Must've Been a Little Windy in Chicago

(photo credit: Charles Rex Arbogast - AP)

Matt Tolbert homered. Orlando Cabrera homered. So did Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer, but *yawn* those two do that all the time. Of course, the Sox were not exactly lacking in offense either, tagging the Twins' pitchers for six runs on nine hits, three of which left the yard. The Twins scored eight runs despite losing some of the best hitters in the lineup (and Justin Morneau). Denard Span is listed as day-to-day after getting hit in the back of the helmet with an errant fastball by Randy Williams on Monday (Yes, it was errant. The Sox are notorious for throwing at hitters, but this beaning obviously wasn't intentional). Span has a mild concussion and though he isn't expected to miss more than a few days, it's unclear exactly when he will return to the lineup. Hopefully soon, there's only so much Carlos Gomez making the first out of the inning leading off that a fan can take.

The offense bailed out the leaky (Jeff) Manship, who failed to make it out of the third inning. Manship has struggled as a starter, surrendering twelve runs on nineteen hits in a little over thirteen innings. He doesn't strike out many hitters and has had trouble with walks at the major-league level, posting a dismal 1.20 K/BB ratio, but he hasn't surrendered many homers either (his HR/FB% is 7.1, which is pretty good). However, Manship's minor-league numbers are a little more encouraging and since he doesn't give up a lot of home runs, he should make at least a solid starter someday. Like Anthony Swarzak before him, he probably isn't ready to pitch in the major leagues just yet.

Unfortunately, the Tigers also won (stupid Cleveland, why can't you be more like Kansas City?). While the Twins are still only 2.5 games back, there aren't many games left to play. Provided they don't completely fall apart over the next week, the Tigers could clinch the division as early as next Monday. The Twins, on the other hand, could clinch the division as early as Wednesday, again, barring any major disasters (which is entirely possible, with the upcoming series in Kanas City). Sorry folks, looks like this is the closest thing to an actual pennant race in baseball right now.