I sure like that Matt Capps. Bellyache all you want, but getting Capps for Ramos was a pretty sweet deal.
Capps didn’t pitch a flawless ninth inning for the Twins last night, but he pitched a scoreless one, and that’s all that matters when you’re going for a save. Capps gave up a two-out single to Figgins, but shut the rest of the Mariners down. If I do say so myself, the crowd at Target Field seemed pretty pleased.
And so was I.
Capps wasn’t the only awesome thing about last night’s game, even if he was the most exciting. My main man Jim Thome pounded a 353-foot home run into left field, driving in one of my other favorite dudes, Michael Cuddyer.
That’s Thome’s 577th career home run. He’s only seven home runs away from taking ninth place away from steroid-laden Mark McGwire. No reason he couldn’t get all seven this season; that would put Thome at 20 home runs on the year. If he does that, the Twins might even sign him again next year. Go Thome.
The Twins also had a homer (admittedly, by the skin of his teeth) from Alexi Casilla, who’s been terrific since he came off the DL and into the game for the injured Orlando Hudson. Hardy, Span, Young, Valencia, and Cuddyer all had hits on the evening.
Plus, the bullpen looked good last night. Crain, Mijares (with the exception of his runner-advancing wild pitch), and Guerrier all looked solid. Crain salvaged the sixth inning for Baker, and Guerrier was – as always – very good.
Baker had a scoreless first five innings, but ran out of steam in the sixth and gave up three runs before the Twins pulled him. That’s the thing with Baker; he throws great stuff and can get out of most jams, but if he’s off, he has one disastrous inning where he gives up a bunch of runs. Fortunately, that inning was the sixth, so the Twins could pull him and put in Crain. We’ll take it.
Tonight, it’s the Mariners’ masterful Felix Hernandez taking the mound opposite the Twins’ weakest link in the starting rotation, Kevin Slowey. A lot of folks are ragging on Baker right now, but I’m much more worried about Slowey. Let’s hope he’s not a disaster.
Original Story:
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