Opponent: Kansas City Royals

Home/Away: Away

Starting Pitcher: Baker

Final Score: W 4-2

Record: 93-65

Recap: Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? I clearly needed to do something to rescue the Twins from this fall swoon. So naturally I drove to Kansas City to go to the game. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. Haha. And obviously I was good luck as we broke our 5-game losing streak and salvaged a win out of the road trip. 

I love going to Kauffmann Stadium. It's a beautiful stadium, open and spacious (and I love the fountains). All the people there are super friendly (both fans and employees), and it's certainly a lot easier and cheaper to get tickets than at Target Field. Add in my relatives in the area (free lodging) and the relative closeness of Kansas City, and you've got the perfect baseball road trip. 

Anyway, it was a lot of fun, although I'm so glad we finally won. I was sitting by an extremely chatty Massachusetts-born Yankees fan who apparently enjoys seeing various baseball stadiums in his work travels. He'd been to Yankees Stadium once, but won't go back because of the price. He also said he was perfectly happy to see the Yankees get their asses handed to them by whomever they play in the playoffs (you and me both, sir).

Scott Baker of all people finally gave the Twins a non-fuckterrible performance by a starting pitcher. I can't rain superlatives down on his head because it was a nerve-wracking 5 innings, but it was way better than anything else we've received on the road trip. He threw 100 pitches in those innings, almost half of which were strikes, and he seemed to runners in scoring position every inning. There were lots of fouls and full counts, but damn if he didn't strike out 9. I was fairly impressed. It wasn't pretty, but it worked (cue questions of whether Baker should take Blackburn's position as the 4th playoff starter). He allowed 2 runs in the 2nd, off a solo home run and a couple of hits.

The Twins offense was putting plenty of runners on base, but we couldn't seem to get any clutch hits. Finally in the 6th Valencia and Repko got on base with a hit and a walk, and Drew Butera (wait, what?) came threw with a single to score the first Twins run. Casilla came to the plate with 1 out and managed to outrun a possible double play to allow another run to score. The game was tied until the next inning, when Skinny Delmon squeaked a homer into the left field corner that hit the foul pole. I was hardly paying attention because I was so sure it was foul. I was shocked as hell when the ump signaled a homer. Thank God for Skinny Delmon. He also drove in a second run in the 9th as well.

Major props to the bullpen as well. Guerrier struck out 4 of the 5 men he faced, while Fuentes struck out 1 in 1.1 innings pitched. Capps got a strikeout as well in the 9th getting the save, although he freaked me out by allowing the first 2 men to reach. He also faced the middle of the Kansas City order, which I find oddly terrifying for a team that sucks so bad. The Twins finished the game with a nicely-turned double play, and that was that. Now with 4 games left we get to see what we can do against Toronto. I don't like Toronto. Their home run numbers are frightening to me.

Best Moment: Finally winning a game! Especially combined with the losses by Tampa Bay and the Yankees.

Most Questionable Moment: Another Twins fan sitting near us told the lovely story of her infant son vomiting on Harmon Killebrew. Well, it's certainly quite the claim to fame!

Worst Moment: Baker giving up 2 runs in the 2nd. It just felt like the same awful cycle was starting again. 

Quotations of the Day:

• "We needed to turn things around." - Skinny Delmon
• "Baker gave us a good performance. A lot of pitches, but a good performance. That's what it took. All you ask for is to have a chance late in the ballgame. The bullpen came in and did a super job of getting the outs they were supposed to get. It's the way to go home. You can't worry about the rest of the road trip." - Ron Gardenhire
• "I just do as I'm told." - Scott Baker. Hmmm. Kinky. He does seem the submissive type.

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Jason Kubel (0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 3 left on base)

Opponent: Kansas City Royals

Home/Away: Away

Starting Pitcher: Blackburn

Final Score: L 10-1

Record: 92-65

Recap: Ouch. And we continue to get pummeled by mediocre teams. Bad enough we got swept by the Tigers, but now we are in danger of being trounced by the lowly Royals. Oh, the agony! I won't go through the pain of reliving all the painful and ugly losses, because why bother? Honestly, these games don't matter, except for the possibility of securing home field advantage.

I can't get too upset one way or the other about how many runs we score. I mean, we're fielding lineups that include such crack offensive players as Drew Butera, Matt Tolbert, Ben Revere and Nick Punto (not that I don't appreciate each and every player for their individual talents, but you can't honestly say these players are huge producers right now). We've got a lot of injuries, with Mauer, Thome, and Hardy all currently unavailable. And we need to rest other players for the playoffs, so I'm not too upset about that. What bothers me is the rate at which we are allowing runs. It's somewhat alarming.

