A Wild Weekend

Perhaps the best part about the Twins series with the Red Sox this weekend is that it isn't over yet.

These have just been some fun games to watch. On Friday night, the two teams battled all night long, but eventually it appeared that Boston would come out on top when they sent their dominating closer out to protect a one-run lead in the ninth. The Twins spoiled Jon Papelbon's save though, putting runners on second and third and then getting a game-winning hit from the most unlikely of suspects, Mike Lamb. (Lamb carried some momentum into the next two games, going 4-for-7 on Saturday and Sunday.) On Saturday, the Twins got six great innings from Glen Perkins, who was making his first major-league start, but he surrendered a pair of homers to start the seventh and those ended up sealing a loss for him and the team. On Sunday, the Twins jumped out early against Tim Wakefield, but the Red Sox and their punishing offense kept coming back and wouldn't let the Twins get comfortable. In the ninth inning, it looked like Boston might get some payback for Friday night by coming back against Joe Nathan, but the Twins closer ended up working out of a jam and shutting the door on a 9-8 Twins victory.

I truly think that the Red Sox are the class of the American League. Prior to the season, I bet a friend 10 dollars that they'd be in the World Series. (Granted, that's not exactly a lot of money, but he didn't give me any odds.) Their roster is basically intact after winning the World Series last year, and they've certainly played like champions thus far, with a 24-15 record entering yesterday's contest. The fact that the Twins have played relatively evenly with this Boston club over the first three games of this series is impressive to me.

I've been thoroughly entertained with this series up to this point. Tonight's 6 o'clock match-up pits the veteran Livan Hernandez against the young gunner Clay Buchholz. Hopefully this game can prove to be a fitting finale for this crazy series.