Sunday at Target Field

It's the early going here at Target Field, Twins up 2-0 in the second.

Thanks to Nick Blackburn, Tim Kurkjian, Mike Russo and Tom Linneman for their appearances on Sunday Sports Talk on 1500ESPN.

Thanks, too, for the readers/listeners who have suggested names for the band I'll play in on May 20 at O'Gara's. Some leaders in the clubhouse: Radio Nowhere, The House Band, Remember to Tip Your Waitress, Two Non Blondes (a reference to me and guitarist and 1500ESPN newsman John Heidt), Triangle Offense, Grand Slam Jam...

-Last summer, I made fun of the Royals when the Twins were in KC, calling them the ``Lansing Lugnuts." Gardy told me that the entire Royals organization wanted to lynch me.

Well, the Royals showed me, by winning three of their next 100 games. How can a team with a Cy Young winner and a dominant closer be this bad?

-Delmon Young crushed a pitch to deep center in the first with two on. The ball hung in the air forever. I thought it was a home run, and it died on the warning track.

If you want to hit homers in this park, you'd better pull the ball down the lines.

-I admit it: I miss seeing Nick Punto in the lineup. I just think that when Punto plays, the infield defense is exceptional. He's supposed to be back Tuesday.

-One moment of the NBA playoffs caught my attention: Kevin Garnett smashing his elbow into the face of Quentin Richardson on Saturday, then walking away as if he had done nothing.

This reinforces my long-held view of Garnett, based on conversations with dozens of people who dealt with him as a Timberwolve, and my observations of him as a trash-talking, gutter-mouthed competitor:

He is a great player. He is a great defender. He always plays hard. He is a Hall of Famer. He is a jerk.

-I'm pulling for Alex Ovechkin and both of his teeth in the NHL playoffs.