MVN - Most Valuable Network

Twin Sweeps Lead Twins to First Place

If someone had told me back on February 2nd that the Twins would be leading the division on May 4th by 1.5 games, I would have told them they were crazy.  That was the day of the trade.  Gone were our team leaders - Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, the heart and soul (and face) of the Twins over the last several seasons.  Also gone were Carlos Silva, (another team leader), Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett.  On paper, the Twins could not contend with the Tigers or the Indians.  Well, the Tigers and Indians got off to slow starts, and after good starts, the Royals and White Sox have returned to form.  And our Twins?  Hell, let’s be frank, if someone had told me last Monday, after a poor showing in Texas, that the Twins would be where they are today, I would have asked where they got their crack.

What a difference a week makes.  The Twins have just completed their best homestand in recent memory.  A five game sweep of Central Division rivals Chicago and Detroit, with innumerable highlights.  How have they done it?  They have gotten back to playing Twins baseball - strong starting pitching, excellent defense, solid bullpen and timely hitting.  This team is really starting to believe in themselves.  And if they are in contention in September, this homestand and Sunday’s game in particular, will stand out as turn-arounds.  After giving up 6 runs (5 earned) in a shaky first inning, Boof Bonser turned in a gutty performance, throwing five shutout innings to allow the bullpen to rest until the 7th.  Saturday’s injury to Scott Baker had led to an outstanding four-inning performance by Brian Bass (which also meant he was unavailable for Sunday).  Bonser allowed the Twins to slowly peck away at Kenny Rogers.  That eventually lead to some payback against Detroit, for their two come-from-behind victories against us last month in Detroit.  The Twins had multiple two-out hits capped off by a seeing-eye, two-run single by Joe Mauer in the 4-run 7th inning.  Let’s bask in the glow of being in first with another critical series coming up this week against the Pale Hose, and let’s hope to continue playing Twins baseball.  Ozzie Guillen has got to be going nuts, it should lead to some great quotes.

Double Takes
Livan Hernandez came back nicely this week after his disastrous outing against Texas.  He still needs scrutiny, but has shown he has the ability to put disasters behind him.  This bodes well for the season. 

Scott Baker’s groin injury reminds me of the Brad Radke situation back in 2002.  Radke tried to rush back from the same injury and ended up having two stints on the DL.  The staff needs to sit down with Baker and make him rest, or he could be out for a long period of time.  The Twins do have options in the minors who could temporarily step in.  Still pitching well at Rochester are starters Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing and Kevin Mulvey.  By the way, the guy who was brought up to take Radke’s spot in 2002?  A young lefty - Johan Santana.  Look for Kevin Slowey to come off the DL when the Twins need to add a fifth starter, or earlier, if Baker needs to go on the DL.  Because of his major league experience, and the fact he is on the 40-man roster, Perkins would likely be the first choice to round out the rotation if two additions are needed.  Bobby Korecky would be the odd man out.

The Twins’ bullpen has been coming on in the last week.  In fact, the entire pitching staff would have an incredible ERA for the season if you just threw out one appearance for each pitcher.  Early in the season, one poor outing can skew an ERA and has done so with virtually everyone.

On a personal note, my heart goes out to Ron Gardenhire and the entire Gardenhire family on the sudden loss of his older brother Mike.  They had just spent time together when the Twins visited the Rangers last week.  The loss was totally unexpected.  My thoughts and prayers are with you at this time.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.