Date: 9/11/09

Opponent: Oakland Athletics

Home/Away: Home

Starting Pitcher: Blackburn

Final Score: L 12-5

Record: 70-71

Best Moment: I'd just like to say that the game was not as close as it looked, which is really pretty sad considering we still lost by 7 runs. What could kindly be termed our C team managed to score 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th to make it look like we actually had some sort of offense. Or pitching. You know how at the beginning of the August we had no pitching? And then the toward the end of the same month we had no hitting? Well this game is what happens when you have neither. I think the saddest part was that the A's came into the game hitting the fewest home runs in the AL, and they crushed 5 homers in this game. That or the fact that every single starter in their lineup hit an extra-base hit. Every one. To compliment that, every pitcher we sent out in this game gave up at least one extra-base hit.

Most Questionable Moment: I appreciate the Twins letting military personnel and their families talk to each other via satellite, but wouldn't it be nice if they would let them have a private conversation instead of broadcasting it? It's somewhat awkward.

Worst Moment: The whole game. I'm rather impressed with myself for watching the whole game (not necessarily in a good way). It was sort of morbidly fascinating, but I had a number of questiongs running through my head:

• Will any pitcher be able to not give up a run? (Yes, once the game was firmly out of reach, and nice to see you back Liriano!)
• When will Gardy officially wave the white flag? (The 7th inning, as we gain our first introduction to Justin Huber as a Twin.)
• Are the Twins really going to have scored their only run in the first at bat of the game? (No, as it turned out.)
• Will any Twin have more than 1 hit? (Yes, the offensive powerhouse Matt Tolbert.)
• Will Bert finally pronounce Armando Gabino's last name without an added "r"? (Yes, surprisingly enough.)

Quotations of the Day:

• "I just wasn't hitting any spots tonight. I couldn't control my offspeed pitches. I couldn't throw my fastball where I wanted to. No location, just a bad night." - Nick Blackburn
• "They tore the heck out of Stanley baggie out there." - Ron Gardenhire, referring to all the extra-base hits pounded into right field.
• "Not a good night, not a fun night. Just one of those you hope you get through it and don't kill your whole pitching staff." - Ron Gardenhire
• "Not a good night pitching-wise, I think we all saw we got hammered." - Ron Gardenhire. I only wish that I had gotten hammered. It might have made the game slightly more palatable.

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Nick Blackburn (3.0 innings pitched, 6 hits, 1 walk, 3 home runs, 6 earned runs, 1 loss), Bobby Keppel (1.1 innings pitched, 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 earned runs), Ron Mahay (0.2 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 home run, 1 earned run) and Armando Gabino (1.0 innings pitched, 4 hits, 2 walks, 1 home run, 3 earned runs).