5 Out Of 6

The Twins finally got to go against a team slumping worse than themselves. The result is that the follow-up to a 10 game losing streak has been 5 wins in their last 6 games.

What else has changed? Deduno and Walters have been a very nice additions to the starting rotation. And all of the sudden the Twins are hitting blasts out of the park. Last night they had four homeruns including THREE in the fourth inning.

I find myself watching the games again. Better yet, I'm finding myself ENJOYING the games again. Pelfrey gets the start tonight.

sigh

89 out Of 90

Only Jared Allen wasn't at the Vikings OTA training yesterday (and he was probably climbing some mountain somewhere) but everyone else was.

The Vikes head coach Leslie Frasier is stoked about the participation level, but the Vikes number one free-agent acquisition, Greg Jennings is already hurt because of the practices.

I'm not sure football has ever demonstrated a need for these organized team activities. Those who have good ones rarely become Super Bowl champions.

The good news is that Adrian Peterson is feeling about 100% since his sport's hernia surgery. Since he got that injury in week 11 of the season last year, it's hard to imagine how good he will be at 100% this year.

Unless he gets hurt because of these OTA activities.

I guess Christian Ponder needs all of the practice he can get so maybe this will benefit the Vikings some. And it is nice to see that the players are taking their jobs seriously.

Hicks and Deduno

Sam Deduno was still a bit wild last night, but that didn't stop him from having seven great innings. Gardy also brought him out in the eighth. That almost became a big mistake. But some solid relief help by Casey Fien and a fantastic catch by Parmalee ended the Brewers threat.

Oh, and Aaron Hicks hit ANOTHER homerun last night AND he also made another great catch.

When the Twins are winning, it's easy to forget that their season isn't going very well. It was a fantastic game and they passed KC in the standings.

All in all, a good night at the ballpark.

Pacers Tie Series

I fully expect the Heat to repeat as NBA champs this year, but that doesn't stop me for rooting for any team that plays them. Knowing that the series is tied at two games apiece now does give me some hope that Indiana (or perhaps the Spurs) can to something to stop LeBron and company.

I should probably just knuckle under and accept King James and his team as the best ever, and then root for them like everybody else.

I just can't, though. He's not and they aren't either.

I want others to see that. The Pacers and Spurs are my only hope of stopping the machine known as Miami.

Happiness

I am SO GLAD I went to bed last night just as the ninth inning started. The Twins had a 5-4 lead at the time and I did not want to be in a foul mood if the Brewers would tie it or win it in the bottom of the ninth.

What I saw last night was very good. THREE home runs by the Twins early was great. Seeing Aaron Hicks rob former Twin Carlos Gomez of a home run in the second was great. Getting a 4-0 lead for Scott Diamond was also great.

BUT as the game went on, it was harder and harder to watch, by the time it was tied 4-4 I had had enough. That the Twins took the lead one last time before I went to bed was good enough for me. I didn't want to see it go south again.

Perkins ultimately DID give up the tying run in the bottom of the ninth so I'm glad I missed that. I'm also glad that I missed nearly HALF the game as the Twins didn't win it until the 14th.

They won. I got a good night's sleep and I get to be excited now as I type this as if it just happened.

Come to think of it, I get up so early, that it DID just happen.  That was a long game.

Joe Mauer's Home Run Trot

Joe Mauer really needs to work on his homerun trot. Yesterday, he stood on second base for five minutes before finishing the route for the homerun.

I guess he's just out of practice.

Actually, it is kind of funny watching umps have to all get together and decide if a ball has really left the park or not. For Mauer, that's twice in three games he had to wait and see if a ball he hit would be given official recognition.

Thankfully, both were ruled in the Twins favor.

The best part is that the Twins won again. Kevin Correia struggled early, at one point loading the bases with no one out. He also gave up three solo home runs (two to former Twin Carlos Gomez). But he managed six innings and the Twins pulled out their second victory in three games.

I guess I can still watch games as long as they don't drop behind early. Yesterday was actually fun again.

Pelfrey

Mike Pelfrey did it again. He gave up only 2 runs in 5 innings. Gardy left him in for "one more inning" and Pelfrey got hammered in the sixth and taken out.

That's now happened in 4 of Pelfrey's last 5 starts. For whatever reason, Gardy leaves Pelfrey in for the sixth inning and Pelfrey collapses. How many times does Gardy have to get hit in the head by a 2x4 before he sees the pattern?

It's not like it mattered much, though. The Twins managed to score just a single run yesterday, which means they have scored only ONE run in their last 17 innings. Even I can figure out that winning consecutive ball games is pretty much impossible when you can't score runs. The Twins managed 3 hits which was two more than they had in Friday night's game.

It may be more than just a flesh wound. Call me crazy, but I just don't see the Twins winning the World Series this season.

In other sports news, something that I actually found interesting, at the Coca-Cola 600 yesterday, the race was delayed when a Fox television cable accidently tore loose. It hurt 10 fans and wrecked the car of the race leader at the time, Kyle Busch.

All fans were treated and later released. And Busch and his crew was given the half hour to fix his car because Fox felt pretty bad (and stupid.)

NASCAR, the sport of kings.