Twins win one, drop two to Yankees

The Twins were able to escape the weekend with a win on Sunday afternoon. This came after dropping the first two games of the weekend. They will finish their Yankee series tomorrow night.

The Twins made two transactions over the weekend. The claimed LHRP Craig Breslow from Cleveland and activated UTIL Nick Punto from the DL. To make room for these two they optioned RHRP Bobby Korecky to Rochester and designated UTIL Howie Clark for assignment. More than likely, Clark will clear waivers and accept an assignment to Rochester. The Red Wings will, in turn, have to free up a roster spot. Chances are they will send MIF Felix Molina back to New Britain. Also, it should be noted that with the 40-man roster full, the Twins transferred Pat Neshek to the 60-man DL. This freed up a roster spot for Breslow. Additionally, by DFAing Clark, the Twins freed up another spot; their 40-man roster now sits at 39.

Now, onto the real stuff...

Friday night: The Twins jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the 1st inning, but then the bats went silent. The Yankees chipped away at the lead, finally going ahead 5-4 in the 5th before adding an insurance run in the 7th. The Twins were able to get one run back in the 8th, but couldn't get any more. The game finished in a 6-5 loss.

Justin Morneau hit his 10th HR of the season and Alexi Casilla continues to swing a hot stick (2-4, 2B. BA up to .340). Glen Perkins only went 4 innings and gave up 10 hits, 2 BB and 5 runs. He didn't strike out any. I would have said the Perkins was a bullpen candidate based on the sole fact that Reyes was the lone LHRP. However, with the addition of Breslow, it appears that Perkins should stay in the rotation.

Saturday night: The game went 12-innings and eventually Juan Rincon got the loss. This overshadowed an otherwise good performance by the bullpen (especially Craig Breslow, who struck out 3 and retired 5 straight). I do wonder why Joe Nathan is only capable of pitching one inning (and I'm not alone). Boof Bonser started and wasn't very good - 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 2 K. Nick Punto made his return and committed a costly fielding error that resulted in 3 unearned runs in the 3rd inning. Isn't he around because of his defense? I see Brendan Harris make the same routine play all the time. Offensively, Michael Cuddyer, Mike Lamb and Delmon Young all contributed multi-hit games. Cuddyer hit his 2nd HR of the season. Lamb also narrowly missed hitting a walk-off HR at one point in the extra innings. Also of note, Alexi Casilla hit only 1 for 3, but walked 3 times. There is no way this guy loses his job anytime in the near future.

Sunday afternoon: Nick Blackburn was cruising until he took a Bobby Abreu line-drive off the kisser. I guess he's ok, but it really must have hurt. He finished with 4.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB and 3 K. The bullpen (Bass/Crain/Nathan) came in and did a great job closing out a 5-1 win. On the offensively side, Michael Cuddyer has really started to get his stuff together. He was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI. His average is up to .245, .20 points higher than a week ago. But still a ways to go before it's respectable. Justin Morneau pounded the ball twice for 2 hits, a double and a triple. Due to an error on the triple, he was able to score.
It really seems like most of the hitters are finding their grooves. Their numbers don't show it yet, but they all seem to be hitting the ball more consistantly than before.

One more against the Yankees and then the Orioles come to town for a 3-game series.