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So a friend of mine had an extra front row ticket to Tom Waits in Chicago Wednesday night and we made the run, leaving Wednesday morning and driving all night, getting back this morning. If anyone complains about Twin Cities traffic, spend some time driving around Chicago it's unbelieveable.

Anyhoo, it was loads of fun listening to the rubes on Chicago sports talk radio melting down about the White Sox. I thought the Twin Cities had some idiots calling in to these shows, my gawd they sound like William Shakespeare compared to the Chicago rubes and the White Sox radio ads are as weak as their starting rotation is looking these days.

The only down side was missing Morneau's home run against arguably the Tigers' best reliever. This team has had some clutch home runs the last couple weeks, Mauer's in Chicago and now Morneau. It really feels like this team has caught a wave, let's hope they can ride it into October.

Packerboy is right about Liriano, he gives them an edge in the post season. I don't know if he can change his throwing motion, it's likely that's what gives his pitches their nasty movement. They might be able to tweak some mechanics to take some stress off but if I were the Twins I'd be extremely cautious. It's also good to see packerboy hopping on the Radke bandwagon.

bartolo colon changed his throwing motion a year or 2 ago so he wouldnt hurt his arm more and it has caught up to him this year...i think they're doing the right thing by just shutting liriano down for a bit....but liriano got hurt alot when he was in the giants system too...hopefully this is just a minor injury....silva is gonna have to really step up while liriano is out if they wanna continue to be a contender in the WC race

Dont look now but I think the Twins have lost 5 of their last 7 games at home.

Lilly was tough last night.

Tonight the Matt Garza era begins.

Lets go Twins and get back on track at our beloved metrodome.
Love the milk carton. I hope they bring that to the new stadium.

It's GARZA time!

The big Z says it all!

The Garza era begins with a bang, the sound of Blue Jay bats banging the ball around. Not a good beginning but I do like his postgame analysis, he knew he was in trouble because wasn't getting his breaking stuff over.

Reusse has a good column about Garza's start today, apparently he looks awkward throwing the curve and slows his arm down to throw the change so the only breaking pitch that's working right now is the slider. It sounds like packerboy may have been right earlier when he said he'd heard that Garza was having trouble with his offspeed pitches. The thing is, with a 95 mph fastball he may be able to get by with just one offspeed pitch if he can get it across for strikes. And Reusse shares my feeling that Liriano is done for the year so Garza will need to improve for the Twins to make the final push for the wildcard.

Let's hope Boof can right the ship tonight. I think the bats will need to wake up for the Twins to pick up a win though.

Well, its a darn good thing we didnt trade Garza for Soriano.

Soriano probably has a better breaking pitch.

Garza is at least a year away form being able to pitch in the major leagues. By the time he is ready to contribute, who knows if they will even be a contender.

This weekend was not good at all. They did not play like a team who is in a playoff race.

They seemed to want to bask in the glow of winning 2 /3 at Det. all weekend.

Gardy has to keep them focused. It looked like they had hit a wall this weekend.

Lets go. There is a lot of season left.

Radke had another good start yesterday, from what I heard that was the first time Toronto had been shut out all season. I was at the game and didn't see Radke throw a fastball harder than 89 mph but he got by on the guts and guile that packerboy had mocked me about earlier this year.

Maybe this series will be a wakeup call to the team that they can't have anymore letdowns. It isn't unusual for a young team to have these kind of peaks and valleys, but it's Gardenhire's job to make sure they stay focused. There's still a month and a half left so his work is cut out for him.

I didn't see Garza pitch so I might be overly optimistic, but I think he can contribute this year. It's a measure of Ryan's desperation that he threw an unproven rookie up against one of the best hitting teams in the majors in front of 35,000 home fans. Like I said, with a 95 mph fastball he doesn't need a great offspeed pitch to make things tough for major league hitters but he does need to get it across for strikes. He would probably be better off coming out of the bullpen but Ryan worked himself into a corner by not picking up a veteran pitcher.

Radke did pitch great again. I dont know about gutsor guille but I do know he changed speed well and his location was almost perfect.

ChrisK, there werent any veteran pitchers available that would change the outcome of a race. There were however 2 hitters available that could.

Texas got one and the other stayed put....for now. the Twins got nothing.

I hope all of you 'stand pat ' geniuses saw the Toronto series. The team needs another hitter. The same guys cant do it every night.

Can they really win the WC with Cuddyer batting 4th?

I give the guy a lot of credit but cleanup on a playoff team? I dont think so.

I cant blame Ryan because Liriano went down. Nobody plans on that. But its easy to plan on the fact that this team will have offensive funks...and what to do about it. He did nothing... because he is afraid to part with Garza who may end up to be another Willie Banks.

packerboy, getting major league hitters out with an 89 mph fastball is the very definition of guile and the fact that he's out there pitching with an arm that's ready to fall off takes guts.