Okay, Liriano we can excuse because he got sick (and he wasn't doing too bad before that point). Pavano, however was atrocious (7 earned runs in 4 innings). He did pitch on an unusual amount of rest, which maybe wasn't so good for him. Duensing also struggled, giving up 5 runs in 6.2 innings. At least that wasn't so bad. We were playing the Tigers though, which doesn't bode well for facing the Yankees or Rays. Then Slowey and Blackburn have majorly struggled versus the Royals. Slowey isn't much of a concern to me since he might not even make the playoff roster, but Blackburn is more concerning. Hopefully it was just a little post-clinching swoon that we'll shake off. A win tomorrow would make me feel much better though. 

Maybe I'm just fretting over minor details. I just want our players healthy, and our pitchers for the playoffs ready to go. Wins are a bonus at this point. I can't handle another humiliating early exit. 

Best Moment: Uh, not getting shut out I guess. Not much else to get excited for.

Most Questionable Moment: Dick repeatedly struggling to pronounce Kila Ka'aihue's name. And then Bert butchering Ubaldo Jimenez's name. 

Worst Moment: I would just like to point that we scored 1 run against 3 Royals pitchers with ERAs of 5+. A little offense wouldn't be amiss

Quotations of the Day:

• "We're just getting beat around now, and they're having a little fun at our expense. Not much fun, but you have to weather the storm." - Ron Gardenhire
• "Up to this point, nothing good has happened on this road trip." - Ron Gardenhire

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Nick Blackburn (4.1 innings pitched, 8 hits, 2 walks, 2 home runs, 8 earned runs)

Game #152: Danny Valencia (0 for 4, 1 strikeout, 4 left on base)

Game #153: Jeff Manship (2.0 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 walk, 4 earned runs) and Alex Burnett (0.2 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 walk, 2 home runs, 4 earned runs)

Game #154: Carl Pavano (4.0 innings pitched, 11 hits, 3 home runs, 7 earned runs, 1 loss)

Game #155: Brian Duensing (6.2 innings pitched, 7 hits, 4 walks, 2 home runs, 5 earned runs, 1 loss)

Opponent: Cleveland Indians

Home/Away: Away

Starting Pitcher: Pavano

Final Score: W 6-4

Record: 91-60

Recap: Central Division champs. It has a nice ring to it. It's also great that we won't have a third Game 163 in a row. It's much less stressful. Now all my stress comes from wondering if we'll roll over and die in the playoffs. It was a very exciting game tonight, with the Twins rallying for 4 runs in the 8th to take the lead. Then all the players hung around to watch the A's/White Sox game. The A's finished off the White Sox, with Craig Breslow saving the game for them. I still miss him. 

Thome had 2 hits and another home run in the game, while Valencia, Young, Butera and Span all had 2 hits. Baker did okay in his first start in a while, pitching 5 innings with 2 earned runs. Mijares had some struggles, but Rauch, Perkins and Capps each pitched at least a scoreless inning apiece. Perkins actually got the win. I'm too tired to write anything else right now; I almost just wrote that Perkins got the wind. But go Twins!

Best Moment: Winning the division!

Most Questionable Moment: Poor Dick Bremer, getting beered in the clubhouse after the game.

Worst Moment: I cannot think of anything right now.

Quotations of the Day:

• "These guys aren't going to let me go home. I had a posse in here telling me we're staying." - Ron Gardenhire
• "We still have a lot of baseball left. We clinched tonight -- hats go off, we've had a lot of fun -- but the real season starts in [two] weeks." - Orlando Hudson
• "It says a lot about our organization. We're on a heck of a run here." - Ron Gardenhire
• "Considering we've been to Game 163 the last couple years, I think this might work out a little bit better for us." - Ron Gardenhire

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Jose Mijares (0.2 innings pitched, 4 hits, 2 earned runs). Granted he wasn't helped much with Hudson's misplay.

Game #147: Michael Cuddyer (0 for 4, 1 strikeout, 2 left on base)

Game #148: Orlando Hudson and Delmon Young (both 0 for 4, 1 strikeout, 5 left on base)

Game #149: Francisco Liriano (5.0 innings pitched, 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 home run, 5 earned runs, 1 loss)

Game #150: No one.

