Down Again

Suprised?
I'm not.
Barry Zito is pretty good. So is Johan, but he was rusty early, and it cost them.
Through the first couple innings, there wasn't a major difference in velocity between the fastball and the changeup, and the fastball was barely reaching 90. That may have been how Frank Thomas was able to muscle a changeup over the fence even after being fooled, and how light-hitting Marco Scutaro was able to get Johan for a huge two out RBI double.
But Johan got hot, and the game briefly became very tense and exciting.
Rondell White hit a homer, and the Twins put together a couple of threats. Bartlett leads off the 8th with a double, but Luis Castillo failed to bunt him over, which was huge, as the Twins ended up failing to score.
Justin Morneau was crushing the ball all day and had no hits to show for it.
Zito was good, but he was also lucky.
I'm guessing you're probably as baffled as me as to why Gardy chose to bring in Jesse Crain in the ninth, over, say, Rincon, Reyes, Neshek, Nathan, Guerrier or Perkins (in other words, anybody).
Gardy's answer was that Crain has been the best of that group lately, and he wanted to go with the hot hand.
But I would argue that just because Jesse Crain had a lower ERA than Neshek or Rincon in September doesn't make him a better option.
Rincon, and to a lesser extent, Neshek, have been the money guys all year, wheras Crain has been solid, but by no means money.
But the loss really isn't Crain's fault.
From a caught-stealing, a failed bunt, to just bad situational hitting and even a couple errors, the Twins just didn't play very well.
The good news is they've been counted out a million times already this season, so being down again isn't the end of the world.
They just have to win 3 out of 4 now, two of them in Oakland.