Even though Gardenhire insists on batting Cuddyer 4th, I consider Morneau the cleanup hitter on this team and he's done his job. I wouldn't argue that they couldn't use another bat, they've got a hole right now at 3rd base in particular as Punto is really a utility player.

I felt the more urgent need for the team was a starter and I guess we'll just have to disagree on this, packerboy. While guys like Maddux weren't available to the Twins it seems like there were and maybe still are some veteran arms out there that could give some stability to the rotation. Noone could have foreseen Liriano's injury, but Radke has been on the brink for awhile and I just can't see this team getting the wildcard with three no.5 starters which is what they have right now. If Ryan had been able to pick up another arm it would have made Garza expendable and given them a shot at picking up another bat.

The White Sox got a big sweep in Detroit this weekend and are within 5.5 games. This is shaping up to be one heck of a September.

Dont get caught up in the hype. His arm isnt ready to fall off.

Go rent the movie "For Love of the Game" if you want drama.

If there were arms out there available , who were they?

Noboby picked up starting pitching that I am aware of.

Besides, there wasnt anyone out there that is going to replace Liriano.

Hey, wait a minute...what's Kyle Lohse doin?

Here's Lohse's line for his 3 appearances with the Reds:

IP H R ER H R BB K
6.1 6 1 1 0 1 8
5.0 4 2 2 1 0 7
1.0 4 1 1 0 0 1

Not bad, though it's unlikely he would've pitched like that for the Twins.

He is doing better than our untouchable prospects.

The Vikings play a pre season game that features the starters for a quarter of the game and the town is a buzz. Front page news.

Lets go Twins.

I think the fans are more intersted in baseball right now, even if the media doesnt want to let them be.

At about 7:30 last nigt I was begging for a Twins game, I just hate pre season football, heck even a Red Sox/Tigers game would have had me hooked, I really enjoy baseball this time of year. People complain about the season being too long but with the AL Central tightening up every division but the NL East is having a race, add to that 2 wild card races between a bunch of teams and it looks to be an interesting last half of August and month of September.

I'm a pitch count guy for young guys but I think Liriano's problems have more to do with an over reliance on the slider than too many pitches. The slider tears elbows up and many experts believe it's a short cut pitch that while effective can drastically shorten careers due to the stress it puts on elbows. Maybe the Twins should have put a limit on the number of sliders he threw as opposed to total pitches. Top strike out guys have at least 3 pitches; a fastball that moves or over powers, a good curve, and either a change up or a slider as a 3rd - 4th pitch. I remember Nolan Ryan had the same arm motion and speed with his curve as with his fastball that made his curve so very dangerous because it started out at your head if you were a righty. Only Steve Carlton was a slider guy and even he didn't throw it nearly as often as some guys try to do now. Liriano will just have to develop another pitch to compliment what he already has, he has the talent to do it. Given time Garza will develop, he's only a year removed from college, his mechanics aren't there yet. Pitching in the majors is far removed even from triple A ball, and the International League is though of as a finesse league while the Pacific Coast League is thought of as a hitters league.

The 17 consecutive days of Twins baseball concluded Sunday with a 9-8 mark. I have accepted that this is what they are against AL teams. Nice efforts in Det and KC were offset by poor sets with Tex and Tor at home.

The rest of the season can be chunked into the following trimesters: 15 games to finish up August, 17 consecutive dates to begin Sept., 13 straight to finish the year. The Twins will go 8-7, 9-8, 7-6 getting them to 92-70. Nice year, fantastic June/July, but 4 games out of the Wild Card.

For the Twins to proove me wrong they need to go on another ferocious winning binge. I don't see it running Bonser, Smith, Garza, or Baker out there every 2 out of 5. The middle of the order still has holes in Cuddyer and Hunter. Radke and Santana's efforts have been commendable, Silva has contributed, but the back end is young and bad against the AL's upper tier teams.

I said it then, I'll say it again, the mistake was made at the deadline. Depth was not added in the rotation, in the order, or on the bench. At the time, the Twins were built to contend and not to win and that's what will unfold.

Go Twins and proove me wrong.

I think they can win with Liriano.

Without him, the ofense would have to be much better than it can be on a regular basis.

They play 162 for a reason (besides money).

I agree IS that the Twins are only a .500 team vs the best but thats typical of even playoff teams.

The Tigers are the only team where it doesnt seem to matter who they play but their last 2 series vs the Twins and the CWS may have been a dose of reality for them too.

This a crucial series because the CWS are playing KC right now. Twins could fall further behind if they dont win the CLE series.

