I'm about to head to the airport after covering Yanks-Twins yesterday. But first, a few observations as I look out of my hotel room window off Avenue of the Americas..
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire's feelings were pretty clear yesterday when asked about the possibility of losing 100 games. It's embarrassing for any organization to lose that much. For the Twins, it would be a shocker after winning the division last year.
But I don't think Gardy has the bullets to win four out of the next 10 games.
His roster has been depleted by his best players being shut down. The bigger issue is the pitching staff. How many starters do you think can go out and pitch six strong innings right now? Scott Diamond and Liam Hendriks spent most of the season in the minors. Anthony Swarzak is a replacement starter. Kevin Slowey can't finish off hitters, That leaves Carl Pavano.
I think the Twins are losing 100.
I thought it was pretty classy for Gardy, Joe Nathan and other Twins to tip their caps to Mariano Rivera after he set the all-time saves record yesterday. Rivera has been pure class his entire career, a career based mostly on one amazing pitch - a cut fastball.
I was talking with Michael Cuddyer about the pitch after yesterday's game. Rivera doesn't throw as hard as he used to but the movement he gets on that pitch has been impressive. He also manipulates it well.
``You don't know what depth it will have from pitch to pitch, Cuddy said.