Opponent: Chicago White Sox

Home/Away: Away

Starting Pitcher: Pavano

Final Score: W 8-5

Record: 88-58

Recap: We swept the Sox, and the division is all but ours. I don't really think there's much else to say. Hell yeah! No, they aren't mathematically eliminated, but it would take a miracle for them to win. And I just don't think God loves the Sox enough to save their season. A couple of things I did want to mention. Mauer caught Pavano for the first time since July, and the world didn't come to an end. Sure it wasn't a great performance, but he was okay. And let's face it, no one wants Butera starting in a playoff game. Mauer got his 200th career double, so congratulations to him. Paul Konerko was hit in the face by a pitch, which was pretty scary, but I do admire him for staying in the game. I'm sure his home run later in the game helped lessen the sting some (although probably not the pain of seeing your hopes for a division title going down the drain). Kudos to the bullpen for throwing 4 scoreless innings, and Skinny Delmon for his massive home run. Now we're tied with the Yankees for the 2nd best record in the AL. Let's see if we can take advantage of our soft schedule and get to the top!

Best Moment: Skinny Delmon's home run. It was a mammoth blast to left field. 

Most Questionable Moment: The umpires warning the benches. Yawn.

Worst Moment: Not winning 9-3. It would have been fun to win 3 games by the same score. 

Quotations of the Day:

• "Everybody knew coming in we had to sweep them and not get swept. They came in and kicked our butt every which way. We didn't get it done." - Mark Buehrle. Hahaha. Yeah, we did kick your butt every which way.
• "In the past we had to chase down the leader. Here the last week or so we've been trying to chase down the magic number. It's down to eight, obviously if we win eight more games it's over. So we'll continue trying to play well and to win each and every game." - Michael Cuddyer
• "Tell Gardy I wish him good luck." - Ozzie Guillen

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: No one today. I'm just too happy.

Opponent: Chicago White Sox

Home/Away: Away

Starting Pitcher: Duensing

Final Score: W 9-3

Record: 87-58

Recap: And the bell continues to toll for the White Sox. That game started and ended in a similar manner to yesterday. Neither team scored until the 5th inning, and the score was the same. But man did the Sox seem defeated in that game. I guess I'd feel the same if I were them. I kind of feel bad, but only a little bit. I think the worst part for them had to be all the bad luck they had with the Twins getting hits off the 3rd base bag and infield singles. There wasn't really a lot they could do. 

Duensing pitched well. He seemed to be throwing a lot of pitches and getting into full counts, but he managed well enough. He pitched 6 innings with 2 earned runs coming off Carlos Quentin's home run in the 6th. Guerrier also gave up a run, although it was mostly because of Skinny Delmon misplaying a ball hit by Alexei Ramirez into a triple. 

The Twins offense was pretty prolific as you may have guessed from the 9 runs we scored. Span, Thome, Valencia and Hardy each had 2 hits, all singles except for a double by Valencia. The real offense hero was Mauer, who had 3 hits in the game including a 3-homer, the biggest blow for the Sox. He also drove in 3 runs and scored 2. We also had a Punto sighting. After being gone so long, I had kind of forgotten that he was on the team. Alas, he went 0 for 1 with an error. Just getting his feet wet again I guess. Nonetheless, it seems like a matter of time before the Twins win the division. Our next goal? Trying to get the best record in baseball and secure home field advantage for the playoffs. 

Best Moment: Mauer's 3-run homer.

Most Questionable Moment: According to Dick Bremer, the decision by the White Sox to not play the infielders in with the bases loaded. He seemed mortally offended by the choice with their season on the line.

Worst Moment: Skinny Delmon messing up the field. But hey, at least he got his 100th RBI.

Quotations of the Day:

• "There's a lot at stake. We want to win our division. There's home-field advantage out there, everything." - Ron Gardenhire
• "There are a lot of things out there, but you also want to give guys a break. If you are fortunate enough to get in that situation where you can win a division and you can do it early enough, you can do a lot of things." - Ron Gardenhire

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Jason Kubel (0 for 3, 1 strikeout, 4 left on base). I feel kind of bad picking him since he left the game with a sore wrist, but oh well.

Opponent: Chicago White Sox

Home/Away: Away

Starting Pitcher: Liriano

Final Score: W 9-3

Record: 86-58

Recap: Was that game the last nail in the coffin for the White Sox? Maybe not, but it's not looking too good for them. It sort of throws me off how good we are right now. I just expect that we will win, and we usually do. It definitely has lessened the excitement of the pennant race for me. Well, maybe excitement isn't the best word. I'm thrilled with how well we're doing. We have the third best record in baseball. I guess stress might be a better word. Last season every game was critical, and it's just not the same right now. Of course we could have an epic collapse and make things interesting, but it would take a pretty major meltdown to accomplish that, and I don't see that happening.

