¡VIVA RIVAS!

Another classic game between the Twinkies and the Black Sox. Twins 8, Sox 7, 11 innings. While Hunter earned MVP honors last night, I've got to give the honors to Pat Neshek and his funky delivery for cleaning up Dennys Reyes' mess (2 BB, 0 IP). Reyes' control was so bad that Gardy pulled him in the middle of an at bat...about 2 hitters too late. Then Neshek came in with the bases loaded and one out and allowed only one inherited runner to score. The kicker: He struck out AJ to end the inning -- the same man who bat-flipped him the night before on a HR. Neshek even cracked a big smile on the mound when Mauer came out for a visit. You have to wonder what Chairman Mauer said to make Neshek smile in a situation like that. ("I read your blog last night, do you really collect baseball cards?") It's kind of like letting loose a good belly laugh on the on the beaches of Normandy. Of course, I'm not surprised that Mauer can make a man laugh in that situation. What can't he do?

Rincon used to own the 8th inning, so I was a little surprised Gardy

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pulled him after giving up a HR, a hit and striking out one. I don't know if Gardenhire turning to Reyes in that situation is a reflection of a lack of faith in Rincon, confidence in Reyes or a little of both. It seems that, at least for now, Rincon is no longer the go-to set-up man he has been the last several years. We've got Reyes for another 2 years, so let's hope this is an anomoly.

While Hunter continues his power streak (another HR; that's 6 in the last 8 games), he reverted to his old ways in close and late situations, striking out swinging in the 8th and 10th innings.

With the exception of his start in Cleveland a couple starts ago, Johan has been less than his dominant self, and it seems this was one of them. (7 IP, 3R, 2ER, 4K) Of course, that only means that players are making weak contact, instead of looking silly while providing our IF with a good stiff breeze.

The Tigers continue their collapse, which is reminiscent of the White Sox last year. Let's hope they do the Sox one better and finish of their choke, instead of bouncing back and blowing throw the playoffs.

White Sox fans are brutal. They were chanting "Ross Gload sucks!" when he couldn't make a **diving** stop that allowed the eventual winning run to score in the 11th.

Ozzie has clout: Everyone is calling the Twins little guys the 'piranhas'; first the local papers, then ESPN and now MLB.com is using it in their headlines. It's officially a catchphrase.

Silva needs to give the Twins some serious innings tomorrow with our bullpen taxed to the max. Luckily, the Sox are now in the same situation with Contreras going less than 3 innings today.

The Tigers lost again today. Maybe Verlander (4.2 IP, 8 ER) has hit the 'rookie wall'? Who knows, if Liriano comes back strong, his injury could be a blessing in disguise. The way things are going, the Twins won't only be in a position to take the AL Central lead when the Tigers and Twins faceoff in a couple weeks -- they'll be in first place.