That's what I'm talkin' about!

After 4 very disappointing loses in a row, the Twins managed to come back 8-6 in the 9th inning last night to beat the Rays 11-8. All of that even after they surrendered a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning to go down 5-3 while pulling starter Glen Perkins in place of Philip Humber. Humber went on to pitch the through the 6th inning giving up just 2 solo home runs to keep the Twins within reach of a win. He was very impressive, and really gave the Twins a chance to come back while pitching 5 1/3 innings. The Twins came back within 1 in the 7th inning, just to go down by another run to make it 8-6 heading into the 9th inning.

The 9th inning lead off with a 2-run shot by Alexi Casilla. After a Joe Mauer double and a Justin Morneau walk, Gardenhire made a surprising move by taking out Jason Kubel in place of Adam Everett who hit a game-winning double, scoring Mauer from 2nd. Delmon Young and Matt Tolbert added another run each and it was enough to give the Twins the win.

The game was very fun to watch. As many know, I've been a fan of the Rays for a few years and love watching their young team play. I was very impressed with Evan Longoria (I know, bold statement) who went 3-5 with 3 home runs and 4 RBI in the game. I was also impressed with David Price who threw to just 3 batters and after giving up a 2-run single to Mauer, he got Morneau & Kubel to strikeout to end the 7th inning. He definitely looks to be a future ace with great velocity, movement and command on his pitches.

The Rays team certainly looks bright. Longoria, Scott Kazmir, B.J. Upton, Matt Garza, Price, and a glut of great prospects, they certainly look to be establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the league for a long time.

But enough about the Rays, how 'bout them Twins? I still cannot believe that they came back in such dramatic fashion. All we can do is hope that they can continue to carry the momentum through the rest of the series and hopefully finish this road trip off strong. They are set to face the wild Edwin Encarnacion tonight. Nick Blackburn is set to start for the Twins, so hopefully he can last a lot longer than Perkins did last night and hopefully a few innings longer than he did against the Orioles.

Lets keep it going! And in case you didn't know, the White Sox lost last night which brought the Twins within 1.5 games of the division lead. GO TWINS!

Game Ball
Philip Humber - Reliever
Line: 5.1 innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 1 K

Seth Stohs believes believes Philip Humber should receive the game ball, and I have to agree with him! He came in and kept the team in the game while facing a very good offense. He definitely gave this team some momentum. Joe Mauer and Alexi Casilla were the other players I considered.

(I will have the game balls that I've missed up at some point over the weekend.)