Last night, the Twins beat up on defending AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, jumping out to an early lead en route to a 7-3 victory. Tonight, they draw an easier match-up with right-hander Kyle Davies on the hill for the Royals.

Unfortunately, with J.J. Hardy still on the shelf, the Twins will once again trot out a weakened lineup that features Matt Tolbert in the two-hole. Ron Gardenhire's decision to repeatedly trot out Tolbert in one of the most important spots in the batting order absolutely boggles the mind; the utility infielder has amassed a .160/.185/.160 hitting line in 27 plate appearances with the Twins thus far, and probably doesn't deserve to be in the big leagues to begin with as he held a .675 OPS in Triple-A. He's not only the worst hitter on the team, he's arguably one of the worst hitters in all of baseball. And yet Gardenhire continues to insert him between two of his best hitters at the top of the lineup, making him an enormous liability.

I tend to get annoyed with fans who nitpick every single decision made by the Twins manager, but Gardenhire absolutely deserves harsh criticism for his handling of the lineup with Hardy and Orlando Hudson out. Granted, the injuries are tying his hands to some degree, but using Tolbert in the No. 2 spot is quite simply one of the dumbest things that can possibly be done.

In any case, the Twins will try to win in spite of their foolishly composed lineup. They'll stand a fine chance of doing so being that they're at home, facing a weak offense, and enjoying a lopsided pitching match-up.

Pitching match-ups listed below; lineups past the jump.

Kyle Davies

#34 / Pitcher / Kansas City Royals

Height: 6-1

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 09, 1983

What can be said about Davies? He's a typical back-of-the-rotation guy on a bad team. He's been pitching slightly better than his ugly career line, but he's a hittable righty with control problems so the Twins should have no trouble picking him apart.

Carl Pavano

#48 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-5

Weight: 250

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 08, 1976

The man, the 'stache, the legend. Pavano has completed seven-plus innings in seven of his past eight starts and recently he's been more intimidating than ever as a result of his formidable mustache. He suffered his worst start of the season last time he faced the Royals at home, coughing up seven runs in just 3 1/3 innings, but it's a pretty good bet that won't happen again.

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After seeing their five-game winning streak come to a screeching halt last night, the Twins will try to start a new one in Seattle this evening. They'll need to get the bats going in order to do so, as Justin Morneau was the only one pulling his weight in last night's game (as was often the case throughout the month of May).

Let's take a look at the pitching match-up for tonight's game:

Kevin Slowey

#59 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 04, 1984

Slowey is looking to build on a strong outing his last time out, when he tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a win over the the Rangers. It was just the second time in 10 starts this year that Slowey has been able to complete six frames. His command -- shaky early in the season -- has been better lately as the right-hander has issued only three walks in his past four starts. Slowey induces a lower percentage of ground balls than any other pitcher in the majors, so starting Michael Cuddyer at second tonight wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.

Cliff Lee

#36 / Pitcher / Seattle Mariners

Height: 6-3

Weight: 190

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Aug 30, 1978

Keep a close eye on Lee this evening, as I suspect we'll see his name connected to the Twins in trade rumors with increasing frequency as the July 31st deadline approaches. A strike-throwing lefty with an extremely reasonable contract, Lee is just the type of guy that the Twins like to target. He'll come at a hefty price though, especially if he keeps pitching the way he has thus far. Lee is allowing less than a base runner per inning and hasn't allowed a home run in six starts. The Twins are going to have their work cut out for them tonight.

On Sunday, the Twins lost 4-3 to the Brewers, seeing a ninth-inning comeback effort fall just inches short. The close loss could have been avoided; they left 14 runners on base.

On Tuesday night, the Twins battled the Yankees through five scoreless frames before heavy rain forced a delay and eventual suspension of play. The two teams picked up on Wednesday afternoon and Brian Duensing, making a pseudo-start after having worked out of the bullpen all season, gave up a tie-breaking solo home run to the second batter he faced. Duensing settled in after that, completing three innings of work with no further damage, but the Twins offense could muster no support and the Yankees notched a 1-0 victory. The Twins stranded 10 runners on base in the game.

In the nightcap of an impromptu semi-doubleheader, the Twins sent their ace Francisco Liriano out to face Andy Pettitte. The Twins were seemingly up to the task -- they took an early lead, they got a great performance from Liriano, they received a big game-tying knock from Delmon Young in the seventh inning -- but ultimately they fell short. The hitters failed in numerous key situations and Jon Rauch left a fat pitch over the plate for Nick Swisher in the ninth, propelling the Yankees to a second win on the day. In their third straight one-run loss, the Twins went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Last night, the Yankees one two games on home runs. The Twins, meanwhile, can't seem to hit the ball out of their home park. Hitters continue to see their soaring drives fall into fielders' gloves at the warning track, and it's pretty clear that frustration is building.

That frustration is reflected in a fan base that will be very unhappy if the Twins can't break the Yankees' spell and avoid an embarrassing home sweep against New York for a second season in a row.

First Pitch:  6:10 PM CDT
TV:  FSN North
Radio:  Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: Pinstripe Alley

The Twins and Yankees won't have much time to regroup after playing out the final innings of last night's rain-delayed tilt this afternoon. Game time had already been moved up an hour to accommodate the ESPN television scheduling, so the two teams will get Game Two underway as quickly after the originally scheduled 6:10 PM CST game time as they can.

