Date: 10/2/09

Opponent: Kansas City Royals

Home/Away: Home

Starting Pitcher: Manship

Final Score: W 10-7

Record: 84-76

Best Moment: Manship gets his first major league win, Nathan gets the franchise save record for a single season, and somehow the Twins stay alive. Amazing. The final series in the Dome is underway, and incredibly we are actually playing meaningful games. Hopefully this will bolster Mauer's MVP candidacy, although it seems unbelievable to me that some idiots would actually vote for someone else. He's also almost guaranteed himself his 3rd batting title, so it's been an incredible season for him.

But back to the game. The Twins jumped to an early lead thanks to a Delmon Young grand slam in the 1st inning. We continued to pile on more runs eventually gaining a 10-run lead in the 4th inning. Manship looked better than he had in any previous start and pitched into the 6th inning. Pulling him with 1 out in the 6th led to a seemingly unending parade of ineffective relief pitchers who couldn't stem the tide of Royals baserunners. The 10-run lead eventually devolved into a save situation, but we got the win, and that's all that matters. Of course, Lenny DiNardo is one thing, and Zack Greinke is something else entirely. Hopefully the shorter rest suits Blackburn, or we could be officially dead by tomorrow night. 

The last games in the Metrodome are making me kind of sad. There's a lot of memories in that place. I'm very excited for Target Field, but it will just be strange not going to games in that cramped, stale-aired, concrete monstrosity. I've also decided that my new goal in life is to jump on the Metrodome roof (What can I say, I dream big). If anyone can hook me up, let me know.  

Most Questionable Moment: You know, Jose Mijares, it may not be the best idea to piss off your entire team by throwing behind Adam Everett and getting DY drilled and then to follow it up in the next game by hitting a batter. Your juvenile attack of the wall in the dugout was also less than endearing.

Worst Moment: Our bullpen almost blew a 10-run lead. The worst part? It would have been the second time this season we blew a lead that big. Remember that game? Yeah, I thought so. I was freaking out in a huge way.

Quotations of the Day:

• "Go to church." - Delmon Young, offering his solution for facing Zack Greinke. I guess we'll find out tomorow what God wants more: Greinke to win the Cy Young or the Twins to have a shot at the playoffs.
• "I think the only thing that will stop that guy is swine flu right now." - Delmon Young, with an alternate solution to beating Greinke. Silly Delmon, don't you know it's H1N1?
• "Last year with three games to go we actually had a lead, so we messed that one up. This year we're hoping the Tigers mess up." - Delmon Young, bringing back painful memories.
• "I think we're all trying to get the last homer in Metrodome history too. Hopefully we'll get a couple tomorrow." - Delmon Young
• "It's an unbelievable feeling right now. I can't really express it. It's awesome." - Manship, on his first major league win.

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Jesse Crain (0.1 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 earned run, 2 inherited runners scored), Bobby Keppel (1.0 innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 earned runs) and Jose Mijares (0.1 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 hit by pitch, 2 inherited runners scored).