Wonderful Spam, Indeed

Yes, that's what I'm calling him now, after the greatest interview ever. Denard Span went 4-for-5 with three singles and a triple, driving in a career-high 6 runs, and just generally helping the Twins beat the pesky Royals 11-6. Hmm, I guess that beaning didn't affect him at all. Or maybe it did. Anyway, the Tigers beat the White Sox so the Twins remain two games back as of this writing. The Twins face Zack Greinke tomorrow, so it's unlikely they will complete the sweep. Meanwhile, the Tigers wrap up the series with the reeling White Sox, whose manager lit into them after yesterday's blowout (um, Ozzie, if you're going to leave your starter in an inning too late, and not pull him until after he gives up back-to-back-to-back hits and coughs up a four-run lead, then you really should be yelling at yourself). The worst that can happen is that the Twins will be three games back when they start the big four game series in Detroit, certainly not an insurmountable deficit for a team that has won 11 of its past 12 games. And hey, they've already clinched a .500 record, so there's that...

Scott Baker won his fourteenth game of the season, though he didn't have one of his best outings. The Royals got off to an early 2-0 lead when he surrendered back-to-back solo shots to Alberto Callaspo and Brayan Pena, though both homers weren't really hit that hard. They were of the annoying, just-enough-to-clear-the-fence variety, the kind that flyball pitchers like Baker are bound to give up. He then retired the next thirteen batters he faced, before running into trouble again in the seventh. Jayson Stark wrote that the Twins have the shakiest starting rotation of all of the playoff contenders, and it's really hard to argue with him on that (Although, he does have Nick Blackburn penciled in as the no. 2 starter for some reason. Um, Beardo isn't even the no. 2 starter right now.). In the unlikely event that the Twins actually clinch the division, their starting rotation would probably be Scott Baker, Carl Pavano, and uh...Blackburn? The Dunce? F-bomb? Not a particularly fearsome group. Sure anything can happen in the postseason, especially in the short ALDS, but, well, let's not kid ourselves.