Apr 23, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins designated hitter Oswaldo Arcia (31) hits a three run home run in the fourth inning against the Miami Marlins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

After being postponed Monday night, the Twins and Marlins split their day-night doubleheader on Tuesday, with the Twins taking the afternoon game and the Marlins taking the night cap.

REVIEW

Oswaldo Arcia blasted a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 4th, the first of his career, to ensure the Twins a win in the first game of of the series with Miami. Brian Dozier had a nice day at the plate with 3 hits, including a lead off triple in the 1st. Kevin Correia was solid again, pitching at least 7 innings for the third consecutive outing. Glen Perkins notched his 6th save of the season.

The Marlins jumped to an early lead with 3 runs off Mike Pelfrey in the top of the 1st and never really looked back, winning the ballgame 8-5. Pelfrey didn’t pitch well, yielding 5 runs on 9 hits in 4.2 innings pitched. The Twins had plenty of opportunities as they left a total of 19 men on base. Eduardo Escobar and Joe Mauer each had nice nights, with Mauer going 2-4 and Escobar finishing 3-3.

THOUGHTS

• Dozier has been decent in the lead-off spot. Hitters can do better in certain spots of the order, where they feel most comfortable. It’s a mental thing. Dozier enjoys batting lead off and being that guy. It also helps a guy like Joe Mauer is hitting behind him.
• Aaron Hicks is taking better at-bats. After his 4th hit of the year (all singles), his avg. sits at .073. But he’s looking a lot better at the plate. It’s time to go from passive to passive-aggressive and get some hits.
• Kevin Correia has just been outstanding for the Twins so far. He likely won’t continue to pitch deep into games every start, but it sure is fun to be excited to watch games he’s pitching right now.
• Arcia has some power. That home run was a no-doubter. It is still unclear to whether he sticks with the club once Mastroanni comes off the DL.
• Mike Pelfrey. C’mon man.
• Eduardo Escobar avg. sits at .480 in 26 PA. He’s hitting the ball hard. I hope Ron Gardenhire can find a way to keep Escobar in the lineup while he’s this hot.

UP NEXT:

The Twins (9-8) have a day off Wednesday, then begin a four game series against a very good Rangers (13-6) team on Thursday. It will be a nice test for the Twins, who’ve been playing above expectations so far.

While he’s at it, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig should take this opportunity to realign all six divisions and allow National League teams to use the DH (allowing for traditionalists, at a competitive disadvantage, to continue allowing pitchers to hit).  The discrepancy between the AL and the NL would essentially disappear and bouncing a few teams from league to league would not be such a big deal.

Geographically, the MLB is heavily weighted by teams on the East Coast and in the MidWest.  There is another nice cluster of teams out on the West Coast, but Between Kansas City and California there is pretty much a baseball wasteland.* I know there are a lot of reasons why there are no teams out there, but it seems like a missed opportunity to add two more teams and have two 16 team Super Conferences, but I digress.

  *If a metro area of at least 1.5 million people is what’s needed to support a MLB franchise (That’s what they have in the Milwaukee area, the smallest metro area that is home to a team), then you should add a team in Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada; maybe even stretch to get a team in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Salt Lake City, Utah; if you were really trying to expand to “western markets.”  

In the unlikely event that Bud Selig and the owners adopt such a strategy, here are the 6 new divisions they should adopt.  (more…)