After jumping out to a great start early in the season, the Twins have become exceedingly painful to watch lately. They've left a total of 24 runners on base in their past two games, both losses, continuing to display a frustrating lack of timely hitting.

They'll hope to turn it around tonight against Andy Pettitte, who completely stymied them in a Saturday afternoon contest at Yankee Stadium a couple weeks ago. Taking the hill for the Twins will be Francisco Liriano, who has struggled in recent starts and needs to get back on track.

The Twins would really be doing themselves a big favor by hitting a few balls out of the park this evening. This offense needs to start gaining some momentum because they're looking awfully flat, particularly in their home ballpark. That's not good.

Due to the unique circumstances surrounding today's competition, lineups for tonight's game aren't likely to be made available until very shortly before first pitch. Whenever someone stumbles across them, please throw them up in the comment section.

In the meantime, let's all hold our breaths and hope the Twins can get this series evened out.

Game One of the Yankees/Twins series at Target Field was suspended after five scoreless innings last night due to heavy rain, so the two clubs will pick up where they left off at 4:05 PM CST this afternoon. Brian Duensing will take the ball for the Twins while Sergio Mitre trots out for the Yankees in this shortened affair. Tonight's scheduled 6:10 PM CST tilt between Andy Pettitte and Francisco Liriano will still go on as planned, unless the early game stretches past its allotted time.

Converse about the final innings of the game that started last night here. Another game thread for tonight's scheduled contest will pop up in a few hours.

One could hardly make the argument that the Twins were thoroughly dominated at Fenway on Wednesday night. On a rainy night where offense was tough to come by, the Twins held their own but were doomed by a David Ortiz drive that bounced off the top of the Green Monster and was initially ruled a triple before being rightfully switched to a homer after official review.

That was the difference in a slim one-run loss. The Twins hitters failed to take advantage of Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz's erratic tendencies, drawing only one walk against the right-hander while striking out seven times. As a result, Buchholz dominated over eight innings and by the time the Twins attempted their ninth-inning comeback it was too late. The Twins did manage to get Jim Thome to the plate with the tying run on second in the ninth, but Thome tapped out to second and the rally came up short.

For his part, Scott Baker pitched a solid game. Over six innings, he allowed three runs on eight hits, striking out four and walking one. Baker kept the ball in the zone but still ran up 105 pitches over his six frames, as the pesky Boston lineup made him work for every out. In the end, it was a hittable pitch to Ortiz -- who as I mentioned in my pre-game writeup is in a mode right now where he should be pitched around -- that sunk Baker.

And it was a terrible night from the bottom of the lineup that sunk the Twins offensively. The 6-through-9 spots in the Twins lineup combined to go 0-for-12 in the game. That included an 0-for-2 effort from Brendan Harris, who now has one hit in his past 19 at-bats and is hitting .181 on the season. Good to see him taking advantage of the opportunity provided by J.J. Hardy's injury.

Ultimately, it's difficult to fault the Twins too much for narrowly losing against a good pitcher and a good team in a very tough stadium. But they now find themselves 2-4 on this road trip and needing a win in the finale in order to head home with any type of positive vibe.

First Pitch:  6:10 PM CDT
TV:  Fox Sports North
Radio:  Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy:  Over the Monster

There's an old saying about how people are at their most dangerous when backed into a corner. The Twins should keep this in mind and tread carefully as they head into Fenway for a short two-game set that opens tonight.

The Red Sox, typically a dominant force in the AL East, are at a potential crossroads in their season. A poor start already has them 8.5 games out in the division, and neither the Rays nor Yankees look like they'll be relenting any time soon. If the Sox let this gap widen much more over the next several weeks, they could be staring at a nearly insurmountable deficit by the All-Star break. That's why this current stretch of baseball, which has them playing against the Yankees, Twins, Phillies and Rays, looms quite large for the Red Sox.

With tough road series in Philadelphia and Tampa on tap, the Sox are no doubt setting their sights on a series sweep against the Twins, who took three of four from Boston at Target Field back in April. The Red Sox are coming off a couple very emotional games against their rivals in New York, so the impetus will be on the Twins to match Boston's intensity level. That will, of course, require a much more inspired performance than the one we saw yesterday in Toronto.

Of note is that David Ortiz, who was basically an automatic out the last time the Twins saw the Red Sox, is really coming on. After batting .143 with one homer in April, Ortiz is hitting .367 with a 1.163 OPS in May and has already launched six balls out of the park in 13 games. He's still striking out at a pretty high rate, so Twins pitchers should be looking to throw the ball past him, because when he's been making contact this month he's been doing damage, evidenced by a ridiculous .444 batting average on balls in play.

A quick glance at tonight's pitching match-up:

Scott Baker

#30 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-4

Weight: 220

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 19, 1981

After another slow start, Baker has shown signs of settling in over his past few outings. In his last turn against the Yankees, Baker was on his way to a quality start -- having yielded three runs over his first six innings of work -- but he allowed a pair of hits to lead off the seventh and watched them both score when Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam off Matt Guerrier. Baker struck out nine and walked only one in that outing, but he did allow 10 hits, which has been symptomatic of his overall problems this year. His strikeout, walk and home run rates are all in line with his career figures but opponents are batting .283 against him.

