Hit ‘Em Where They…Are

The Twins’ 7-1 loss last night to the Tampa Bay Rays was epitomized in the bottom of the seventh inning.  With two runners on and two out and the Twins trying to claw their way back into the game, Justin Morneau hit a scalding liner to center field…right into the glove of B.J. Upton.  The Twins were hitting liners all over the Dome, but they were all right towards a Tampa Bay defender.

Of course, Scott Baker (6 IP, 4 ER) didn’t help matters, as he once again forced our batters to have to come from behind if a win would have been in the cards.  Then, as usual, the bullpen gave up a few moonshots to put the game completely out of reach.  When R.A. Dickey knuckleball doesn’t “knuckle”, it gets hit a Looooooooong way (Carlos Pena showed us that in the late innings).

Preview (9-11, 4th, 2.5 GB DET): James Shields (2-2, 3.67) vs. Francisco Liriano (0-4, 7.06). Cisco really needs to get in the win column before it starts to get too depressing.  Shields is generally tough, but he has struggled mightily against the Twins in the past few years.