The Twins 9-2 victory over the White Sox on Tuesday night clinched a fourth straight series win for the Twins as they've quickly become the hottest team in the AL Central. They've won 6 of their last 7 and moved into a third place tie with the White Sox and trail the Cleveland Indians by 5.5 games.

After being the only hitless starter on Monday, Justin Morneau returned to providing most of the offense for the Twins on Tuesday night. Morneau put the Twins in the lead with a 2-run homer to right in the third inning following a Michael Cuddyer double. Morneau missed a second homer by just a few feet as it bounced off the baggy for a double in the fourth inning. His third hit, a sharply hit double down the first base line, drove in Nick Punto and Michael Cuddyer in the 3-run fifth inning.

Boof Bonser won his fourth straight start (and fourth of the season). Jason Bartlett's seventh inning error prevented him from completing the seventh inning, but he still put together a good 6 1/3 inning outing while allowing 1 ER and 7 hits. Boof added 3 more walks to his season total now at 29. In just 61 IP he's already surpassed last seasons walk total of 24 in 100.1 IP. His increase of walks combined with his relatively hight strikeout totals have prevented him from going deep into some games; it's something he'll need to improve on, especially with the recent thinning of the bullpen.

Slowey will start

Ron Gardenhire just announced officially on the post-game interview that Kevin Slowey will get the start on Friday in Oakland.

No retaliation against A.J.

It looks like things were blown up a little much after yesterday's incident with A.J.. There was no retaliation against A.J., despite loud boos from the crowd whenever he came to the plate.

Twins catcher, Mike Redmond, was actually hit by a pitch (unintentionally) in the eighth inning. He struck him right in the funny bone and caused him to leave the game. He would've had Wednesday's afternoon game off anyway, but now the 2 days will be even more appreciated by him.

Game Notes

*Jason Kubel went deep for the second time of the year and missed another homer in the eighth by inches. * Cuddyer is on fire. He had a 3 hits game with a walk and is now batting .298 on the year. * Morneau now has 16 homers and 43 RBI. That puts him on pace for about 50 homers and nearly 140 RBI on the season. Last year's MVP campaign was no fluke. Now he's making a run for his first All-Star game. * Ramon Ortiz saw his first action in the bullpen. He pitched a quick ninth inning that required just 7 pitches. * Luis Castillo is alway on base. He had a 3 hit night to push his batting average to .335, good for ninth in the AL.

Mauer still a question mark

There's still no definite date set or Mauer's return. Last week rumors slated him to return last weekend and over the weekend it was rumored he'd return for the White Sox series. Now Friday in Oakland is the hopeful date, but it still seems pretty iffy.

With the way the middle of the lineup (Morneau, Cuddyer and Torii Hunter) is going right now, I'd kind of like to see Mauer tried in the #2 spot when he returns. Earlier in the year and last year I scoffed at the idea, but I'm quickly tiring of Nick Punto in that role. Cuddyer may not be the optimal #3 hitter, but still the idea of Castillo, Mauer, Cuddyer, Morneau and Hunter at the top half of the order sounds pretty good.