Talking Baseball

The once red-hot Minnesota Twins have hit a bump in the road.

The name of that bump; the Boston Red Sox.

The Twins were emphatically swept out of Fenway Park yesterday 18-5, after leading 3-0.

The Red Sox picked up 18 runs on 23 hits in their final game of the series with the Twins and picked up another game on the first place Tampa Bay Rays, who fell to the Yankees, 2-1 in 10 innings.

The Red Sox outscored the Twins 25-10 in the three game series; winning 1-0, 6-5 and 18-5.

The Red Sox are now 5-4 in the month of July and are only 2 games out of first place behind the Rays. They are 4.5 games ahead of the third place Yankees.

The Twins are now 3.5 games behind the first place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, with the White Sox win against Kansas City yesterday, and are 4.5 games ahead of the third place Detroit Tigers. With the sweep at the hands of Boston, the Twins now find themselves 3.5 games out of first place for the American League Wild Card spot.

Manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected from yesterday’s game, arguing an overturned call by the umpires, which they got correct when they overturned it. Gardenhire has turned this Twins team, which wasn’t expected to be competitive following the trade of Johan Santana, into contenders in the American League Central and for the Wild Card.

Their offense has taken off this season, led by Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. But the strong point of their team has been the pitching staff. Following the trade of Johan Santana, the team was not supposed to be in contention in 2008 but has been at the top of the AL Central for the majority of the season.

The Twins hit the diamond again tonight, starting a set in Detroit against the Tigers.

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