Various and Sundry Notes

1.) I didn't get a chance to watch any of the game today (which is usually pretty rare). From what It sure seems, however, that the Twins offensive woes continued (when you need a 2-run HR from Rondell White to win, you're in trouble), but got an improbably solid start from Boof Bonser and more great bullpen work to pull it off. I guess that's one way to do it, and that's the formula the Twins will need to use for the rest of the year to have any chance of making the playoffs.

2.) I didn't get the Twins feed during Sunday's Twins game; instead, I was listening to Jim Kaat and Al Leiter go at it on the YES network. The result is that I didn't hear the infamous Bert Blyleven "profanity incident." This is far from a non-issue; many families watch Sunday afternoon games, and this is going to hurt Bert's image with many of them. Nevertheless, it seems that he handled things well in the aftermath, and profanity is not uncommon in the world of baseball. Dick and Bert are a heck of an announcing team, and I hope this doesn't break them up prematurely.

3.) Justin Morneau's RBI's on Saturday moved him into 7th place on the Twins all-time single-season RBI list. He needs 5 more to move further up the list.

4.) The White Sox had a great chance to capitalize on their series with the Royals and lost 2-of-3. Sound familiar? The Royals are bad, yes. But they have some talent, and Mark Redman has pitched well recently. There were some bloggers out there who were hounding the Twins pretty badly for the Royals series, and deservedly so; everyone needs to understand, however, that in the course of a long season, even teams like the Royals can get hot. After going 4-2 against the Twins and White Sox, I think the Royals deserve a little credit, rather than just heaping blame on the Twins.

5.) Josh Rabe is back with the Twins, as things should be. I think he'll get a fair shake at making the Major League team in some capacity during Spring Training 2007.

6.) Finally, the big news from today was with Francisco Liriano's status. I think he'll be back, and fairly soon. I also think he'll be a starter right from the get-go. He's too valuable, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong. The Twins treated this injury exactly as they should have, easing him along. He's passed every test, and the Twins shouldn't be hesitant to use him once they get the final OK from the doctors. In a race like this one, Liriano certainly seems like a difference maker. If someone would have suggested at the beginning of August that the Twins would lose Liriano AND Radke, and still have the Wild Card lead on September 5, I would have thought they were delirious. Yet, that's exactly where we are. What a strange, wonderful game.