5/8/05: Twins/Devil Rays

[Steak]

Twins will go for the sweep this afternoon as they finish their series with the Devil Rays. They will go for a four-game winning streak today.

Joe Mays will be on the mound for the Twins today. He is coming off a very lousy outing in his last start against the Indians. He can't be worse than his last start.

I wonder what Justin will do today. Will he hit a HR again?

Mays vs. Waechtler

[Steak]

DG must have had the time of her life at the Trop this weekend as she got to see her favorite team sweep the Devil Rays this afternoon. She saw lot of great things in this series which feature lot of Twins HRs and the magic of the M & M boys (Morneau and Mauer) who ate the Devil Rays pitching for lunch in this series. She had her money worth.

It was great to get the sweep. Twins needed this with She-ca-go sweeping the Jays this weekend in Toronto. To be 4 games back is pretty darn good. It could be lot worse right now so I am counting my blessings. The wins means the Twins have some breathing room in the wild-card race as they are leading the wild-card race right now.

This series against TB wasn't easy. Twins earned those three wins. They got the big hits in this series when they needed it the most. Matthew Lecroy's three-run HR and Juan Castro's two-run single today was a great example of the big hits the Twins had in this series. It was very good to score a lot with runners on the corners in this series. I hope the hitters can continue to keep this up against the Orioles this week.

I mentioned what Justin did against the Devil Rays pitchers this weekend. He almost had a cycle today. He had a single, double, and a triple. The way Justin was hitting HRs lately, I thought he would do it again, but he did not get that done. Still, he was very good as usual. If his performance this week was not AL Player of the Week worthy, then I don't know what is the criteria of AL Player of the Week. Dwaynne Statts, who does the D-Rays TV games, was raving about Justin all weekend long in the telecast. He is going to have everyone talking. If he keeps this up, he will be a lock in the ASG and he will likely be the starter at ASG. He is going to get my vote for the ASG.

Joe Mauer had his breakout series. He just tore up the Rays pitching this weekend series. He has played well so far, but this is the first time I really saw him tear up the other team's pitching. I hope he can really get hot now like Justin. If that happens, our offense will be very powerful.

Joe Mays was fantastic today with the exception of that seventh inning blemish. I think he was done then. I know the Twins has had that complete game streak with the starters and I am sure they wanted Joe Mays to continue that, but it wasn't meant to be.

TM gave up that three-run HR to Jorge Cantu, who had a great series against the Twins. After that HR, TM settled down and got it done as he was warrior-like again.

Jesse finished the eighth.

The Nathanator was the Nathanator.

Just a great series. When you have nothing to complain about, that means it was a great series.

BRING ON THE FIRST-PLACE ORIOLES!

[DiamondGirl]

Wow! What a great weekend!!!!

I haven't had a great track record at the Trop when I've been there for Twins games but this weekend made up for big time. I love sweeping teams - especially ones that beat the Skankies 3 out of 4!

What can I say about the Twins - Johan: nothing needs to be said there other than brilliant! Your "M&M" boys - they are amazing.

Justin's swing is a thing of beauty. My Mom was with us (big baseball family I'm from) on Saturday night and she said the only thing she hasn't seen was a homerun. Next thing we know Justin comes out of the dugout (LeCroy was playing first?!? for most of the game), steps up and dings one out that I think may have just landed today!!!

Mauer is settling into be the player we've all been waiting to see. He's got a pretty nice swing too - so effortless but productive.

The catch that Shannon made on Saturday along with Torii's catch in center - they just go out there and grab it! And Redmond had a great game on Saturday.

It was a total team sweep!

All in all it was a great weekend. Not many people in the stands - lots of Twins fans though. There were 10 of us sitting on the 3rd base side just behind the dugout - can't beat that at all.

I'm good now till I see them at Jacobs Field in September!

Go Twins!!!

[Steak]

I noticed there were lot of Twins fans at the game this weekend. I could hear the cheers every time Justin or Joe hit a HR all weekend long. Unfortunately, I got to hear that famed heckler at the Trop. This guy said some stupid things over there. Whatever.

Great breakdown, DG.