Wow. I certainly didn't expect a sweep. The Tigers used up all their
offense in the first inning of Sunday's game. Brian Bass, Livan
Hernandez and Matt Guerrier silenced the roar of the Tigers.
The turning point was in Friday night's game. Second inning, bases
loaded, no outs. Ordonez had previously homered showing the rest of
the Tigers batters how it's done against the slow throwing Hernandez.
I thought for sure that Livan would be showering before the inning was
over. But Ivan Rodriguez flied out and Jacque Jones hit into a double
play. Just like that a potentially incendiary inning was averted. The
Twins went on to win 11-1, amassing 16 hits. Tigers pitching fails
again.
Joe Mauer is having a great couple of weeks since he decided not to
try to hit for power and to hit pitches wherever he can rather than
pulling the ball. It looks like he'll never develop that 20 HR power
that Twins fans craved, but if he keeps hitting .330 and driving in
runs we can adjust.
I knew the Tigers pitching was suspect but man, they are in deep
trouble. Blowing a 6-0 lead after the first inning of Sunday's game is
all you need to know about that staff. Well, it also helps to know
that their ace, Justin Verlander, is 1-5 with an ERA of 6.28. He
hasn't beaten the Twins since September 2006.
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