Twins prepare for Peavy

Twins start a short three game roadtrip in San Diego tonight as they get set to face last year's Cy Young winner Jake Peavy. The Twins are enjoying Interleague play thus far posting a 9-3 record against the Junior Division... I mean National League.



The Twins will send Kevin Slowey to the mound to face off against Peavy. Peavy is recently returning from the DL and only has a 5-4 record on the year, but has the capability to shut any lineup down on any given day. Slowey should be able to handle the Padres lineup which has struggled to score runs this year. As long has he can keep stud 1B Adrian Gonzalez in the ballpark Slowey should be ok. Gonzalez is having an amazing year already with 21 HRs and 65 RBIs.

In other news... Joe Mauer finally takes over the top spot in All-Star balloting for the American League starting catcher. Mauer had trailed Boston's Jason Varitek who is hitting a measly .230. Mauer deserves the spot and I don't want to see a starting All-Star lineup composed of only Red Sox. So keep voting for Mauer and also get Justin Morneau ahead of Boston's Kevin Youkilis. (Morneau also is more deserving)

I leave you with another one of my favorites in Baseball Tonight's "Battle of the Band" series. A bluegrass band call Punch Brothers, which stars Chris Thile, member of one of my favorite bands Nickel Creek and arguably the best mandolin player in the world. Enjoy...

Twins complete perfect homestand

I knew the Twins could and needed to sweep the Nationals, but what a great week to pull off a sweep of the Diamondbacks as well (and in such great fashion). Friday night I watched the Twins score seven runs on the Randy Johnson, Saturday night, the offense had another big inning scoring six runs off of Micah Owings and Chad Qualls, and Sunday the Twins were able to rough up 2006 Cy Young winner, Brandon Webb, for five runs.

I'm not sure what was more exciting, watching the offense come alive or seeing Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, and Livan Hernandez all pitching quality starts three days in a row. The staff looked great the entire week against Washington and Arizona and this was great to give the bullpen a much needed rest. Over the six game homestand the starters went 6-0 with a 1.76 ERA in 41 IP with 22 strikeouts.

The series sweep of the Diamondbacks could't have come at a better time as the Chicago Cubs swept the White Sox narrowing the Sox's central lead to just 1.5 games. The Twins are streaking right now winning six in a row and eight of their last nine. The Twins have had great success against the National League this year and hopefully the good luck can continue this week. After an off day today the Twins head to San Diego for a three game set before heading back to Minneapolis for a long nine game homestand agains Milwaukee, Detroit, and Cleveland. Tomorrow night the Twins will face 2007 Cy Young winner Jake Peavy. Peavy will certainly be a tough matchup, but if the Twins can defeat the strong righty the Twins will have beaten the past two Cy Young winners and arguably the two best pitchers in the National League in the same week. That would be sweet!

If you're a Baseball Tonight fan you will have seen their current "Battle of the Bands" segment showcasing nine different musical groups performing their rendition of baseball's national anthem "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Here's one of my favorite versions so far, John Pizzarelli's jazz twist...