JUNE 30, 2009 -- MINNESOTA 2, KANSAS CITY 1

Well, that's about as cheesy a win as you'll ever get. Justin Morneau, a few innings after belting his third home run in three games, grounded a surefire double play ball to first baseman Mike Jacobs, who promptly Cuddyer'd the ball into right field, allowing Joe Mauer to gain third base. Mauer would end up scoring what turned out to be the winning run of the game on a Cuddyer sacrifice fly, and the 2-1 margin would hold up. Scott Baker labored through five innings, and now we know what it takes to be a crucial member of the bullpen -- one good appearance. Because Bobby Keppel went four solid innings in relief of Kevin Slowey on Saturday, Ron Gardenhire entrusted Keppel with the sixth, seventh, and part of the eighth inning on Tuesday. Keppel did a fine job, but seriously, Gardenhire? Bobby Keppel's your new eighth inning option after one appearance? Let's not forget that Keppel sucks so bad that he hasn't even pitched in the big leagues for two years, so obviously a scouting report isn't out yet for teams to hit his stuff. Once Keppel got out of the sixth and seventh unscathed, I figured he did his job in his new R.A. Dickey-esque role; even though he didn't allow a run, why are you starting the eighth inning with Bobby Keppel on the mound defending a one-run lead?


At least I've seen the move that Gardenhire made later that inning a million times -- Matt Guerrier coming in with the game on the line. With two runners on and two outs, Gardenhire called upon Guerrier instead of Joe Nathan for the umpteenth time, and in essence gave the assignment of getting the most crucial out of the game to one of the worst pitchers on the team (that's really saying something). But I've accepted that stupidity because I saw it a mile away and Gardenhire's done it constantly. But starting the inning with Keppel? I don't even care that he was effective, that's just plain stupid. I thought that Gardenhire was precipitous in his handling of Sean Henn from minor-league journeyman to eighth-inning "specialist" (by that I mean he specialized in losing games), but the ascent of Keppel from starter in the minor-leagues to eighth-inning pitcher in 2-1 ballgames after one game is puzzling even considering Gardenhire's idiocy.


The bullpen's lack of talent and Gardenhire's lack of wiles when it comes to managing that bullpen with continue to cause problems. Statistically, the 'pen and in particular Matt Guerrier have done a decent job this year, but last year the bullpen didn't lose games regularly until the second half of the season. Considering this year's bullpen is actually much worse than last year's, it will likely be the Achilles heel for the team again. It doesn't exactly exude confidence when guys like Bobby Keppel are called up for the big leagues and thrown right into the eighth inning. What's worse is that the Twins apparently have some big-time prospects in the minor leagues that are tearing it up down there, namely Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama. If ever there's an organization that would rather call up a minor-league wash-up with a 8+ ERA in the big leagues than either one of two guys that have electrifying stuff that could eventually be future closers, it's the Minnesota Twins. I wouldn't be surprised if the deciding factor was financial; calling up Slama or Delaney now would mean that their service time would start earlier than expected, which would mean they would be eligible for arbitration sooner, which would mean that they could demand more money sooner than they planned. With Keppel, the guy's just happy to be in the big leagues, and the Twins have no future invested in him, so he's the cheap (and bad) option for now.


If the Twins win today, that means they would have won each of the three road series on this trip, certainly a success compared to their early season road woes. Glen Perkins pitches for the Twins against nemesis Gil Meche.