5/7/05: Twins/Devil Rays

[Steak]

Twins resume their weekend series against the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg this evening. Twins are coming off a great performance by their three best players last night with Johan pitching well and the M & M boys (Morneau and Mauer) swinging the ball.

Kyle Lohse will be on the mound this evening. He has been a complete disaster as usual. He missed a start so we will see how he does. Don't expect much. Watch him have one bad inning and implode. I am expecting a loss tonight with this guy on the mound. With the division likely being tough, the Twins really need to make a decision about Kyle soon. They can't let Kyle work through his problems like they have done over the years. Either he starts pitching well or the Twins give Scott Baker a try. Personally, I wish Baker would have started today.

Scott Kazmir is on the hill for the D-Rays. This guy has a chance to be something special. I am still wondering why the Mets were stupid enough to trade him for a stiff like Victor Zambrano. It's one thing for them to get Johan Santana in return for Kazmir, but VICTOR FREAKING ZAMBRANO who has done nothing in the majors. The Mets got him because they thought he could help them get a playoff spot even though the Mets were clearly playing above their heads. That team was going to fade so to trade Kazmir was really stupid. It's decision like this that make the Mets an awful franchise over the years. Anyway, Kazmir throws strikes and considering how the Twins offense are these days, he can have a field day. If the D-Rays can be patient with him, they have a chance to see something special in this guy.

To show you how smart Kazmir is, he talked about how he wants to patent himself after Johan as I read in the Devil Rays web site this morning.

Kazmir vs. Lohse

[Steak]

Great win. The Twins won their third in a row and their second in a row against the D-Rays. Lot of good things in this game.

Scott Kazmir was no-hitting the Twins for four innings, but in the fifth, he became mortal as he was starting to give up hits. Twins got couple of hits and then Mike Redmond got the big single to tie the game. Jason Barlett hit a single to give the good guys the lead at 2-1. Lew opened the floodgates with a big hit with the bases loaded. Justin finished it up with a three-run HR. It was really good to see the offense do some damage. I hope this is a start of good things to come and I really hope to see some consistency from the offense.

I mentioned Justin hitting a three-run HR. My god this guy is something else. Is there anything he can't do? He has like 6 HRs since coming from an injury. I swear everyday he is hitting homeruns. He is just getting it done. This guy is a special talent and a special player. He just impresses me each game. I am going on a limb, but I think he will lead the AL in HRs this season. He is that good. He is a once in a lifetime talent. I just can't say enough about him. I am running out of superlatives in describing him just like I am running out of superlatives to describe Johan. I gotta start bringing a thesarus.

Kyle pitched a gem for his standards. I will take it. He did a good job for 5 innings. I liked how he got out of jams. If Kyle can pitch like that and if he can win the game, it's a bonus.

Scott Baker made his Twins debut. Outside of that leadoff double, he retired the side in order. I like what I saw in him.

J.C. was fantastic. He even had a rare 1-2-3 inning in the eighth.

Jesse was golden.

You know what Joe did. He does what he does best and that exterminating the other team in the ninth inning.

Great win. It's too bad She-ca-go won, but I am not worried about them much. As long as the Twins win, they will lead in the wild-card race and keep getting the lead. I am done worrying about the Whiney Sux. I am not going to get angry everytime they win. It ain't worth it. Let them win. As long as the Twins winning and getting leads in the wild-card race, I will take it.

Let's go for the sweep tommorow.