Nightly Notes: Game #16

Yuck. There was very little in tonight's game that was positive, but this kind of game is going to turn up from time to time, and teams (and fans) just have to slog through. Here are tonight's notes:

1.) Well, Sir Sidney sure is trying to make things interesting. He managed to go just 4.1 innings tonight, allowing 6 runs on 10 hits with a walk. He actually didn't look terrible until the fifth inning, but things got very bad after that. Yesterday, I suggested that today was a make-or-break start for Ponson, because he was pitching against the Royals and because Glen Perkins was on the team ready to go. I still stand by that statement, but Perkins may not have done himself any favors with a weak performance in relief of Ponson. I think that if Perkins had been sharp tonight, the Twins would have let him go about 3 innings, and that he would have been slotted into the rotation to take Ponson's start the next time through. Now, I'm not so sure. Ponson has been horrible, and I would not keep him around any longer. He's demonstrated that, unlike Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva, there just isn't anything left in the tank. It's time to give someone else a shot. Again, the only saving grace for Ponson may be Perkins' struggles. Regardless, the Twins have some thinking to do.

2.) I'm not even going to mention the rest of the relief staff. Everyone was off tonight, and there weren't any performances really worth mentioning. Again, I believe that nights like this are going to happen, and wouldn't read anything more into it (unless it happens again soon).

3.) Rondell wasn't ready to come back tonight, so he's still on the DL. Torii Hunter returned to the lineup, and Luis Castillo took the day off to nurse his quad. It sounds like Rondell's setback trying to run tonight could scrap the Twins plans to activate him this series, so I wouldn't expect to see him activated until the Twins get home early next week.

4.) Nice to see Nick Punto get a couple of hits and just generally play well today. I still think he's going to be fine, but he's going to have to battle a bit to dig out the hole that he's in.

5.) That's about it for tonight. I couldn't find the energy to post much more on a game that was just draining to watch. Hopefully, Boof will turn around and turn in a solid performance tomorrow. The Twins should be able to take 2-of-3 from the Royals, even on the road, so we'll see what happens. I'm a little worried about Greinke pitching for the Royals tomorrow -- he's been pretty solid this year. We'll see what happens!