Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Twins Run Production

One of the strangest aspects about the Minnesota Twins’ recent surge in the Central Division standings is the fact they are doing it without scoring many runs. In fact, the Twins are hardly scoring any runs: They have 71 since the All-Star break, the lowest total by far. The next lowest is the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates, who have a full 14 runs more than the Twins since the break. The Twins hurt their chances to catch up to the two teams in front of them again on Monday night, and the paltry run production was the main culprit.

I was at the game watching the goofy right hander Paul Byrd warm up for the Cleveland Indians. I was thinking back to a game where he owned the Twins last season, but I was also hoping the Twins might take advantage of the junk-balls he throws, as well as the fact that the Twins generally do better against right handers. But alas, Byrd mowed down the heart of the lineup again, and the trio of Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter went 1- for-10, making them 1-for-22 in their last two games. The Twins aren’t out of it yet, but those guys better start hitting before the Detroit Tigers start another hot streak.

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