Anyway, that was a really great game. For us. Mauer got his 1,000 career hit, Skinny Delmon homered on his birthday, and Jesse Crain showed why he's the most reliable bullpen arm we have (I can't believe I just wrote that). It was a really close game for the majority of the time. It was scoreless into the 5th inning, when Delmon's solo homer put the first run on the board. It was his 99th RBI of the year on his 25th birthday. It seems like he should be older than 25. Thome smashed a ball almost out of the park, but a perfect play on the ricochet off the wall resulted in him being thrown out by a mile at 2nd. Hardy doubled later in the inning and scored on a hit by Span.

But the White Sox tied the game in the bottom of the inning, and then they took a 1-run lead in the next inning. It was short-lived as the Twins put up 2 runs in the top of the 7th. The bottom of the 7th is where things got tricky for the Twins. Matt Guerrier relieved Liriano, and he immediately gave up 2 singles. Gardy had seen enough and called for secret weapon Jesse Crain. The first batter Crain faced bunted the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. Then Rios drew a walk to load the bases for Paul Konerko. Konerko's been on an absolute tear, but he's struggled against Crain. Tonight was no different as he blew a fastball right by him for a strikeout. Manny Ramirez was up next, and he struck out as well for the third time in the game, leading to a round of boos from the crowd. 

The 8th inning must have seemed like a nightmare for the White Sox. Their bullpen struggled to get outs, but the fatal blow came when Alex Rios misplayed a fly ball to center. The bases were loaded with 2 outs in the inning. It looked like a routine play, but Rios had a bad break on it and couldn't get back fast enough. He made a jumping lunge for the ball, but it bounced out of his glove. He made an attempt to catch the ball with his bare hand, but his juggling act didn't work and the ball dropped. Span cleared the bases and the stands as many fans made for the exits. The Twins put up 5 runs in the inning, and it effectively ended the game. 

Span had 2 hits and 4 RBIs. Mauer had 3 hits, and Hardy had 2 doubles in the game. Crain, Fuentes, and Rauch each had a scoreless inning. Now tomorrow we can see if the White Sox are going to put up a fight or roll over and play dead. 

Best Moment: Mauer's 1,000 hit. And Crain striking out 2 with the bases loaded.

Most Questionable Moment: Gardy pinch-running for Delmon Young. It didn't really matter, but I just didn't understand it that much.

Worst Moment: The White Sox taking the lead in the 6th. I actually had a moment of fear. Silly me.

Quotations of the Day:

• "To come in here and win this first game is huge. They wanted to sweep and if they did that, they would have been right back in the thick of things. It's still not over, but to come in here and take this game, I think mentally it's got to hurt them a little bit." - Jesse Crain
• "Today's over with. We did our job today and now we've got to come back tomorrow and try to do the same thing and hopefully kill their dreams." - Denard Span. Wow, how cutthroat.

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Orlando Hudson (0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 3 left on base). And for the games I've missed:

Game #140: Matt Capps (1.0 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 earned runs)

Game #141: Michael Cuddyer (0 for 3, 1 GIDP, 1 left on base)

Game #142: Orlando Hudson (1 for 5, 2 GIDPs, 4 left on base)

Game #143: No one

Date: 9/6-7/10

Opponent: Kansas City Royals

Home/Away: Home

Starting Pitcher: Slowey and Liriano

Final Score: W 5-4 and W 10-3

Record: 82-57

Recap: Can we keep Thome next year? Please? Damn, has he been impressive. He's leading the team in home runs despite his limited at bats. And did you see those home runs? Yesterday he hit the flag pole, but I was sure that ball was going to leave Target Field. Curse that pole for getting in the way! And today he hit one that seemed almost as far. The latest homer tied him for 8th on the all-time list with Frank Robinson. He's outslugging everyone on the team, and his on base percentage is higher than Joe Mauer with his insane 52 walks. Color me impressed. I'm still in awe over those home runs.

As for everything else in those games, I don't remember most of it. On Monday, Slowey returned from the DL. The Twins were thinking maybe 5 innings from him, not wanting to overtax his arm, but he only made it 4. It was a bit of a struggle for him as he threw 77 pitches over that stretch, but he did only give up 2 runs. After that point Manship pitched 2 innings with 2 runs, while Guerrier, Crain and Capps each had an inning apiece. Flores made a brief appearance, giving up a hit to a lefty before being pulled. Has he really done anything for us? The Twins were tied at 2 in the 5th inning before Kubel went yard with Mauer on base. A batter later, Thome hit his mammoth home run to give the Twins the lead. Mauer had 2 hits in the game, and Thome was 2 for 3 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs.

