I didn't get to see the game last night... Twins Lost 4-2... Just looking at the Box Score... It looked like Kevin Correia had another decent outing but it also looked like he was left in too long.

With a pitch count close to 100. Correia remained in the game to pitch the 8th inning with the game tied 2-2 and the tie was broken quickly before Gardenhire went to his bullpen. 

This isn't second guessing... I didn't see the game and a lot of factors go into when to pull a pitcher or let them continue.

Win or Lose... Correia must have been OK once again and that is encouraging.   

Good For Aaron Hicks... Good for us Twins Fans!

Rookie Aaron Hicks has beeen struggling to get his MLB Career going and last night he had a massive game as the Twins down the hated White Sox. 

During the off-season... The Twins traded two centerfielders, Denard Span to Washington and Ben Revere to Philadelphia for 3 young pitchers. The Twins felt like they could do this because Aaron Hicks was down in AA performing pretty well and the job was turned over to him.

Life in the minor leagues is one of low pay and bus rides. Getting a chance to play every day in the majors is what they are working for. Aaron Hicks was a first round draft choice and he spent many a year in the minors waiting for this chance.

The month of April has been rough and Aaron had to be worried about the club sending him back down for more seasoning. Poor play in your debut would worry anyone in any job.

Last night Aaron Hicks hit two home runs and reached over the CF wall to steal a home run from Adam Dunn.

You can't help but feel great for Aaron because until last night, his play had to be a load on his mind. He probably wasn't sleeping much thinking about it and last night he probably didn't sleep much either but at least last night he probably didn't sleep because he was probably too excited to sleep.

Twins Win... and I slept fine.

My Oldest Son and I made a quick trip to Target Field for the game on Saturday Night. Ended up with great seats behind home plate and was able to watch Vance Worley pitch up close. Vance has to get the ball down. It's pretty simple... Vance does not get the movement he needs on his pitch when its up in the zone but he gets decent downward movement on his 2 seamer when it's down in the zone. Vance had a rough 1st inning with his pitches belt high or higher and the Orioles put up a 3 spot in the first. 

Vance picked up the win with inconsistent pitching. It was the Twins offense that got the job done. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau each picked up 3 hits while Ryan Doumit hit a long home run to left. 

Chris Parmelee made another terrific catch in right. He had to run a long way just to get into position to dive for it and make the catch. Going into the season there was a lot of concern about OF defense. Those concerned (including myself) were worried about having slow footed Willingham in LF and Parmelee in RF.

We can stil worry a bit about Willingham in LF or Arcia for that matter but there is no reason to worry about Parmelee. He has been fantastic in the field. He has range, he has an arm and he can play balls off the wall as good as anyone.  Defense is not a worry... Now we just got to hope he gets his bat going.     

The Twins win 5-3 last night. 3 Wins in a row... 3 wins in a row on the road at Fenway Park.

Baseball coaches talk all the time about the importance of the little things. Many don't understand exactly what that means. After all, a little mistake surely doesn't matter in a 9 inning baseball game. Many times it doesn't but at times it can lead to big innings and when it leads to big innings... those little things matter because the big inning isn't a little thing. It will kill you.   

Last night the 6th inning was an example of why the little things will kill you and why they are important. It was the Red Sox who didn't execute on the little things and it cost them the game.

The Twins were trailing 2-1... Lackey had pitched pretty well to this point. Mauer is on 2nd base and Justin Morneau is on 1st. One Out.

Trevor Plouffe hits a comebacker to the pitcher. It's an easy double play ball. If executed the Red Sox are out of the inning and no runs score. Lackey fielded the ball and threw the ball into Center Field missing the 2nd baseman and Mauer comes around to score and tie the game. Justin Morneau ends up on third and there is still one out because nobody is retired. 

They should have been out of the inning... but didn't execute so the Next batter is Ryan Doumit... He hits a fairly shallow fly ball to Right Field. Victorino makes the catch for the 2nd out and he throws a strike to the plate. Morneau is tagging and trying to score and catcher David Ross missed Justin with the Tag. 

Once again... The Red Sox missed a chance at getting that third out and getting out of the inning with a good tag by David Ross. With Morneau now scoring when he probably should have been out. The Twins lead 3-2 now. That's a little thing that needs to be executed.  

Once again... The Red Sox should have been out of this inning... This brings up rookie Oswaldo Arcia with Plouffe still on 1st because of the Lackey error and two out. Arcia should not have been up this inning. 

Arcia homers and the Twins take a 5-2 lead and finish up the game for a 5-3 win.

If the Red Sox execute they leave the Top of the 6th inning leading 2-1... The didn't and leave the Top of the 6th inning down 5-2. 

People fall in love with the big money players and think they can simply bash their way to victory. Baseball games are frequently decided by these little things. A Throw... A Tag... A Routine Grounder... Baserunning.  

Good For Us!!! The Twins are now 17-16 on the year.     

We added a couple of new songs to our current KJ-108 rotation. 

P.O.D. "Beautiful"

This isn't a typical P.O.D. song nor is it a typical rocker. It's Acoustic and a little on the softer side but I think it's a well put together tune and I'm going to enjoy listening to it. I like the acoustic guitar riff and the melody is solid. The song will be a little break from the normal power.    

Queens of the Stone Age "My God is the Sun" 

I would call this a typical sounding Queens of the Stone Age song. That's a good thing because Queens of the Stone Age is a great band from Palm Desert California.

Give them a listen... Give them each a couple of listens and let us know what you think.