There We Go!

That's what I'm talking about. The Twins got a much needed off-day on Monday, and turned in a great performance last night in which the bullpen didn't let the game get out of hand. In fact, the bullpen pitched 2 scoreless innings thanks to Dennys Reyes and Jesse Crain, who has struggled mightily since the All-Star Break.

Nick Blackburn won his first start since August 6th. He held the Royals hitters to 2 runs on 5 hits through 7 innings of work. He improved to 10-8 on the season, making him the 4th starter to reach the double-digit win mark. He also lowered his ERA to 3.67, giving him the 3rd best ERA amongst rookie starters in the league (behind Armando Galarraga and Jair Jurrjens).

The bats collected 13 hits on the night, 10 of which were off of starter Brian Banister before he was taken out of the game in the 4th inning. Joe Mauer was the only batter to not record a hit. Denard Span and Brian Buscher combined for 6 of those hits. Justin Morneau tagged on 2 more including a 4th inning home run. He finished the game with 2 RBI which paired him with Mauer who also drove in two. Span, Buscher and Carlos Gomez all drove in one run apiece.

The Royals are scheduled to start Kyle Davies on Wednesday, while the Twins are scheduled to start Kevin Slowey. Before the All-Star Break, Slowey was 6-6 with a 4.26 ERA. But since, he is 5-3 with a 3.00 ERA and has a ridiculous 9.6 K/BB ratio, which is outstanding. He is certainly making a name for himself and is giving Twins fans a lot to look forward to in the coming years.

Game Ball (9/9)
Justin Morneau - First Base
Line: 2-4, 2-run Home Run