Saturday’s game was unfolding like another classic Twins loss. The Twins’ offense, though practically non-existent, provided just enough of a lead for the Twins to win, and then the pitching implosion gave up just enough runs for the Twins to lose. Francisco Liriano had given up just two hits through the first six innings, and then he Scott Baker’d it in the seventh, giving up two straight singles to start the inning and then giving up a back-breaking three-run home run to Magglio Ordonez later in the inning. It appeared as if the gameplan for the Twins had worked yet again. Then Justin Morneau tied the game in the next half-inning, and then a little man named Nick Punto won the game with a bleeder in the bottom of the eighth. The winning run was produced by the unlikeliest of combinations: Brian Buscher led off the eighth with a base hit, pinch runner Matt Tolbert was advanced to second on a Jose Morales groundout, and then Superman came through with his one clutch hit for the season. Don’t expect too much more out Punto at the plate this year – wait, you were expecting a lot out the guy? Were only talking about one of the worst hitters to grace a major-league uniform, who’s so bad that he makes Tony Pena Jr. blush.
Liriano pitched well for the second consecutive start, which means that he’ll keep his turn in the rotation for at least a few more starts. Kevin Slowey went on the disabled list after Friday’s game, a classic example of the Ron Gardenhire cop-out: Slowey’s pitched like absolute tripe the last two times out, but instead of working on actual mechanics and accepting defeat like a man, Gardenhire provides Slowey an easy excuse for his struggles by blaming it on an arm injury. All appearances are that the injury is minor, and considering the All-Star break is coming up, Slowey likely won’t miss more than one start. Anthony Swarzak was called up for the Twins but with the Twins having an off-day on Monday, the Twins may choose to go with a four-man staff for the final six games before the break.Nick Blackburn goes today against Rick Porcello in a critical swing game for the Twins. Friday’s loss was huge, but Sunday may turn out to be a more important game. If the Twins win, they narrow the gap to two games behind the Tigers; if they lose, they drop to four back of Detroit. Though the series is not as important as certified idiots like Dick Bremer may make it out to appear, they will be remembered at the end of the season when the Twins can look back at the mistakes they’ve made and why they didn’t win the division. If they can win today, at least they can go into the Yankee series, during which they’ll get pummeled, with a little sense of false confidence.
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