Timing my trip home to Pittsburgh with the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup meant that I actually watched very little baseball over the weekend, besides the game that I attended on Sunday. I’m glad this series is falling during the week, because I’m pretty excited to watch the Twins. Beyond the fact that we just took two of three from the AL Central leaders and the Twins are the team that’s going to end up atop the AL Central when the season ends, I think Twins provide a model pretty close to what Huntington is building towards with the Pirates. They don’t necessarily hit a ton of home runs (they’re hitting more this year than last year, but they’re still not exactly a power-oriented team), but they mix good hitting, good defense, and pitching and they’ve created a cycle where their minor league system is able to constantly replenish their big league talent. Also, Joe Mauer is hitting .414 in the middle of June.
Anyways, Paul Maholm and Glen Perkins take the mound tonight, as the Pirates hope this series isn’t nearly as disastrous as their series against the Twins three years ago, in which they were swept during a terrible 13-game losing streak that nearly broke everyone’s spirits. Maholm’s starting in place of Charlie Morton because of Morton’s gimpy hamstring, but Morton should be good to go on Saturday.
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