Graham

There was no hiding J.R. Graham Wednesday night. The Rule 5 power arm had to pitch in a tight game situation, and he did very well: three innings, one single, no walks, two strikeouts.

Paul Molitor has avoided Graham in important innings for more than a month. Wednesday was his first outing since April 13 (the home opener) that wasn't mopping up. His previous eight appearances finished games with a margin of five or more runs.

Graham probably has the best stuff on the staff. He also may be a better fit right now for the minors. But as a Rule 5 guy, he's got to stay on the 25-man roster or the Twins will likely lose his rights. I expect him to stick, but if the Twins are indeed going to contend this year, he'll have to contribute some these type of meaningful innings.

Like he did on Wednesday,

People are asking how the Twins are contending this season. It's a lot of little things that seem to be falling into place. Aaron Thompson and Blaine Boyer, Molitor's favorite set-up men, didn't do the job Wednesday. All of the sudden, Graham unexpectedly DID.

And stuff like that is happening in more games than not. What's weird is that the difference between contending and being a cellar dweller is often these types of things. And when a team starts to lose all of the time, you aren't having these types of things happening.

It's still a very long season, and things like Nolasco's ERA will soon catch up with the Twins.

But they haven't yet.  That's what makes it fun.