Twins are going for the sweep today (gosh, that’s fun to type!).
We’ll find out whether Francisco Liriano can put together three good starts in a row since returning from his temporary exile to the bullpen. Ryan Dempster goes for the Cubs, so the Twins will need to make sure the assbats remain deep in storage to complete the sweep.
Speaking of returns from exile, word from the media is that we’re likely to see Liam Hendriks back with the Twins in time to start next Saturday’s game with the Brew Crew. The Aussie has been almost unhittable recently in Rochester, which makes him the logical choice to fill the fifth spot in the rotation.
But for now the focus is on today’s game with the Cubs. And if you happen to be in the mood for a little scoreboard watching, you might want to keep an eye on the score of the Royals’ game with the Pirates because a combination of a Twins win and a Royals loss will elevate our guys out of the AL Central basement for the first time in… well… I don’t know how long, but it’s been a LONG time.
| CUBS |
@ |
TWINS |
| Johnson, Re, LF | Span, CF | |
| Castro, S, SS | Revere, RF | |
| DeJesus, RF | Mauer, DH | |
| Soriano, A, DH | Willingham, LF | |
| Baker, Je, 1B | Morneau, 1B | |
| Mather, CF | Plouffe, 3B | |
| Barney, 2B | Dozier, SS | |
| Stewart, I, 3B | Butera, C | |
| Hill, K, C | Carroll, 2B | |
| _Dempster, P | _Liriano, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Chi Cubs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 2 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to an opponent and let’s be honest, Ryan Dempster can pitch a baseball really well. The Twins had no answer for Dempster and while Liriano threw pretty well through his first five innings, his sixth didn’t go well.
The Phillies, fresh off of losing two straight extra-inning games to the Orioles in Baltimore, are up next for the Twins. It will be good to see Jim Thome again… though I hope we don’t see him trotting around the bases the way he was known to do with the Twins.