Mike Redmond Topic Page

Anthony Swarzak put together a decent start, allowing 3 runs through 6 innings, but the offense couldn't get much going against Josh Beckett on Thursday. Jason Varitek's 2 solo homers against Swarzak and a close play on a sacrifice fly in the seventh were enough for Boston to win this one.

Beckett struck out the first 4 batters he faced, before Joe Crede hit his 9th home run of the season. Crede had just returned from missing 3 games with a bruised hand. The Twins ended up with just 5 hits and struck out 10 times on the day.

It was the eighth inning before a Twins' baserunner reached second base, and that was the only time it happened in the game. The Twins managed just 5 hits, and fell to the Mariners by a score of 2-0, resulting in a series split.

It's a shame, because Glen Perkins gave the Twins their best start of the season, pitching 8 innings and allowing just 1 run on 5 hits. Luis Ayala allowed the 2nd Mariner run in the 9th inning.

Just how tough is Mike Redmond? Check out what he eats for breakfast:

This is part 1 of a series of pieces over the next couple weeks that will take a position-by-position look at the Twins over the past five seasons. You'll see how the team has changed, where they went right and where they went wrong in personnel decisions.

The Twins offense exploded for a combined 32 runs in the two games in Chicago on Friday. That one day accounts for nearly 7.5% of the Twins' runs scored so far through 86 games. Things were going so well that even Nick Punto had 3 hits on the day.

Friday night's game was one that almost surely would not have been won with Ramon Ortiz starting. The Twins offense was able to score just 1 run off Oakland lefty Joe Kennedy in 8 innings. Kevin Slowey held down the Oakland offense through six inning and left the game with a 1-1 tie. His only flaw was a sixth inning homerun to Eric Chavez.

It was an interesting game for the Twins. The Felix Hernandez hype was short-lived as he left the game early with soreness in his elbow. Hopefully it's not serious, but the whole event was eerily similar to Fransisco Liriano's departure of last season. The game also featured a crazy ending thanks to a little too aggressive base running from the Mariners.

The Twins roster is set for opening day, so it's time to give a player by player rundown of the team. 25 players is a lot, so I'll start with the hitters in this entry.

The Twins pulled off their second straight sweep and improved their record to 34-34 with a late inning offensive rally against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon. Johan Santana, as usual, was strong—allowing 1 run through 7 innings. It looked like he might again fall victim to a lack of run support, but the Twins rallied for 4 runs in the top of the 8th inning.

The Twins are riding high after completing the sweep against Oakland today at the Metrodome. Similar to their other 3 victories this season, the Twins fell behind early as Kyle Lohse struggled in the 1st inning. Lohse gave up 2 runs and threw 30 pitches before getting out of the inning, but he was solid after that.