This was just what the doctor ordered. The Twins looked like they were sliding until they made a trip to KC. The end result was four consecutive wins and the Twins are now a half game back of the Wild Card leading White Sox.
These days, you never know what you’re going to get out of Brad Radke. On Thursday, we got eight quality innings. He gave up only two runs on four hits and Radke is now 10-8. The team really hit for him too. By the end of the third, the Twins had seven runs. Justin Morneau led the way with three RBIs and Joe Mauer and Jose Rabe each scored two runs in the 8-2 win.
The Twins needed ten innings on Friday. Down 5-3, Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer hit back to back homeruns in the top of the ninth to tie it up. In the tenth, Jason Bartlett scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch and then Torii Hunter drove in two insurance runs with a single. Dennys Reyes picked up the win and Joe Nathan picked up the save. For the second straight start, Johan Santana looked good but mortal.
Yesterday was the first of two blowouts. Luis Castillo, Nick Punto and Morneau all drove in three runs. Oddly, Punto drove in three without getting a single hit. He drew a bases loaded walk for one and hit two sacrafice flies for the other two. Carlos Silva coasted to an easy win. He’s now 8-9 and he gave up three runs on ten hits over 6 1/3 innings in the 14-3 win.
This afternoon was another beatdown. Jason Bartlett had a career day with five hits, two runs and two RBIs. He’s now hitting .377. Cuddyer scored three times six different Twins had at least three hits. The Royals actually kept pace for a while, but one run in the seventh and five in the eighth opened the game up. Final was 11-5 and the Twins racked up 22 hits.
Next up is a pretty big series against the Tigers. If we can turn the tables and pull out a sweep, the division title won’t look too far out of reach. Although with less then two months left and a nine and a half game deficit, the wild card is looking like the more realistic option.
