The Twins must wish the Nationals were in the AL Central so they could play them more often. The Twins win Wednesday night, 11-2, with good games from starter Kevin Slowey, center fielder Carlos Gomez, and the MM boys, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.
The win puts the Twins at .500, 36-36.
Slowey allowed only one run in six innings, and the performance of the Twins' young starters -- Slowey, Glen Perkins and Scott Baker -- gives Minnesota fans cause for hope, especially next year.
Gomez went three for five -- he had two bunt singles -- with two runs and an RBI; Mauer was two for four with a run, pushing his average up to .332; and Justin Morneau was two for four with a run and three RBIs, lifting his average up to .308 and his runs batted in to 56. He's not that far off his MVP pace from two years ago.
Meanwhile, Jason Kubel has quietly been improving his own numbers. His average stands at .258 and he has 37 RBIs. Delmon Young upped his totals to .276, 24, but the latter number if inadequate. He needs to get going in the second half for the Twins to have any sort of success.
Brian Buscher had a couple of RBIs for the Twins and is hitting .333. He looks like he might be a keeper at third base, and this is part of a Twins pattern. The team gets some veterans in the bottom-feeding part of the free market, but by the end of the season there's someone better from the farm team.
Minnesota nearly turned an around-the-horn triple play in the eighth. Meanwhile, the Nationals had more errors (three) than runs (two). Ouch. Another long year for Washington's in store.
Nationals starter Jason Bergmann had some tough luck -- he allowed only one earned run but two unearned runs.
The Twins better keep winning because their division rivals are doing the same. Detroit won again and Cleveland lost, so the Tigers are now in third.
The White Sox won again and are still four and half up on the Twins and six and a half on the Tigers. Cleveland's down 3-2 in the seventh inning to Colorado.
The AL batting stats haven't been updated from Wednesday's games. Heading into Wednesday, Mauer was second to the Rangers' Milton Bradley, but he might be in first now. Bradley wasn't game for Wednesday's contest -- he sat out.
Finally, the Twins found the perfect situation for run-producer (for the other team) Boof Bonser -- as a closer when the team's up 10 runs. He came in and allowed two hits and a run in one inning. His ERA's now at 6.48. The minor leagues are beckoning, Boof.
Keywords: Boof Bonser, Brian Buscher, Carlos Gomez, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Delmon Young, Detroit Tigers, Jason Bergmann, Jason Kubel, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Kevin Slowey, Milton Bradley, Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals
