Twins cooling down? Nah.

After two absolute nail-biters, the Twins just couldn't string any runs together off Mark Buehrle (11-11, 4.71 ERA) and the White Sox Sunday afternoon in the series finale. In 7.1 innings pitched, Buehrle gave up only one run (a Michael Cuddyer RBI) on 9 hits, striking out 6 Twins and walking no one. That's pretty darn impressive considering just how hot Minnesota has been of late.

After appearing to have turned a new leaf with a fancy new breaking ball after the All Star Break, Carlos Silva (8-12, 6.50 ERA) struggled in his second straight start, giving up three home runs.

With one out in the fifth, A.J. Pierzynski apparently had revenge on his mind. Carlos nailed him earlier in the third inning, but if you ask me he had it coming. Anyway, A.J. blasted a longball (12) into the right-field seats to give the Sox a 4-1 lead. Next, Joe Crede added to the dinger fest with a bomb to left (28). Juan Uribe topped things off by leading off the sixth with his 16th home run of the season.

Silva pitched 6 innings in all, giving up 5 earned runs (6 total) on 11 hits and 2 walks. He struck out one lonely Chicago batter.


Something's just not clicking with Carlos Silva, and the post game rosters have to be in by the 31st. (Hey, a girl can dream!) But seriously, the Twins have a shot at winning 100 games this year - playoffs or no. The last bunch in Minnesota to do so was the 1965 Twins - a hell of a team, who made it to the World Series that year, losing to the Dodgers. There are 33 games left in the season, 17 of which are home games. I guess all they have to do is keep winning, right? Just keep doing what they've been doing, and hopefully the starting pitching issues will work themselves out.

VS.

One loss isn't going to get this club down, though. They still have an amazing record, and are off to Minneapolis to start a home series against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. The Twins will put Matt Garza (1-2, 6.59 ERA) on the mound in his 4th Major League start against lefty starter Mark Redman (7-8, 5.85 ERA). Garza has improved in each of his first three starts, and I'm looking forward to seeing him pitch again.


We'll miss your hot bat and your boyish charm, Josh Rabe. After being sent down to make room for Rondell White's return from the DL on Thursday, Rabe must spend at least 10 days in the Minors, making a callup before the August 31st deadline impossible. This saddens me. And yes, it's because I think he's gorgeous. Shut up.

He's also awesome. Down on the farm, he went 3 for 4 with four RBIs and two runs scored on Thursday night. That included hitting his fifth home run of the year for the Red Wings; a two-run shot in the sixth inning of the club's 5-2 win. See you next year Rabe Baby!

Dear Francisco Liriano,

You are dearly missed.
Is your arm better yet?
Please come back soon.

Love,

babes that love baseball

Liriano continued his throwing program on Friday, making 50 hard throws from 90ft with no pain. YES! He will then throw 25 pitches from 120ft, then another 25 from 90ft. There is still no timetable for Franchise's return, but Gardy said that if all is well, maybe he'll be throwing off a real mound of dirt by the end of next week.