Unofficial A.L. Central Thread

[AshevilleApp]

Tigers are 19 games into a 30 games in 31 day stretch as of tonight. Even with a young team, the all star break must be looking good now.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

Twins get 8 hits in a row to start the game (then Pavano K's) then add another - plating 8 runs in the first inning and chasing Madison Bumgarner after 1/3 of an inning...

Great game... Twins 8th win in a row. Indians, Tigers and Royals all lose - White Sox beat the Cubs.

Twins now 6 1/2 back.
They started the month 16 1/2 back...

[ODUalum11]

They were 17-37 on June 1st and had the worst record in baseball. Today they are 32-39.

[AshevilleApp]

Twins get 8 hits in a row to start the game (then Pavano K's) then add another - plating 8 runs in the first inning and chasing Madison Bumgarner after 1/3 of an inning...

Great game... Twins 8th win in a row. Indians, Tigers and Royals all lose - White Sox beat the Cubs.

Twins now 6 1/2 back.
They started the month 16 1/2 back...

And you were writing them off for the season.

[Gil Dobie]

Twins get 8 hits in a row to start the game (then Pavano K's) then add another - plating 8 runs in the first inning and chasing Madison Bumgarner after 1/3 of an inning...

Great game... Twins 8th win in a row. Indians, Tigers and Royals all lose - White Sox beat the Cubs.

Twins now 6 1/2 back.
They started the month 16 1/2 back...

And you were writing them off for the season.

A lot of fans and media were writing them off. They are all jumping back on the bandwagon again.

[ODUalum11]

Twins get 8 hits in a row to start the game (then Pavano K's) then add another - plating 8 runs in the first inning and chasing Madison Bumgarner after 1/3 of an inning...

Great game... Twins 8th win in a row. Indians, Tigers and Royals all lose - White Sox beat the Cubs.

Twins now 6 1/2 back.
They started the month 16 1/2 back...

And you were writing them off for the season.

Who wasn't writing them off?

[DJH]

Truly incredible. They were just a few more losses away from having a fire sale at the deadline, and now they might be buyers come that time.

[ODUalum11]

Truly incredible. They were just a few more losses away from having a fire sale at the deadline, and now they might be buyers come that time.

especially considering I dont see any team running away with that division. The Indians who are currently in 1st place have the 6th best record in baseball and are only 6 games above .500.

[clenz]

Truly incredible. They were just a few more losses away from having a fire sale at the deadline, and now they might be buyers come that time.

Per some blog I was reading a couple mlb have said that three weeks ago the twins were blowing up other teams phones trying to make deals but now are all but silent on the trade front other than looking to pick up aquality if or bullpen guy

[ODUalum11]

Twins lose to the Giants 5-1, Tigers defeat the Dodgers 7-5, Cleveland defeats Colorado 4-3, White Sox defeat the Cubs 4-3, and Arizona defeats KC 3-2.

[AshevilleApp]

And you were writing them off for the season.

Who wasn't writing them off?

Me. After 2006 and 2009 I learned not to.

[Gil Dobie]

Who wasn't writing them off?

Me. After 2006 and 2009 I learned not to.

No Kidding, Gardy is a great coach, despite what I hear many Twins fans say.

[ODUalum11]

Tonight's preview of the DBacks-KC game....

The way Arizona's Daniel Hudson has pitched of late, it's no wonder he has not lost in more than a month.

Hudson tries for a career-high ninth victory Thursday night while looking to help the NL West-leading Diamondbacks complete a sweep of the host Kansas City Royals, who hope to avoid a fifth straight defeat.

Since losing at San Francisco on May 12, Hudson (8-5, 3.56 ERA) is 5-0 with a 2.70 ERA in seven starts. He's allowed just three earned runs and struck out 19 in 22 innings to go 2-0 over his last three.

Hudson's most recent outing could have been his best. He gave up a homer and two other hits for his first complete game in Friday's 4-1 win over the White Sox -- the team that traded him to Arizona on July 30.

"He was throwing 3-2 changeups to guys. That is confidence. That is maturity," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

The right-hander is 8-1 with a 2.82 ERA in 11 starts since posting a 5.92 ERA while losing his first four outings. He's gone at least six innings in each of those 11 games.

"I like to think I'm a pretty good innings-eater and I can go out there and throw a lot of pitches," Hudson told the Diamondbacks' official website.

Hudson, however, was unable to do that when he surrendered five runs in four innings of a 15-5 win over Kansas City while with Chicago on July 11. He hopes for a better effort while trying to help the Diamondbacks (41-34) sweep their first interleague road series since taking three straight at Baltimore from June 15-17, 2007.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/preview?gameId=310623107" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AZGrizFan]

Twins get 8 hits in a row to start the game (then Pavano K's) then add another - plating 8 runs in the first inning and chasing Madison Bumgarner after 1/3 of an inning...

Great game... Twins 8th win in a row. Indians, Tigers and Royals all lose - White Sox beat the Cubs.

Twins now 6 1/2 back.
They started the month 16 1/2 back...

Joe Mauer 3-20 with 1 extra base hit, and now suffering back spasms, since his return from the DL.

