Full Box	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Devil Rays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	12	0
Twins	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	8	0

Thursday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was a low scoring affair that didn’t feature many highlights until the ninth inning. Carlos Silva looked like his old self again. He gave up a lot of hits, but they were scattered and he left a lot of runners on base. He nearly gave up a homerun in the third inning, but it was caught by Jason Kubel right against the wall. Other than that he got a good mix of ground balls and managed to go 6 2/3 innings without allowing a run.

The Twins took the lead in the fourth inning when Michael Cuddyer hit his first home run of the season, a 2-run shot that also scored Joe Mauer. It looked as if the Twins were going to hold that lead through the game, but Juan Rincon struggled in the eighth. He gave up a solo homerun to the first batter he faced, Ty Wiggington. He then gave up a single, a walk and another single by Carlos Pena that tied the game at 2. Pat Neshek came on in the eighth to get two huge strikeouts and strand runners on the corners.

Things got a bit bizarre in the ninth inning. Joe Nathan came on with the game tied at two. He gave up a lead off single to Ben Zobrist and the next batter, Carl Crawford, doubled to deep right field. Zobrist was held up at third on the play, but Crawford, oblivious to that fact, kept on running to third until he met Zobrist at the bag. Zobrist ended up trapped between third and home. While Mauer was tagging out Zobrist, Crawford was beginning to head back to second. He was easily thrown out for a rare 9-4-2-6 double play. Crawford’s brain cramp was a huge break for the Twins who otherwise would’ve struggled to get out of that inning with no damage done.

The game didn’t continue much past that as Justin Morneau led off the bottom of the ninth with an opposite field home run. He’s clearly getting used to the late inning heroics as he knew enough to throw off his helmet before being subjected to the celebratory beating by his teammates at the plate. It was a really fun ending to what was otherwise a pretty boring game.

Game Notes

• Jason Bartlett was benched for a second straight game. I was surprised by that, but I still fully expect Bartlett to be back in the lineup tomorrow night. Alexi Casilla was 0-2 at the plate.
• Joe Mauer had his 4th 2-hit game of the season. He has a hit in all but one game this season.
• Nick Punto’s struggles at the plate continued with an 0-4 night.
• Jason Kubel is proving that consistent playing time might actually make you hit better at the plate. He was 2 for 3 and is batting .333 on the year. He’s been looking slightly more comfortable in left field too. I still look forward to Rondell White’s return since Josh Rabe at DH isn’t a good thing.