Bruised Pride, Backsides

Denard Span and Carlos Gomez are equally aggressive outfielders, and last night their zealous play netted them some minor, yet impactful injuries. For all the hoopla surrounding Gomez's "carting" off the field on a stretcher, he was released from the hospital last night with a sore lower back. He figures to miss a few games, then possibly come back during the White Sox series. Even better, Span's injury didn't even cause him to miss playing time.


Leading off last night, Span went 3-for-4 vs. Cliff Lee, which is no easy task. It's becoming more and more apparent that this should have been the move all along. He has a better feel for the strike zone and generally takes better at-bats as a result. Being that Span in CF is basically a lateral move, don't be surprised to watch Gomez lose tons of playing time when Michael Cuddyer gets back. He's earned it.

Livan Hernandez looked horrible to start the game, giving up five runs and six hits in just two innings. Then a funny thing happened: he settled down for six more scoreless innings as the team's rally fell short in the ninth. In fact, Hernandez allowed only six more hits and zero runs during the complete-game, 119-pitch start. While the loss hurt, it was nice to see the bullpen get another day off - that's two in a row now with the Thursday day off. I suppose this is why they brought Livan in... eat innings.

Tonight it's Scott Baker vs. Fausto Carmona at 6:05 this evening, and it's the team's best chance to win since Texas made the trip up to Minneapolis last weekend. Hopefully Baker is up to the task.

In addition, news came out that Francisco Liriano will make his scheduled Triple-A start on Sunday. Maybe the call-up is coming Monday...

Notes:

• 3B Daniel Valencia continues to hit well for New Britian (AA), as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI. He's batting .393 over his past seven games and looks to be hitting his stride after a promotion to Double-A earlier this year.
• SP Brian Duensing isn't doing anything to hasten his big league call-up from Rochester - the 25-year-old lefty gave up 10 hits (for the second game in a row) and five earned runs in 61/3 innings last night. Not a pretty outing.
  

Thanks for reading!