Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Back to Good

Just call 'em the Blue "Jayson Kidds", because they're dishing some sweet assists of late. Toronto knocked off our rival White Sox not once, but twice Tuesday to help bring our beloved Twins closer to the mountain top. First, A.J. Burnett baffled the ChiSox for seven innings before Scott Downs and B.J. Ryan closed out Game 1. The second battle featured young righty Jesse Litsch (who shutout the Twins last week), who proceeded to perplex and disable the Pale Sox bats for seven innings in the 8-2 nightcap win. And tomorrow, Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay pitches against the Sox as the Blue Jays try for their season-high 11th win in a row.

In addition, Chicago's Paul Konerko (batting .356/.473/.632 with 6 HRs since August) left the game with what looked like an awful knee injury. And while I'll never revel in someone else's pain, I won't deny that Konerko's departure from the lineup makes things easier on Minnesota.

Oh yeah, and the Twins won too. And if you didn't see it, the whole thing was glorious.

Nick Blackburn tossed seven innings, giving up just two runs and six hits while striking out three. What's more, Dennys Reyes and Jesse Crain combined to pitch two shutout frames (a rarity in relief these days...) as the team won 8-2.

Justin Morneau bombed his 23rd home run of the season, along with driving in his 119th RBI of the year. As a matter of fact, Joe Mauer - the team's top hitter - was the only guy without a hit on the night.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. The team made up 1.5 games in the standings like it was nothing... and nothing has come easy lately. One more thing... looks like Michael Cuddyer might be of assistance in the season's final week, according to Joe Christensen.

So enjoy your day, Twins fans. We can exhale a bit... we can afford ourselves a smile... we're in this thing.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day! Remember... there's a LIVE BLOG THURSDAY!!!

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