Today's game was a bit of a romp for the Twins, who put up 6 runs with 2 outs in the 3rd inning. We were up 9 to 1 by the end of the 4th inning. Skinny Delmon had an awesome game; he finally seemed like the Skinny Delmon of July. He had 3 hits, 2 of them doubles and drove in 4 runs. He now has a career high of 97 RBIs. J.J. Hardy drove in 3 runs, and Thome was 1 for 1 with 2 walks and 3 runs scored. We also got our first look at Ben Revere, who made his MLB debut. Sure, he struck out, but it was fun to see him in the game. Liriano had a great game and pitched 7 strong innings with only 2 earned runs. Perkins and Neshek got their feet wet in the majors again and each pitched an inning. The White Sox finally lost, so we picked up a game on them, and now we have a chance to sweep the Royals tomorrow.

Best Moment: Thome's home runs.

Most Questionable Moment: The White Sox, letting Thome go. I hope it bites them in the ass.

Worst Moment: Nothing I can think of.

Quotations of the Day:

• "He threw a changeup and I was fortunate to square it up. It feels very good when you square one up like that and it does that." - Jim Thome, on his home run on Monday.
• ""It was down. He took his driver out and tried to give somebody a souvenir downtown." - Sean O'Sullivan, in regard to the pitch he threw to Thome.

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Denard Span (1 for 5, 1 strikeout, 7 left on base) on Monday and no one on Tuesday.

Date: 9/5/10

Opponent: Texas Rangers

Home/Away: Home

Starting Pitcher: Blackburn

Final Score: 6-5

Record: 80-57

Recap: I'm really not happy with how that game ended. Yes, I'm happy that we won and swept the Rangers, but it feels wrong to have won on a technicality. Coach's interference was called, but I'm not totally sure they actually touched. Even if they did touch, it doesn't seem like the 3rd base coach assisted in any way, which is what the rule says is not allowed (not that they are automatically out for making contact). I would rather have won in a more conventional manner I guess. If Young hadn't been ruled out, it would have been a 1-run game with the bases loaded and 2 outs. We still might have won; we could have seen if the bullpen would have worked its way out of the huge mess it created.

Before the 9th inning, the Twins were cruising along. We didn't have a lot of hits, but we managed 6 runs thanks to a couple of sacrifice flies, a walk and a few key hits. Blackburn started after having been pushed back because of Thursday's disastrous game, and he delivered a very nice performance, with 2 runs over 7 innings. Unfortunately things went downhill quickly in the 9th inning. Jon Rauch, who pitched a scoreless 8th, allowed a single before striking out the next 2 batters. Okay, we just needed 1 more out. No problem, right? But Rauch then gave up a double to Borbon that scored a run and cut the lead to 3. Matt Capps came in to relieve Rauch and shut down the Rangers, but he couldn't seem to buy an out. Guzman singled to score Borbon, and the lead was down to 2 runs. Then Michael Young singled, and David Murphy walked to load the bases. Guerrero stepped to the plate and hit a ball up the middle. Hudson managed to flag it down deep in the hole, but Guerrero was already at 1st and a run had scored. Meanwhile, Young had taken a turn toward home thinking that the ball was going to get through the infield. Hudson saw this and threw toward 3rd as the Rangers 3rd base coach frantically waved Young back to 3rd. At this point, there was maybe some slight contact between their hands. I think the replays were inconclusive. Hudson's throw was not in time, but the umpire ruled Young out because of interference. And Matt Capps got a save despite allowing all 4 batters he saw to reach base. Weird.

On a more positive note, the Twins had a Legends Game before the game, which was pretty hilarious. Hrbek made a giant divot in foul territory on a failed attempt to make a sliding catch, while Bert threw behind Ron Washington in an attempt to get thrown out of the game. It was pretty funny to see Ron Washington playing actually. The Rangers seemed pretty amused to see him in the game. Anyway, it looked like they were all having fun. I would have liked to have been able to see it in person!

Best Moment: The Legends Game.

Most Questionable Moment: The 3rd base umpire ruling coach's interference.

Worst Moment: Matt Capps' brilliant save.

Quotations of the Day:

• "They made contact at third base. That's automatic. The umpire has to make a call. If there is contact, he's got to make a call. That's what he did. And they made contact. Unfortunate, yes. It probably didn't help him stop or get back, but contact is contact. And that's what Alfonso called." - Ron Gardenhire. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's not automatic just to make contact, and I don't think there was even for sure contact made.
• "It never happened." - Ron Washington, on the possible contact between Young and the 3rd base coach.
• "Bad call. A bad call by a good umpire." - Michael Young

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Matt Capps (0.1 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 earned run)