Paul Konerko Topic Page

Doug Mientkiewicz is the last Twin not named Torii Hunter to win a gold glove. That came in 2001. Hunter has taken home 6 straight gold gloves running form 2001 to last season and may very well win the prize again in 2007, if for no other reason than reputation.

A quick note that I've got an article over at Ballhype discussing many of the free agent signings of last off season, so please check it out and hype it up, if you deem it worthy. It is the first of what I expect to become regular baseball columns at Ballhype. It gives me a good opportunity to expand my focus beyond the Twins once every week or so.

The Twins completed their first sweep since April 17-19 on Wednesday afternoon at the dome as they defeated the White Sox in walk-off fashion. After the White Sox got to Scott Baker early is looked like a probable loss, but the Twins were able to claw back and tie the game by the sixth inning and the bullpen completely shut down the Sox bats.

Justin Morneau gave the Twins an early lead on Tuesday night with a solo home run in the second inning. The Twins saw that lead vanish in the third and then a Boof Bonser throwing error allowed 3 runs to score in the sixth inning which gave the White Sox a 4-1 lead. The offense for the Twins continued to fail. They weren't getting timely hits and when they had runners on base they were hitting into double plays. Another loss seemed imminent until the eighth.

The Twins and White Sox had their first meeting in early April shortened to two games because the White Sox bullpen was tired of cold weather. The two teams ended up splitting the low scoring series. Both teams have lost five of their last seven, but the White Sox have just ended a five game losing streak with 2 wins over the LA Angels. They sit next to each other in the standings, each a growing distance (now about 4 games) from the hot Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers.

The series has been cut short due to cold weather and wind on Friday, but it appears that the next two games will go on as scheduled. Sidney Ponson will be shuffled to Monday leaving Carlos Silva to get the start on Saturday afternoon and Johan Santana to pitch on Sunday. The White Sox will stick with their original rotation plan by having Javier Vasquez pushed back to Saturday and left handed rookie John Danks face off against Santana on Sunday.

The last two nights have been perfect indications that the playoff race is heating up. Two of the most exciting games of the season came back to back, and best of all, the Twins won both. The Twins jumped out to an early lead against Jose Contreras, scoring five runs in the first three innings and knocking Contreras out of the game after 2 2/3 innings. Santana wasn't as dominate as he usually is, but he managed to get through 7 innings allowing just three runs (two earned) and it looked like everything was going well—the Twins were cruising to victory and the bullpen was going to get some rest. Then things got interesting.

The Twins got off to a slow start on Monday night in Chicago. Despite having baserunners in scoring position in the 3rd and 4th innings, Javier Vasquez managed to hold the Twins scoreless through five innings. In the meantime Brad Radke had given up a homerun in each of the 4th and 5th innings. However, they were both solo homers, so the damage was minimal. The Twins matched the White Sox in power on Monday night; the difference was the Twins had more baserunners on when the balls left the park.