Heartbreak

What to write about, what about to write about. A lot happened in this game. The Twins really should have won the game, but could not take advantage of numerous opportunities. Mike Lamb came within two feet of winning the game in the tenth inning, but instead picked up a triple. Then the Yankees intentionally walked Nick Punto to pitch to Carlos Gomez. I assume you were also thinking they were crazy, especially after they allowed Punto to take second without a throw, which made it clear that they really just wanted to pitch to Gomez. Unfortunately, it worked. Gomez looked bad, swinging at some sliders that were low and away.

It looked downright smooth compared to Delmon Young's at bat in the tenth inning. After his first absolutely dreadful swing, which almost looked like a bunt it was so bad, the YES announcer commented, "That's one of the weakest swings I've ever seen." The next pitch was a similar one, with an even worse result. The comment after that one? "No. My mistake. That was weaker." He laid off a third similar pitch which landed somewhere near Utah, but struck out on the next pitch. He actually had a pretty good game, despite striking out three times, in accumulating three hits.

Nick Punto made a very costly error in the third inning behind Boof Bonser, who actually was not awful. He certainly didn't do enough to keep his spot in the rotation though. The bullpen actually pitched very well after Bonser. Craig Breslow was quite impressive in his debut, striking out three batters and getting out all five that he faced. Juan Rincon pitched well in his first inning of work, but completely fell apart in the twelfth, and had to be replaced by Brian Bass, the Twins' last available reliever.

Really, those two innings, the tenth and eleventh, are ones you have to wonder about. Ross Ohlendorf was pitching, which allowed Mariano Rivera to be ready for the save, and the Twins could not push a run across against him, even with men on first and second and no outs.

On a positive note, Mike Lamb picked up three hits to raise his average to .255 and Michael Cuddyer hit his second home run of the year to knot the game at six. On a less positive note, Jason Kubel went 0-6 and looked terrible in doing so. He seemed utterly incapable of laying off the low, inside breaking pitches and wasn't even close to making contact with them.

All in all, quite a disappointing loss. It was definitely a game the Twins should have won. Just as last night the Twins were almost able to win a game in which they were totally outplayed, the Yankees had the chance to do so tonight, and they took advantage. I really hope the Twins can win at least one of the next two because being swept by the Yankees would be downright embarrassing. I'm very worried, though, especially for Livan Hernandez's start on Monday; he is very hittable, as is Nick Blackburn to a lesser degree, and may very well be torn to shreds by the Yankee hitters.