GameChat – Twins @ Indians, 6:05pm

I think you can probably guess what all the buzz is about for tonight’s game. Yes, Nishioka is back with the team and yes, he’s in the lineup batting 7th. I don’t dislike him – in fact, if he is able to do the job, then I will be ecstatic! I just have a hard time believing that will be his fate tonight given his numbers in AAA. From what I’m seeing in the fan community, I’m not alone in my trepidation.

Also reported today is that Gardy has said “it’s not a 3 day thing for Nishi”… I don’t know what that means Gardy! Of course, the people who supposedly know claim that it means when Plouffe comes back, it will be someone else going back down to Rochester. I just don’t know how anyone can say that before Nishi has fielded a single ball or had a single AB. Shall we let things play out a little bit and see what we have here folks? yeesh.

Dick Bremer actually had an interesting tweet today related to a different person in the lineup! Apparently the Red Sox, who are no doubt feeling a little stung even though they avoided the sweep, commented that they were glad that they didn’t have to face Scott Diamond. I’m kind of glad that we have him for the Indians since they are actually in the division. I’d like to see him do his thing and help us make up a little ground.. It’s a matter of a little pride at this point. And the Twins don’t seem ready to just give up and let the season end now. Good for them. Play hard, let us enjoy some baseball!

Tonight’s game looked a little ugly in the first inning… started by McAllister mowing through our hitters in a 3 up, 3 down exercise that was over before you had time to blink.. and then Diamond got himself in a little bit of a pickle & Nishioka got his first error in the bottom half. BUT Scott pulled it together, we got out of the first only giving up one run and from there something else happened entirely!

The guys came out in the 2nd and found out how to get to McAllister in a BIG way. Long balls, singles, errors, bloops, it didn’t matter how they got the hit, they got someone across home plate – 10 times. In the process, Ben Revere increased his hitting streak to 20 games – a career high. And that set the stage for Scott Diamond to come back and nail down the Indians hitting for the next 6 innings. That earned him the honor of being the first Twins pitcher to hit 10 wins this season. More than that, it just continues to build the team & fan trust in his ability – especially against the Indians. Stellar efforts are obviously paying off for both of them. Since we’re in Cleveland, I thought it appropriate to award them both in true Major League fashion – Ben Revere gets a pair of shoes worn by Willie Mays Hayes and Scotty gets a ball singed by Ricky Vaughn!! Congrats boys!

However, when you have a win like this, it can be hard to get the chat population to settle on that one individual they thought MOST contributed to the win – our BOD. After much discussion, the winner was the one who hit 2 homeruns in tonight’s game – including his career #200. Yes, that person is Justin Morneau!

 
And because it really was a team victory with EVERYONE putting forth a good effort this game to bring home this win, we promise not to leave anyone behind in Cleveland… like we did with Danny in Boston.. or Delmon in Detroit.. No really, you all get a plane ticket home.