Blake

homonym pun-derstorm.

Uh oh. I'm going to wind up in a corner, muttering, "What have I done? What have I unleashed?"

Second.

Tanks!

Ahem! Today is Homonym day. Opposite day is down the hall and on the right.

Disclaimer: The management does not, in any way, endorse todays use of homonyms. We know this may cause some confusion with people and have sternly warned that further acts of such linguistic tomfoolery will result in the author receiving the ax. In fact, to aid in the endeavor of removing further abuse of words that sound the same but have different meanings, we have assigned a homonym aide. Thank you for your continued support as work to effect some changes before it has a negative affect on game threads. -Some person from row 7 seat 10 who has nothing to do with anything.

After a very nice sweep of the very bad team, Baltimore, the Twins face a team that is the opposite of very bad, the Houston Astros. This is a good test on this home stand and, hopefully, the home town 9 can bring the lumber and the pitching needed to navigate the loaded Houston lineup. Though, truth be told, the Twins have been putting on a pretty impressive show with the lumber themselves. On paper, this is not a matchup that favors the Twins, however, games are not played on paper, but on grass, mainly because paper just doesn't hold up well under baseball cleats. Some things to think about; 1. Whether or not the weather will cooperate. 2. Will the pitchers be able to throw the ball through the strike zone. 3. We know that no hitters are hard to come by. 4. I hope to stop by Target Field in September and buy a hot dog. Maybe a braut. Pitching for the Twins: Jake Odorizzi Pitching for the Astros: Justin Verlander 5. Play ball!

Right now, the team can afford to have a bat like Marwin's. However, once the team cools off, and if Marwin's bat remains a liability, then it will be time to look for a solution.

Yet, Baltimore managed.

Good job, Mr. Gibson!

Looking at Gibson's pitch count, dare we hope for 7 innings from him?

Cron is looking like a solid pickup and I would expect he'll probably get even better.

Don't forget the occasional tornado. I was living close to where the 50th & France tornado touched down and tossed the Lake Harriet band shell roof into the lake. Then, a few years later, I was living close to the area where a thunderstorm downburst knocked down over 100 trees in Edina. Living room window looked like it was under water. Moral: Living near Blake when he lives in MN is hazardous to the health.

Release the entire team and bring up the entire AAA farm club?

Who said diplomacy was dead?

I'm starting to feel bad for Baltimore fans. Two balls in left field that should have been caught, along with the foul popup.

The Twins bullpen is verging on being a force to be reckoned with. Romero looks to have the stuff and if his command gets a bit better, he should be lights out. Meija looks to be turning the corner. Hildenburger has been put into some ridiculous situations and, for the most part, got the job done. Not much I can say about Rogers that hasn't already been said. Parker looks to be solid, though I've not really seen enough of him to really be sold. I've not seen enough of MaGill to say one way or another. I'm looking forward to a fun year.

Baltimore is going to be in "mail it in mode" pretty soon. They got a decent start from Straily but the bullpen just imploded. Shades of Twins last year. And I'm starting to believe the Twins lineup is good enough to command respect from any team in the league.

I'm the opposite, I think the top guys in the pen have been overworked and need an extra day or two. I was glad to see it wasn't necessary to pull out the "A" guys, especially against Baltimore.

Psst: Hey Brian: this isn't the start of a game thread, my friend.

If the Twins are going to compete, they need Perez to put it together. Early returns seem to say he's got the talent to be a hard throwing lefty in the rotation.

Perez is doing a great job. Of course, it helps the Twins are putting the ball over the fence.