Curtis Granderson Topic Page

Scott Baker has replaced Carlos Silva as the pitcher that gets no run support. Baker pitched a gem his last time out, allowing just 1 run through 7 innings, but won in a close 2-1 game. On Sunday night Baker allowed his first run in the eighth inning on a Marcus Thames solo homer and went onto a 1-0 loss.

Johan Santana lost his third game of the season in the dome after coming into the season with almost 2 years without a loss at home. Johan certainly pitched well enough to get a win on most days, but once again the offense failed to support a Minnesota starting pitcher. Santana left the game with a 2-1 deficit. He struggled early and allowed a run in each of the first and second innings, but settled down to pitch well in his next four innings. He threw 50 pitches in the first 2 innings and just 49 in the final four.

Johan Santana wasn't at his best on Sunday against Detroit and him and Mike Maroth dueled in a game that was close all day long. Pitch count ultimately got the best of Santana and he was forced to leave after throwing 114 pitches through six innings. Home runs got the best of Santana; the two he allowed accounted for all three of the runs he allowed.

Most Twins fans can remember the series in Detroit on the last weekend of April last year. The Twins lost 9-0, 18-1 and 6-0. It was, without doubt, the lowest point of last season.

A dramatic Twins season ended in dramatic fashion. The final day of the regular season couldn't have been scripted much better than it played out on Sunday. The Twins headed into Sunday's game needing to win and needing the Royals to complete the sweep of the Tigers. How it all played out was truly unbelievable. On top of all that Mauer headed into the final game with just a slight lead over Derek Jeter for the AL batting title.

The Twins trailed Thursday night's series opener against Detroit right from the start. Scott Baker gave up a homerun to the first batter he faced, Curtis Granderson. The Tiger lead only grew as the game went on the the Twins eventually lost by a score of 7-2. The Tigers only outhit the Twins by 2 and if you add the Twins +2 walk differential, then the two teams had an equal number reach base. Two key things made the difference in the game: The Tigers hit 4 homeruns and turned 3 double plays while the Twins hit just 1 solo homerun and turned no double plays.

The Twins set out to prove that they are capable of beating the Detroit Tigers, and they did just that -- barely. The Twins scored 2 runs right away in the first inning off starter, Jeremy Bonderman. Luis Castillo started off the rally by beating out the throw on a chopper up the middle. Joe Mauer then reached on a walk and Torii Hunter came through with a double down the 3rd baseline. The hit scored Mauer and Castillo and Hunter made it to 3rd on a Craig Monroe Error. It was quite dissapointing that the Twins couldn't score with Hunter on 3rd and no outs. Michael Cuddyer lined out to 3rd, Justin Morneau walked and Batista grounded out to end the inning.