A Very Tough Loss

The Twins lost their series finale against the Indians today 2-1, breaking a 6-game winning streak. After Joe Mays pitched 7 excellent innings, allowing only a solo home run to Ronnie Belliard. In the 8th, JC Romero came in and the Indians were able to load the bases (thank you CUDDYER), at which point Romero hit Travis Hafner with a pitch with two outs to score the eventual winning run. It was the first real chink I've seen in the bullpen this season, and I don't think it's all too concerning. However, it did look like the shaky Romero of last year, getting into a tough situation and then getting wild and unable to pitch out of trouble. Hopefully he can keep his confidence and things don't go downhill from here, which is possible. A few thoughts on the game...

*As aforementioned, Mays looked terrific today, right back in his 2001 form. Over seven innings, Joe allowed only five hits and made only one major mistake which ended up in the left field seats off the bat of Belliard. It is actually a little curious that Gardy decided to pull Mays after the seventh; his pitch count was only 72 and he was absolutely rolling at the time. Clearly, the move did not pay off as Romero had a very tough eighth inning and took the loss.

*There has been some debate on the Twins Territory site regarding Michael Cuddyer. I am personally of the opinion that Tiffee should at least be given the opportunity to compete for the starting third base job, because I don't think Cuddy has done anything whatsoever to show he deserves the spot. Yes, it is too early in the season to say the Cuddyer is worthless, but he has been given plenty of chances with this organization before. Tiffee is only one year younger, and has looked a lot better in his limited Major League time than Cuddyer has. Anyway, getting back to my point, it is supported by the fact that Cuddyer essentially cost us the game today. The game-winning run that scored in the eighth should have been out at second earlier in the inning, but Cuddy made a terrible wide throw when attempting to get the force that allowed the runner to move up another base and eventually score. This was Cuddyer's fourth error of the season, and he is hitting .231. Tiffee is hitting .308. I would make the argument that, when Justin Morneau is eligible to come off the disabled list in five days, Cuddyer should at least garner consideration as the one to be sent down.

*Once again, Corky Miller started today and was completely inept. Having him on the Major League club is really some of the stupidest management I have ever seen. There is just no excuse for this guy being up here. Mike Redmond could have easily started and been more productive today. The whole Miller situation really upsets me.

I'll be making a post on Twins Territory later today comparing Torii Hunter to Carlos Beltran.