Game Two

I’m using some new-fangled technology to write this swill live from the Dome. I’m pretending to be a real writer, in other words.

Some sort of big white creature –it appeared to be a dog, with a Target logo on its chest– threw out the first pitch. I guess I wasn’t aware that Target had a mascot, but I’m officially on record as being opposed to the idea of any sort of anthropomorphized creature, no matter how cuddly (or padded with corporate cash), throwing a baseball.

Boof rolled through the first inning in impressive fashion, striking out two and throwing just eleven pitches, but he started to struggle with his control in the second, and gave up a couple runs in the third on a Melvin Mora home run, and an RBI single by Aubrey Huff. He had 81 pitches through four, despite which the Baltimore hitters inexplicably came out hacking in the fifth, and were retired on six pitches. They didn’t fare much better in the sixth, going down 1-2-3.

That was it for Boof: six innings pitched, three hits, two runs, three walks, six strikouts, a home run, and a 2-2 game to turn over to the bullpen. I think the Twins would take that from any one of their starters every night of the week.

[This from the scoreboard between innings: “Johnson Brothers: Proud Sponsors of the Foul Pole.”

Okey dokey.]

Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera was 2-0 with a 2.13 in two starts against the Twins last year, and entering tonight’s game was 5-1 with a 3.25 ERA in seven career starts against Minnesota. This is a guy who is 31-31 (4.75) overall. He was pretty damn effective again tonight, but the Twins kept chipping away and finally went up 3-2 on Jason Bartlett’s 7th-inning RBI single, scoring pinch runner Jason Tyner (in the final innings of the game Minnesota’s seven, eight, and nine hitters were all Jasons), who had just nabbed second –one of five Minnesota stolen bases on the night.

At which point I said to myself: Game over, I’d say.

Game over. Neshek gets the win, Nathan notches his second save in as many games.

See you tomorrow night.