Young Twins gainin' a little more R-E-S-P-E-C-T

""That was the most intense series I've ever been a part of.'' - Manager Ron Gardenhire"

The Twins played last night like they had everything to lose, and for such a young team to bounce back and have that kind of win is something pretty special. Since the Twins traded Johan Santana last winter, the Twins have been considered underdogs, even more so than in previous seasons, they just never have gained enough respect to be taken seriously. With young, unproven bats and a young rotation, the Twins are defying all odds and making a push for the playoffs this season. With just a 3 game series against the Kansas City Royals remaining, the Twins moved into a 1/2 game lead over Chicago after they completed a 3-game sweep over the White Sox.

• Slowey struck out Dewayne Wise on 3 pitches.
• Slowey hung a 76 MPH curveball over the plate to Orlando Cabrera who connected for a solo home run.
• Slowey threw a fastball away (clearly out of the strike zone) but Jermaine Dye reached his bat out and hit a single to center.
• Slowey got Jim Thome to start the AB on 2 straight fastballs called for strikes. He then threw a high fastball in which Thome connected on a fly ball to right center field. While attempting to make the catch, Denard Span and Carlos Gomez collided which resulted in a Thome double.
• With Dye on third and Thome on second, Paul Konerko hit a grounder to Nick Punto who got the out at first.
  
• Slowey walked Ken Griffey Jr. on 4 straight pitches.
• Slowey then got Alexei Ramirez to hit a soft grounder to Brian Buscher at third base who couldn't make the exchange from his glove to his hand which resulted in Jim Thome scoring and moving Griffey Jr. over to second.
• Slowey hit A.J. Pierzynski with an 89 MPH fastball, loading up the bases.
• With the bases loaded Juan Uribe hit a 90 MPH fastball right back at Slowey which hit his wrist. Slowey then grabbed the ball and made a wild throw to 1st base which was out of the reach of Justin Morneau and allowed three more White Sox players to score.
• Matt Guerrier replaces the injured Slowey and strikes out Wise, his second whiff of the inning.