins once more. It's funny -- the Twins have a glaring hole at second base, and Oakland doesn't appear to be in contending mode. The Twins should be thinking of trading for this guy for the mere reason that he won't kill them anymore -- kind of like what they did with Craig Monroe last season. Anyway, after Kennedy's home run, the wind was permanently knocked out of the Twins' sails, and we as fans just needed to know how it was going to happen. It turned out that the reliable Sean Henn-Matt Guerrier combo sucked it up in the ninth. Henn, who was called on to lose a game for the second time this road trip, characteristically walked the only batter he was called on to face, and then Guerrier came in and, well, Guerrier'ed it up, hitting a batter and giving up the game winning single to .239-hitting Rajai Davis.Blackburn pitched like an ace until the eighth inning, and his performance was certainly good enough to win the ballgame, but the offense, save for the Crede home run, was stymied once again by a young starter, Trevor Cahill. With Denard Span out and Carlos Gomez, as always, being terrible, Ron Gardenhire went with Matt Tolbert, he of the .183
batting average, in the lead-off spot, and Tolbert produced as much as his numbers dictate -- 0 for 4. I'll say it again -- Joe Mauer is everything you want out of a lead-off hitter and more. Obviously it's better for Mauer to be in the 2 or 3 hole, but without Span, Mauer is the natural choice to lead-off for you. He takes pitches, works counts, gets on base, and can drive home runs for you, too. Instead, Ron Gardenhire is addicted to putting talent-deficient "speed" guys in the leadoff hole. The "speed" that they do have is pretty well negated by the fact that they can't get on base, and we all know that you can't steal first base. In his month with the team, Matt Tolbert has proven one thing -- he is not a major-league caliber player, but on the Twins, talent is something that is not needed to have an integral role on the team. In fact, the Twins almost prefer for some of their hitters to sacrifice their talents when they are either called up or acquired. Seldom Young's rookie year with the Devil Rays was stellar, especially for a 21-year old, but since he's put on the Twins pinstripes, he's been a disaster, as the Twins have apparently sucked every ounce of talent out of him, rendering him a zero-tool player. Instead of letting Young blossom into that player that was taken #1 overall in the draft, Joe Vavra has done his best at dicking with Young's swing to a point that he's a totally different ballplayer -- one for the worse, mind you.
batting average, in the lead-off spot, and Tolbert produced as much as his numbers dictate -- 0 for 4. I'll say it again -- Joe Mauer is everything you want out of a lead-off hitter and more. Obviously it's better for Mauer to be in the 2 or 3 hole, but without Span, Mauer is the natural choice to lead-off for you. He takes pitches, works counts, gets on base, and can drive home runs for you, too. Instead, Ron Gardenhire is addicted to putting talent-deficient "speed" guys in the leadoff hole. The "speed" that they do have is pretty well negated by the fact that they can't get on base, and we all know that you can't steal first base. In his month with the team, Matt Tolbert has proven one thing -- he is not a major-league caliber player, but on the Twins, talent is something that is not needed to have an integral role on the team. In fact, the Twins almost prefer for some of their hitters to sacrifice their talents when they are either called up or acquired. Seldom Young's rookie year with the Devil Rays was stellar, especially for a 21-year old, but since he's put on the Twins pinstripes, he's been a disaster, as the Twins have apparently sucked every ounce of talent out of him, rendering him a zero-tool player. Instead of letting Young blossom into that player that was taken #1 overall in the draft, Joe Vavra has done his best at dicking with Young's swing to a point that he's a totally different ballplayer -- one for the worse, mind you. 
The Twins get another chance at facing a young, inexperienced starter when they travel to Wrigley Field and take on right-hander Randy Wells, who has pitched very well in six starts but has yet to notch his first major-league win. The status of Denard Span continues to be in limbo, and with Nick Punto coming off the disabled list, it will be interesting to see who will be in the leadoff position today. My bets are that Alexi Casilla will be sent down when Punto is activated, and also that Punto, probably the worst player that the Twins have, will be hitting leadoff and playing second base, with Brendan Harris retaining his shortstop position. Ron Gardenhire gave a vote of confidence to Harris earlier in the week -- probably the first kind words Gardenhire has ever uttered of Harris -- and by doing so, he surprisingly lets Harris keep the job that he earnestly deserves. With the Twins facing some tough pitching this weekend, any wins will be gratefully taken. Kevin Slowey tries for his ninth win today against Wells.
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