IndianaTwin

Yeah, same here. I only went to check it off my list (No. 25 of 30). It made Montreal look good. The crowd was small at Montreal, but at least those there were glad to be there.

Often at least 10. Or this year 16. But 5-7 or so usually carry most of the freight, and most of the rest get 1-3 starts. And we have ESan, Berrios, and Mejia to count toward that 5-7. And some combination of May, Gibson, Enns, Hughes, Jorge, Santiago, Slegers, Romero, Rosario, Gonsalves, Turley, Hurlbut, Stewart, Littell, and maybe others to work at the rest. The reason you need 10+ is that you're going to end up with some injuries and some clunkers, so at least three of those will probably get no more than 1-3 starts. But when the list of candidates to fill out the top 5-7 already has 14 names on it, it seems very feasible to come up with the 2-4 that will combine with ESan, Berrios and Mejia to get close to 90 percent of the start. Which 2-4 from that list will it be? I don't know -- that's why I'm in my office writing TD posts over lunch rather than in the Twins front office. We may or may not agree with the plan, but it seems clear that Falvine has one. I don't think Rosario gets you another ESan/Berrios/Mejia, though he might get another name to add to the 14. But 14 vs. 15, what's the difference, if it means giving up a 25-year-old starting OF who is improving and going to get better? My personal preference is what seems to align with some of the other comments: Generally leave the position players alone, with tinkering (Garver for Giminez seems most obvious). If Gordon or others force themselves into the mix, cool! That's a great problem to have.ESan/Berrios/Mejia in the rotation.Add the best starter we can get via free agency. Consider two if the prices are right. Draw from the list of 14 to fill out the rotation.Then work at the pen, and I don't think it's as far off as some of us think, when we again realize the development some guys have shown (Hildenberger, Rogers, Busenitz, etc.). Kintzler is the easy name to point to since he's a known quantity, but a free agent signing of that ilk (or maybe two) may well do it.

Fans must have thought it was a Borders.

I know I'm supposed to PM you with an offering, but that would mean navigating away from the scintillating Game Thread, which I can't do for even a moment. I'll take 9/9.

Nice line drive single by Buxton. (I'm just looking at the box score.)

Clarification -- first old guy QS AGAINST THE SOX...

Today's game by Colon was the first Quality Start by someone 42 or older since Nolan Ryan. Yep, in the Robin Ventura game.

Great stuff, as always. I assume that you're waiting until after tonight's action to post the standings stuff. But when you do, let's not forget to note that the White Sox' elimination magic number is 13. Twins wins + Sox losses equalling 13 eliminates the Sox from playoff and ensures that the Twins have a better record than them. We want the playoffs, obviously, but finishing ahead of Chicago constitutes a successful season as well.

Yeah, I could be convinced. (signed) IndianaTwin

Either of these close enough?

You can have your chicken. