Give 'em a Mulligan

Just a quick reaction from tonight's game...

I'm not one for low expectations, but the 7-5 loss to the Angels tonight was a forgone conclusion. There was no way we were walking out of Anaheim with more than three wins, that's for damn sure. Not that Jon Garland scares me... he's a panty-waist sissy boy if there ever was one. But like I said yesterday, our pitching, no matter how good, isn't going to hold this lineup down all series. Goodness - we held them to ONE RUN over 21 innings on Thursday and Friday combined! They almost deserved a break. So we'll run it back at them tomorrow in hopes of an improbable series win. Case closed.

I mean... sure, Nick Blackburn didn't help himself by allowing 12 baserunners in less than five innings, but the defense behind him biffed two plays that likely keep the damage to a minimum if they're made. Notice Blackburn only had three earned runs, though six crossed the plate while he was on the mound. You can't give Anaheim anything... they'll cut your throat and take the rest before you can say "Magic Kingdom".

I refuse to let this game get me down though - five runs should have been enough to get the job done, and mental mistakes let it get away. Good news though... the White Sox lost, so we hold our 1/2-game lead going into the series finale at 2:35 CST Sunday.

For those of you who voted in the poll, I wonder what you expected from this series. I thought they'd lose two or three games, then steamroll Oakland, Seattle and Toronto in bounce-back fashion for a 9-5 trip. Maybe I'm just overly optimistic, but this weekend makes me think 10 wins are a possibility if they can pull it off tomorrow. As scheduled, it'll be Kevin Slowey vs. Ervin Santana - another really good pitching match up.

Quick Notes: It was fun to see Alexi Casilla bash a home run to open Minnesota's scoring - it was his first dinger since June 27... One of the bigger boneheaded moves of the night seemed to be when Gardy pulled Carlos Gomez (2-for-2 on the night) for Mike Lamb (never faced K-Rod) to face Francisco Rodriguez with just one out in the top of the ninth inning. Lamb proceeded to strike out. Gomez couldn't have done that? ... Justin Morneau is now batting .213 in the month of August with just one home run and 12 RBI ... The bullpen's scoreless streak was stopped at 11 innings after Boof Bonser (2 2/3 IP, 2H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 2K) offered a "tater" that Mark Teixiera deposited into the right field stands.

Minor League Notes and a "real" post coming tomorrow evening. Have a great morning!