It is said all good things must come to an end, but the Twins are certainly enjoying their recent trend of good baseball. They extended their winning ways once again, by besting the Padres and Greg Maddux last night, 9-3. The fact that they’ve faced 4 Cy Young winners in the last 5 games hasn’t fazed them at all.
In a 3-0 hole early, the Twins surged back to tie it behind a pair of 2 out hits. Alexi Casilla hit an RBI single and Joe Mauer doubled in a pair to pull even. Then the offense really took off. The Padres series has been particularly good to Brendan Harris. In the 4th, he hit his 2nd homer in as many games, this one a 2 run blast off of Greg Maddux. Carlos Gomez hit a 2 RBI single in the 6th and also added two stolen bases in the game. In the 8th, Craig Monroe hit a 2 run, pinch hit home run.
Starter Glen Perkins struggled early, spotting the Padres a 3-0 lead after 2 innings. He never really seemed to get into a rhythm, but he never allowed more then those 3 runs. He hung in there, giving up those 3 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and struck out 2. He was helped by some strong defense, included a great stop by Casilla to save a hit.
Not only has the continued winning bolstered the team’s confidence, but the more recent winning has come against several former Cy Young winners. If the Twins can beat them, then they feel like they could beat anyone. Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy, Greg Maddux and even all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman fell before the Twins’ bats.
