New Hopes

"Joe Mauer. Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time..."

Joe Mauer might be the crazy, old wizard of Minnesota Twins lore at some point, but the former MVP has shown that he still has some magic left. The Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 4-2 last night. Mauer returned to the line-up after missing six weeks, and went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI. Not a bad return for the 3 time Batting Champion. After the game he stated that he, "...expects his oblique soreness to continue for the rest of the season (Berardino, Pioneer Press)." I think it's safe to say that most Twins fans at this point expect his leg and back issue to continue for the rest of his career.

Tommy Milone, the pitcher acquired for Sam Fuld, made his Twins debut, and went six strong innings. He gave up 8 hits, and 2 earned runs, off of 2 solo home runs. Milone struck out 5, and issued 3 walks. Milone was yanked after 97 pitches, typical for most Twins pitchers who flirt around the magical '100' number. It wasn't a shocker to see Jose Altuve hit a homer, but it was Chris Carter who really surprised me. As a former wide receiver for the Vikings, it's pretty disheartening to see him playing for the Astr...no? Wrong guy? Sorry.

Danny Santana had a great night. He was 3-5 at the plate with a run. Kennys Vargas is going through some growing pains, and had a rather forgettable night. He was 1-5 with 2 strikeouts. Jordan Schafer was 0-3 with a walk, run, and strikeout. Brian Duenslinger picked up the win after Milone drew a no decision, and Glen Perkins got his 29th save of the season. Not bad for a team that only has 53 wins on the season.

Josh Willingham was traded to the Kansas City Royals for RHP Jason Adam. Adam is 23 years young, and owns a career 4.67 ERA in 27 starts between Double-A and Triple-A. He's pitched 100 strikeouts to 34 walks, which is a nice line for the youngster. The Royals hope to add a veteran "bat" to their line-up. *stifled laughter*

The Twins are on a two game winning streak, and chasing the White Sox for 4th place in the AL Central. If the Twins can find some sort of a spark by calling up their minor leaguers, and adding some fresh faces to the team, I still don't expect them to finish any higher than 3rd, and that's quite the stretch.

In Twins And Losses news, we have some announcements coming up within the month. Stay tuned for that, and thank you for the support! We appreciate everyone who's taken the time to read our posts, and left a comment, or engaged in conversation with us.