If you all hurry, you can trade for Lyle Overbay before the deadline.

[Gil Dobie]

Twins get 8 hits in a row to start the game (then Pavano K's) then add another - plating 8 runs in the first inning and chasing Madison Bumgarner after 1/3 of an inning...

Great game... Twins 8th win in a row. Indians, Tigers and Royals all lose - White Sox beat the Cubs.

Twins now 6 1/2 back.
They started the month 16 1/2 back...

Joe Mauer 3-20 with 1 extra base hit, and now suffering back spasms, since his return from the DL.

If you all hurry, you can trade for Lyle Overbay before the deadline.

Vikings are looking for a QB

[ODUalum11]

uh oh. Don't look now but the Twins have lost 2 straight.

[Gil Dobie]

uh oh. Don't look now but the Twins have lost 2 straight.

To the defending World Champions

[TwinTownBisonFan]

uh oh. Don't look now but the Twins have lost 2 straight.

Linceum was lights out - shit happens. Carlos Carrasco did the same thing to them a few weeks ago... even a hot team runs in to a hot starter now and again...

Milwaukee this weekend - we'll see if they can keep rolling or if this was a portent...

[TwinTownBisonFan]

Twins get 8 hits in a row to start the game (then Pavano K's) then add another - plating 8 runs in the first inning and chasing Madison Bumgarner after 1/3 of an inning...

Great game... Twins 8th win in a row. Indians, Tigers and Royals all lose - White Sox beat the Cubs.

Twins now 6 1/2 back.
They started the month 16 1/2 back...

And you were writing them off for the season.

I wrote them off - but said they could make a run. my point was that they had dug themselves a hole too deep to climb out of (time will tell, but the Indians inevitable collapsing has not been met with a good run from Detroit like I thought it would)

As for the bandwagon - I was on it in 1998 when they lost 97 games... I'll never leave it... but I will write off a season as lost when they are 17-37 on June 1st...

[TwinTownBisonFan]

Me. After 2006 and 2009 I learned not to.

No Kidding, Gardy is a great coach, despite what I hear many Twins fans say.

He just had to stop trying to manage the 2010 Twins and start managing the 2002 Twins (the hitless wonders that they were)

Seems to be working.

[ODUalum11]

And you were writing them off for the season.

I wrote them off - but said they could make a run. my point was that they had dug themselves a hole too deep to climb out of (time will tell, but the Indians inevitable collapsing has not been met with a good run from Detroit like I thought it would)

As for the bandwagon - I was on it in 1998 when they lost 97 games... I'll never leave it... but I will write off a season as lost when they are 17-37 on June 1st...

I expected them to make a run as well but like you thought it was too big of a hole and I did not expect them to make a run this quick, especially before the All-Star break.

Also, there is no shame in losing to The Freak.

In other AL Central news, KC loses to the DBacks and ODU's Dan Hudson gets his NL high 9th win of the season.

[DJH]

Morneau out until at least August with pinched nerve in his neck, having surgery.

[ODUalum11]

Morneau out until at least August with pinched nerve in his neck, having surgery.

That sucks.

MILWAUKEE -- Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau thought his sore left wrist would be taken care of with a short trip to the disabled list. His worrisome neck pain needed more immediate attention.

The Twins announced before Friday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers that Morneau will have neck surgery Wednesday to remove a herniated disk fragment, keeping him out another six weeks.

Morneau was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier this month with a strained left wrist that was put in a cast to try to stabilize it. That also gave him time to rest his neck, but Morneau still has dealt with weakness in the arm and numbness in his left hand.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6701711" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They now lost their 3rd straight game against the Brewers 4-3 tonight.

[ODUalum11]

Tonight's preview of the Diamondbacks-Tigers game...

Though the season hasn't quite reached the halfway point, Justin Verlander is already building a strong case to win his first AL Cy Young Award.

The surging Arizona Diamondbacks want to be one of the few teams able to pin a loss on the Detroit Tigers ace.

Verlander will try to win his sixth straight start as the Tigers continue their weekend series Saturday night with the Diamondbacks, who seek their eighth consecutive road win.

Verlander (9-3, 2.54 ERA) also is in search of his third complete game in a row -- and he might have a hard time topping the last two.

The right-hander came within five outs of his second no-hitter this year, limiting Cleveland to two hits and fanning a season-best 12 on June 14. He then won his seventh straight decision by holding the Rockies to four hits in a 9-1 victory at Colorado on Sunday.

Verlander, who matched last season's total with his fourth complete game, wasn't entirely pleased with his effort.

"This start wasn't that great," he said. "Early in the game especially, my fastball control wasn't anywhere near where it should be."

Regardless, Verlander was named co-AL player of the week Monday with Tampa Bay's James Shields.

Verlander looks to help the Tigers (40-36) rebound from a tough loss Friday, when Arizona erased an early four-run deficit for a 7-6 victory.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/preview?gameId=310625106" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gil Dobie]

It's always nice when the Tigers win and the Twinkies lose. Need to get as far ahead as possible, as the Twinkies will surge again.