The Minnesota Twins have yet to play a game at Target Field this season, and it's already been a rocky road for them. They will kick off their first homestand with a 2-4 record following trips to Toronto and the dreadful New York.
I can hardly imagine a worse way to start the season than how the Twins started 2011 last Friday night against the Jays. What went wrong in that 13-3 loss? Well, let's see: A misplayed rundown, an error, a hit batter, walks, walking in a run following a double steal, a balk and giving up four runs. And that was just in the bottom of the first.
Yes, it was just the first inning of the first game of a 162-game season. But that first inning, and the whole game, was brutal. Baseball fans waited six months for this? With a 13-3 score, I won't go into the rest of the details.
Things didn't get better
Saturday's game really wasn't much different for the Twins. Sure, they didn't have all the first-inning "jitters," and the score was a bit lower. But the equation was the same: Poor pitching with little hit/run support.
They finally managed a win with a salvaged game on Sunday, as they barely hung on to win 4-3. Joe Nathan came in for his first appearence since his surgery last year, and he had to make it interesting. He loaded the bases and gave up a run before getting the save. Too close for comfort, yet again. Thanks to Denard Span for his homer in the eighth inning.
That's why they call it an insurance run.
New York, and why is Mauer being rested?
Then, it was off to the Bronx to play four games against the Yankees. It turned out to be three with a rain-out on Wednesday, but the game that the Twins won was a good one. They finally got a clutch hit when Delmon Young hit a bloop, bases-clearing double to tie the score late at 4 apiece. Joe Mauer knocked in the run in the 10th to give the Twins the 5-4 victory.
Speaking of Mauer, he was rested Sunday and manager Ron Gardenhire also wanted to rest him on Wednesday. I understand his injury-filled past, but it's early in the season. And, oh yeah, he's on a $184 million contract. Let him play.
I'd also be curious to know how much other catchers around the league are rested, since they are playing the same physically-demanding position.
Nishi heads to the DL
Bad news for the newbie Tsuyoshi Nishioka. He's going on the disabled list after getting taken out in the field by Nick Swisher sliding into second. The result was a broken fibula. I hadn't been too impressed with Nishi so far, but a few games is not enough to decide his worth. Plus, I think he definitely had some butterflies out there.
All the experts are pointing to a clean slide from the Yankee Swisher, and if the rule is that he needs to be able to touch the bag, then I agree that it was clean. But I still don't have to like it. He's a Yankee and as a baseball fan of any other major league team, I reserve the right to dislike anything relating to the Yankees.
That's just one of those unwritten rules of baseball, right?
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