Detroit Topic Page

Joe Crede hasn't had the most spectacular start with the Twins, and is recovering from a string of illness and injury that caused him to miss 6 of the first 10 games of May. Last night though, he got his biggest hit of his Twins career--a walk-off grand slam in the 13th inning. The home run was his second in as many games since sitting the previous 3 games.

A 2-run home run from Jason Kubel in the eighth inning made the extra innings possible after the bullpen failed to hold a sixth inning lead.

The Twins are 7-8 since the All-Star break and in their 7 wins they've outscored their opponent by an average of just 2 runs. In all wins they didn't allow the opponent to score more than five runs, so it's been pretty all pitching in those games.

The Twins offense attached Braves starter, Chuck James early, and Carlos Silva bounced back from a poor start last time out with his best performance in two years. Silva went the distance and allowed 8 hits in his first shutout since 2004. It was also his first complete game since 2005. The last time Silva got 6+ runs scored for him was in an 11-3 win in Detroit at the end of April.

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.

What's most surprising about the Twins being in the playoff hunt after their slumpy start? Is it how well the Twins have played or is it how poorly Chicago and Detroit have played?

Sunday's game was a tough one to watch. I can't remember a time in recent history when Johan appeared to be laboring so much for an entire outing. He gave up 9 hits and 4 walks in 5 1/3 innings, but amazingly still only gave up 3 runs. The month of July has not been a good one for Johan, by his standards anyway. He has a 3-1 record, but it's his 4.74 ERA that's unusual. I'm not worried though.

The Twins have roled off 7 straight victories and improved to .500 for the first time since April. Due to the success, some fans are surely starting to dream of a playoff run. I decided to give a look at just how realistic the thought of the Twins making the playoffs would be. Obviously what's going to make it tough is the two teams that are ahead of the Twins, Detroit and Chicago. Both continue to win game after game, so all the Twins have been able to do is try not to lose more ground.

Spring Training Game.