JUNE 28, 2009 -- MINNESOTA 6, ST. LOUIS 2

The Twins complete a rare series victory on the road, riding a Justin Morneau three-run homer in the first inning and seven solid innings by Francisco Liriano to an easy 6-2 victory. The Cardinals could not be buoyed to a win by their new acquisition, Mark DeRosa, who batted cleanup for St. Louis and is pretty much the second-best hitter in their lineup behind Albert Pujols. The Twins only surrendered one base hit to Pujols when he doubled off of Matty Guerrier in the eighth inning, and importantly they walked him once. The Twins are very adamant in their no-walks approach to pitching, as they have perennially led the league in fewest walks ever since the current regime took over. What they need to realize is that sometimes walks are not necessarily a bad thing. Had they walked Albert Pujols on Saturday with runners on base instead of going after him, they may have won the game, and at the very least it would have forced the Cardinals to beat the Twins with secondary weapons. Pujols is a sore thumb in the St. Louis lineup, but in a good way -- he's the only guy with a good amount of talent in that lineup, so he sticks out like a sore thumb in a different way. Once again, the Twins let sore thumbs beat them on Saturday, but on Sunday they were fortunate to not have to face Pujols with guys on base. If that would have happened, Ron Gardenhire certainly would not have walked him, because he's too hellbent on not playing "embarrassing baseball." It's funny what Gardy considers embarrassing -- I think that a manager stupid enough to pitch to the best hitter in the league just so he can gain some points with Tony LaRussa is red-faced embarrassing, but that's just me.

Morneau snapped out of his funk with the home run in the first inning, but he was right back at it in the third, grounding into a double-play with runners on first and second and nobody out. It would have been a rally killing double play had it not been for Jason Kubel, who picked up Morneau with an RBI single in the next at-bat. Kubel is increasingly showing his value for the Twins, and with Morneau being a very streaky hitter, Kubel has been a rock in the #5 hole for the Twins. He's been surprisingly consistent and he's arguably had some of the biggest hits of the year for the Twins. Say what you will about Morneau, but I'd take Jason Kubel in a clutch situation any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Morneau continues to take some ugly swings -- it's definitely not the kind of swing that you'd like to teach your twelve-year old. He constantly steps in the bucket and he takes his left hand off the bat during his follow-through. It's really not pretty, but if he's hitting thirty homers and driving in 120 ribbies, I'll take it. But you just don't see too many game-tying hits late in the ballgame from Morneau. And the fact is, he's always going to get good pitches to hit, especially the way that Kubel's been going. With Joe Mauer hitting before you and a red-hot Kubel following you, Morneau's always going to be given fastballs. He's been in a rut of late, but thankfully Kubel has been perhaps more valuable all season long, and he's always there to pick up the team.

The Twins have surprisingly won both series to start this 9-game road trip, though both games that they have lost they really could have and should have won. Now they get to travel to Kansas City, and the Royals have really struggled in the last month and a half. The Twins get a break because they won't have to face Zach Greinke in the series. Staff ace Nick Blackburn looks to rebound from the eighth-inning disaster on Wednesday against the Brewers tonight as he opposes Kansas City youngster Luke Hochevar.