Oakland at Twins. Twins 4, Oakland 3.

I'm not sure Batgirl can take many more of these Oakland games; there's only so much stress a girl can bear. You pretty much know this year when the teams face off that it's going to be a low-scoring nail-biter, and if they do end up going against each other in the playoffs Batgirl's going to be gouging out her own eyes before the thing is over. Finding out you killed your dad and married your own mom is nothing compared to watching Santana and Tim Hudson duel in the ALCS.

This week, we still have to endure two more games, with Mark "The Truth is Out There" Mulder hurling tomorrow, and they're both afternoon games so I can't even numb the pain with drink. Oh, what am I saying, of course I can.

Actually, the Twins managed to keep the pain-inflicting to a minimum today (other than poor Jacque Jones, who fouled a Hudson pitch off his knee and had to leave the game. I daresay that's going to leave a bruise.) by getting to Hudson first. This was a game that could easily have ended 1-0, and when Torii Hunter created a run with two outs in the fourth, there was much relief in the BatQuarters.

For surely these Athletics of Oakland weren't going to touch Johan, were they? He'd struck out his sixth by the fourth inning, and didn't show any real inclination to let the batters make contact with the ball.

And Hudson just seemed to wear down—understandable as he just got off the DL. Thanks to hits by Morneau, (Dear Fox. Please check pronunciation of Twins players names before next broadcast. Thank you, Batgirl.) Hunter, and Jose "Clutch" Offerman the Twins had a 4-0 lead going into the late innings.

But then there was that seventh, in which A's hits just started to fall in, and Batgirl's knitting needles inched closer and closer to her eyes—until Juan Rincon came in to save the day.

So, Batgirl's presidential candidate fared well, with ten strikeouts and seven hits—of course that's about five more hits than he usually gives up, but there's a lot of pressure in campaign season. And our VP nominee came on in the ninth and earned his franchise record 25th save in a row with his signature last-out strikeout, while Juan Rincon made a strong pitch for Secretary of KI-YAP with his 7th- and 8th-inning performance. That made thirteen strikeouts by the Santana administration. You, you, you, and you, please...have a seat. And also you and you. And, sir? By the way? Please sit down. And those five guys next to you. Thank you so very much.

Johan is looking now like everyone's number two pick for Cy Young; the number one is going tomorrow. Batgirl thinks maybe we should lessen his chances a bit. If only she could stand to watch…