Nightly Notes: Game #126

The Twins made their way back to .500 this afternoon with a win over the Mariners. Here are some thoughts on the game -- and from around the league:

1.) Michael Cuddyer hasn't had a particularly good August, hitting just .209 going into today's game. Recently, though, he's been the key to a few Twins victories, and seems to be starting to see the ball a bit better. Today's grand slam was the key to sparking the Twins win, and is hopefully an indication of how Cuddyer will hit the rest of the season.

2.) It sounds as if Tommy Watkins may be headed to the disabled list after he "pulled something" in his leg. I just mentioned the other day how good (if surprising) it was to see Watkins succeed at the big league level, and I agree with Pat Reusse (see the link above) that this is a major disappointment for fans who had been yearning for some good news in a season that hasn't exactly been filled with great stories. I hope that Watkins injuries aren't significant, but it doesn't sound good.

3.) Congratulations to Garrett Jones on picking up his first Major League RBI in today's ballgame.

4.) Jason Kubel went 3-for-4 today, and is hitting .375 in August. That has raised his batting average from .241 on July 30 to .255 now. I'm starting to think that maybe, just maybe Kubel will be able to finally step up and take on a regular role for the team next year. I know that that was the hope this year as well, but he's starting to show that he can rake. Maybe he'll keep it up.

5.) Even I, a long defender of Nick Punto, cannot avoid noticing that his batting average is now sitting at a ghastly .199 for the season. Yikes.

6.) In case you somehow managed to miss it, the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles tonight by a score of 30-3. Yes, you read that correctly. Just check out the box score and see how utterly absurd it looks. You have to think that, for the Orioles, this went beyond embarrassing and just sort of became amusing at some point.