Twins take opener

The big news for most of the today was yesterday's injury to set-up specialist Pat Neshek. Initially, the diagnosis was an elbow strain; I think most of us were expecting worse. News came tonight that Neshek has a partial tear to the ulnar collateral ligament. If that ligament sounds familiar, it's because the UCL is what Tommy John needed replaced during his playing days. A surgery now reffered to as "Tommy John Surgery." And those are probably the 3 ugliest words a pitcher could ever hear. At this point, it's not known whether or not Neshek is going to need that surgery, but it's clear that he won't return until at the least the all-star break, if at all this season. It's a tough blow to the bullpen, but not one that the team can't overcome.

Onto some better news...

The Twins blew two leads tonight, but were able to come back in the bottom of the ninth against Jonathan Papelbon to win the series opener 7-6. It was nice to see the team come up with some offense, because the pitchers sure didn't get it done tonight.

Three Stars:
Mike Lamb - 1 for 2, game-winning 2 RBI. Getting this big hit is hopefully the way Lamb is going to break out for the season. He hasn't been seeing regular playing time lately, and that's understandable seeing that he's batting .213.
Delmon Young - 2 for 4, game-tying R, SB. Got thrown out at home on to tie the game, but redeemed himself by singling and later scoring in the ninth. Hopefully the singles will turn into doubles and Young will stop being such a disappointment.
Carlos Gomez - 1 for 4, RBI, R, 2 SB, BB, game-winning run. Go-Go drew a huge walk in the ninth. (Did anyone see that coming?) And he eventually scored the winning run.

That's all for tonight.