Game # 7 - A 3-4 Opening Week

The Twins' bats were quiet again on Sunday in losing to the Chicago White Sox 6-1. Chicago starter Mark Buehrle allowed just 2 hits in 6-1 innings for the win, and the bullpen did not allow any runs in the final 3-2 innings. The Twins' lone run came courtesy of Delmon Young's solo shot in the 2nd, his first of the season.

Twins' starter Nick Blackburn was solid through the first four innings, but Michael Cuddyer (making his first appearance at 1B) made two errors on one play, allowing an unearned run to score in the fifth. Jim Thome victimized Blackburn again with a two-run shot in the 6th, and that's all Buehrle would need.

Blackburn went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs (3 earned), 6 hits, walking 1, and striking out 1. Craig Breslow allowed a run in 0.1 innings; Jesse Crain no runs in 0.2 innings; Joe Nathan gave up a solo homer to Jermaine Dye in his one inning of work.

The Twins finished their opening week 3-4, and now prepare for a difficult week ahead:

• vs. Toronto (4 games, Monday-Thursday evenings)
• vs. Los Angeles (3 games, Friday and Saturday evenings, Sunday afternoon)

Joe Christensen had an interesting piece about the Twins' uniforms on Sunday. I love sports uniforms (www.uniwatchblog.com is a great site for those as inclined as I) and I read Christensen's piece with great interest. The Twins' road greys are fine but for the pinstripes. The home whites are fine with pinstripes; for whatever reason, pinstripes always look better on white unis. I would love to see the Twins change uniform designs for the 2010 season, and I would definitely be on board with Joe's suggestions late in the article (adding a cursive script to "Twins" on the home unis, ditching the pinstripes but keeping the typeface on the road unis, ditching the sleveless white alternative tops). What do you think?

Elsewhere in the AL Central:

• Cleveland 8, Toronto 4 - The Indians picked up their first win of the season after starting 0-5. Mark DeRosa and Travis Hafner each hit 2-run homers in this game, and starter Anthony Reyes went 6 innings, allowing 4 runs for the Tribe. The Jays come to the Metrodome on Monday with a 5-2 record.
• Detroit 6, Texas 4 - The Tigers improved to 4-3 after sweeping the Rangers at Comerica Park. The Tigers scored all six runs in the bottom of the 8th inning off Texas's set-up man C.J. Wilson, and were aided along by a big error by rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus. Placido Polanco had 3 hits, and Brandon Inge hit his 4th homer of the season. Starter Edwin Jackson overcame some early troubles to give Detroit 6 innings, allowing 4 runs and 5 hits.
• Kansas City 6, NY Yankees 4 - The Royals salvaged the third game of the series behind John Buck's (yes, John Buck!) offense. The catcher went 3-4, including his first homer of the season, and the Royals came back from a 4-3 deficit with 3 big runs off New York relievers Jose Veras and Phil Coke in the 8th. Joakim Soria finished up for his 3rd save. Gil Meche had a no-decision, but was solid, going 7 innings and allowing 6 hits and 4 runs.

Short schedule in the minors on Sunday:

• AAA - Rochester 8, Syracuse 4 - The Red Wings put up a 5-spot in the bottom of the 8th innings to beat the Chiefs. Jose Mijares picked up the win in relief. Matt Tolbert, Alejandro Machado, and Luke Hughes each had 2 hits, and Hughes picked up 3 RBI to give him 6 for the season. Rochester is now 3-1 with the win.
• AA - New Britain - Idle
• High A - Ft. Myers - Idle
• Low A - Beloit - Idle

We'll have a special Donny Puck Wild-related entry about coach Jacques Lemaire hopefully today. Otherwise, have a good week. In the meantime, enjoy a little unplugged STP. Editorial note: I've seen STP three times, which is about 1/3 of all live shows I've ever seen, and they're one of my favorite acts. We saw them in St. Paul during the summer of 2008 and they opened with this one. As my brother said, "Ballsy."