A Heartbreaker

The Twins took a punch to the gut last night with a 12-9 loss in the 11th inning.

The worst part was the game was set up to be a great win that could jolt this young club for the final stretch of the season. After starter Francisco Liriano struggled the Twins found themselves quickly down in a 8-1 deficit. I didn't even want to watch at this point.

Yet the Twins battled back. With a huge MVP type hit from Justin Morneau in the 8th inning the Twins tied it up at 8. Then Delmon Young got the job done with a sac fly to take the lead 9-8. The stage was set... Eddie Guardado in the 8th, Joe Nathan in the 9th, and a comebac... WAIT!!! Not so fast Twins fans.

The lead was quickly erased by a solo shot from one of the best players in the game, Grady Sizemore. After a couple innings of nothing too exciting Joe Nathan came in the 11th inning and gave up a leadoff single followed by a walk. Then Victor Martinez sent a 1-1 fastball/meatball into the bleachers for a 12-9 Twins loss. HEARTBREAKER!!!

The Twins have a chance to make a statement again tonight as they face 22-2 soon to be AL Cy Young Winner, Cliff Lee. The Twins own one of Lee's two losses, but it will not be easy. We need this one boys!

Teams running out of gas

I'm starting to think the Twins are running out of gas and it's making me nervous. This is a young club with only a handful of players who have played meaningful games in the month of September and I don't know if it's pressure, fatigure, or a combination of both.

Thankfully the old White Sox are also lagging a bit, but with the way the Twins have played in the past four weeks I think we're lucky to be just a game and a half back. If they can hang on through the week against Cleveland and Tampa Bay it'll all come down to the six home games next week.

Minnesota isn't the only team running out of gas as baseball's feel good story, the Tampa Bay Rays, seem to be sputtering right now. The Mets are hoping to avoid another September collapse and Arizona has just fallen off the map. I haven't even mentioned the Milwaukee Brewers who have been struggling so bad they fired their manager Ned Yost with just 12 games left in their season.

The Twins need to pick up a victory behind Francisco Liriano tonight because Wednesday they'll face the Indians Cliff Lee. Although the Twins are they only team to beat the 22-2 Lee, I don't like our chances!