Twins at Chicago. Twins 3, Bitch Sox 2.
A few days ago an associate of Team Batgirl wondered aloud why the Twins don't steal bases this year. We learned today that apparently the Twins were simply waiting to face Scott Shoeneweis. We stole four bases today, which is equal to the whole base-stealing total last season, and was a great deal of fun to watch. In a 3-2 game, we need all the runners on scoring position we can get, and while it might not be Moneyball, it's part of Twins baseball.
Better yet, eyes-are-much-faster-than-legs catcher Henry Blanco didn't try to steal a base today (of course, he was a defensive replacement in the 9th, but still…) Though Matthew LeCroy did try to bunt for a base hit to lead off the ninth, prompting Doug Mientkiewicz to follow him around the bullpen for the rest of the inning, poking him and giggling madly.
Even Luis Rivas had a steal today—which of course requires getting on base. Which Rivas has been doing. In fact, it's the goats of the Twins line-up, Guzie and Rivas, that have really come through the past few days. Guzie's on a ten-game hitting streak and Rivas has miraculously raised his average above his weight--today Guzie was 2 for 5 and Rivas had the first RBI of the game, scoring Michael Cuddyer in the 2nd with two outs. In total, Rivas and Guzie combined for an incredible 55 points tonight.
(Oh, wait, that's KG and Spree. But still.)
Though, it must be said that Goober called during the fifth inning with a post half-typed for the Goat of the Day, and that goat was one Cristian Guzman. We needed no Goat, of course, the Twins pulled through, but Goober seems to feel that we should hold Guzie to the same fielding standard we do the rest of the time. He said that in the past we didn't even notice Guzie's fielding lapses, because he was such a black hole in our line-up that we didn't expect anything better—or really notice him at all. But now that Guzie is hitting over .300, that he's flourishing in the #2 spot that he so eschewed earlier, Goober and the rest of Team Batgirl feel it's time for him to step up to the plate…er…base, fielding-wise. Two errors (and this is away, not on the Evil Turf of Doom) and one mental lapse which allowed the go-ahead run to get to third does not a good game make. So, that, Cristian Antonio Guzman, is Team Batgirl's challenge to you: before, you were fielding as well as you were hitting, which is to say not very well. Now that you're hitting, it's time to be a fielder again.
In other good news, Kyle Lohse managed to stay in the game despite getting very, very, very wet—and though balls seemed to be going to the outfield with rather alarming frequency, only one of them actually fled the ballpark. In fact, Lohse made it into the seventh inning, lowered his ERA below 6, and continued a streak of quality starts by Twins pitchers. It's enough to make a Batgirl giddy.
More so, because it's against the Chicago Bitch Sox, the pit of whiny vipers that they are. The season is 1-0 against them. May the trend continue.