So much fun to be the team that chases a starter in less than 5 innings. And Morneau gets it done with a single through the left side, scoring yet another run. I can see why the Tigers are less than the vaunted team that everyone was making them out to be in the preseason if the Twins can take it to pitchers on a "good" team like this.

Well this is getting ugly in a hurry.

Hendriks is kinda showing why he hasn't won a game in the Bigs yet.

That annoying 3B who is apparently extremely stuck up and is now trapped in AAA (aka the Twilight Zone) with Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Valencia has two recent multi homer games in Rochester. We should be talking him up and hoping for his success, because that will create an excess of third basemen. If Valencia can continue to impress at Rochester, then some third base hungry contender might want to trade for him

Trevor Plouffe has transformed himself into a weapon for this team. Never in my lifetime would I have bet on that ever happening.

Plouffe could turn out to be one of the great success stories of all time. He can clearly hit the stew out of the ball. The key will be whether he can sustain his recent success. If so, he can be our Mike Trout.

Hendriks is kinda showing why he hasn't won a game in the Bigs yet.

I continue to believe that if Hendriks could develop an "out" pitch, he could be a solid starter. I hope that someone is working with him on that. I pray for the day that Parker writes one of his amazing articles about Hendriks with videos that make everything clear.

Justin don't swing at a 1st pitch curveball...

Give credit to Swarzak for 2 perfect innings. If he gets the win, then he deserves it.

Another 1st pitch swing on a breaking pitch...jeez! a couple hits and it's a 5 run lead again.

The Twins have 11 hits, all singles, and 5 walks -- lots of opportunities.

I think the Twins patience with Burnett is paying off, he's been nearly untouchable the last few weeks.

I think the Twins patience with Burnett is paying off, he's been nearly untouchable the last few weeks.

He does seem to be having very good stuff lately. Maybe he has been partying with Plouffe.

Uh oh, we may have just jinxed him.

OK, Burnett got through it and I needed only one valium.

Great night for Doumit -- 3 hits, a walk and a HBP -- he's been on base 5 times.

Ok Gardy, you have Doumit running with two outs in the 9th and Mastro and Casilla on the bench to run and Butera to catch the ninth, yet no pinch running for Doumit?

Way to catch up on that Gardy, now he puts Mastro in to pinch run for Doumit at second.

Way to catch up on that Gardy, now he puts Mastro in to pinch run for Doumit at second.

At least he did what you suggested -- it just took him longer to think of it.

If Butera's on the team, I wouldn't mind seeing more of him replacing both Mauer (moving to first, if need be) and Doumit defensively after the 8th.

Uh oh

If Butera's on the team, I wouldn't mind seeing more of him replacing both Mauer (moving to first, if need be) and Doumit defensively after the 8th.

It's also fun when he pitches.

Uh oh

That was scary.

A Delmon Young walk off would have been unbearable.

Perkins has not been sharp lately but he always seems to get that key strikeout when needed.

If Butera's on the team, I wouldn't mind seeing more of him replacing both Mauer (moving to first, if need be) and Doumit defensively after the 8th.

I don't like the idea of creating a blackhole in your lineup should the game get tied up.

 

Butera is not enough of a defensive upgrade to justify his bat.

Always nice to win in Detroit.

 

Too bad we dug ourselves into such a deep early hole with the 13-27 start. If we could have managed to play simply bad baseball instead of putrid baseball in that stretch, we'd be right in the mix and feeling very differently about this season.

 

I didn't buy into all the pre-season hype with the Tigers. I think a lot of people were so star struck by the big names that they didn't notice some deeper flaws. That said, I think they'll still find a way to win this lousy division and I'd be wary of facing them in the postseason - with Verlander and that lineup, they could be very dangerous.

 

What's the deal with Hendriks? I didn't get home until late in the game and he was out by then, and I had to miss most of his earlier outings. Has he shown enough to suggest that he has a brighter future, or are we looking at a fringe MLB player?

What's the deal with Hendriks? I didn't get home until late in the game and he was out by then, and I had to miss most of his earlier outings. Has he shown enough to suggest that he has a brighter future, or are we looking at a fringe MLB player?

Yes. That's as close as I can tell so far...that one of those is probably true. It's weird.

Ugly. Hendriks allowed six hits while walking four and throwing 44 out of 81 pitches for strikes. He now has a 7.04 ERA in 38 1/3 innings through eight starts in the majors this year. Opposing batters are hitting .343 with 10 homers against him.

What's the deal with Hendriks? I didn't get home until late in the game and he was out by then, and I had to miss most of his earlier outings. Has he shown enough to suggest that he has a brighter future, or are we looking at a fringe MLB player?

Just can't make any judgments at this point. He's 23 and he's got less than a full season's worth of innings above Double-A. He's looked bad, no doubt, but his command is superb. He could very well figure things out at some point. Not unusual for a fresh kid to get knocked around by MLB hitters.

Ugly. Hendriks allowed six hits while walking four and throwing 44 out of 81 pitches for strikes. He now has a 7.04 ERA in 38 1/3 innings through eight starts in the majors this year. Opposing batters are hitting .343 with 10 homers against him.

When does Pavano get back? I havent heard much about him....