Clay Buchholz

#11 / Pitcher / Boston Red Sox

Height: 6-3

Weight: 190

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Aug 14, 1984

Buchholz has gotten solid results this year but he's walking a dangerous rope with his 28-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 41 2/3 innings. In three May starts, he's issued 13 walks while notching only six strikeouts and allowing opponents to hit .313 against him. While he's somehow managed to 2-1 in those three starts despite the ugly peripherals, he won't keep succeeding for long with that type of performance. Patience will be key for the Twins hitters this evening.

Lineups below the jump. Enjoy the game folks.

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Twins fans are growing increasingly frustrated with Jesse Crain. The right-hander has been abysmal this season, owning a ghastly 7.31 ERA and 1.56 WHIP through 16 appearances. Seemingly every time he's taken the hill for the Twins this season, Crain has seen his straight fastballs laced into the outfield gaps or over the fences. He's a mess.

This is, of course, not the first time we've seen these types of early struggles from Crain. Last year on this date, his ERA stood at 8.25 and his WHIP at 1.58. Crain continued to pitch poorly into June, and midway through that month he found himself demoted to Triple-A with a bloated ERA and nearly as many walks (12) as strikeouts (13).

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Early on, Wednesday's game had all the makings of another disappointing home loss for the Twins. A couple miscues in the first inning put the Twins behind by two against the White Sox, who had their dominating ace on the hill and looking strong.

Fortunately, the Twins were able to scrape a pair of runs across in the third and got the go-ahead RBI in the fourth when Justin Morneau snuck a grounder through the middle. Pavano settled in, pitching through the seventh without further incident, and the bullpen was perfect over the final two innings as the Twins avoided their first sweep of the season and secured an important victory heading into an imposing East Coast road trip.

Morneau, who finished 2-for-3, also drew his league-leading 29th walk in the game. His RBI single -- perhaps the game's biggest hit -- came after a long and hard-fought at-bat against the left-hander Danks. The Twins' first baseman, now batting .357/.486/.652 with eight home runs and 23 RBI, has easily been the Twins' best offensive performer up to this point and has helped shed any concerns that his back would negatively affect his performance.

Delmon Young, who was being honored in many corners of the blogosphere with "Delmon Young Day," lived up to his billing by going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Young is hitting .287 with a .337 on-base percentage, but what's really encouraging is his .479 slugging percentage. Young led the team in extra-base hits during spring training, and now he's showing that the power showing was no mirage. If he can keep knocking the ball around, it will be huge for the bottom part of this lineup.


The Twins get the day off tomorrow before heading to New York for a huge series against the Yankees.

First Pitch:  12:10pm CDT
TV:  FSN North
Radio:  Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy:  South Side Sox

It's shaping up to be another cold and dreary day at Target Field for the finale of this short two-game set between the Twins and White Sox. After receiving a disappointing performance from Kevin Slowey last night, the Twins will send out Carl Pavano today while the Sox counter with their top starter, John Danks.

With the chilly weather conditions and strong pitchers taking the hill, don't expect to see a lot of offense in this one. Let's take a quick look at each team's starters.

John Danks

#50 / Pitcher / Chicago White Sox

Height: 6-2

Weight: 210

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Apr 15, 1985

Danks is really good, and I don't think some people appreciate just how good he is. After posting a 3.32 ERA in 2008 and a 3.77 ERA in 2009, he's come out of the gates with a 1.98 ERA over his first six starts this year. His control has been excellent, as he's issued only 11 walks in 41 innings, and he's missing bats at a solid rate while keeping the ball in the park.

As good as he is, Danks isn't particularly tough on left-handed hitters over the course of his career. That's been particularly true this season, where lefties are hitting .318 with four extra base hits in 48 plate appearances against Danks while righties are hitting just .179 with one extra-base hit in 113 PAs. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jim Thome would seem have tough match-ups here on the surface, but evidence would suggest that's not the case at all.

Carl Pavano

#48 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-5

Weight: 250

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 08, 1976

I wrote an article about Pavano on Monday suggesting that he may turn out to be a bargain this year despite his high price tag and noting the similarities between his early results this year and numbers he posted in 2004 before earning a mega-deal with the Yankees. Pavano's control has been stupendous, he's missing bats at a quality rate and he's keeping the ball in the park with just three gopher balls allowed. His run support has been paltry this year, as evidenced by his 3-3 record despite a 3.43 ERA, and that doesn't seem likely to turn around today with the White Sox sending out their ace. Pavano has allowed two or fewer earned runs in five of his six starts thus far, and he'll likely need to do it again today to best Danks in what could turn out to be a tough pitcher's duel.

The Twins' lineup is listed below. I still haven't been able to track down Chicago's lineup so if someone wants to throw that up in the comments section that'd be great.

Let's get that split, boys.

Denard Span, CF
Orlando Hudson, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Jim Thome, DH
Delmon Young, LF
Brendan Harris, 3B
Alexi Casilla, SS

Carl Pavano, P

After going 0-for-4 in their first four potential sweep-clinching games this season, the Twins finally finished the job today with a 5-4 victory over the Tigers. It didn't come easy.

