4 games against that one angel team

[henks]

The Twins begin their longest road trip in nearly 40 years on Thursday with the first of four against the Los Angeles Angels.

Baker (7-3, 3.91) vs. Lackey (10-2, 3.22)
Perkins (10-3, 4.17) vs. Saunders (14-5, 3.14)
Blackburn (9-7, 3.71) vs. Garland (11-8, 4.33)
Slowey (10-8, 3.78) vs. Santana (13-5, 3.39)

This is a HUGE series for the Twins. Playing against one of the top teams in the league away from Home Sweet Dome. Will the young pitchers not be phased by the rowdy crowd in California? We shall see....

[catman]

Top of 12, Nick Punto triples over Torii Hunter's leap in right-center. Gomez K's, Span singles to left, driving Punto home with the lead run. Casilla up now with a full-count (Span stole 2nd). Casilla grounds out to 2nd -- Span to 3rd. Mauer up with a couple of empty bases against Justin Speier. Mauer flies out to left. Nathan on for the save, also to lower his ERA to below 1.00.

[catman]

Nathan comes in and, as he says in the pitchers' song, "Closes the door."
Baker pitched a great job, Guerrier pitched 2 outstanding innings, Crain pitched a scoreless inning (picking up the win), and Nathan did his thing. His ERA is now .99.

[catman]

Check that -- Nathan's ERA is 0.98. Pretty impressive win for the Twins.

[catman]

Tomorrow, Perkins v. Joe Saunders. Saunders is a guy that was forced into service as a starter due to injuries to the Angels' rotation, but he has thrived there. He is a guy that is not overpowering, but does not miss his spots often. I've seen him pitch a couple of times in the minors and liked his stuff there.

[mntwinsfan]

Yes last night game was a big win. If we can hit Saunder we should win the game. The only Angels sp I am worried about is Garland. He does well against us if my memory serves me correct.

Why is ESPN not showing the Twins any love? When was the last game on tv? They give the Yankees more love and there a club that wont make the playoffs.

[catman]

Its the Yankees, MTF. They always get more respect than the Twins do.

[catman]

I'll be able to see part of the game tonight when I get home from work. It should still be on at 11 local time. I just hope I have a nice surprise like I had last night.

[henks]

So far it's a pitcher's duel through the first 3 innings.

[henks]

Young strokes a 2 run shot. Twins up 2-0.

[henks]

Gomez with an RBI single, 3-0 Twins.

[catman]

Twins up 9-0 when I got home is a nice surprise. Reyes on to pitch the 9th.
Perkins was on tonight. The bullpen is nicely rested.

[catman]

Reyes threw a nasty splitter to strike Torii Hunter out. Good to see him with that sort of stuff.

[catman]

Twins win 9-0. They are back in 1st place.

[mntwinsfan]

Good to see a win. Perkins was sharp tonight. We have a split for the series, how about one more or two more wins to get a series win!


Side Note:

Span has made a huge difference to the club since he was called up! Without him I doubt we would be this good..