27-year old switch hitting Toby Gardenhire isn’t getting any closer to playing for the Twins. He has played in 51 games for the Twins this year in AA+AAA-ball and he is 34 of 156 (.218 avg, .503 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 0 homers and 15 RBIs. Gardenhire has now played in 416 games in his six years in the minors and he is 292 of 1,259 (.232 avg, .558 OPS) with 122 runs scored, 1 homer, 91 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Gardenhire won’t get too Minnesota any time soon as they have a lot of players ahead of him on the organizational depth chart.

27-year old lefty swinging catcher Joe Mauer exploded last season to win the A.L. MVP Award. He played in 138 games for the Twins last season and he was 191 of 523 (.365 avg, 1.023 OPS) with 94 runs scored, 28 homers and 96 RBIs. In Mauer’s first four full seasons with the Twins he never hit more than 13 homers in a year. The Twins were hoping that Mauer’s power was just beginning but it hasn’t converted to Target Field. Mauer has played in 67 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 75 of 250 (.300 avg, .806 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 3 homers and 34 RBIs. If Mauer hits around .315 with 10-15 homers this season the Twins will probably be happy with him. Last year’s power appears to have been a mirage.

The Twins are currently talking to the Red Sox about Mike Lowell and they really need to make a trade for a legit starting 3B because they are wasting time and losing some games they shouldn’t because they keep giving at bats to Nick Punto and Brendan Harris who have both been awful this season. Punto is one of the “Pirahnas” but he’s hitting like a Goldfish this season. He has played in 47 games for the Twins this year and he is 29 of 131 (.221 avg, .585 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 13 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Brendan Harris has played in 40 games for the Twins this year and he is 17 of 106 (.160 avg, .454 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer and 4 RBIs. I know that one of the reasons these two guys continue to play is that they remind Ron Gardenhire of himself. Gardenhire played five years for the Mets in his playing career appearing in 285 games in which he was 165 of 710 (.232 avg, .573 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 4 homers, 49 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. But Gardenhire shouldn’t be players that remind himself of his playing days because he was not a good player.

The Twins either need Nick Punto to start hitting or he needs to take a seat and let Brendan Harris play more at 3B. Punto has played in 4 games this season and he is 4 for 22 (.182 avg, .481 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Punto just doesn’t have the bat to be a asset at 3B for a major league baseball team. Harris isn’t exactly a good choice to start at 3B either but he’s a much better hitter than Punto is.

The Minnesota Twins looked like they were going to even their ALDS 1-1 against the Yankees, as they took a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.  Although the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez has been struggling mightily in recent years, he was able to save the Yankees night as he hit a 2-run game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.  Mark Texiera topped that with a walk-off line drive homerun in the bottom of the 11th to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in their ALDS.

The Twins got majorly screwed on an 11th inning call by the left-field umpire, as Joe Mauer hit a slicing liner down the left field line that landed fair by about a foot and the ump called it foul.  The ball bounced up in the stands and Mauer should have been awarded a ground-rule double, but it was called foul.  Mauer was able to hit a single a few pitches later, and ended up being forced out at home.  Had Mauer been awarded second like he should have, he would have scored and the Twins would have had the lead and men in scoring position.

The ump wasn’t the only one who hurt the Twins, as they hurt themselves big-time in the 4th inning.  Carlos Gomez overran 2nd base and was tagged out right before Delmon Young was able to cross home-plate, costing the Twins a run.  The game was very close so it ended up being a big and costly mistake for the Twins.  The Twins should have won this game and it looks like this loss may have cost them this series.  The Twins are at home for game three, but the Yankees have all of the momentum and their big hitters are hot right now, so things are not looking good for the Twins.