Well, that was kind of fun, too.

It's nice to see the boys bludgeon an opponent into submission once in a while.  I have to admit, though, that a close, well-pitched game is more fun.  And that's what we got last night, as the Twins used the Earl Weaver formula for success.

Phil Hughes has been pitching more like Staff Ace Phil Hughes again in his last couple of starts.  Maybe he' s gotten past whatever his problems were and is going to pitch well down the stretch.  That would be really helpful as the Twins try to avoid another late-season meltdown.  A run at .500 for the season is pretty unlikely, but playing .500 ball for the last two months of the season would be a somewhat realistic goal.

The bullpen didn't exactly come in and slam the door, giving up five hits in the last three innings, but they didn't allow any runs, so I guess they got the job done.  This was the fourth time in his last six appearances that Glen Perkins has allowed two hits.  He hasn't had a one-two-three inning since July 23.  He has also only allowed one run over those six appearances and hasn't blown a save, so it's best not to make too much out of it.  Still, it would be nice to come in and mow the other team down once in a while, rather than keeping us on the edge of our seat all the time.

The batting star, of course, was Kennys Vargas.  He only had one hit, but he made it count, swatting a three-run homer to provide the only Twins runs of the game.  It was his first major league homer, of course.  I really hope that, when Mauer comes back, they continue to find a spot for Vargas.  We're looking at the smallest of sample sizes--eighteen at-bats--but at least Vargas gives us a reason to watch and stay interested in this team.

I had speculated that the addition of Jordan Schafer might be so Danny Santana could play shortstop.  Well, it didn't happen last night, as Schafer played left field and Willingham became the DH.  My only reason for mentioning it is that I'm still curious as to what their thinking was in acquiring Schafer, and so I'm interested to see how they're going to use him over these last couple of months.

We'll have more about this in Minor Details, but Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco played for Cedar Rapids last night.  Mauer was 1-for-3 with a run and Nolasco started and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  I haven't heard anything about how they felt after the game, but both of those are somewhat encouraging.

The Twins finish this odd two-game interleague series this afternoon.  Kevin Correia goes for the Twins against Odrisamer Despaigne.  He's made seven starts.  His first five were really good--he had an ERA of 1.31 through 34.1 innings.  In his last two starts, however, he's allowed eleven runs (eight earned) in 9.1 innings.  We'll hope that trend continues today.  The Twins are three games into their season-ending fifty-four game winning streak!  We're still on track for 102-60!