There were plenty of frustrating aspects of this game. Despite getting an early lead thanks to the Twins scoring multiple runs in a sixth straight contest, Kevin Slowey once again struggled to keep his pitch count under control and left with two outs in the sixth inning, marking the fifth time in six starts that he has failed to complete six frames. Slowey coughed up three home runs in the start, with Jon Rauch surrendering another, but thankfully they will all solo shots.

On the offensive end, the Twins continued to waste baserunners. The biggest culprit was Jason Kubel, who got the start in the cleanup spot but left the bases empty twice and stranded eight runners in total. The top three hitters in the lineup combined to reach base eight times, but scored only three runs thanks to a combined 1-for-16 effort from the 4-through-7 hitters. Finally, the Twins are starting to miss Joe Mauer. In total, the offense went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position while leaving nine men on base.

Slowey's continued inability to pitch deep into games and the offense's continued inability to produce in scoring opportunities fortunately did not destroy the Twins today, as the quality performance from the top of the order a solid day for the bullpen led way to Minnesota's first sweep of the year.

Presently, the Twins are tied with the Rays for the highest win total in baseball, and they will now welcome the woeful Orioles into town for a four-game series.

First Pitch: 12:10 PM
TV:  FSN
Radio:  Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: Bless You Boys

Happy Cinco de Mayo all!

We've got an afternoon affair lined up today. Skies are overcast here in the Cities but it sounds like the rain should hold off and we should get the ball game in.

After last night's exciting finish, the Twins will try to complete their first sweep of the season at Target Field today. So far this season, they are 0-4 in potential sweep-clinching games, so we'll see if they can buck that trend today and finish off the Kittens.

Let's take a glance at today's starting pitchers:

Rick Porcello

#48 / Pitcher / Detroit Tigers

Height: 6-5

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 27, 1988

As is evident from the stat line above, Porcello has not gotten his season off to a very strong start. He's already given up 41 hits in just 24 2/3 innings -- good for a .380 opponents' batting average -- and he's lasted through six innings in only one of his five starts. With that being said, his strikeout-to-walk ratio is fine so ultimately the hit rate should come back to earth and he should be fine. Hopefully it doesn't happen today, in his first turn against the Twins since his strong performance against them in Game 163 last year.

Kevin Slowey

#59 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 04, 1984

Slowey's season, on the other hand, is off to a fine start. He's picked up a win in three of his first five starts and is missing bats at a solid rate. The nine walks in 28 2/3 innings is a bit odd given his typically outstanding control, but Slowey has given us little reason to worry about his command. The key for him today will be proving that he can pitch deep into a game; outside of his eight-inning gem against the Indians a couple weeks ago, Slowey hasn't completed six frames in any of his five starts. Fortunately, if he does come up with another short outing today, the bullpen is well-equipped to step in early thanks to Nick Blackburn's complete game last night.

I haven't seen the lineups for today's contest anywhere yet. If someone wants to throw them up in the comments section when they're available, that'd be great. Enjoy the game everybody!

The Twins' 11-6 loss to the Tigers on Wednesday night was a painful one to watch for a multitude of reasons. The Twins took an early 6-1 lead and appeared to be completely in control, but a Scott Baker struggled mightily and let the Tigers back into the game. The trend of terrible officiating continued with questionable strike zone judgment and an absurdly bad call that took away an out from Denard Span and helped the Twins implode.

Nothing was more painful to watch on this night, though, than Jesse Crain. Crain entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases loaded and the game tied, and with only one out. A very tough situation to walk into, to be sure. Crain was most definitely not up to the challenge. He surrendered back-to-back-to-back doubles, looking on the mound similar to a pitching coach leisurely feeding his hitters batting practice. Five runs crossed the plate while Crain was on the hill, and by the time he got out of the inning the game was out of hand. To his credit, Crain stayed in the game and at least pitched the final two innings -- conserving the team's bullpen in a lopsided loss -- but he continued to look terrible. Seemingly every one of his outs was a well-hit line drive near the warning track.

Crain now sports a 7.20 ERA in this young season, and combined with his last four outings -- in which he's allowed six runs on seven hits over four innings -- he is giving serious cause for concern. Certainly the Twins' $2 million investment in him is not looking wise right now.

The Twins' meltdown in this game was extremely unfortunate, because it overshadowed some big positives from the early innings. Chief among these positives was Luke Hughes homering in his first major-league at-bat, becoming the first Twin in over 25 years to do so. Hughes couldn't wipe the smile off his face for several minutes after rounding the bases. It was a special moment. He is a marginal prospect whose defensive shortcomings have held him back, but he has certainly demonstrated in the minors that he can hit for a power and he wasted no time displaying that power in The Show.

Sadly, the big blasts from Hughes and Jim Thome were small bright spots in an otherwise torturous game. The Twins now enter the rubber match of this series with the Tigers facing the threat of losing a series for the first time all season. They will have to hope that the Carl Pavano who takes the mound tomorrow is the one who dominated Detroit for much of last season.

