The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Whatever It Takes for the Minnesota Twins

Sorry for the late update on last night's game, expect a big one after tonight.

After playing well in their two late losses, the Twins ended their three game skid, even though they didn't play particularly well.

Carl Crawford inexplicably caught Mike Lamb's foul pop with former teammate Delmon Young perched on third. Young sprinted home to score what proved to be the winning run.

Crawford explained that he was pretty sure the Rays would score at least two more runs in the top of the ninth, and that it wasn't a big deal. While it is true that the Twins' bullpen has struggled, that hasn't included Joe Nathan, who is now 5-5 on save opportunities.

In a wonderful moment of cosmic irony, Nathan struck Crawford out for the very last out of the game.

The Twins got solid production out of the core of their lineup. Carlos Gomez did his part to wreck havoc on the bases. He's now on pace for 97 steals...oh the fun you can have with rate stats.

Even so, they probably didn't play well enough to win, but they did anyway, thanks to timely hitting and a huge mental error by Carl Crawford.

The Good

Carlos Gomez: 2-4, R, 2SB

Joe Mauer: 3-4, 2R RBI

Denard Span's 0-4 between these two diminished the amount of damage they could do, but both played solid games. It's an encouraging sign when both of these guys are getting on base ahead of Morneau, Young, and Kubel.

The Bad

Livan Hernandez: 6IP, 8H, 5R, 3ER, 1BB, 5K, 3HR

Hernandez led the Twins to a win in all four of his starts, but this was not a very good one. He consistently pitched from behind in the count and ended up pitching around too many of his own messes.

Unlike Scott Baker's last two outings, the home runs did more damage because they weren't all solo shots.

In the end, he pitched OK, but he might be regressing back to his normal form ala Ramon Ortiz circa 2007.

The Ugly

Jason Bartlett: 1-4, E

Bartlett's error was...whoops, wrong team.

Nick Punto and Mike Lamb: 0-7, RBI

Yes, Lamb's RBI was huge, but it was the only redeeming part of the day for the left side of the infield. Lamb has been a bust since coming to the Twins and, while it's probably worth waiting to see if he can pull out of the slump, he and Punto should not be in the lineup together.

Especially given how well Matt Tolbert is playing, there's no need for two dead spots in the lineup.