The Twins swept the Sox tonight, despite a so so effort from Brian Duensing. He went 5.2 innings and gave up 3 runs, including a 2 run HR. Bobby Keppel also gave up a 2 run HR, but the rest of the bullpen did its job to close out the win. Nathan made it interesting, but still managed to get his 44th save of the year.
On Twitter tonight, there were some people wondering why Keppel was pitching in the 8th. I’ll tell you why: It was a 4 run lead in the 8th inning. His leverage index was .76. Using your best reliever, say Matt Guerrier, with a 4 run lead in the 8th, is monumentally stupid. Matt Guerrier is 2nd in the AL in appearances largely because Gardy thinks he needs to be used in the 8th inning, regardless of the lead. Now that he’s finally figured out proper bullpen usage, fans are bitching about it. Hopefully this doesn’t lead him to go back to the old way, otherwise I will have to beat up some Twins fans.
Now the Twins head to KC, where they will face Leo Nunez, Lenny DiNardo and….Zach Greinke. Barring some miracle, the Twins look like they’re going to take at most 2 games from this series. Seeing as Cleveland won’t beat Detroit tomorrow, the Twins could find themselves in the position of needing a sweep.
Playoff odds will be up here as soon as they are updated.