It was an interesting game for the Twins. The Felix Hernandez hype was short-lived as he left the game early with soreness in his elbow. Hopefully it's not serious, but the whole event was eerily similar to Fransisco Liriano's departure of last season. The game also featured a crazy ending thanks to a little too aggressive base running from the Mariners.

Carlos Silva didn't quite match Mark Beurhle's no-hitter against Texas, but he did continue to exceed my expectations of him. Like yesterday, I'll give a quick inning-by-inning recap of the game.

1^st inning

Luis Castillo and Jason Tyner singled to start off the game and a walk to Joe Mauer loaded the bases. Hernandez then threw a wild pitch to allow his first run of the season. Michael Cuddyer grounded out for the first out, but scored Tyner on the play and advanced Mauer to third. After a Justin Morneau walk, Mike Redmond drove in Mauer with a single to right field. Jason Kubel flied out, Luis Rodriguez walked and Jason Bartlett ended the inning with a fly out. The Twins batted through the lineup, but only scored 3 runs as they left 3 stranded on base.

Felix Hernandez left the game after a pitch to Morneau. He was feeling some tightness in his shoulder, and I wonder if he was feeling some pain throughout the inning which could've led to his lack of effectiveness.

In the bottom of the inning Silva allowed a walk, but a double play ended the inning quickly.

2^nd inning

The Twins added to their lead with 2 runs in the inning. Tyner was hit by a pitch, Mauer walked and then a double steal put both of them in scoring position. Mauer had a bit of a base running blunder after Cuddyer hit a week ball just over the pitcher's reach and to shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt. It was a play that Tyner couldn't score on, but Mauer immediately headed to third leaving Tyner out to dry. Tyner was tagged out, but Cuddyer was able to move to third, so no real damage was done.

Morneau came up with a clutch 2-out single to drive in Mauer and Cuddyer to extend the lead to 5-0.

The Mariners went down in order in the second with Silva striking out Richie Sexson and Ben Broussard

3^rd inning

Twins go down in order with 3 fly outs.

Kenji Johjima got the first hit of the night for the Mariners, but they couldn't turn it into a run.

4^th inning

Castillo singled, but Tyner followed up by hitting into a double play and Mauer ended the inning with a strikeout.

Silva got two more strikeouts in the inning and gave up a harmless single to Jose Vidro.

5^th inning

Cuddyer led off with a double, but Morneau, Redmond and Kubel all flied out.

Broussard lead off the bottom of the inning with a single, but no damage was done.

6^th inning

3 up, 3 down for the Twins.

The Mariners finally got to Silva in the bottom of the inning. Ichiro and Adrian Beltre singled to start off the inning and after a mound visit by Rick Anderson, Silva gave up a 3-run blast to Richie Sexson. It was the first homer allowed by Silva this year. The Twins' big lead was down to two.

7^th inning

3 up, 3 down for the Twins.

I was a little surprised to see Silva still in the game after the rough sixth inning. The trouble continued with singles from Johjima and Jose Lopez in the seventh. Dennys Reyes was brought in and gave up a hit to Ichiro to load the bases. Matt Guerrier then came in a did a great job working out of the jam by getting Beltre to strike out and then getting Vidro out on a sharp liner that Morneau snaired at first to save a couple runs.

8^th inning

3 up, 3 down for the third straight inning.

Juan Rincon entered the game and allowed a walk, but got out of the inning with no trouble.

9^th inning

3 up, 3 down as the Twins continue to be stifled by the Mariner bullpen.

Joe Nathan entered the game to get the save and he made things interesting by giving up a lead off single to Betancourt. He then got Lopez to ground into a fielder's choice for the first out. Ichiro helped out Nathan by swinging at a 3-0 pitch. The ball was popped up to Castillo for the second out.

Bartlett then made a diving stop on a Beltre grounder up the middle, but bobbled the ball when trying to make the flip to Castillo at second. With runners on first and second Jose Vidro singled to right field. Cuddyer bobbled the ball in right field which must've made the Mariner's think they had a chance to send Beltre in for the tying run. Cuddyer, once he realized that Beltre was heading home, threw to Castillo for the relay and Beltre was easily thrown out at home.

Game Notes

• Torii Hunter and Nick Punto remained out of action with their day-to-day injuries. Mauer was the DH while Redmond caught the game.
• Silva got his first win of the season in what was probably his worst start, yet he was OK. He allowed plenty of hits, but in usual Silva fashion, he was able to work out of most jams. The sixth inning home run was the only damage done against Silva.
• Dennys Reyes is not doing much to instill much confidence from me. He came in in a tight situation and allowed a hit before leaving the game.
• Matt Guerrier has been fantastic this season and he deserves a lot of credit for working out of quite a jam in the 7th inning.
• Joe Nathan has not looked dominate this year. For the second time, a base running blunder may have saved Nathan. Nonetheless, Nathan recorded his fourth save of the season.
• The Twins are now 9-5 on the season. They've matched last April's win total. They finished out April with a 9-15 record last year.

The Twins were lucky to get out of this game with a win. The fact that Felix was injured early in the game helped them to an early 5 run advantage and they didn't do much of anything at the plate after those first two innings. The Mariners handed this game to the Twins.

With Johan Santana on the mound tomorrow night, the Twins have a good chance of sweeping the Mariners.