First Pitch:  6:05 pm CDT
TV:  FS-N
Radio:  Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy:  Bless You Boys

Despite once again failing repeatedly to come up with a big hit in a scoring opportunity last night, the Twins managed to scrape out a victory thanks to some sloppy play from the Tigers fielders and a brilliant outing from Francisco Liriano. They aren't likely to be so lucky tonight, so it's about time that the bats finally awakened and drove in some runs. It has to happen at some point, right?

Up to this point in the season, the Twins have been absolutely dreadful with runners on base. While they rank third in the AL in team OBP at .360, the Twins have squandered opportunity after opportunity thanks to a .244 average with runners in scoring position (including .143 with the bases loaded) and a total of 24 double plays that trails only the White Sox among AL clubs. I suppose wasting all these runners is better than not putting the runners on in the first place, but the bad breaks are growing increasingly frustrating.

With all that out of the way, let's take a look at tonight's pitching match-up.

Scott Baker

#30 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-4

Weight: 220

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 19, 1981

In his first turn against the Tigers since No. 163 Part Two, Baker is looking to bounce back from an ugly outing against Cleveland last Thursday, when he surrendered six runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings. Prior that, he'd rattled off two straight strong starts, looking more like the pitcher who cruised through the final four months of the 2009 season than the guy who struggled out of the gates.

Tonight's game presents a good opportunity for Baker to get back on track. He'll be facing a strikeout-prone Detroit lineup that doesn't have a lot of left-handed hitters. A notorious slow starter, Baker isn't surprising anyone with his 4.81 ERA up to this point, but there's certainly no reason for alarm.

Max Scherzer

#37 / Pitcher / Detroit Tigers

Height: 6-3

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 27, 1984

Thus far, Detroit's acquisition of Scherzer during the offseason has been looking wise. While Edwin Jackson has struggled out of the gates in Arizona, the 25-year-old Scherzer has made a quick adjustment to the AL, posting a 2.63 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over his first four starts. Scherzer is one of those right-handers who excels against same-handed batters, having held righties to a .225/.289/.384 line up to this point in his young career, so the Twins may have to rely on their lefty bats amidst the lineup to carry them. They might miss Justin Morneau in this one, as his strained back is keeping him out of the lineup.

Speaking of lineups, they're below the jump. Click on through to find out where Luke Hughes is playing in his major-league debut.

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I dedicated my entire pregame writeup to Francisco Liriano this evening, so it's only fitting that the left-hander completely stole the show at Target Field in a 6-0 victory over the Indians. Liriano struck out the side in the first, and was in control from that point forward as he hurled eight scoreless frames, getting more than enough support from the offense as the Twins locked up a fifth consecutive series victory and stretched their record to 11-4.

Liriano only struck out three more batters after the first, but was in control for the entire game, changing speeds and and moving around the zone to keep Cleveland's hitters thoroughly off-balance. The gem included plenty of promising signs; Liriano induced 13 ground ball outs, threw 70 of his 102 pitches for strikes and worked efficiently through eight frames.

Perhaps most important, given his struggles last year, was Liriano's ability to remain composed with runners on base and work out of jams. By his own admission, Liriano got thrown out of whack last year when forced to go to the stretch, but there were no signs of that tonight. In the fifth, when the Tribe loaded the bases with one out, Liriano got Asdrubal Cabrera to ground into an inning-ending double play. One inning later, Austin Kearns doubled with two outs but found himself stranded at second. Cleveland tried mounting another threat in the seventh when Jhonny Peralta drew a one-out walk, but Liriano quickly squashed any potential rally by getting Matt LaPorta to line into another double play.

Outside of Michael Cuddyer -- who homered, tripled and drove in three runs -- the Twins hitters didn't make a lot of noise in the game. They did, however, employ a patient approach against Indians starter David Huff, forcing him to throw tons of pitches early on and drawing six walks during his six innings of work.

It all led to a very convincing victory for the Twins, who are off to a phenomenal start this season and will seek their first sweep tomorrow, when they wrap up their first home stand at Target Field.

First Pitch:  7:10pm CDT
TV:  FSN North
Radio:  Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy:  Let's Go Tribe!

Back in 2006, when Francisco Liriano exploded onto the scene and began dominating major-league lineups like no rookie hurler I've ever seen before, his starts became an event for Twins fans. While I make a modest effort to catch every televised Twins game over the course of a season, I would actively avoid making plans on nights where Liriano pitched. Every fifth night was like a holiday and double-booking was not an option.

"Want to go bowling tonight?" Can't, Liriano's pitching.

"Wanna catch a flick?" Yeah right, Liriano's facing the Royals tonight, could be double-digit strikeouts.

"I won a free trip to Cancun, want to come?" And miss Liriano's start against Roger Clemens? Yeah right!

Maybe it's because I was so drawn to Liriano's electricity initially that I've been so hesitant to let him go. As the left-hander has struggled to rediscover his command and velocity while working back from Tommy John surgery over the past two seasons, I have consistently preached patience to frustrated fans, reminding them what Liriano is capable of when completely healthy and noting that it's not uncommon for pitchers to hit some potholes on the road to recovery from a major arm operation.

