Nobody could’ve guessed that the Twins would sweep the Red Sox, but they pulled it off Thursday night as they continue to play their best baseball of the season. The sweep was a crushing blow to the Sox who came into the series neck-and-neck with the Yankees. This week has by far been the biggest week of the season for the Twins. They have not only won 4 straight and 6 of their last 7, but they’ve also ridded themselves of Tony Batista and Juan Castro. Juan Castro was traded Thursday to the Cincinatti Reds for a low-end prospect. Also, young players like Jason Kubel, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau have shined and Jason Bartlett is now getting his chance.

The pitching staff is also beginning to stabilize. Even Carlos Silva, who I gave no chance to win tonight, pulled out 6+ innings of shutout pitching before leaving with tightness in his hamstring. He had thrown only 70 pitches, so he could’ve easily gone 8 innings. Silva was still giving up a lot of flyballs, which is cause for concern. Silva got a little help from an outfield speaker as a no-doubter off the bat of David Ortiz hit it and fell to the playing field giving Ortiz just a single.

The Twins scored one run in each of five separate innings as Tim Wakefield seemed to have no effect on the batters, except Cuddyer who struck out all 3 times against him. Jason Kubel hit his 3rd homer of the series in the 2nd inning for his only hit of the night. Jason Bartlett scored 2 runs in the game, showing how important a decent #9 hitter can be. He set the stages for a productive top of the lineup featuring Luis Castillo and Joe Mauer.

Playing Well at Home

The Twins have been an impressive 21-10 at home this season. That’s the second best home record in the majors, only behind the White Sox who are 24-10. The Twins are headed out on a 6-game road trip and need to improve their pathetic 10-24 road record. They should get some help this weekend from a poor Pittsburgh team. Houston will be a test for the Twins next week. They’ll face Roger Clemens in his season debut on Thursday.

Game Notes

• The Twins new left side of the infield showed some glove in the game. Bartlett dove to his right for a sharply hit grounder and made a strong throw to first to retire Manny Ramirez. Nick Punto also made a diving stop on a sharply hit ball in the sixth.
• Mauer picked up a couple hits to go 2-4 in the game and raise his average to .378.
• Joe Nathan finally got his 8th save of the year. He had to pitch two innings and throw 43 pitches to get it though. He did allow a couple inherited runners to score in the 8th and allowed 1 earned run to score in the 9th.
• White got as close to hitting a homerun as he’s been all season. Cocoa Crisp made the catch on the warning track in dead center. White was 0-3 and is now hitting .183.
• Luis Castillo, who’s been in a slump the past couple weeks, was 2-3 with a walk.