A Royal Sweep

Well, as they should, the Twins finish a sweep of the Royals, securing a record 0-6 homestand for the lowly team. The game naturally had its ups and downs. Kyle Lohse did not look particularly good, once again, as he went only four innings, giving up three runs on five hits. Lohse has a 6.62 ERA so far and it just looks like he will not be pulling around the corner any time soon. Maybe its time to make Lohse a full-time reliever. He has been valuable in that role and would be a very durable pitcher for the Twins. Of course, there is no final word as its still only April and Lohse's quick exit was (supposedly) also due to stiffness in his shoulder.

Otherwise, the game was a showcase for Justin Morneau's ability and live bat. He had a career-high 4 hits in 5 at bats in this afternoon's game, driving in two runs along the way. He's now hitting .394, with only 8 RBI, but he has five months to go. I say he's still going to drive in 100 runs with 30 HRs along the way. What a bat.

Then there's Lew Ford, who put the dagger through KC's heart again with another late-inning game winner, sending a little chopper into right field in the 11th to score Joe Mauer. That gave the solid Jesse Crain, who pitched the 10th and 11th, the win. That's proof he should be used more, as he's the only Twins pitcher who hasn't allowed an earned run this year not named Nathan.

Of course, it should be noted that the only reason for extra innings was not neccessarly Nathan's fault. He gave up a double to Angel Berroa in the 9th, but it was Juan Castro's costly error that allowed Berroa to score the tying run. Such mistakes in the field should be made by Cuddyer, but not Castro, who's expertise is defense. That was just an ugly play that was only saved by Ford's consistent late-inning heroics.

* A final note: Corky Miller went 0 for 4 today, bringing his season average to a modest .000. Yep, still no hits this year. How long must this charade go on with a worthy backup like Redmond on the bench? This is sad....