Given my commitment to his cause, you can imagine my excitement as I read glowing report after glowing report on Liriano's work in the Dominican Winter League. That excitement only grew as Liriano carried his confidence north to Florida, dominating Grapefruit League hitters and easily securing the fifth spot in the Twins rotation. Now, after a pedestrian first outing, Liriano is coming off a dominant performance in his most recent start against the Red Sox, and tonight he'll face an Indians lineup that  was very swing-happy against Kevin Slowey last night, a trait which could play directly to Liriano's strengths if it continues.

As I perused Twitter today, I noticed several people including the #HappyFbombDay hashtag on their tweets. It brings me back to 2006. Hopefully Liriano's start tonight will do the same.

Pitcher profiles and lineups are below the fold. Enjoy the game.

Continue reading this post »

The Twins' home opener at Target Field on Monday went about as well as anyone could have possibly imagined. The weather was beautiful, the stadium majestic and the team crisp in a convincing victory over the Boston Red Sox. Today, in the Twins' second game their new ballpark, things didn't go quite as well.

Rain began falling in the early innings, and at times it poured on the hapless fans. Over the course of the entire game, the sun only once or twice crept through the overcast skies. At one point, a container of napkins apparently spilled in one of the outfield concession stands, and the gusting winds carried them onto the field, raining them over Michael Cuddyer's head like debris from a tornado. Rainfall mucked up the pitcher's mound, causing stoppages in play and frustration for each team's hurlers. Kevin Slowey struggled once again to find his command (and was hardly aided by an incredibly inconsistent strike zone) while the offense failed to come up with big hits against John Lackey. As a result, the Twins never led and ultimately fell to the Red Sox 6-3, marking their first ever loss at Target Field.

Yet, even the dreary loss left plenty of positives for Twins fans to mull over. Denard Span, who has slumped out of the gates, went hitless but managed to draw four walks. Delmon Young kept up his hot early swinging with a 3-for-4 day that included a pair of doubles. Michael Cuddyer hit his first home run. And while he clearly didn't have his best stuff, Slowey still kept the Twins in the game and did manage to notch five strikeouts in his five innings of work.

The Twins entered this game hitting .239 with runners in scoring position and today they went 2-for-13 in those spots.  That the Twins are putting this many runners on base to begin with is a good sign. The big hits just haven't been coming, but eventually they will.

Red Sox vs Twins coverage

First Pitch:  12:10 pm CST
TV:  FSNorth
Radio:  TRN
Know Thine Enemy: Over the Monster

The Twins are set to play their second game at Target Field this afternoon, and while rain is in the forecast it's not expected to start until 3 or 4, so we should get this one in. That's good news for me, as I'm planning on cutting out of work around 11 and heading down to the stadium.

The Twins currently sit at 6-2 and have thus far been terrorizing the league with quality starting pitching, a surprisingly effective bullpen and a kick-ass offense. They soundly dispatched the Red Sox on Monday in the Target Field opener, so one would figure that Boston will be looking to come back with a vengeance this afternoon. The pitching match-up should be a good one:

John Lackey

#40 / Pitcher / Boston Red Sox

Height: 6-6

Weight: 245

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Oct 23, 1978

Lackey, Boston's marquis offseason acquisition, got his season off to a strong start last week when he held the Yankees scoreless over six innings of three-hit ball. If there's one nit to pick from Lackey's first start, it's that his control wasn't great -- he issued two walks and threw just 58 of his 100 pitches for strikes. This Twins lineup did a great job of forcing Jon Lester to throw a ton of pitches early on Monday, and they should be looking to implement a similar strategy today against Lackey.

Kevin Slowey

#59 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 04, 1984

Much like Lackey, Slowey achieved very good results in his first start despite not necessarily being on top of his game. The right-hander tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Angels, notching a victory, but whiffed only three hitters while getting 15 fly ball outs. Against Boston's powerful lineup on a warm day in Target Field, Slowey could be in trouble if he keeps letting hitters put the ball in the air.

Lineups will be added below the fold as soon as they're available. Enjoy the day game, everybody. I'll be thinking of you while I sip a beer under the sun. (Hopefully.)

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Twins vs Angels coverage

Good evening folks. Tonight, Carl Pavano and Ervin Santana do battle as the Twins and Angels face off in the third leg of this opening four-game series in Anaheim. Last night, the Twins got off the schneid with their first victory, thanks in large part to an impressive power showing from the lineup. Tonight, they'll look to keep it going against Santana, a talented yet inconsistent right-handed hurler from the Dominican Republic.

The Twins counter with Pavano, who provided a calming veteran presence after being acquired from the Indians last August and will look to do the same as a full-time member of the rotation this year. His two biggest objectives this year will be staying healthy and keeping the ball in the yard; if he can accomplish both those things, there's no reason he can't be a very solid middle-of-the-rotation starter.

The Twins lineup looks mostly the same as it did in their first two contests, with the notable exception of DH, where Jim Thome gets his first start as a Twin. Thome is starting at the expense of Jason Kubel rather than Delmon Young, which strikes me as the wrong decision given that lefties pounded Santana last year (.323/.385/.526) but Young has been seeing the ball well thus far and Kubel has yet to collect his first hit so I won't whine too much.

Pitchers are profiled below and lineups are after the jump. Enjoy the game everyone!

