Thursday night from The Cell

According to research done by the Twins, their post All-Star Game record of 41-16 entering Thursday represented their best winning percentage after the break in franchise history.

Their post ASG win percentage this year is .716. Here's the list:

Rank...Year...Record...Pct...Manager

1........ 2010....41-16....719...Gardenhire

2. .......2003....46-23....667....Gardenhire

3. .......2006....49-27.....645...Gardenhire

4.........1966....49-28.....636...Mele

6. ........2002....44-28....611...Gardenhire

-Things I'm hearing: The Twins are at least contemplating a three-man postseason rotation, featuring Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano and Brian Duensing...A.J. PIerzynski is done with the White Sox after this season, and will only be the second-best catcher on the market, behind Victor Martinez...Nick Blackburn is definitely ahead of Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker for the fourth spot in the postseason rotation, should the Twins use four starters in the first round...That Manny Ramirez has been a terrible presence in the White Sox clubhouse, taking away from the positive influences of players like Mark Buehrle and Paul Konerko.

-Things I'm wondering: Will Orlando Hudson ever get a hit again?...If Derek Jeter weren't a Yankee, would his fake hit-by-pitch been such a big deal?...How can the Twins not bring back Jim Thome, Carl Pavano and Jesse Crain?...Just how have the Twins won this much without Joe Nathan and Justin Morneau?...How has Ron Gardenhire not won a manager of the year award yet?

-This weekend, I"ll be covering the Gophers-USC game on Saturday, which I expect to be surprisingly competitive. And on Sunday I'll be at Vikes-Dolphins, which I see as a 6-to-10 point Vikings victory.