Some notes to leave you with:

  • Francisco Liriano does not have the reputation as the most reliable starter on the Twins squad. Therefore, a game in which he goes 7 -- without his best stuff -- and allows just one: that's a big victory. Tomorrow, the Twins throw out another occasional heart attack: Nick Blackburn. Blackburn has not gone more than five innings in three starts, while giving up 19 runs -- good for an ERA of 12.15 over that span. Can he pull out of it Friday?
  • Jose Mijares executed a succesful 8th inning, but still walked two, his biggest problem all year. This is the most telling stat on that: over his career, Mijares walks per nine innings is 2.8. This year, he's averaging a whopping 8.3.
  • In 22 games with the Twins last year, Trevor Plouffe had a slugging percentage of .318. In his first 18 with the big leagues this year, it was .383. Then the utility man went down to Rochester and knocked 15 home runs in 51 games, and added his fourth for the 2011 Twins tonight. What changed with the sudden power? In his words: "I'm 25 now, so grown-man strength, I think you'd call it," he said, grinning. "I think it's just maturity and learning my swing."
  • Danny Valencia hit his team-leading 18th double in the fifth inning, which drove in Cuddyer for the Twins' first run.
  • Kansas City may have its woes, but its outfielders are kind of ridiculous. The Royals entered tonight leading the Majors with 32 assists -- that's 13 more than second place Baltimore. They showed it tonight on a couple of good plays: a put-out at home from centerfielder Melky Cabrera and nearly another on Young's first double, by leftfielder Alex Gordon.
  • The Royals have lost 12 of their last 14 against the AL Central ... a trend the Twins hope to continue tomorrow.

AMELIA RAYNO