Date: 7/19/09

Opponent: Texas Rangers

Home/Away: Away

Starting Pitcher: Liriano

Final Score: L 5-3

Record: 47-45

Best Moment: Nick Punto homers. Am I in Crazy Land? What is going on here? Nick Punto was 3 for 4, but the top 5 in the lineup only had 1 hit combined. And that was from the Black Hole himself, Alexi Casilla. I'm not sure I can stand to live in such a world. But maybe Punto is finally starting to heat up. According to New Telly, some of the guys in the dugout were crediting the homer to his new belt buckle, which he bought while shopping with Cuddyer and Buscher (Does anyone else find it really funny to imagine those 3 on a shopping trip?). Some heckler in the stand also apparently yelled something about Punto not having homered since the 80s right before he hit it. We didn't have a whole lot of offense. Young had 2 hits, and then Casilla and Harris each had a hit to bring the total to 7. Liriano looked a lot better, but he still seemed to really be laboring from the 5th inning on.

I'm quite a bit frustrated at this game. Yes, I'm glad we got the series win, but we could have easily won that game, and if we had, we would have been 2nd in the division and only 1 game back of the Tigers. Cursed missed opportunity.

Most Questionable Moment: Brian O'Nora rules a foul ball a home run. Maybe having his testicles up in his chest cavity is clouding his judgment. My other big problem: Why did Gardy leave Liriano in to start the 7th inning? He struggled through the 5th, he struggled through the 6th, and then naturally in the 7th he started with 2 base hits. Why did we not bring a reliever in to start the inning. I know I ripped the bullpen a lot earlier in the season, but they've settled down. I'm fairly comfortable with Mijares, Guerrier and Nathan. Keppel has been good in a small sample size. I feel like we would have a pretty good shot at keeping the 1-run lead intact if the bullpen started the inning. So, despite our major offensive struggled, I'm inclined to blame Gardy for this one.

Worst Moment: Our knuckleballer decides to throw his overpowering 85 mile per hour fastball right over the heart of the plate to Ian Kinsler. Bye bye baseball. Adios sweep.

Quotations of the Day: 

• "Ultimately the pitch rests in my hand, and I threw the wrong pitch." - R.A. Dickey, owning up to his mistakes.
• "I just didn't expect him to throw a fastball there." - Ron Gardenhire, horrified at the pitch selection. Gardy was definitely throwing Dickey up the bus today.
• "Our bullpen came in and did a really good job. Until that last pitch." - Ron Gardenhire

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Joe Mauer (0 for 6, 2 strikeouts, 1 passed ball, 4 left on base) and Michael Cuddyer (0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 4 left on base). What the fuck is going on with Magic? He needs to pull his shit together. And Cuddyer, well, I kind of expect him to epic fail in high-leverage situations (he is Mr. Anti-Clutch after all). But he's trying to put some space between himself and Casilla in the rankings...