Twins fans haven't had much opportunity to witness how valuable the home run can be at times; on Friday night Justin Morneau gave us a showing of the difference a longball can make. Morneau hit a 3-run homer in the 4th inning to put the Twins in the lead 3-1 and those were the only 3 runs scored in the first 7 innings of the game. Walks and a Tiffee error cost the Twins the lead in the 4th inning, putting the Orioles up 5-3.

Radke had been pitching well, giving up just 1 run and 4 hits through the first 5 innings. In the 6th with runners on 2nd and 3rd and no outs Radke walked two batters to give the Orioles one run. Terry Tiffee couldn't handle a ground ball which allowed the tieing run to score and kept the inning alive for a Bradon Fahey single which scored 2 more runs. The Twins came back with 2 runs in the 8th and the game remained tied until the 12th inning.

Joe Nathan was used in the 11th and 12th and although he faced a couple situations with runners in scoring position, he was able to get through the innings with no runs scored. In the bottom of the 12th Torii Hunter and Michael Cuddyer led off with outs, but Nick Punto kept the inning alive with a single. Justin Morneau stepped up and hit a no-doubt homerun—his second of the game and 13th on the year—to win the game.

Game Notes

• Mauer had another 3-hit day and also a walk. He's up to .384.
• Morneau's only 2 hits were homeruns, but he also walked twice. He had 5 of the Twins' 7 RBIs.
• Nick Punto was 2-2 in extra innings after pinch running for Jason Kubel, who was 2-4 with a run and an RBI.
• The bullpen pitched 6 1/3 scoreless inning.

Other News

Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune writes on a possible feud between Gardenhire and Terry Ryan. He also hypothesizes that Jason Bartlett could be called up by the end of the homestand.