Morneau Homers Twins to Victory

Four homeruns later the Twins come out on top to win their second straight. With Kevin Slowey on the mound for the Twins, you would have thought there would be a good chance of few runs by the Mariners. Slowey is known for his excellent command around the plate. Some actually compare him to former Twin, Brad Radke, as Radke was a command master during his tenure with the Twins. Well, Slowey got off to a shaky start, but shook it off to notch his first win of the season.

After giving up two homeruns by the fourth inning, Slowey calmed down and proceeded to retire the last seven batters he faced. Kevin ran into the most trouble in the fourth inning. Up 4-2 at that point, he surrendered a solo homerun to Jose Lopez. Yuniesky Betancourt followed that up with an RBI double to center and then later broke the 4-4 tie on a wild pitch by Slowey.

The bullpen then took over in the seventh for Slowey as Craig Breslow came in to pitch one scoreless inning to hold the Twins lead at 5-4. Jesse Crain then came in the 8th to try to get the game to Joe Nathan for the save opportunity in the 9th. Crain was able to get through the 8th and set up what would eventually be Joe Nathan’s 200th save as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

Justin Morneau seemed to be over the tightness in his back he reported at the end of Spring Training. He would give the Twins an early 2-0 lead in the 1st after hitting a 2-run homerun. Denard Span would add his own 2-run HR in the 2nd inning to break a 2-2 tie. However, Justin would later put the team on his shoulders and get an RBI double in the fifth to tie the game.

The winning run would come off the bat of Jason Kubel as he would also hit an RBI double in the fifth inning. Carlos Silva, the Mariners starter pitcher and former Twin, would be pulled after the 5th inning after giving up six earned runs in five innings of work. The Mariners bullpen would go toe-to-toe with the Twins bullpen and not allow a run the rest of the game.

The Twins will send south-paw, Glen Perkins to the mound this afternoon against Jarrod Washburn in the series finale.

On a side note, Joe Mauer took batting practice with the Ft. Myer club and then caught a bullpen session thrown by Scott Baker. Joe reported no soreness after batting practice and the bullpen session. This is great news as he is expected back by the end of April or early May.