The Tigers are losing right now and if the Orioles hold on, the Twins will be back to a one game deficit in the AL Central. The White Sox play later today but regardless of what happens there, the Twins will have no worse then a three game lead for the Wild Card.
The bats really did the job on Thursday. Torii Hunter and Rondel White both homered and Hunter drove in four runs in the 9-4 win. The Twins scored in each of their final five innings and while Boof Bonser didn’t get a decision in his start, he did throw well. Jesse Crain actually gave up the tying the run but the Twins immediately picked him up and he ended up getting the win.
Friday was the lone blemish and ironically, it was on Johan Santana’s day. He looked pretty mortal and gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in eight innings. The Twins actually tied it up with two runs in the ninth but Pat Neshek gave up the winning run in the bottom of the tenth. Justin Morneau drove in two runs in the 5-4 loss.
Carlos Silva really picked things up yesterday. He gave up only one run on five hits in seven innings of work. Torii Hunter hit homerun number 26 and Mike Redmond had three hits and three RBIs in the 4-1 win.
The Twins wrapped up the series this afternoon with their second straight win. Scott Baker threw a very nice game and he improved to 5-8 and Torii Hunter and Phil Nevin each drove in two runs in the 6-1 win. Jason Tyner had three hits and the defense turned five double plays.
Next up is three games against a struggling Red Sox team. The good news is, the Tigers and White Sox play head to head so one of them has to lose. We’ll either be picking up ground in the division race or padding our lead for the Wild Card.
Damn, the Tigers just tied their game up 8-8. We might be back down to a two game lead after all.
