The A's Come to Town

[catman]

Here are the pitching matchups for the weekend:
Friday, Brett Anderson faces Nick Blackburn.
Saturday, Dallas Braden v. Kevin Slowey.
Sunday, Bobby Cramer v. Francisco Liriano.
The Twins need to keep the pressure on the Rays and Yankees. They have a real chance to wrap up the Central this homestand.

[Pebbles]

Nick has been pitching great so I don't see why his performance shouldn't be up to par. Saturdays game should be a good pitching match-up , but Kevin and the Twins should win this one. And Sunday should cap off a sweep of the Twins.

[henks]

Hopefully their strong play continues and we can seal up the division here at home.

[catman]

Brett Anderson had the Twins' number tonight. The Twins lost 3-1, but the Sox lost, so the Twins maintain their 9 game lead and drop the magic number to 7.
Danny Valencia hit another homer for the Twins' run tonight. Many regulars had the night off -- Span, Kubel, and Mauer (although he did pinch hit for Butera and catch for a while). Not a bad day to give some guys a chance to clear their heads a bit.

[mntwinsfan]

Span has a sore shoulder. This is why he missed the game. Mauer came in to pitch hit with the bases loaded and he FAILED to get the job done. I figured there would be a let down today. We won a bigtime series in Chicago. We will be back to the winning ways tomorrow.

[Providence A's]

And Sunday should cap off a sweep of the Twins.

So much for that, eh? Anderson shut 'em down.

[Pebbles]

So much for that, eh? Anderson shut 'em down.

Still looking good for a chance at the best record in the A.L..

[Pebbles]

Big game for Danny Valencia. Slowely had 8 K's and the bullpen was lights out. 4-2 win.

[Providence A's]

Still looking good for a chance at the best record in the A.L..

That doesn't have anything to do with your prediction of sweeping the A's

[Pebbles]

That doesn't have anything to do with your prediction of sweeping the A's

Never said it did. I also never said I was perfect.

[Pebbles]

Looks like the Yankees are going to win tonight over the Orioles so they will have a 1 game lead on home field advantage on the Twins.

[catman]

Danny Valencia has come up and done a nice job for the Twins. He was not a "proven" player at the beginning of this season, but next year, he is going to be expected to be a major contributor. Homers 2 games in a row.
Game 1 was a great pitching performance for Brett Anderson. He is a great pitcher when he can stay healthy. Braden did a nice job, for the most part, today, but the Twins just got a good performance from a couple of hitters and Slowey, not to mention Repko, who made another great throw to get Crisp after Slowey made a bad pick-off throw.

[Pebbles]

Danny will be asked to have a bigger role in 2011. He definitely can handle 3B on a regular basis. He also seems to have the knack of playing well at Home. What I will be looking for in him in 2011 is if he can add more power to his game.

[Pebbles]

1-0 A's. Francisco doesn't look very sharp early.

[Pebbles]

Bases juiced for the A's with 2 outs.