Date: 7/18/10

Opponent: Chicago White Sox

Home/Away: Home

Starting Pitcher: Blackburn

Final Score: W 7-6

Record: 49-43

Recap: What a wild ride! To go from thinking we would win and take 3 of 4, to thinking we were going to lose again because of Blackburn's struggles, to feeling the first stirring of hope. And then finally the elation of winning after rallying for 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th. But would it kill the Twins to get an actual walk-off hit? I'm just sayin'.

For the first 5 innings, it was looking pretty good for the Twins. Blackburn seemed to be getting past his problems and had stayed away from his typical big innings, allowing just 1 run in the 3rd and 1 run in the 5th. The offense had scored 3 runs to that point; Skinny Delmon hit his 11th homer with Thome on base to give the Twins a 2-run lead. After the White Sox got a run back in the next inning, the Twins added another on with Cuddyer's triple which plated Kubel. And then came the disastrous 6th inning.

Blackburn immediately gave up 2 singles. I think I personally would have pulled him at this point. It's not like he's been a model of consistency, and given his propensity for giving up many runs in very little time, I think it would have been a good idea. But Blackburn and his interesting facial hair were left in the game and gave up a double to Quentin which scored 2 and gave the White Sox their first lead. Then Blackburn was pulled in favor of Duensing. Duensing ended up allowing Blackburn's inherited runner to score and another of his own before the inning ended, giving the Sox a 3-run lead. Duensing pitched the rest of the games for a total of 4.0 innings, which would seem to indicate a possible entry into the rotation in the near future.

While Duensing didn't allow any runs to score, the Twins offense couldn't manage a rally. We had 2 on in both the 6th and 8th and came away empty-handed. Ozzie Guillen went to his closer to end the game. And he sure did end the game, just not quite as expected. Hudson led off the inning with a great at bat, finally drawing a walk on a close pitch that sailed just outside. Then Joe Mauer came to the plate, and Jenks threw nothing even close to the strike zone. Runners were on 1st and 2nd, no outs. After falling behind 0 and 2, Kubel saw a pitch to his liking and smacked a single to center to score Hudson and leave runners at 1st and 2nd with still no outs. Cuddyer also fell behind in the count, and also singled, scoring Mauer and sending Kubel to 3rd.

Up stepped clutch hitter Jason Repko. Or something like that. He was a pinch-runner for Thome in the 8th inning, and he had precisely 3 hits as a Twin. Part of me was hoping that he would get the first walk-off hit at Target Field, just because he's pretty much the most unlikely person to do so. Instead he patiently took some pitches and walked on 5 pitches. With the bases loaded and no outs, Gardy sent Punto to run for Kubel. And then hot-hitting, RISP-loving Skinny Delmon stepped up, ready to do some damage. He dropped a single into center and Punto scored easily. Alex Rios had the ball in center and seemed very confused. I don't know if he thought Cuddyer was going to score and that the game was over, or if he saw that Cuddyer had held up and was just trying to get the ball back to the infield, but after double-clutching the ball, he sailed the ball toward no one and had it end up by the White Sox dugout. Cuddyer watched the flight of the ball and took off toward home, scoring the winning run on an error.

It was a bit of a messy ending, but it was sure exciting. The Twins were frenzied in their celebration. A good number attacked Cuddyer at the plate, including Thome who clobbered him. Another group ran at Skinny Delmon, who did his best to evade everyone, apparently to avoid injury. Sadly he couldn't avoid Pavano, who punched him multiple times in the ass (insert fisting joke here). Even better, we now have a good chance to make up even more ground with the Indians and Orioles up next. The Indians did us a big favor by sweeping the Tigers; now let's hope they do us a favor by sucking.

Best Moment: The 9th inning.

Most Questionable Moment: Leaving Blackburn in after 2 runners reached base without an out in the 6th.

Worst Moment: Giving up 4 runs in the 6th inning.

Quotations of the Day:

• "Three out of four. And hopefully we are back on the right track. I thought the guys didn't give up." - Ron Gardenhire
• "None of the big bodies got me, but the little bodies got me." - Delmon Young
• "We have some beasts on this team like Thome, knocking helmets off, which he did to me. I would run away, too." - Michael Cuddyer

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Nick Blackburn (5.0 innings pitched, 9 hits, 1 wild pitch, 5 earned runs)