Carl Pavano

#48 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-5

Weight: 250

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 08, 1976

Ervin Santana

#54 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Angels

Height: 6-2

Weight: 185

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 12, 1982

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Today's spring training contest against the Yankees in Tampa started on a rather scary note. In his first at-bat, Denard Span laced a foul ball over the Twins dugout. In an astonishingly unlikely twist of unfortunate coincidence, the ball struck Span's own mother, who had taken the opportunity to see her son play in his hometown. Span sprinted into the stands to be with his mother as medical aide was summoned, but thankfully she was not seriously injured and the Twins' center fielder was able to return to the game, albeit it a little shaken.

The Twins' other split-squad game, played against the Rays back in Ft. Myers, also started out in a frightening -- though far less serious -- manner, as Scott Baker was absolutely pummeled in his final spring tune-up, coughing up eight runs on 12 hits in just 2 2/3 innings. Certainly not a great way for the Twins' Opening Day starter to cap off his spring training, but he had been stellar all month up this point so there's no reason to sound the alarms.

Baker's early deficit gave the Twins little chance of beating the Rays, which is just as well since the offense had a fairly quiet day. They scratched three runs across, but no player managed multiple hits. Alexi Casilla went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and also committed an error in the field. He's hitting .128 and has struck out 11 times in 47 at-bats, furthering my puzzlement that the Twins continue to show faith in him despite his consistent lack of production.

Fortunately, the Twins did manage to dispatch the Yankees at home -- a good feeling even in a meaningless exhibition match. Brian Duensing, making his second start of the spring, tossed five innings of one-run ball against a New York lineup that featured Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and a few other starters. The strong showing should help him keep his name in Ron Gardenhire's mind should Francisco Liriano falter early on. Meanwhile, Brendan Harris went 2-for-3 to raise his average to .375, though nothing he can do at this point will stop Nick Punto from trotting out to third base on Opening Day.

The Twins got five scoreless innings from starter Kevin Slowey today in a 4-1 exhibition victory over the Marlins at Hammond Stadium. After the strong outing, Slowey is now 3-0 with a 0.56 ERA a 15-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 16 innings this spring, which is raising a lot of excitement given the sizable impact that the right-hander can have on the Twins' rotation if he is at the top of his game this season.

Of course, spring training results are always to be taken with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, it's difficult not to feel some measure of giddiness over Slowey's success, given his circumstances. He had his 2009 season cut short by a longstanding wrist injury, which required a rather serious surgical procedure. Slowey came to spring with two screws in his wrist this year, leaving some to wonder whether his signature elite command would pick up where it left off. So far, it seems that it has.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, reliever Clay Condrey coughed up a run on three hits in his one-inning appearance today. The newly acquired right-hander has now allowed at least one run in six consecutive outings this spring and has yet to notch a single strikeout in eight innings. The poor performance has many questioning whether Condrey will make the team, but I must again stress the insignificance of spring numbers. Condrey has posted a 3.16 ERA while pitching for a contending club over the past two seasons, so a handful of ugly exhibition innings shouldn't be raising huge alarms. I still consider him a lock to make the club, though it's possible that his struggles thus far will prevent Ron Gardenhire from using him any high-leverage situations early in the season.

The final player worth commenting on today is Jacque Jones, who went 2-for-3 with a home run and a pair of RBI. I considered Jones an extreme long-shot to make the club out of spring training, but he's now hitting .360 this spring and he seems like the only viable option to back up Denard Span in center field. There still might not be room on the bench for Jones when the team heads north, but at the very least he's making a good impression on the coaching staff and putting himself in line for a call-up should a space become available.

Happy St. Patty's Day and such. Perhaps the Twins will seize this opportunity to announce a shiny new contract extension for Mr. Joseph Patrick Mauer. Eh, probably not. Anywho, here are the lineups for today's 12:05 start, per Kelly Thesier:

Twins (5-7)

Denard Span, CF
Nick Punto, 3B
Jason Kubel, DH
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Delmon Young, LF
Wilson Ramos, C
Luke Hughes, 2B
Brock Peterson, 1B
Alexi Casilla, SS
Pitching: LHP Glen Perkins

Others scheduled to pitch: Jeff Manship, Jesse Crain, Anthony Swarzak, Kyle Waldrop, Alex Burnett, Anthony Slama, Rob Delaney

Rays (10-3)

Sean Rodriguez, CF
Gabe Kapler, RF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Hank Blalock, DH
Kelly Shoppach, C
Justin Ruggiano, LF
Reid Brignac, 2B
Ryan Shealy, 1B
Elliot Johnson, LF
Pitching: RHP James Shields

Others scheduled to pitch: Rafael Soriano, Grant Balfour, Lance Cormier, Joaquin Benoit

The Twins could use a good outing from Perkins, who gets a turn in place of the ailing Nick Blackburn. Perkins has had a rather miserable spring thus far, which neither helps his trade value nor demonstrates that he is prepared to rebound from a rocky 2009 campaign and help the Twins in some way this year.

As we know, the loss of Joe Nathan creates an opening in the ninth inning that the Twins will likely look inward to fill. The candidates for this role have been discussed exhaustively already (you can check out my lengthy write-up on the topic here, if you so please), but little attention has been paid thus far to the fact that Nathan's absence also creates an additional opening in the bullpen, since each reliever will be bumped up one spot to pick up the slack. This presents an opportunity for a reliever to come north with the club who otherwise might not have.

