Don't Call It a Comeback

Well I'm getting back into the loop.
Early Sunday evening a certain virus that may have come from bratwursts, beer, sunflower seeds, or somewhere else worked its way into my bloodstream, and the better portion of the next three days were spent sitting on the toilet holding a bucket.
So TwinsTown had to take a backseat to 7-Up, Gatorade and Saltine Crackers.
But last night I worked up the strenght to sit through a game, and saw Joe Mays throw another beauty.
Actually, it wasn't a beauty. Come to think of it, he kind of stunk. In 6 2/3 innings, he walked 3 and struck out 0. The leadoff man reached in 5 of the 7 innings he started.
And yet he gave up only 2 runs.
Mays' sinker is really working right now. When he's on grass, he can be unbeatable. Not unhittable, because he won't strike anyone out, but he gets double-plays like Johan gets K's, making it very hard for teams to rally against him. Even last night, with all the baserunners he allowed, the only 2 runs for Cleveland came on a pair of solo homers.
And this outing came a day after Kyle Lohse deliverd his third straight quality start.
Folks, if Silva-Mays-Lohse are the three worst starters you got, you're in good shape. Though I'm still not sold on Lohse.
And still waiting for the Sox to come down to Earth.
I'm getting more and more comfortable with the new keystone combo of Lil' Nicky and Lil' Fidel, and I'm also starting to think Jesse Crain might be the best reliever on the team.
Come to think of it, there's still a lot to like about this team.
Cuddy is finding his groove at 3rd, and Gardy's lineup changes (moving Mauer to the 2 hole and Ford to the 3) at least show that he's still thinking. Mauer seemed a good fit in the 3, but, as far as lineups go, I've always hated the conventional wisdom that managers use - i.e.- fast little guys hitting in the 1,2,8 and 9 spots, and sluggers hitting 3-7.
The way I see it, your top 3 spots in the order get the most atbats, you might as well make sure those spots are filled by your 3 best hitters.
If you do the math, each spot in the order will get about 30 more at bats per season than the spot below it. So moving Ford from 6 or 7 to 3, could give him another 100 or so atbats that would go to Nick Punto. That's a good thing.
It's funny, too, because going into the season the TWins were saying how concerned they were that Ford might have been a fluke last year, and that he may not be able to hold off LeCroy for his spot in the lineup.
And Torii Hunter was gonna be the 3 hitter.
Speaking of Spiderman - I could go on about him, too, though he had a real nice game last night, his second in a row.
I'll never say a bad word about him as a Centerfielder - he's better than Kirby ever was out there.
But as a hitter, the guy is closer to Rob Deer than he is to Kirby Puckett. A .230 avg? 5 HR?
Torii has the strenght and hand speed, not to mention foot speed, to be a .300 hitter. He actually doesn't even strike out a whole lot.
But until he shows a willingness to go the other way CONSISTENTLY, not just when the pitch is at eye level, he'll never realize his potential.