Thursday afternoon’s game wasn’t televised, and I only caught the last couple innings on the radio, so there’s not much for me to comment on as far as the game goes. Johan Santana was good, but struggled with pitch count as he only went 5 innings. On a positive note, the Twins were able to score in 4 separate innings and totalled 7 runs on 10 hits. Mariner starter, Joel Piniero, shut down the Twins the last time he faced them, so it was positive to see them get some runs off him this time.

Joe Mauer continues to hit. He reached base each of his first 4 plate appearances in the game (3 hits and a walk) before flying out in his final at bat. He was 3-4 to raise his league-leading batting average to .379. Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki has been trying hard to catch Mauer this entire series. He was 3-5 in the game and now sits second in the league in hitting with a .362 average.

Last Night Jesse Crain was brought in in extra innings and blew the game. Jesse Crain has been ineffective all season, so I don’t understand the decision to use him when a more than well-rested Joe Nathan is available. Today Joe Nathan was brought in with a 5-run lead and a non-save situation. They’re choosing not to use Nathan in tight situations and are then forced to use himᾹjust to get work inᾹin blowout situations.

Game Notes

• Redmond caught the game while Mauer DH’d. Redmond was 2-5 as he continues to be one of the Twins better hitters thus far.
• It was obvious in Wednesday night’s game that Luis Castillo knees are hurting him. He was slow down the first base line on his grounder to third last night and the hobbling was evident. Nick Punto got the start and batted leadoff.

Update: Matt Guerrier will miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured thumb after taking a Sexson-hit ball off the hand. This is bad news as he’s been a positive force in the Twins bullpen this season. It’ll be interesting to see who gets called up. Pat Neshek has been great in Rochester (AAA), but are the Twins ready to give him his chance? The MLB.com Story lists Kyle Lohse and J.D. Durbin as options. I don’t see Lohse being recalled, especially for a bullpen gig if the Twins are trying to trade him as a starter.