Tough loss last night for the Twins. After Kevin Slowey’s complete game gem on Sunday and great start from Glen Perkins last night, quality starts from the rotation have become nearly customary lately; however, an uncostumary bullpen collapse occurred last night.

Perkins left the game in the 7th inning leaving the bullpen to protect a 4-1 lead. A trio of Jesse Crain, Dennys Reyes, and Matt Guerrier all tried to get the final 9 outs but were to no avail. Very quickly a 4-1 slipped to a 5-4 deficit and the Twins weren’t able to rally back. What seemed like another great victory against the division rival Detroit Tigers was suddenly a tough loss.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

With two out in the first inning Twins pitcher, Glen Perkins, had a pitch get away from him and come up and in on Detroit slugger, Carlos Guillen. Guillen gave Perkins a long stare and was certainly not happy about the inside pitch. “There is no reason to try and hit him, especially not in the first inning,” Perkins said. “He’s a good hitter. I tried to make good pitches to him. I didn’t want to leave a ball over the plate. It was one that just got away from me. I threw it as hard as I could. It was unfortunate that it went right there.”

It didn’t take long for the Tigers to retalliate whether it was justified or not. In the 3rd inning Tigers pitcher, Armando Galarraga, threw his first pitch behind batter Joe Mauer which led to a rare show of emotion from the calm catcher as he made a slight glance back toward the mound. But on the second pitch it appeared that Galarraga was throwing at Mauer’s knees. Believe it or not, Mauer nearly charged the mound taking three steps toward Galarraga and then made the logical choice to get back in the batter’s box. “I thought it was unnecessary, especially the second one,” Mauer said. “Nobody got hit. But obviously it looked like they were throwing at us.”

Ron Gardenhire did however lose his cool and dedcided he needed to protect his start catcher. I agree, that after the first pitch a second attack from Galarraga should have resulted in an ejection for the pitcher. However, Gardy’s tantrem left him as the only person to get ejected from the game.

SPAN WATCH

With the recent move of Michael Cuddyer to the DL (for the second time this year) young outfielder Denard Span has been recalled to take over the rightfield duties.

After struggling during his first callup in April, Span when back down and raised his batting average to .340 through 40 games with a .434 OBP. Span went 2 for 4 last night with a double and defensively made an awesome diving catch that earned him a Web Gem on Baseball Tonight.

I’m excited to watch Span play for the next two weeks and here’s hoping for the best for the young outfielder. For more info on Span check out MLB.com here.

Twins off tonight after they completed a 2-4 West Coast roadtrip to Oakland and Texas. The trip saw Francisco Liriano hit an ultimate low showing no command and being sent down to minor leagues, a offense stymied by Oakland’s pitching scoring only 5 runs in three games, a surprise offensive burst of 12 runs in Texas to claim a victory, Michael Cuddyer hit his first homerun of the season in his first game back from the DL, and of course the return of Livan Hernandez to earth as he was roughed up by the Rangers.

All in all, not a great road trip, but the Twins remain at 11-14 and are right in the pack of a crowded AL Central through the first month of the season.

THINGS I NEED TO SEE

- With the return of Cuddyer, Ron Gardenhire has decided to move Delmon Young down in the order. This should put less pressure on Young who seems to be pressing at the plate, but I need to see him start hitting! He has no homeruns and only 8 RBIs.

- We knew the rotation would have some question marks this year, but we thought our bullpen would be very solid. Gardenhire can’t be afraid to use Joe Nathan in non-save situations and the rest of the bullpen (excluding Dennys Reyes) needs to step up.

- As figured with a young club, the Twins seem to score 1 run one night and 9 runs the next night. I need to see some more offensive consistency. With Cuddyer healthy, hopefully the Twins can settle into a set batting order.

I’ll be in Minneapolis tomorrow evening for the opening game of the 2 game series against the White Sox. This will be my first game since opening day, so hopefully I will see the THINGS I NEED TO SEE.

Until then, see this… an amazing catch made from college baseball that was the #1 play of the week on Sportscenter!

A 12-5 victory over the White Sox last night was filled with highlights for the Minnesota Twins.

In the 6th inning Jason Kubel broke a 7-3 lead into an 11-3 rout with a grand slam. Kubel went 2-6 with 6 RBIs in the game. Brendan Harris went 3-4 and scored 3 runs. Scott Baker pitched solid, not great, but he did strike out 7 in 5 innings and gave up 3 runs.

Ron Gardenhire said before the game,
All we’re looking for is some more consistent swings throughout the lineup. We’ve had a guy hot here and there. We haven’t really clicked as an offense yet.

Gardy got what he was looking for as the Twins set season highs scoring 12 runs and collecting 13 hits.

Of all the highlights, Carlos Gomez may have stole the show in the first inning. Gomez had a phenomenal diving catch in the center/rightfield gap. The play won himself a Web Gem and a #1 spot on Sportscenter top plays!

Tonight’s game in Chicago has already been postponed due to heavy rain, so the team will move onto Kansas City for the weekend and the off day should actually help the rotation out. With Kevin Slowey unable to start Sunday and Francisco Liriano appearing unprepared to be called up, the rotation will get pushed back a day and everything should be fine.

Stay dry!