Date: 8/6/10

Opponent: Cleveland Indians

Home/Away: Away

Starting Pitcher: Liriano

Final Score: L 7-6

Record: 61-49

Recap: Well that was pretty awful. Bad pitching, bad umpiring, bad ending. It started with Liriano, who really struggled with his control. He gave up 7 hits, 6 of which were singles, but the real issue was the walks, 6 to be exact. Admittedly the strike zone was intermittently small and inconsistent, but it was just a bad outing. He threw over 100 pitches, only 61 for strikes, in just 4.2 innings. He was pulled in the 5th when he walked the bases loaded.

For most of the game the offense was looking pretty flat, too. We scratched out a run in the 3rd when Butera scored on a fairly shallow sac fly. He maybe would have been out on the throw to the plate, but it actually hit him. We were down by 4 runs going into the 7th inning, but Casilla drove in 2 with a double to cut the lead to 2. Kubel made it a 1-run game in the 8th with a solo home run, but Mijares gave a run back in the bottom of the inning to again give the Indians a 2-run lead. Then in the top of the 9th, Hardy led off with an infield single. Thome was brought in to pinch-hit for Butera.

He walloped a pitch to left that appeared to hit a railing and bounced back onto the field. It sure looked like a home run to everyone, but the umps ruled it a double. The umpires decided to review the play. I honestly don't know what they could have seen. I'm totally bewildered. Yes, it was tough to see but it was obviously a homer. Obviously. I'm not even mad really, I just don't get it. Gardy went ballistic and did everything in his power short of streaking to get ejected (I'm sorry, that was a horrible mental image). The umpires obliged him, Thome was left on 2nd, and the inning continued. Casilla actually came through and drove in 2 more runs with a single. Essentially the umpires' ruling didn't matter since Casilla drove in the 2 runs anyway, but you just never know what would have happened if it was ruled a homer. Oh well.

After Mauer made the final out for the Twins, we went into the bottom of the 9th tied. Matt Guerrier took care of the tie quickly though. Matt LaPorta homered on the second pitch of the inning, and the Indians won, walk-off fashion. Hopefully we can bounce back tomorrow. Stupid Indians. At least the White Sox lost, too. Gotta look on the bright side sometimes.

Best Moment: Casilla's game tying 2-run single.

Most Questionable Moment: Thome's "double". And the strike zone.

Worst Moment: Losing.

Quotations of the Day:

• "It's a home run. HD showed it plain as day. And the angle from the side showed it plain as day off the railing...Go ask the cook in [the Twins players lounge]. He can tell you. He's from Cleveland." - Ron Gardenhire
• "I think the way the ball bounced back with that railing there, I mean, I was certain it was a home run. I just don't understand...why that couldn't have been correct? That's where I think the tough part of that is, especially this time of year. We're in a pennant race and everything's important." - Jim Thome
• "It was just one of those days." - Francisco Liriano

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Francisco Liriano (4.2 innings pitched, 7 hits, 6 walks, 1 wild pitch, 4 earned runs)