Recap

So I started a new job on the 10th, and I've been busy with things other than baseball lately. Things like the latest novel in the Dresden Files and the planting of the garden and the playing with the newly-healthy Pooie and the enjoying of the warm weather and the making of the pretty things. For more on the pretty things, please see the post "Dread Pirates Walking".

On the Twins front, they took two of three from the Royals after getting their asses kicked to Kansas City from and by Chicago. At least they saved on airfare, right?

The team average is sitting at a modest .262 (9th in the league), OPS at .710 (11th), home runs at 20 (12th), runs at 96 (also 12th), extra-base hits at 48 (dead last) and...oh, hell. Let's just cut to the chase. The only thing the Twins batters are good at is stealing bases (15, 4th; steal rate 83.3%, 2nd).

On the pitching side, the team ERA has climbed all the way up to 5.57 (11th in the league). Ooo, look, we're under 6.00. O frabjuous day! (Sigh.) Shall I just skip to the good bit again? I shall. The Twins staff has given up fewer walks than any other and is third in the AL in fewest batters hit by pitches. (Hey, I'm trying. It would help if they gave me something to work with.)

But wait...what's this?

The Twins lead the league in fielding percentage! Hot damn! We can't pitch or hit that ball, but we sure can catch it! Yippee. That'll get us through the season.

They start a series against the Detroit Tigers (who are, you may recall, rather more formidable than KC) tonight in just a little while. If Radke can keep the ball in the park and the boys can remember that the big stick is supposed to make contact with the ball and not wave fruitlessly in its general direction, we've got a shot.

But I've laid in some extra whiskey, just in case.

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Postscript, 3rd inning:
I did not lay in enough whiskey.

Postscript, 8th inning:
There isn't enough whiskey in all of Hennepin County.