Lookin' good!
We have VBS in Gettysburg this week, which means this recap is based on what appellate courts refer to as "the cold record". Sorry about that, but that's the way it is.
The Twins continued their recent trend of scoring early in the game. Unfortunately, they also continued their recent trend of not scoring after that. Three doubles in the first inning produced two runs. An observer would've been forgiven if he'd thought that might not be enough. I don't know how often a team scores all of its runs in the first inning and wins the game, but it seems like it's not a particularly common occurrence.
It worked yesterday, though, because the Twins had Staff Ace Mike Pelfrey on the mound. At the start of the season, that would have been a not very funny joke. Now, though, Pelfrey is 4-1 with an ERA of 2.77 and a WHIP of 1.25. If you throw out his lousy first game of the season, his ERA drops to 2.30. Everyone who thought Mike Pelfrey would do that, raise your hand. If anyone raised your hand, you're lying. I don't even think Mike Pelfrey thought Mike Pelfrey would do that. But there it is. He gave up a run in the second, but just a couple of harmless singles after that.
Blaine Boyer was brought in to pitch the eighth. He retired the first two batters, then ran into a bit of trouble. Glen Perkins was brought in for the four-out save, something we're still getting used to. He allowed an infield single, but then retired the last four batters to preserve the victory. He only threw twenty-one pitches, so one assumes he will still be fine for tonight.
The Twins are now 27-18. Since that 1-6 start, they are 26-12. There has probably been some luck involved, but it's hard to win that many games over that long a span just by luck. Not impossible, but hard. We may have to consider the possibility that the Twins just might have a good team.
The Twins go for the series sweep this afternoon. Phil Hughes goes to the mound, and while he hasn't pitched like a Staff Ace very often this season, I'm still as comfortable with him on the mound as anyone else. He may not have had a lot of great games, but he hasn't had any terrible ones, either. The Red Sox counter with Rick Porcello, who has had a couple of great games, but has also had some terrible ones. We've won the first four of our season-ending 121-game winning streak! We're still on track for 144-18!