MVN - Most Valuable Network

Twins make Papelbon human

Facing Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon is a tough task for any team.

Like Joe Nathan, Papelbon is money in the bank when it’s his time to close it out.

It’s rare that he blows two saves let alone one, but he did it twice in one week.

After blowing a save against the Tigers Wednesday night, Papelbon did it again Friday night as the Twins were able to get some hits off him and then Mike Lamb, who filled in for Brendan Harris after Harris suffered a hamstring injury, hit a two-out single to give the Twins a 7-6 victory.

Delmon Young started the ninth with a single, advanced to second on Matt Tolbert’s sacrifice bunt, and stole third with two outs. Carlos Gomez drew a walk to keep the game going, and stole second.

This gave Lamb an opportunity to tie the game or win it. He got the Twins the victory by driving in two runs.

It was by far the best win of the season when one has to look at the fact that the Twins did this against one of the best closers in the league, and the fact that they found a way to rally after blowing a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning.

This win should make Ron Gardenhire smile after dealing with some injuries prior to the game and during the game. The Twins manager learned that Pat Neshek, who suffered an elbow injury, is out for the season and that Nick Punto will miss couple of games with a hamstring injury. He also lost Harris, who drove in two runs, in this game.

This win is a good start to start the weekend series against the best team in baseball right now. The Twins need to find a way to get at least a split against Boston so this win was huge. Their chances of getting a second or even third win get better now.

If this game was any indication, this series should be a great one this weekend. Both teams can score, and they can pitch a good game.

Facing the Red Sox is a good opportunity for the Twins because it serves as a barometer to how they match up against the defending champs.

Friday night was a good start.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 11:20 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.