Notes

1.) Terry Tiffee's return to the big leagues will have to wait for at least another 5-7 days, as the Rochester Red Wings were victorious tonight over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre . The Wings won 2-0, and saw dominant pitching from Francisco Liriano, who was on a strict pitch count and went 3 innings, and then from Glen Perkins, who went 6. Between the two of them, they allowed just 1 hit and 3 walks. Tommy Watkins (2B) and Alex Romero (LF) both drove in a run. They'll know face the Toledo Mud Hens for the International League title.

2.) The Twins have finally decided that they're sick of watching Scott Baker pitch poorly against everyone other than the Yankees, demoting him to the bullpen. Getting the start on Tuesday in his place will be Matt Guerrier, and he couldn't be happier. This was the next logical move for the Twins, as they continue to try to find a way to patch the holes in their rotation. With Francisco Liriano scheduled to return to the rotation on Wednesday, coupled with the news that the Twins believe Carlos Silva has rediscovered the grip on his sinker, it seems likely that the Baker/Guerrier spot in the rotation will be the one replaced. I believe this means that the starters for the rest of the season will look like this: 9/10 - Santana; 9/11 - Silva; 9/12 - Guerrier; 9/13 - Liriano; 9/14 - Garza; 9/15 - Santana; 9/16 - Bonser; 9/17 - Silva; 9/18 - OFF; 9/19 - Liriano; 9/20 - Garza; 9/21 - Santana; 9/22 - Bonser; 9/23 - Silva; 9/24 - Liriano; 9/25 - Garza; 9/26 - Santana; 9/27 - Bonser; 9/28 - Silva; 9/29 - Liriano; 9/30 - Garza; 10/1 - Santana (unless the Twins have clinched). Got that?

3.) Liriano's start tonight for Rochester looked in doubt for awhile, as there was a fairly substantial rain delay before the game started. It would have been unfortunate if the Twins had gone to all the trouble to send Liriano out on a rehab start only to have him get shelved. That would have pushed his return back, and probably would have meant he'd be appearing out of the bullpen as soon as tomorrow. Instead, he remains on track for a Wednesday start. Incidentally, there was one harrowing moment, when a ball was hit back up the middle and hit off of Liriano's foot. He didn't need any attention, but that too could have been disastrous.

4.) The White Sox looked like they were going to blow a 10-1 lead tonight, when they gave up 7 runs in the 7th inning. With a 2-run lead going into the 9th, the Ozzie Guillen chose to stick with Mike MacDougal for 2 outs and then Matt Thornton for the final out rather than bring in Bobby Jenks. Perhaps his disastrous outing yesterday has caused a wee bit of doubt to creep into Ozzie's mind. After all, I don't think 12 pitches yesterday was enough to tire him out to the point of not being usable. Unless there is something else that made Jenks unavailable tonight, I strongly disagree with this move on Ozzie's part; it could mess with the psyche of his closer. Then again, blowing another save probably would mess with his psyche more, and the White Sox won, so I can't fault him too much.