A Disapointing End to a Fantastic Season

Its sad that it had to end this way, but one game shouldn't taint our view of the Twins season.

Forced into a tiebreaker that never should have been played, and certainly shouldn't have been played in Chicago, the Twins couldn't muster a single run against John Danks and Bobby Jenks.

They were within inches of scoring the game's first run when Michael Cuddyer tried to score on Brendan Harris' short fly ball. Ken Griffey's throw came in plenty of time and AJ Pierzynski held on as Cuddyer drilled him at the plate. The ball appeared to come loose for a split second before AJ pinched his glove shut on what turned out to be the Twins' only real scoring opportunity.

Nick Blackburn pitched the game of his life, even as the strike zone appeared to be shrinking on him. He single handedly kept the Twins in the game while the offense floundered. His line of 6.1IP, 4H, 1ER, 3BB, 3K was as good as the Twins could have hoped for. It was just the most recent in a sad string of hardluck losses for the rookie right-hander

Given their yearly totals, it should come as no surprise that the Sox scored their only run on a home run, nor should it be a surprise who hit it. Jim Thome has been a Twin-killer since his days in Cleveland; I, for one, almost expected Thome to deal some sort of terrible blow in this game. It has been his M.O. for as long as I can remember.

It was fitting for this game to end so close, as these two teams spent the entire second half of the year nipping at one another's heels. The game was a classic battle of wills between these two teams, and one that will only help to increase this quickly burgeoning rivalry.

Kudos to the Sox for doing getting the one big hit they needed, but be aware that the Rays tend to pack a stronger punch than the Twins did in this game.

I'll be back to write up the season as a whole sometime soon, but for now, I think all Twins fans should hold their heads high, turn to their local Sox fan, shake their hand, and simply sing:

Hey, Chicago, what do you say
The Cubs are gonna win today