Twins 10, Tigers 5

Well.

Well, well, well.

Wouldja look at that?

The Twins not only extended their winning streak to three games, they also won a game by more than a run for the first time in about a decade. And they did it despite:

• Santana's continuing shakiness
• the most boneheaded umpiring crew since, well, the last series, who:
• ruled that a foul ball off a Detroit bat was a homer
• ejected Brad Radke for objecting to said home run call
• warned both benches after Detroit starter Jason Johnson threw behind Nick Punto (who had the effrontery to bunt in a run during his previous at-bat)
• their 1-3 hitters going a combined 2-for-16
• two wild pitches and a passed ball from the Twins battery
• a bases-loaded-with-one-out situation which (as usual) produced no runs

The Twins were ably aided in their victory by the Tigers defense, which combined for four errors and two unearned runs, and the Tigers pitching staff, which combined for three wild pitches, a balk, seven walks and eight earned runs.

Catcher Joe Mauer continues to treat AL pitching with polite contempt, going 2-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored and raising his season average to .311. Meanwhile first baseman Justin Morneau, the slumping half of the M&M boys, caught a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel he's been wandering blindly through, going 1-for-2 with three walks and a run scored. Recent acquisition Bret Boone went 2-for-5 with two RBI, reminding us why the Twins traded for him in the first place.

With the three-game win streak (and a corresponding three-game losing streak by the Whine Sox), the Twins infinitessimally narrowed the Sox division lead to ten games, and reclaimed first place in the AL Wild Card race over the [censored] Yankees.

All in all, not a bad night's work.