Twins 4, Giants 3 (11 inn.)

Hey, whaddya know. We had a tie game in the 9th, 10th, and 11th; Gardy tapped his best relievers to hold the score rather than call on his veteran rubber arm (like Alou did); and the Twins won this one. Huh! Now, I'm not saying that going to Rincon, Nathan and Crain guaranteed the win, but it gave the Twins an advantage over the Giants with Fassero and Walker going for them, didn't it?

Why would a manager play his strongest hand like that at home, but not a few days before on the road?

Nice to see the Twins scratch out a win in a tight game, anyway. I'd like to have seen the team capitalize better on the Ray Durham error in the 6th and bring in some more runs with the bases loaded; yet again, the Twins let the opponent off the hook in that situation, when eventual hero Shannon Stewart grounded out to 3rd. But it was a well-pitched game by both sides, and the Twins showed some heart in taking another comeback victory.

God's favorite creation pitched a tidy 8 innings, allowing 3 runs while striking out 7 Gigantes; and in the 1st inning, like a cat he dove off the right side of the mound to corral a squib-grounder and popped back up to throw out the fleet Omar Vizquel at 1st base. Cuddy Bear had 3 hits, including a homer that glanced off the top of Moises Alou's glove to put the Twins on the board in the 5th, and the leadoff single that set up his winning run in the 11th. Shannon Stewart atoned for his missed opportunity in the 6th by delivering the flare into Right-Centerfield with 2 outs in the 11th, bringing home Cuddyer to win the game, too. El Duque and the ChiSox even took a massive beating in Arizona, drawing the Twins back within 3 games in the Loss column. Who's to complain?

Cheers!