Lets go.

Good point PBoy. KC will not be of any help to the Twins over the next three days. The way I see it, the Twins winning 5 of their next 6 still leaves them 2 behind the Sox.

Aug 21-24 will be real important provided the Twins can at least hold ground head to head against the Sox. The Twins go @Bos, @Bal, @Bal, @Bal while the Sox have four in Det. There is still a lot of baseball to be played, yet, the schedule doesn't have any room for a hiccup.

How fickle is baseball? A week ago the AL Central race was off the boards in Las Vegas, now the Tigers are still favorites, 1-2 but the White Sox are now 1-1 with the Twins being 8-1. The White Sox were given up for dead, and the Tigers were hadned the division. The White Sox are playing great baseball and are now the team to beat in the AL Central, the Tigers are basically in their first pennant chase in 20 years and it looks like the young arms are starting to tire.

I dont know goldy. As you point out, things can change and in a hurry.

Just when you think the current state of things is what will be..it gets all goofy again.

When the Twins got back into it, I thought it would be between the Yanks Sox and the Twins. Well, now it looks like its between the Twins and the 2 Sox.

The White Sox hit a low spot for a while and things looked like they were unraveling for them while the Twins were rollin. Now the Whiteys are on a roll and 3 games up.

It seems like yesterday the Twins caputured the WC lead by a half game with a dramatic HR. A couple of weak efforts vs Tor and they are 3 back.

There could be a lot of this down the stretch. If Liriano can come back and pitch, I can forget about the flippin Vikings for a little while longer.

I was like you last night goldy. Finally sat down with a cold one about 8 PM and whats on? Preseason football.

Why cant they shuffle people and units in and out thruout the course of the game instead of nothing but 2s and 3s the last 3 quarters?

It does look like we're in for quite a month and a half. I don't think we'll see Liriano return which means the Twins odds are longer, but this team has shown a lot of heart so I wouldn't count them out unless they're mathematically eliminated.

Nice point goldy, the slider could well be the reason for Liriano's arm woes. I believe I've read that the Twins organization discourages the use of the forkball or split finger because it's hard on the arm.

I agree ChrisK....Even though Liriano is officially on the 15 day, I doubt we'll see him again this year.

Everyone I called out this afternoon stuck it to me this evening. KC, who I claimed was DOA in Chicago, came up large against the Sock tonight. Cuddyer and Hunter, my "holes in the middle of the lineup" both delivered critical 2 out RBI's in the 8th.

Go Twins.

Well, it seems like you cant rely on anything.

Whiteys lose to KC. Cuddyer and Hunter get key hits. Hafner doesnt hit a home run in game against the Twins.

What a game, baseball.

Maybe the best thing about the game is the guys that play it. Yah, I know about the steroids scandal but pick up the paper and listen to the radio this AM.

Koren Robinson in jail for DUI and Garnett whining about not winning a championship.

Well, I guess you can rely on some things.

Was at the game last night, Johan was ON. Apparently he's had a blister on his finger that's been bothering him. Cleveland made some really nice plays in the field, as did the Twins particularly Cuddyer getting over and throwing a bullet to rob an Indian of a double. Mauer made a nice slide in the 8th to avoid a tag by the catcher and score a run. Nathan made things a little interesting in the 9th before settling down and closing it out.

There was a large crowd, especially for a Tuesday night game, over 38,000 according to the paper, and as has been the case lately they were really into the game. Packerboy's dream of turning this town into a baseball town might be coming close to reality. I do like the Vikings but they've never given me as much enjoyment as I've had watching the Twins this season.

As easy as it is to take a cheap shot at the Vikes with their never-ending string of DUIs, remember that Liriano got nailed for a DUI himself in spring training.

I am more connected to the Twins than the Vikings (as if you couldnt tell).

But I do have to admit that the late 60s and into the middle 70s were alot of fun with our Purple and 1998 was as good as it gets until Anderson missed the field goal.

Also 1987 was a lot of fun(Darrin Nelson dropped the pass)

That being said, the reason its so easy to pick on the Vikings is because...well, they are so easy to pick on.

They have never, never, ever won the Super Bowl.

They havent been there now for about 30 years. 30 flippin years with no Super Bowl and the top story in the sports page is the injury to Greenway.

They have had a constant string of issues with players and behavior. Just when you thought it was safe to love them , they give you the Love Boat and ticket scalping

Now we have the new coach and the new era of discipline and morality and Koren decides he will get drunk and try to avoid arrest. Its a joke but we cant get enough of it.

Sure Liriano screwed up but the issues with the Twins are nonexisitent compared to the Vikings.

Go Twins. Go straight to jail Vikings.