We know that Matt Guerrier, Jose Mijares, Jesse Crain, Jon Rauch and Clay Condrey will all be filling some sort of role in Ron Gardenhire's bullpen. I suspect the team will also carry a long reliever -- perhaps Brian Duensing or Glen Perkins. If the Twins elect to roll with six-man bullpen, that could be it. However, given that Gardenhire likes to have a lot of flexibility with his relievers, there's a good chance he'll want a seven-man pen (with a four-man bench), particularly now that the relief corps is without its strongest member with many of the remaining pieces surrounded by question marks. If Gardy decides he wants a seventh reliever, there are a number of guys with a chance to step in.

Let's take a quick look at some candidates:

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Greetings, all. Just thought I would fire off a quick post to introduce myself as the newest front page poster here at Twinkie Town. Some of you might be familiar with my blog, or some of the various other places I write, but this season I'll be hanging around here on Wednesdays.

Jesse had asked me a few times in the past to come aboard here at Twinkie Town, and I've always been forced to decline due to an already packed schedule. Things look similarly busy this year, but I finally caved because I think you guys have assembled the best Twins community on the net and I simply couldn't say no to the opportunity to take part in it during what should be a hallmark season for the franchise.

I don't know exactly how my role here will shape up but I hope to add a new and distinct voice to the outstanding collection already appearing here on the front page and in many of the FanPosts. With games kicking off tomorrow in Florida, baseball has finally arrived. I look forward to contributing here and taking in the season with all of you. Thanks for having me.

Hey folks.  I wrote about this at our blog today but I thought I would bring it up here to see what thoughts some of you might have on the subject.

The Twins have been a very good team at home this year and an absolutely horrible team on the road.  It is not uncommon for a baseball team to perform better at home than on the road, but the Twins' splits are drastic.  They are an excellent 21-10 at home and an abysmal 10-24 on the road.  To put that in perspective, only one team in baseball has a better record at home: the Chicago White Sox.  Conversely, only Kansas City and Pittsburgh have worse road records.  The White Sox are the defending World Series champs, and the Royals and Pirates are pretty much unanimously the two worst teams in baseball.  The Twins have been swept four times on the road; at home they have lost only one series.

If the Twins were playing .500 ball on the road, they would be 38-27, just a few games behind the White Sox in the AL Central and very much in contention for a playoff spot.  There's no question that their inability to win on the road is pretty much the sole reason they find themselves essentially out of the playoff race in mid-June.  So why have the Twins been so incredibly bad away from home?  Is it because they have played a tougher road schedule?  No, that can't be it.  Look at their performances against the same teams at and away from the Metrodome.  At home, the Twins swept the Athletics.  In Oakland, they lost three of four.  At home, the Twins split a two-game series against the Mariners and later swept a three-game series.  In Seattle, they lost two of three.  The Twins took two of three from the Tigers at the Metrodome, but in Detroit they are 0-6.

There are a number of factors that might contribute to this success at home.  The Dome does have its advantages as the Twins are more accustomed to the way the turf plays and to the hitting backdrop.  Also, you have classic Dome moments, such as the instance such in last night's game when David Ortiz had a sure upper-deck home run hit off a speaker and fall in center field for the most well-struck single you will ever see.   The players also seem to feed off the crowd to a great degree, especially in late and close situations, as evidenced by the large number of walk-off hits and home runs.

Still, neither of these factors really explain the gaping disparity between the Twins' level of play at home and on the road.  So I'll open the floor to any theories that people might have as to what is causing their miserable play away from home.  Thoughts?

I felt that this merited discussion.  Goose Gossage, who missed the Hall of Fame this year while Bruce Sutter was voted in, had a little media rant yesterday ripping the voting system.  While one might be content to pass this off as sour grapes whining from a  sore loser, he makes some pretty good points.  A few quotes:

"I just can't believe (Bruce) Sutter got in before me.  He deserved it. I was hoping Sutter and I could go in together... I don't know if I ever will make it."

"You know what, I never hear from these guys who don't vote for me.  But I'll take on any writer, anywhere, on any show, and I will bury him."

"Hitting in a game is no different than hitting in a home run contest.  It pisses me off to say Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter. He's playing in a wussy era. The game is soft. You never get thrown at today. Last thing a hitter has to worry about today is getting hit. The first thing Hank Aaron had to worry about is: Am I going to survive this at-bat because I'm black."

Gossage also noted that closing games is easier now since relievers generally only pitch one inning (true).  He said it was a "joke" that Kirby Puckett got in on his first ballot while Jim Rice has been held out for 12 years.  As much as I hate to admit it, he's right, it really doesn't make much sense that Puckett got in right away and Rice still hasn't gotten in, and it certainly doesn't make sense that Sutter got in before Gossage.  I realize that Sutter pioneered a pitch, but Gossage plain and simply had the more impressive career.

Gossage called the Hall of Fame voting system "flawed," and I think that is true and evidenced by the fact that he was not voted in this year while Sutter was and by the fact that Blyleven still has not yet even come close to being voted in.

Any thoughts?