Simply the best

At times this year, Johan Santana was overshadowed by Francisco Liriano, but the Twins simply wouldn't be within sniffing distance of the playoffs without Santana, who's not only the best pitcher in baseball, but who might already be the best pitcher in Twins history at age 27.
The Cy Young has been pretty much locked up, but now talk of Johan winning AL MVP is gaining steam as well.
I've generally been against any guy who only plays in about 23% of his team's games winning the MVP award, but with Johan, its hard to argue. He's been at his best when it has mattered most - unbeatable at home. If Ron Gardenhire didn't insist on limiting him to 100 pitches a start (which actually doesn't bother me too much) Johan would probably be looking at 330 Ks this year, he might have 6 or 7 complete game shutouts, and he'd probably have a couple extra wins.
As it is, he's gonna win 20 at least, and finish with around 260 Ks.
The Twins took 3 out of 4 to pull within two games of Detroit, and as great as that is, I'd have rather gained three games on Chicago than the Tigers.
Still, with Liriano set to rejoin the rotation Wednesday, the Twins have a great shot of getting one of the two spots that the three teams are battling for.
*Matt Guerrier will replace Scott Baker the next time through the rotation. It's worth a shot, as Guerrier has been solid out of the pen. But while Guerrier has posted an excellent 3.04 ERA, he's also allowed an opponents batting average of .297. He'll give up some hits. Five decent innings would be a success.
In an interesting side note, Guerrier has now pitched in 85 career games without a win, the longest active streak in the majors.
The Twins other noteworthy such streak, Jason Tyner's homerless streak, nearly ended Sunday when Tyner tripled off the baggy. He was about 10 feet short, but had he pulled it a little further down the line he would've got it. Tyner has now gone 1,008 at-bats without a dinger. He's hit 2 homers in AAA, both over the fence. He's approaching Al Newman territory. Newman went almost 2,000 ABs without a homer from the middle of his rookie season to the end of his career.
*Torii Hunter manufactured a run all by himself Sunday, and for anyone who missed it, it's worth re-telling.
He singled up the middle to lead off the 2nd inning. Then he stole second. Then Jason Kubel struck out swinging at a pitch in the dirt, forcing Detroit catcher Vance Wilson to either tag Kubel or throw to first. With Hunter dancing about 15 feet off second, Wilson stared at Hunter for a second, and, thinking that was enough to keep him there, tossed the ball to first to retire the hobbled Kubel. He didn't exactly lob the ball to first but he certainly didnt fire it, and Hunter broke for third. First baseman Chris Shelton's throw back across the diamond wasn't near in time, and Hunter was on 3rd with one out. Jason Tyner then hit a short fly ball to left, that Tigers LF Craig Monroe had to come way in on. 'No way that's deep enough' I thought as Monroe settled under it, but Hunter took off the minute Monroe caught it. His throw was way up the line, and Torii scored standing up. The ball was probably hit about 160 feet to left-field, and Monroe was coming in on the ball.
The small-ball talk gets nauseating at times, but there is no question that that's how the Twins were able to win 3 out of 4 from Detroit this weekend.
Dick Bremer made an excellent point during Sunday's broadcast when he said that Detroit has a deadly lineup because of the homerun power they have, but that when the homers don't come, they can't score runs. He's totally right. That has even been the case somewhat for Chicago this year. They've relied more on the long ball this year than they did in their World Series season.
Teams that rely on the homerun usually don't make noise in the playoffs. The pitching is much better in the postseason, which means you have to find alternate ways to score runs.
Just another reason the Twins will be dangerous if they can qualify for the playoffs.
*Monday night prediction - Vikings 17, Redskins 13