Late Tuesday post after Twins avoid 100 losses

Rene Tosoni hit a grand slam on Tuesday night. He said it was his first grand slam in pro ball.

``I don't even know if I hit one in high school," he said.

Since Sunday, in Cleveland, when a fan yelled in a very quiet ballpark ``Tosoni you (stink)," Tosoni has two homers and six RBI.

The Twins beat KC, 7-4. My three takeaways from the game:

1. Ben Revere has competed like a madman all season regardless of his team's situation. He made a couple more fine running catches in leftfield, one while running into the low wall in foul territory. The guy is fearless.

He also ran through a stop sign and got thrown out trying for an inside the park home run, which is a bad play, but at least there is no lack of effort or intensity with this guy.

He also throws better when playing left field, because he's not in such a rush to get rid of the ball. He tends to bobble grounders hit to center because he's so worried about getting the ball back to the infield quickly. Then again, he would have caught the long drive to center that Denard Span missed.

2. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire praised starting pitcher Anthony Swarzak, who has been the anti-Slowey this year. He's taken the ball whenever it has been offered, and has pitched in various roles without complaint. Gardenhire wants him on the staff next year. He could start or relieve depending on the rest of the rotation's health.

3. Trevor Plouffe continues to hit, and make errors. He threw wildly to first again on Tuesday, and also missed a throw to second while trying to make a quick tag. He's playing like a guy who wants to be the DH next year, but the Twins will need DH for all of their injured/battered players who need a day off from their position.

Also, heard that the Twins told Chris Parmalee that he doesn't need to play winter ball this year because he's gotten so many at-bats in the majors, and that the Twins definitely want to see outfield prospect Joe Benson play winter ball so he can face more breaking pitches. Benson has been very vulnerable to breaking balls.

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Sorry I'm going to miss the farewell ceremony for John Gordon on Wednesday at Target Field.

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I will be covering the Lynx on the road in the WNBA Finals. They'll face Atlanta, and I'm not just tweaking the other sports teams in town when I say that the Lynx are the most entertaining sporting option we have these days. If you haven't checked them out, I recommend watching a game. They get up and down the floor, share the ball, and score almost at will.

I would expect them to beat Atlanta in four games. (It's a five-game series, two home, two away, fifth game at home.)

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Yes, I'll miss Ozzie Guillen. I also think his act grew old and it was time for him to move.

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Wrote about Bill Smith's biggest deals for the Wednesday paper.

In short, I believe he needs another evaluator on the front office. Compare the trades Terry Ryan made during the last seven or eight years in the office to the trades Smith made in his first four years, and you see a sharp dropoff in savvy.

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As awful as the Vikings have been, I wouldn't be shocked to see them win their next two games, at Kansas City and against Arizona at home.

Which would be a shame. The Vikings aren't going anywhere with McNabb. They might as well start evaluating Ponder. Or, if Ponder isn't ready, wouldn't you rather see Joe Webb? I've been told by people in the NFL that Webb doesn't project to be a starter in the league, but he's entertaining and fearless.

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