So-So Silva

What can be said about the game tonight? It was a textbook example of how baseball is a game of inches. Had Jason Smith's second home run, the one that hit the top of the wall, been just a few inches in closer toward home plate, that ball's a hit at the very least, if not an out. Had Mauer hit the ball less than an inch or so higher and not gotten so far under it, it wouldn't have fallen inches away from being a home run over the baggie. These few inches one way or another can sometimes amount to many runs, and sometimes that's the difference in the ballgame. That's not what makes baseball great, although you don't mind it when you're on the winning side of those few inches. But it's what makes the sport what it is. It adds a "what if" factor to the game. What if Mauer had hit that ball just a little bit better? What if Torii Hunter got a little bit of a quicker break on Smith's second home run ball and leaped up and caught it? What if Jacque Jones ever could figure out how to hit when we need him to the most? Sometimes, it's not the loss that's the most piercing, it's the what if questions that make you wonder if somewhere in an alternate universe, the Twins take this one.

Ultimately, this is one of those losses where it doesn't really change a whole lot. It was pretty inevitable that the Twins would have to come down someday after four dominant wins in a row. We're not the f'n Yankees! Sometimes a loss will bring the team down for the next game; this one will kinda get looked over. It falls under that "you can't win 'em all" category. And that's fine. The Twins will come out swinging tomorrow and maybe those inches will go our way.

Radke starts tomorrow for the Twins, and one would have to imagine that if he gets anywhere near his performance on Monday, he'd win the AL Pitcher of the Week Award. In general, I think things like that are largely meaningless, but for Radke and the entire team, it'd be a good sign. Given the work put up by all the Twins pitchers this week, it'd almost be like the whole team getting the honor. Heading into the All-Star Break, that's a good way to do it. This team could really pull ahead and come out of the gates fast after the All-Star Break, especially with Shannon Stewart returning. Last year he was that little spark that got the whole team going at full speed just after the All-Star Break, and this year he has the opportunity to do it again. Maybe the Twins should get creative next year and find a new way for him to rejoin the team at the All-Star Break. Maybe have him be "kidnapped" or something, when he's actually just hanging out at Terry Ryan's house watching 18 hours of C-SPAN a day. Think of the publicity!