Joe Nathan allowed a run in the ninth inning when the bases were loaded and he got a double play off the bat of Jeff Clement. Adrian Beltre scored on the double play and the game then went to extra innings. In the 11th inning, Beltre then ended the game in walk off fashion as he hit a two run home run off of Jesse Crain.

Crain took the loss whle starting pitcher Francisco Liriano got a no decision. Liriano tossed six innings and gave up six hits but only run run. Too bad the bullpen coudln’t hold the lead so he would have been able to get a win.

The only offense the Twins could muster up in the game were rbi singles from Alexi Casilla and Delmon Young. Hopefuly the Twins will bounce back and play better on Tuesday and come away with a victory.

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Nick Blackburn didnt look good at all. He only lasted 1 2/3 giving up 6 R (3 ER) and 7 hits. He gave up a 2 run HR to A-Rod in the first but Twins clawed back to tie it at 2 on some small ball but Blackburn ran into trouble in the 2nd. After loading the bases, Twins went into DP position, a sharp ground ball was hit at Alexi Casilla, he threw it home to Joe Mauer who misplayed it and the inning just took off from there. At one point the Yankees sent 7 straight batters to the plate. By the time the 2nd was over the Yankees had a 6-2 lead and they would never look back. Even after Blackburn left, the pen didnt do well at all. All of the relievers gave up at least 1 ER.  Since 2002, Twins are 3-17 at Yankee Stadium, maybe we’ll have better luck in the new one. One can only hope.

Only Twins that did have a good day were Alexi Casilla and Denard Span. Both had 3 hits apiece, and Span was just a HR short of the cycle!

Thats all from me, we’ll have better luck tomorrow. I would be happy with 1 out of 3 from Yankee Stadium. Another bit of good news is that the White Sox also lost today so Twins still are only .5 games out of first. Have a good night everyone, more from me tomorrow, GO TWINS!

The offense wasn’t that bad either. Delmon Young had a great game, going 4-4 with an RBI and a stolen base. He started the offense in the 4th, getting an infield single to drive home Justin Morneau. Others that did well today, Brian Buscher and Jason Kubel each went 2-4 with 2 RBIs. Alexi Casilla pounded out 3 hits and 1 run scored.

Carlos Gomez continued to struggle at the plate, he went 0-5 today with a K. The Twins let him off a couple games before the All Star brek, hoping he’d break out of his funk. Tonight though he didn’t give them much confidence. I like the guy, don’t get me wrong but just witnessing his swings, one has to wonder if he needs to go back to AAA. Once Michael Cuddyer is healthy again, what will happen? Denard Span has been swinging a hot bat as of late so perhaps there will be some changes. Who knows. I just think that all pitchers have this guy figured out. Heres the sequence: low and away, low and away, low and away and hes gone. He needs to be more selective at the plate and not just swing at anything in, or out of the zone. But hey, we won, and keep pace with the White Sox. They need to start losing!

Thats it for me tonight, hope you enjoyed the recap and what you heard. And hey, feel free to send me some comments on the board. I’d love to know what i can improve on! Good night everyone, GO TWINS!

Justin Morneau had the game winning hit and rbi in the 11th inning when he hit a solo home run off of Freddy Dolsi.  Once again Morneau stepped up big time for the team!  Morneau finished the game going 5-5 with one rbi.

In the ninth inning when the Twins tied things up it was Denard Span rbi single and a rbi sac fly by Joe Mauer that scored both runs to tie the game at 6-6.  Carlos Gomez, Alexi Casilla, and Delmon Young also had one rbi each in the game.  Great output by the entire offense.

Matt Guerrier ended up getting the victory and is now 5-4 on the season.  Guerrier tossed the the 10th and 11th innings to pick up the victory.  Starting Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey only lasted 3 2/3 innings as he was pulled after giving up nine hits and six runs.  Slowey was lucky to get the no decision the way he threw the ball.

One plus in the game was how well the bullpen threw the ball.  After Slowey was taken out of the game, the bullpen locked down and did not allow another run in the game.  Craig Breslow, Jesse Crain, Dennys Reyes, Joe Nathan, and Guerrier all did a great job on the mound out of the bullpen.

