Twins fans should breathe a sign of relief. They proved Tuesday that they can beat the Tigers.
How often? We'll find out.
Craig Monroe's three-run homer in the fourth inning was the biggest blow in the game. Monroe played several years for the Tigers and had plenty of motivation for this series against the team that gave up on him.
The Twins had 14 hits. Monroe had two hits; Carlos Gomez had two hits and a run; Alexi Casilla had three hits, a run and an RBI; Mike Redmond (playing for Joe Mauer at catcher) had two hits, a run and two RBIs; and Justin Morneau, three hits and a run. As manager Ron Gardenhire said, "We left a ton of runs out there."
Scott Baker wasn't great. He allowed seven hits and three earned runs in six innings. But that was good enough because of the potent Twins offense.
Nate Robertson was roughed up, allowing six runs in four innings, but the Tigers bullpen was better than that of the Twins, giving up on runs to the Twins' one.
Middle relief looks like a problem for Minnesota, which is definitely missing Pat Neshek. Joe Nathan's been lights out, but Brian Bass gave up a run today. Matt Guerrier lost the game Monday. Keep an eye on middle relief -- it could prove to be the Twins' Achilles heel.
Denard Span has been playing right field for the Twins while Michael Cuddyer's on the DL. Span's hitting .297.
Wednesday's pitchers are Eddie Bonine and Nick Blackburn.
With the win, the Twins are two and a half games behind the White Sox, who beat the Indians in the 10th. Cleveland's now 11 and a half games back and 10 games under .500. They'll probably be dealing C.C. Sabathia unless they start playing a whole lot better. That doesn't seem likely.
Detroit's six games out.
Mauer was upset after Monday's game because he was nearly hit by two pitches. The Tigers responded that Carlos Guillen was nearly hit with a pitch. So it goes.
