The WGOM

SBG here, filling in for meat.

This game started out innocently enough with Delmon Young driving a long home run in the top of the first to put the Twins up early 3-0. Jason Repko jacked a donger in the second and it was 4-0 and the rout was seemingly on. Repko tempted the fates when he bunted to lead off the fourth, but the Twins got hits from Punto and Dino and it was 5-0 in the fourth, and the Twins had 10 hits. It looked like the Twins would tack on about 5-10 more runs and at least ten more hits.

But, things dried up in the land of plenty. The Royals mounted a comeback, with two in the fifth off of starter Brian Duensing and two more in the eighth off of The Mayor and Neck Fat. That brought up Brayan Pena with two out and the tying and go ahead runs on base. This was the first and only at bat in the series where the Royals trailed by only one run. Neck Fat closed out the inning, the Twins got one in the ninth and Neck Tat got his first save in a long time.

The Twins came into this game having outscored the Royals by a 30-3 count, but this relatively close game rendered the entire series as merely a beatdown, instead of an epic beatdown. Three games are just three games, but it's hard to conclude (based on a much larger sample size) that things are much good in Kansas City. Still, though, the Royals put up a fight on Wednesday, which was good to see.

The gold standard for epic beatdowns in a three game series is the series played between the Detroit Tigers and the Twins April 28-30, 2006, when the Tigers outscored the Twins 33-1, including a 18-1 demolition in the middle game. I seem to remember, though, that the Twins recovered after that debacle. Even as bad as that series was, a little run prevention on Wednesday and this series was right there.

And now it's time for some art.

I was thinking about the site this spring and I realized that what we really needed was game recaps. The game logs are great, but what we really needed was something to close things out. After 100 games, it's clear that the WGOM citizens were more than up to the task. The logs have been a very nice addition to the site and sometime they are downright hilarious.

So, as I watched the game last night, I thought about what to write to keep with the crowd. Should I do a mustached themed post? I don't think so -- that angle is just about completely played out. Besides, it was evident early on that Mr. Pavano didn't have his best stuff last night. He lasted only 5 innings and he struggled, even though he gave up just one run. To his credit, he was able to wiggle out of trouble and that was admirable, but not his best night, for sure. Then again, if that's bad Pavano, we're in pretty good shape. But, no pictures of Sam Eliot or Teddy Roosevelt, please. When the local mainstream media is all over something, that's a signal to move on.

I suppose another angle could be to discuss the way the club is hitting. And, it's true, they are pretty hot right now and with Brian Bannister coming up, they SHOULD continue to hit. It's been fun to watch Valencia get a hit pretty much every at bat. The kid is obviously enjoying things right now and I hope that it continues when the Twins start playing some good clubs.

Then, there's Joe Mauer starting to have those booming liners fall into the gaps. And Delmon treating the league like they are the Washington Generals. And Repko, with his speed. The Twins look like they have some depth on their bench now. Nick Punto as a parttime player is much more palatable.

But, I'll tell you where I'm not going, which is were the Pioneer Press went -- that Michael Cuddyer is the MVP of the team right now. What. Ever. I like Mike just as much as the next guy, but I cannot abide that.

The Twins stepped on the Royals early and kept pouring on the gas all night long. In a long season, games like the last few are mere blips on the screen. But, I'm enjoying them, nonetheless. Hopefully, this is a sign that the club is going to stop effing around and start asserting themselves.