This.

I was feeling lonely last night, having been away from home for seven days and counting. I miss my wife and daughter. Wednesday is getaway day and I'll be home by Wednesday at 8 PM for six straight days. But, last night, I was tired and lonely. Sure, Mom and Dad are around and that's terrific, but I needed to get home.

Dad and I settled in down the basement to watch the game on his flat screen. I like watching the game down there... it's cozy, Dad's TV is nice and the lighting is soft: a very good viewing atmosphere.

Somewhere in the middle innings, I dozed off. I woke up in the sixth and I said to Dad, "Has Liriano given up a hit yet?" "Nope." I saw the pitch count: 86 pitches. No way he makes it.

Then, inexplicably, the White Sox started helping out. Maybe Liriano was making pitches that they couldn't take or maybe the White Sox got jumpy, but the next six outs took just 15 pitches and it was clear that Liriano was going to get a shot at it. I talked to Dad about that game against the White Sox where Jacque Jones got the only hit for the Twins, a 1-0 victory that I had the good fortune of seeing in person. I thought about how much fun it would be to see my club get a no-no for the first time. I was driving through the Twin Cities on the morning of Eric Milton's no-no and I didn't see Scott Erickson's either. So, I was pretty excited about the prospect of seeing it. With Liriano cruising through the seventh and eighth, I was thinking he had plenty to get there.

The ninth was no picnic, though. Liriano looked like he was nervous. His first two pitches of the inning were breaking balls, badly thrown and out of the strike zone. I'm sure he was tired and nervous. That first ball to Tolbert was the kind of play that makes you realize why he's not a regular. He had plenty of time, but he hurried the throw. Luckily, there was a major leaguer over there to catch it. A little pop up for the second out and here comes Adam Dunn.

Dunn doesn't have a single hit against left handers this year. Not one. But, he's a big homerun hitter and thoughts of that Jones game flashed through my head: one hit and a win. One hit by Dunn here would equal a win. Liriano went to 3-0 on him and battled to a full count. Dunn fouled off a pitch and then hit a bullet right at Tolbert.

And there it was. In this frustrating season, with Liriano being so disappointing, there was nothing but happiness last night for Twins fans. I'm going home today, the Twins did it to the White Sox again, and all is right with the world.

Sorry to step on toes, but we need a recap for this one.

I am sorry for getting this up so late, but at the same time, I don't think anyone wants to relive this. Mercifully, I was too busy at work to get to listen to either game yesterday. I don't think I could have taken getting no hit by Jeff freaking Niemann for 6 innings. Since I didn't watch the game, and haven't watched a game in many days I don't have a whole lot to add. Everyone's hurt, nothing is going right. I hope they can win some games this weekend, and get some folks healthy.

Final Score: Tampa Bay Rays 6, Minnesota Twins 1.
Twins Record: 9-15, 7.0 GB in the AL Central.
WP: Cy Niemann (1-3) | LP: Anthony Swimtrunks (0-1)
I Really Miss: Joe Mauer.
Something I'd Really Like:  A .500 record.

Twins dos, Rays 8

Twins record 9-13, 5 and a half back

I'd link to both fangraphs and mlb's recap, but why bother you won't look at them anyway.

 

The last time I wrote a recap I said something like 'frankie had a rough day on the mound'. SoCal felt like that was an unfair assessment. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that frankie had a rough day on the mound, and I'm pretty sure SoCal will agree. After allowing hits to the first five batters Liriano struck out the next two batters, issued a base on balls, and induced a ground ball to end the inning. Frankie retired the next six batters in order. Then the wheels fell off the bus. He gave up a single to the first batter in the 4th inning, and then walked the next two to load the bases. Hacker was brought in to relieve frankie, and subsequently walked the first two men he faced. The mortician was called and the game was pronounced dead at the scene.

Featured Minnesota art venue: The Tweed Museum of Art. Next time y'all are in Duluth stop by the Tweed Museum on campus at UMD. There you're likely to encounter an excellent art collection which was donated to UMD by Alice Tweed Tuhoy and her husband George, including examples of French Impressionism, Barbizon school, 19th century spanish landscape paintings, contemporary art (including a print by your author), and a serious collection of Mountie paintings.