Twins Sisters

Saturday:  Twins 1  Milwaukee 5
Sunday:     Twins 5  Milwaukee 0

We all knew that the Twins fantastic winning streak would come to an end. As cool as it would be they weren't going to be 80-0 for the rest of the season.  I'm just thankful that it was not a 18-4 ass kicking. They were beat by a modest score by a masterful performance by Milwaukee's pitcher.  I'm glad that Jason Kubel hit that solo homer in the bottom of the 9th. That was sweet!

Even sweeter was Kevin Slowey's outing today.  A complete game shutout, his first I think.

The Twins new winning streak:  1 game 

Interesting fact: During their 10 game winning streak the Twins had 99 hits. Wow! 

Clearly, they have control over the National League teams. It is my hope that they can continue this level of play for the rest of the season, especially when playing their AL Central rivals.  The Ligers are really getting their act together so they should NOT be counted out.

Poor Cuddy. Hurt and once again on the DL.  With any kind of luck he'll be back after the All Star Break.

**Becca**

Twins 7  Brewers 6     10 in a row!

What an amazing game that was last night! I just had a feeling that when Milwaukee's left fielder couldn't quite catch Joe's foul ball hit in the 8th inning that he was going to smack it out of the park. I'm glad that I was right! Joey just launched that ball into center field.

Look at Go-Go...he is as happy as if he hit that home run himself!

That's what is so truly amazing about the Twins. They don't depend on just a couple of guys to get the big hits. Up and down the lineup there are singles, doubles and bunt singles. Alexi had a home run and a bunt single last night! True, he had to come out of the game because he sprained his left middle finger and I'm sure there was a collective sigh of relief throught Twins Territory when Dick & Bert announced that it was a just a sprain. (Not trying to downplay it Alexi, I'm sure it hurt like hell! But we are soooooo glad it's not broken!)

Speaking of Dick &Bert, they were pretty funny last night. They are always entertaining but there we a couple of exchanges yesterday that I especially liked.

When Brian Buscher hit the game tying single Dick said, "Unbelievable!" Bert said in a very matter of fact way,"Not really. He's been doing it since he came back from the minors."

After we found out Alexi's injury was a sprain and not a break Dick said in a rather glum tone of voice, "Casilla is day to day." Again in a very matter of fact way Bert said, "We are all day to day."  Um...yes....very true but perhaps a little too serious for a Friday night baseball game. 

So this game was much like the last few. Fall behind by a few runs, catch up in dramatic baseball fashion and  have us sit on the edge of our seats as Joe Nathan closes the game but not without making it very nerve wracking to watch.

Whatever it takes to win games is fine with me!!! 

**Becca**

Thanks again to Startribune.com for the rad photograph!

Twins 4  San Diego 3

Our Minnesota Twins are so HOT they are on fire! I'm going to do a list:

Starting pitching.......Check
Hitting.........................Check
Great fielding..............Check
Great bullpen...............Check


Here's an example of that great fielding:

Mike Redmond applied the tag to what would have been San Diego's tying run in the 6th inning. 

9 games in a row. I'm so happy for them as a team and for us as their devoted and sometimes obsessed fans.  They beat a bunch of Cy Young Award winners this week.  I only have one thing left to say.

Damn, this is FUN to watch!

**Becca**

Picture from Startribune.com 

Twins 3  San Diego 1 

Nice going Brendan and Brian for the two excellent back to back home runs last night. I wish I would have stayed up to watch but it was just getting to be too late. An extra special congrats to Brian as that was his very first home run ever in his career.  I don't normally encourage fans to throw home run balls back onto the field, but in this case I hope whoever got it so that he can keep it forever.

I bet the closer for San Diego is still trying to figure that one out.  

A couple of things I've been thinking over today:

San Diego is my favorite city after Minneapolis. Our parents took us there when I was 8 years old and I fell in love with the Pacific Ocean the very first time I saw it.  I still love it. The Pacific Ocean is so magestic and wonderful. I could sit on the beach all day and just stare out into the horizon.

If I ever lived in San Diego, the Padres would be my second favorite team.

Gardy shouldn't have taken Slowey out. It sucks for him that Denny Reyes threw one pitch and wound up with the win because of stupid Jesse Crain.  When he's on, he's great but otherwise look out. Kevin totally derserved the win with how well he pitched. Why Jesse Crain when you have Matty G?  To me he seems to be the more logical choice in a close game.  I guess Gardy went with what he thought would work best, and just like the rest of us makes mistakes sometimes.

Thank goodness for Joe Nathan!

That's all I have.  Another late game followed up with a day game tomorow!

**Becca**

Check this out! 

I'm sure Juan Rincon is a fine human being, but he hasn't been much of a pitcher for the past couple of years. 

It's a Triple A contract, but it definitely leaves open the possibility that he'll pitch for the major league club.  My imagination is running wild right now, thinking about all the ways he could help the Twins.  Blow a late inning lead versus the White Sox?  Check.  Pitch to our guys and help the Twins win a close game?  Check. 

If he finds his long, long gone pitching mojo with the Indians, I might have to scream.  That can't happen, can it?  I don't want my head to explode.

--Tricia--

Am I in the middle of a great dream with the alarm to go off at any second, or did the Twins sweep Arizona? No need to wake me, because the Twins DID sweep the D Backs and left me feeling very happy and hopeful for what the rest of the season may bring. Also, big kudos to the Cubs for beating the White Sox the last two games. I won't even be greedy and wish for the Cubs to win the final game tonight. At day's end, no matter what happens the Twins will be no more than 2.5 games out of first place.

