Bradke Balls

If anyone ever says anything disparaging about Brad Radke in front of me ever again, I will kick them in the fucking nuts.
The Twins seemed determined to play their way out of the wild card race this week, but Radke pulled them back in, pitching 7 shutout innings with a shoulder that is apparently in such pain he doesn't use his right arm for anything in his day to day life.
The Twins won, and right now his play-through-pain has his teammates in awe.
Radke is by no means a Hall of Famer, but he's always been, in my opinion, one of baseball's most underappreciated pitchers, especially considering his tendency for stepping up huge when his team has needed him.
It seems ridiculous to say it, what with Liriano and Santana grabbing all the headlines and Brad getting off to such a terrible start this year, but right now, Radke is No. 1, the ace.
He's laying it all out there, this is his last hurrah. His right arm is literally going to get the Twins to the playoffs or die trying.
Right now, there is no better reason to pull for the Twins than No. 22. This would be a heroic end to a great Twins career.
* Don't sweat Matt Garza's disappointing debut.
Even getting hammered you could see his has nasty stuff, and I liked to see him stay in the dugout with his teammates for the rest of the game even after getting pulled.
He was nervous, and the Blue Jays did a terrific job of patiently forcing him to come at them with fastballs, and he left them over the plate.
I'm completely confident that he'll be fine. Better than fine. He'll be a stud.
But whether that can happen this season I'm not so sure.
* Jason Bartlett made a terrific play at SS, reminding once again how asinine the decison to send him to Triple-A in favor of Juan Castro was.
I hate to live in the past and beat a dead horse, but Jesus. Where might this team be if Bartlett, Nick Punto and Francisco Liriano had been starters all year?