KC Masterpiece?

I love barbeque as much as the next guy, but I'm hoping the Twins slow-roast the Royals this weekend. We've got Slowey (7-8, 4.21), Liriano (1-3, 7.16), Baker (7-3, 3.86) going three days in a row, and the Red Sox vs. White Sox (Sox lost last night!) series happening a little further north at U.S. Cellular. Could be an awesome weekend to be a Minnesota fan.

Kansas City is coming off a nasty pair of 8-2 losses at the hands of the Red Sox - this, after winning the series opener 4-3 on Monday. They'll toss Kyle Davies (5-2, 4.41) out there tonight, then counter Liriano with Zack Greinke (9-7, 3.93) and put Gil Meche (10-9, 4.17) on the mound Sunday. Davies hasn't generally gone deep into games, but isn't allowing much of late - the guy hasn't allowed more than three runs in over a month. Meche and Greinke are probably the most underrated one-two punch in baseball, and have combined for a 3.69 ERA and a 9 k/9 IP ratio over their past 12 (combined) starts. Greinke got beat up pretty badly by Detroit and Chicago a couple of weeks ago (12.00 ERA during those two), but Meche has extremely reliable since early June.

The Royals' bats have come alive too - they're hitting an incredible .310/.357/.457 as a team over the past six games. On the year, Kansas City's line is .263/.317/.392, so yeah, they're hot. DH Billy Butler and 3B Alex Gordon have led the charge, so watch out for them this weekend. 

KC has a pretty young team, but they're good enough at times to knock unsuspecting opposition from their high horse. Luckily, the Twins lost two of three in Seattle, which probably knocked the pride out of them.

Other Twins tidbits to note: Denard Span is batting .400 with a homer and five RBI in his past five games... since being dropped to the no. 9 spot in the batting order, Carlos Gomez has been quite productive, batting .371 to raise his AVG and OBP nine points apiece... conversely, the speedy Gomez hasn't stolen a base since June 30, a span of 28 games... Michael Cuddyer pounded two hits, both doubles, for Class AAA Rochester last night in the third game of his rehab stint... During the Cleveland series on July 25-27, Brian Buscher played just one game, going 3-for-5 with a homer. Since that game, he's gone 3-for-20 with three RBI in six games... Adam Everett may possibly be the worst offensive player in baseball.

Minor League Notes: 

• It was a HUGE night for Rochester's offense on Thursday, and Garrett Jones (2-for-5, homer, 4 RBI)/Luke Hughes (3-for-4, homer, 2 RBI) take top honors. It marked Hughes' first Triple-A dinger in eight games with the team.
• Well... maybe SS/2B Alejandro Machado had the best game of the night for Rochester - he went 4-for-4 to raise his batting average to .366 on the year (31 games). As a matter of fact, Machado has been scorching hot (.426) during his current 16-game hitting streak. What's even more impressive is that Machado has finally battled back from a torn rotator cuff injury that cost him all of 2007. He could definitely be a call up in September if he continues his stellar play at the dish and in the field. I think we all know how bad the bats are in our middle infield. There's no real power here, but the guy can get on base.
• SP Cole Devries pitched five scoreless innings to earn his second win in a row for Fort Myers. 
• 1B Rene Leveret bashed his second home run as a Beloit Snapper last night, and is hitting .424 in his past nine games. He's still striking out way too much though - he's got a 30:10 K/BB ratio. Ugly.
• There's no doubt in my mind that Mike McCardell is ready for the next level. He struck out seven batters in eight innings of work last night to bump his record to 8-3 on the year. McCardell gave up two runs on five hits and a walk. 
• SP Bobby Lanigan registered his second straight strong outing for Elizabethton last night, going eight innings and allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out five and won his third straight decision. 

Thanks for reading! Have an amazing Friday!

"Livan" the rotation?

So I sat in the "Family Section" last night at the Twins game and watched as Livan Hernandez threw nearly 80 pitches in four innings, essentially blowing one of the biggest games of the season so far. He didn't even give them a chance to win. From my lofty perch in section 216, I could see that both he and the fans have had just about enough of this nonsense. The question is whether the management feels the same way. I never dreamed I'd be pining for Kyle Lohse over this guy. 

Anyway, the Twins dropped last night's game 8-3 in front of a crowd of over 42,000 paying customers. The White Sox fans got their money's worth, but we got hosed. Denard Span looked good leading off again with a couple of hits, and both Morneau and Delmon Young were good for RBI doubles. Thing is, when Livan is pitching, you need more. And that's a problem. Oh, and the White Sox were close to locking up Ken Griffey Jr. last night too, so that's great.

Speaking of problems, I decided to rank them last night because I was so frustrated. 

1. Livan Hernandez - Everything about him makes me want to punch a wall.
2. Third Base - Buscher is cool and all, but we think we can contend for a division with the guy? Really? We need a real hitter in this spot.
3. Bullpen - I'm not sold on our relief situation, but it's not shockingly terrible, so it gets ranked #3.
4. Second base/Shortstop - When Brendan Harris and Nick Punto take the field, my stomach turns. Defensively, they're fine, but looking at Punto in the no. 2 slot is maddening. 

If I keep talking about this stuff, I'm going to go berserk, so let's talk trade... as of 9:35 a.m. CST. Stay up-to-date on all rumors here. 

• The Twins are in the market for a second baseman, and have been talking to KC and Baltimore about Mark Grudzielanek and Brian Roberts, respectively. Word is that Roberts is basically untouchable. 
• The Mariners want Denard Span or one of our "Radke Clones" - Perkins, Baker, Slowey or Blackburn - for Beltre. Sounds like the Twins don't wanna bite. I'm a little miffed about their whiny attitude about moving pitchers in light of our terrible 3B situation, but maybe they'll budge before the end of the day.
• Boof Bonser is being "dangled" (and I use that term VERY loosely) along with Craig Monroe. We'll see if the Rangers or Tampa Bay Rays try to acquire one of them today. 
• Best of all, it looks like Liriano could be coming up in a matter of days.

Minor League Notes: 

• The Rochester Red Wings pounded Pawtucket 8-3 last night, and RF Garrett Jones was a big part of the scoring surge as he bombed his 14th homer of the year. Jones is riding an eight game hitting streak right now, and has batted .419 during that stretch with two bombs and 10 RBI. 
• Rock Cats Luke Hughes, Daniel Valencia and Steven Tolleson each had multi-hit games last night in New Britain's win. Hughes has now hit safely in seven straight games, and looks locked once again after some injury problems earlier in the year. Valencia smashed his second home run in seven days, and is starting to look very comfortable in double-A ball. 
• Fort Myers RF Eli Tintor just keeps on hitting... he went 2-for-5 with two singles, and his streak is now at 13 games. 
• Daniel Osterbrock now has two ridiculous starts in a row for Elizabethton (Twins Rookie team), as he once again struck out 12 Greeneville batters last night. This time, he gave up three runs on six hits instead of shutting them out, but still managed to pick up his fourth win of the season. 

Thanks so much for reading, and enjoy your (hopefully) trade-filled day!