I personally hope that Gardy leaves the line up exactly the way it is. It it ain't broke, don't fix it. Oh sure, give Joey a day off here and there and let Mike Redmond catch and let LNP take over if Brendan or Alexi are feeling worn down. Perhaps let Justin DH once in awhile to rest his legs or whatever, but otherwise what they have working is working out GREAT so why change it up?

I've noticed a trend. The first time players come up they don't tend to stay for long because of issues that need to be worked in in the minor league, but when they come back they are awesome! Scotty Baker, Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins are all examples of that in the pitching department. Then there's guys like Alexi and Brian Buscher. I was not overly impressed with either of them the first time around but now I want to see them out there every day.

The Twins don't hit a lot of home runs, but I couldn't care less. They are winning games and when all is said and done that's really all that matters.

I take it back, I'm going to be greedy. I want to Cubs to sweep the White Sox!  Go Cubs!

**Becca**

Here's to a perfect homestand!

Tricia and I started our Twins blog one year ago today. We started it because we love the Twins and we wanted to have an outlet to share our obsession with the world.  We had started it for our own amusement and enjoyment and hoped that other people would read and enjoy it as well. Seems like we were successful in both areas! What I've discovered is that there is a sisterhood among all female bloggers. We love watching the Twins and we share our favorite stories and insights. I know this is shallow and really does not have anything to do with baseball itself, but the Twins have the best looking group of guys playing on the team.  I love baseball but as a straight female I appreciate having eye candy to watch while I watch the game.

Here is a brief recap of the last year in Twins baseball:

We have said goodbye to many of our summer friends. Torii to the Angels, Johan and Luis to the Mets, Barty and Matty to the Rays and just lost Lew Ford and Jason Tyner just because.  All of them I was sad to see go, but life, and baseball must go on. I apologize if I'm forgetting anyone!

But we have great and fun new summer friends! Carlos "Go Go" Gomez, Livian, Brendan Harris, Mike Lamb, Delmon Young, Craig Monroe, Matt Macri and Matt Tolbert. There have been so many I suspect I may have forgotton one or two.  Mike Lamb had that game winning hit in the 9th inning against the Red Sox and Craig Monroe hit a three run homer to tie up the game in K.C. not too long ago. I had a joke with Tricia that all the new guys had to earn my love. I was really only kidding but I was so sore about all the guys we lost that I had a hard time embracing the new and if you ask me improved Twins team. I love them all and I'm very glad that they with Minnesota because we are the best fans in baseball.

Let's not forget the comfortable and familiar faces of Justin, Joey, Cuddy, Mike Redmond and Joe Nathan. Those guys were really the glue that kept me hopeful during the turnover this winter.

I hope to keep writing for a long time to come. There's a saying that goes, "Write what you know," and I know baseball. I get too emtionally involved but I think that's ok. Baseball is a sport where the game can turn on a dime and that is what makes it so damn much fun to watch.

So on our one year blog anniversary I'm happy to say:

Twins 7  Arizona 2

The Twins beat Randy Johnson pretty good.  Awesome that they don't get intimidated by Mr. 5 time Cy Young Award winner. And the Cubs were kind enough to beat the White Sox yesterday so we FINALLY gained a game in the AL Central. Go Cubs! Kick some White Sox butt, please! 

I'm going to spend the rest of this lovely Saturday with my parents.  I hope you all are having a great weekend. 

**Becca**

Sweet! I haven't had the opportunity to break out my baseball broom in a while. The Twins swept the Nationals this afternoon! Over the last 2 games alone they scored 20 runs. 11 last night and 9 today. Hopefully whatever was ailing them when they were in Chicago is over! I was hoping that they would have gained some ground in the AL Central over the last few days but it was not meant to be, as the White Sox swept the Phillies. I'm looking at it this way: At least they don't lose any. As it stands right now the Twins are 4.5 games behind Chicago. As long as the Twins keep playing the way they are, they will continue to win and continue to battle for the top spot in the AL Central.

The D Backs are next. I don't know much about them so it should be a fun series to watch.

Have a good night and thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

**Becca**

Basketball has never been of interest to me, but I do want to acknowlege the Boston Celtics for winning the NBA Championship last night. I'm very happy for Kevin Garnett as he was a large part of Minnesota sports for many years when he played for the Timberwolves. Nice! 

I was flipping through the channels when I got home from work tonight and saw the Rays playing the Cubs.  I watched long enough to watch Jason Bartlett bat...sadly it was into a double play. Poor Barty.

I saw Torii Hunter strike out on Sunday night because the game was on ESPN.  Is it wrong that I thought it was kind of funny?

On to current Twins events....

The Twins won last night over Washington 2-1 in a game that was an hour and 58 minutes. That's some good pitching. Really, the only (and most important!) highlight was Justin's 2 run homer. That young kid from Washington really pitched well. His only mistake was the Justin home run. I feel kind of bad for him because we know how much it sucks to lose by one run because of the serious lack of offense.

I have a question about Sunday's game in Milwaukee. I know we lost it but, whatever. Was it clear that Brendan Harris asked for time out and the ump just ignored his request? That is a really dangerous situation! Brendan could have been clocked in the head. Gardy had every right to be pissed off and shame on the ump for tossing him from the game.  The ump thought he would speed up the game by a whole 20 seconds by not letting Brendan have his time out? Brendan's time out would have taken a lot less time that the whole debacle that followed.  What a freaking mess.

The White Sox also won yesterday. They need to start cooperating and lose games, especially the days the Twins win theirs.

Also, a long overdue thank you to Brian Buscher for the wonderful & timely hits in the late innings of the game in Milwaukee on Saturday. You helped make the trip east even more worth it!

**Becca**