The Twins will look to go up 2-0 in the series on Friday.  Go get em!  Twins Blog 

Nick Blackburn pitched the first 6 2/3 innings of the game as he gave up six hits and two runs.  Blackburn was in line to get the victory as he pitched a very good game but the bullpen was not good and he had to take a no decision.  Dennys Reyes gave up one hit and a run in the top of the eighth inning and then Matt Guerrier gave up a two run shot to Manny Ramirez and a rbi single to Brandon Moss as he gave up three runs in the eighth.

Brendan Harris led the Twins at the plate with two rbi.  Harris had a two run triple in the fourth inning.  Delmon Young, Nick Punto, and Denard Span all chipped in with one rbi each.  Twins did try to rally in the ninth inning but where unable to get the tying run in from third base as Alexi Casilla grounded out to end the game.

The Twins will try to get a victory in Boston on Wednesday night now.  How do you think they will fare?

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Nick Blackburn was outstanding on the mound for the Twins as he pitched seven inning and only gave up three hits to pick up the win.  It was Blackburn’s best outing of the season and he improved his record to 7-4 on the year.

Jesse Crain pitched a scoreless ninth inning and then Boof Bonser pitched a scoreless ninth inning to finish up the game.

Joe Mauer went 2-3 with two rbi in the game to lead the Twins at the plate.  Mauer is now batting .327 with 36 rbi on the year.  Alexi Casilla, Jason Kubel, Delmon Young, Brian Buscher, and Nick Punto all chipped in with one rbi each as well.  It was a very good showing by the Twins offense as almost everyone had a rbi in the game.

The Twins will now be off on Thursday before starting a three game series with the Cleveland Indians on Friday.

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Scott Baker pickd up the victory and is now 5-2 on the season.  Baker tossed six innings and gave up seven hits and three runs.  It was a quality outing for Baker and that is all the Twins were asking out of him.  Brian Bass gave up on run as he pitched after Baker exited the game.  Joe Nathan recorded his 23rd save in the game as well.

The big hit for the Twins came off the bat of Craig Monroe who hit a three run home run in the fourth inning.  Mike Redmond was right behind Monroe as he finished the game with two rbi.  Alexi Casilla also chipped in with one rbi.

The Twins and Tigers will now play an afternoon game on Wednesday to see who win the three game series.  Twins Blog

Carlos Gomez, Joe Mauer, Brendan Harris, and Craig Monroe all had two rbi in the game.  Harris’s and Monroe’s two rbi’s both came via two run home runs.  Gomez had a two run single while Mauer had a two run double.  Not to be left out, Alexi Casilla also had a rbi single in the game for the Twins.

Glen Perkins threw the first five innings of the game to pick up the victory and is now 4-2 on the season.  Perkins gave up six hits and three runs but did a good job of limiting the Padres to only three runs as he gave up the six hits and walked two batters.

Brian Bass pitched two innings before Craig Breslow and Boof Bonser each pitched a inning to finish up the game.  All three relief pitchers did a wonderful job and did their job exactly like they were supposed too.

Scott Baker will try to get a win for the Twins on Thursday afternoon as the Twins look to sweep the home team Padres.  Twins Blog

The Twins first run of the game in the first inning when Michael Cuddyer singled to right field and Alexi Casilla scored.  It was then eight more innings before the Twins scored again with the two home runs. They were lucky to come away with the win as they really need to figure out a way to score in the middle innnings of the game.

Dennys Reyes ended up picking up the win and is now 2-0 on the season.  Joe Nathan recorded his 20th save of the season in the ninth inning.  Twins starting pitcher Kevin Slowey pitched six innings and only gave up four hits while striking out seven Padres.  Jesse Crain gave up one run in the seventh inning on a groundout.  Other then that the Twins pitching straff did a pretty good job.

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Michael Cuddyer and Brian Buscher both had two rbi in the game to lead the Twins at the plate.  Alexi Casilla, Joe Mauer, and Jason Kubel all helped out with one rbi as well.  It was great to see the Twins have such good production as they scored nine runs without hitting one home run in the game.  That is how you manufacture runs!

On the mound, Glen Perkins tossed eight inning to pick up the victory and improve his record to 3-2.  Perkins gave up ten hits but only three runs scored off those ten hits.  Craig Breslow was called on to come in and finish off the Nationals in the ninth inning and that was exactly what he did without any problems.

The Twins will now take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three game series over the weekend.

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