Detroit
The first of 162 games is more symbolic than meaningful, but there were a couple of things that stood out in the Twins' 4-0 loss at Detroit on Monday:
-Danny Santana has tremendous range at shortstop. He easily caught what could have been a difficult popup in short right, and he made another difficult play - ranging far right on a ground ball and throwing out a runner at third - look routine.
-Jordan Schafer better play Target Field's angles better than he played Comerica Park's. He leaped into the wall on a home run he had no chance to catch, and he slammed into the wall on a fly that he maybe should have caught.
-David Price was very good, but I thought the key moments in the game were not results of his dominance. Yoenis Cespedes' robbery of what should have been a Kurt Suzuki home run and Ian Kinsler's robbery of what might have been a double or triple for Santana allowed Price to work stress-free, and...
-Home plate umpire Joe West has to ask for help on the check-swing call on which he rung up Torii Hunter. Kennys Vargas against Joe Nathan with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth could have been very interesting.
-Hunter was still steamed long after the game. He wanted to win this one badly.
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