Tough Break

Just when it was time to celebrate, the Twins' spirits were dampened by news of Michael Cuddyer's non-displaced fracture sustained last night during his rehab assignment for Triple-A Rochester. This, in the wake of a nicely pitched 4-1 win over the Royals in Kansas City in the opener of a three-game set. Kevin Slowey (7 hits, 2K) tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball, then five relievers including closer Joe Nathan sealed up the team's 64th victory of the year.

Denard Span banged out two more hits as the leadoff man, and Joe Mauer drove in a team-high two runs as the Twins kept pace with White Sox, who recorded a hard-fought 5-3 decision over Boston.

This was the "gimme" game in the series, and now Minnesota faces Zack Greinke and Gil Meche on consecutive days. Winning one of those two could be considered a nice accomplishment, but I'm sure the team is looking for a sweep after the debacle in Seattle just a few days ago.

A few brief Minor League Notes:

• No. 1 and no. 2 hitters Jason Pridie and Alejandro Machado (17-game hitting streak) went 2-for-4 in Rochester's 3-2 win over Indianapolis. Garrett Jones added three singles in four at bats as well for the Red Wings.

Much more coming Sunday, including another Alexi Casilla update! Thanks for reading!

Salvage in Seattle

If anything, the Twins have to be given credit for not being fully embarrassed by the Mariners during the first half of their six-game road trip. A comforting 7-3 win yesterday can be added to Denard Span's resume, however... the guy absolutely saved the team yesterday afternoon with a three-hit game (career-high 4 RBI) along with a sweet (game-saving?) catch to rob Adrian Beltre of a seventh-inning homer. I believe the Twins would have lost the game if not for that snag. They let Seattle come back on them twice in a row - and as we know, bad things come in threes. Turns out the "threes" were Twins' runs in the eighth inning, Span's hit total and amount of runs Blackburn (9-6) allowed. 

Speaking of Nick Blackburn... another shaky start by one of our young guys vs. Seattle. He gave up nine hits and walked one man in six innings. Lucky for him, the defense put together a couple of nice double plays to get out of self-inflicted jams. We'll take this start over the first two from Perkins and Baker, but can we please get into the seventh inning without giving up six runs? It's tough to win a series when your starters allow a 7.13 ERA. We complain about the bullpen, but when we hand them this mess, there's a lot less room for error. Good lord. 

Don't look now, but Brendan Harris has a hot bat! He's 11-for-25 over his past seven games, and during that stretch has belted six doubles, one homer and driven in five RBI batting in the no. 8 spot. Best of all, he's playing a very good shortstop/third base for the Twins, and that's what he's in the lineup for. You really can't ask for anymore than Harris is giving at this point.

I have to say I was livid when I saw Joe Mauer sitting on the bench. There's no Thursday game, yet he's unable to even DH? I understand that Randy Ruiz (2-for-5) needs his at bats, but we're trying to win games here. I suppose the Twins could have been looking at Mauer's lifetime .182/.471/.273 line vs. Jerrod Washburn, but still. Get that man in the lineup.

Michael Cuddyer went 1-for-6 vs. Triple-A competition last night as he played right field and batted cleanup for the Red Wings. His rehab stint is supposed to get him around 25 at bats, so it looks as though he'll be back with the big club in the middle of next week.

Anyway, the Twins have Thursday off, which means the bullpen gets a rest after being overworked of late. Seems like the starters rarely go seven innings these days. That's never a good sign, but a series vs. Kansas City generally cures what ails. You can see them at 7:10 p.m. on FSN North... pregame starts at 7:00. Let's hope for some Blyleven expletives! 

Minor League Notes: 

• Tommy Shearn was absolutely unstoppable last night for Rochester as he threw seven scoreless innings vs. Lehigh Valley. Shearn - recently acquired from the Reds - struck out eight batters and allowed just two hits during the outing. The game only went seven innings.
• Rochester's CF Jason Pridie stole his team-leading 22nd base last night, and went 3-for-6 in the doubleheader. 
• Second baseman Brian Dinkleman led a New Britian hit parade last night, going 3-for-5 with his second homer of the season. He's swinging a hot stick of late too - batting .444 over his past seven games with two homers and five multi-hit outings.
• The Fort Myers Miracle had their game suspended due to a power outage, and they'll play it today at noon.
• CF Ben Revere has just two hits in his last 15 ABs for Beloit, dropping his average to a still-lofty .390 on the year. He did, however, steal his team-leading 35th base of the year. He ranks third in the Midwest league in base thefts in 2008. 
• The Elizabethton Twins got pounded 13-5 by Bristol last night, but OF Evan Bigley continues to make a name for himself on the team. He's hit safely in seven of the past eight games and is hitting .394 with five home runs and 13 RBI during that span. Even better is his awesome 4:4 ratio over those eight games, which flies in the face of his 28:8 ratio on the year. He's on a hot streak, and could certainly play his way to Beloit this year or next.
• Remember, if you have nothing better to do with the Twins' off day, you can always listen to a Minor League broadcast for free here! 

And just for fun, and Michael Cuddyer card trick, courtesy of YouTube.com: 

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!