Twins beat Indians twice

The Twins have beaten the Indians twice since I last posted.

On Friday night, the Twins put together a 12-3 win. For as lopsided as the score was, the game was actually quite close until the 7th inning. The Twins were able to pour on a few extra runs late.
Three Stars:
Delmon Young - 3 for 5, HR, 3 R, 4 RBI. Delmon's finally starting to come around offensively. (Defensively, he will always be below-average.) His 3rd HR of the year, which came in the 3rd inning, is a sign that the power is starting to come. I don't think he'll get 20, but 15 isn't out of the question. (I still think that Gomez will be more a power-guy throughout the course of their careers.)
Nick Punto - 2 for 4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB. LNP's coming out party? I don't know if I'd go that far *coughTimcough* but it was nice to see a performance like this. Punto's glove is what gets him into the game, so whenever he's able to put forth this kind of offensive effort, it's nothing to icing on the cake. (I also promised to only say nice things about LNP for a week.)
Justin Morneau - 2 for 3, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB. Regardless of how his teammates perform, Morneau continues to get it done. But would we expect anything less?

Saturday night's game started off with a quick lead and then Slowey gives up 5 second-inning runs. It didn't look good. But as always - at least lately - the offense is able to put together a rally. The Twins end up with a 9-6 victory. It is interesting to note that no Twins player had more than one hit. (Morneau was the only player without a hit; but managed to score twice.)
Three Stars:
Kevin Slowey - 6 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 6 K. This may be debatable. But without the big 2nd inning, Slowey's line is 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K. That is an amazing line. However, he had a really bad inning and bounced back to pitch a solid game. After Sizemore's HR, Slowey retired 13 straight; and 14 of 15 before leaving the game. I'm still not on board that Slowey is the BEST STARTER on the staff, but he definitely deserves to be mentioned along with Baker and Blackburn. (All three have ERAs under 4.00. I went back and looked - from 2002 to 2007, the Twins never finished a year with 3 starters under 4.00. There still is half a year to go, but that gives a good idea of how well these young guys are pitching.)
Joe Mauer - 1 for 2, RBI, 3 R, 3 BB. Not a lot of guys can improve their batting average by getting one hit in a game. Mauer can - he's up to .325 (2nd in the AL), he also improved his OBP to .415 (also 2nd). This goes without mentioning that he's playing the most physically demanding postition and statistically is light-years ahead of the other AL catchers.
Look (stats through yesterday's games):
Runs: 51 (1st by 12)
Hits: 90 (1st by 3)
Doubles: 22 (1st by 2)
Triples: 1 (2nd trails by 2)
Home Runs: 3 (low)
RBI: 36 (1st by 3)
Walks: 43 (1st by 17)
Average: .324 (1st by 25 points - among qualifiers)
OBP: .409 (1st by 68 points)
Slugging: .442 (2nd trails by 5 points)
OPS: .859 (1st by 64 points)
Denard Span - 1 for 2, 2 BB, R, RBI. I'm officially on board. Switch Span to lead-off and Gomez to 9th. When Cuddyer comes back, make a roster spot (either Lamb or Monroe), start Span at LF and let Young get his ABs at DH and rotating through the corner OF positions.

MY ALL-STAR PREDICTIONS:
I'm not sure if the whole line-up is announced tomorrow, or just the starters. But I'm going to make my prediction without doing too much research. Here are the guys that should represent the Twins in New York next Tuesday:
C Joe Mauer (starter) - I don't need to give you stats. I did that already.
1B Justin Morneau - He won't catch Youkilis, but Morneau should start. Oh, and he should be talked about in the MVP race too.
CLR Joe Nather - Because he's 5th in the AL in saves, he probably won't make it. His ERA, however, is 1.30 and that is pretty solid.

Anyway, I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow. I hope you all enjoyed the holdiay. Still no baby news.