The Return of Bradke

It goes without saying that things haven't gone particularly well for the Twins in the last week or so.
Some sluggish performances, and of course, the Rincon thing.
A naysaying buddy of mine, who is a Twins fan but must have some sort of masochistic association with the team, predicted that we will look back at this week as the beginning of the end of the 2005 season.
Could be, but I argued that the Twins typically rally around such extrenuating circumstances. That, for whatever reason, the Twins can't seem to get going until someone or something threatens them, whether it be contraction, the Cleveland Indians, a Shannon Stewart trade, or whatever, there always needs to be some sort of drama to get the Twins on track. I hope that remains the case this year.
Their three game series with Cleveland, which they finished today, had been going badly, losing a pair of winnable games in ugly fashion. The best way to salvage such a series is to not just win the final game, but to whup some ass and set the tone for the next series.
Consider that done.
Bradke pitched a complete game three hit shutout today, and the Twins pounded the Indians 9-0.
Maybe the best news, other than Radke taking a 1-hitter into the 8th inning, was that just when it was looking like Mauer and Morneau (whose combined ages equal Mulholland's) were the only 2 hitters we had who lacked a tendency to swallow their heads with their asses, the Twins put up 9 runs with both of them on the bench. Nice games from LeCroy, Hunter, and Bartlett, even Luis Rivas was on base three times.
Overall, a 3-3 homestand is dissapointing, but I still think they're all right. After a slow start, Bradke has been terrific in his last two starts, his ERA is down to 3.6 already.
If he returns to his form from a year ago, and Silva's knee holds out, I don't think Chicago will have the pitching to hang with the Twins over the long haul.