Failing anything else, I've decided to go back to this format. It makes parsing the game a lot easier.
So, being a Twins fan in exile (read: on the SouthSide) I don't get to watch many games. Tonight was a rare treat in that I got to watch at least part of the game and see for myself how the team looked.
By and large, I wasn't stunned by what I saw, but I was fairly impressed. The flaws I had heard about were visible, but the Twins played well enough to overcome them, which since no team is perfect, is the name of the game.
I was especially impressed by the Battery.
Boof Bonser has been on my list of "Players the Twins have been too loyal to" for a long time. He shows on occasion what he can do to deserve their loyalty, but tonight was the first time I really bought it.
Boof looked really good. Legit #2 stuff. He located his offspeed pitches incredibly well and kept the potent Sox line-up at bay for most of the game.
He did allow runners to get on base, but that never caused any problems, as his only run came on a Solo home run with two outs in the 5th inning. The Pen was solid as well, allowing only one hit in their two innings of work.
Joe Mauer looked good too. His first inning triple went to waste, but he was clearly seeing the ball well. He finished 1-3 with a walk, but a .500 OBP is exactly what the Twins need right now. They need runners on base, so that when the power in the middle of the order gets going, they won't be hitting useless solo shots.
I posted earlier that these two games were Key for the Twins, and I stand by that. They didn't look spectacular, but they looked much better than they did against Texas and Oakland.
The Good: Boof Bonser: 7IP, 6H, 1ER, 1BB, 8K (!), QS.
Delmon Young: 2-2, 1R, 1BB, 2SB and a sick Outfield Assist on Nick Swisher.
The Bad: Mike Lamb: 0-2, K, SF, RBI. Tonight wasn't particularly bad, but Lamb needs to hit better across the board. At least he got an RBI tonight.
The Ugly: Carlos Gomez and Brendan Harris: 0-8.
Its hard for the middle of the order guys to load up on RBI when the top two in the order don't get on base. It didn't hurt them tonight, but these two need to get on base more, by hook or by crook.
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