The Twins clubhouse on Friday was pretty lively. The daily card game was going on, Torii Hunter was holding court, at one point getting Corey Koskie on his speakerphone to verify some story. Someone is always picking on Eduardo Escobar. Today it was first base coach Butch Davis, then Brian Dozier.
Eddie Guardado and Rudy Hernandez were mingling with the players too, Twins manager Paul Molitor walked around as if he was checking the pulse of his 23-17 team, then went back in his office.
Six games over .500, and they are feeling pretty good for themselves.
``We have our work cut out for us this weekend," Molitor would later say.
Chicago has flaws, but good pitching covers up flaws. And the Twins catch Jeff Samardzija, Chris Sale and Carlos Quintana this weekend. But the Twins are feeling good about themselves and figure anything can happen.
Phil Hughes is on the mound for the Twins tonight, looking for his fourth straight win. Hughes is a strike thrower and loves his cut fastball, but Molitor thinks he's coming around on using his curveball more.
``He's learning that the curveball is an important part of his mix," Molitor said. ``He likes to save it for the second or third time (through the batting order), but I think he's learning it can be effective from the start."
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