Twins lose another

Boof Bonser got hit hard again, in just the first inning, he found himself trailing the Blue Jays 4-0 with one out after he gave up a grand slam to Matt Stairs. Scott Rolen kept fouling pitches off and battled Bonser's 7 fastballs and 4 sliders that came his way before he drew a walk. The walk loaded the bases and set up a Stairs home run, it was deja vu for the Twins after Rolen battled Kevin Slowey for 15 pitches the night before setting up a Matt Stairs solo homerun. Perhaps the Twins should avoid these two at all costs, because they've hurt the Twins quite a bit in each of the first two games. Like Bonser's previous starts, he pitched well besides his one big inning. After a disastrous start, Bonser settled down and went on to last 6 innings giving up 5 runs on 5 hits. Bonser now sits with a 2-5 record and a 5.37 ERA. His rotation spot isn't necessarily in jeopardy right now, but he does need to turn it around so it does not get to that point.

The bullpen was fairly strong. Juan Rincon has really picked it up since Neshek went down with his injury and added another scoreless inning of relief last night. He now has a 3.38 ERA. Jesse Crain allowed an unearned run, but is it really unearned when it was you who caused the error? Nathan struck out two in his loan inning of relief, it was his first non-save appearance since April 27th and it was just his second appearance since May 4th.

The offense drew 9 hits off of Roy Halladay, 11 all together. Unfortunately, the team couldn't hit Halladay hard enough and the 31-year-old former Cy Young winner is still undefeated against the Twins in 9 career starts (11 games). Justin Morneau got the Twins on the board in the bottom of the 1st inning with a two-run home run to center field. It was his 7th home run of the season and he now has 31 RBI's. Morneau finished 2-4 with 2 runs scored. Jason Kubel made his return to the starting lineup and cemented himself for at least a couple games with a 2-4 performance with two RBI doubles. Matt Tolbert and Delmon Young also had two hit nights. Carlos Gomez and Young both made mistakes on the base paths which may have costed the Twins the game.

Game Ball
Justin Morneau - First Base
Line: 2-4, 2 Runs, Home Run, 2 RBI

Today, Dustin McGowan will take the hill against Glen Perkins. It will be McGowan's second start against the Twins and Perkins second start of his career. Should be a good game, unfortunately it won't be on television.

Down on the Farm!

Hitter(s) of the Day
Jair Fernandez - Designated Hitter - Beloit Snappers & Denard Span - Center Field - Rochester Red Wings
Note: Alright, so I couldn't pick just one player who I could give this "award" to. Fernandez helped conduct the Snappers offensive attack with a 4-5 performance with 3 runs, 2 doubles and 2 RBI's. Fernandez was acquired from the Seattle Mariners prior to the season in return for Rule V pick R.A. Dickey who was option to AAA. The 21-year-old from Colombia is hitting .367 with 7 doubles, and 9 RBI's in 60 AB's.

Span had himself another great day. The 24-year-old former first round pick went 3-4 with a 4 runs, a doubles, a home run and 2 RBI's. He walked once (which was an intentional walk) and stole his 13th base in his 15th chance. Span has absolutely exploded in the past 3 games. Prior to these games, 3 extra-base hits all season (all doubles) with 4 RBI's. Now, he has 5 doubles, 3 home runs, and has 9 RBI's. It's going to be hard for the Twins to keep him in Rochester if he keeps this up.

Pitcher of the Day
Mike Tarsi - Starting Pitcher - Beloit Snappers
Note: Tarsi hasn't had the season he envisioned after dominating the Appalachian League in 11 starts last season, he went into yesterday's game with an 0-6 record and a 7.30 ERA. Out of his 8 starts, he was 0-3 with a 17.18 ERA. Since then, he's 1-3 with a 3.38 ERA. Last night, he continued to turned what looked at first to be a horrid start into a great start. After giving up 3 runs in the first inning, Tarsi settled down and got through 6 innings and gave up just the three runs. The 6'8'' southpaw struck out 7 and now has a solid 33/11 K/BB ratio. Hopefully he can continue to improve.

Touch 'Em All!

• Rochester Red Wings: Denard Span (3)
• New Britain Rock Cats: David Winfree (9)
• Ft. Myers Miracle: Danny Valencia (5)
• Beloit Snappers: Chris Parmelee (7)

Box Scores

• Red Wings beat the Clippers, 10-7.
• Rock Cats lost to the Mets, 5-2.
• Miracle beat the Reds, 5-3.
• Snappers beat the LumberKings, 11-3.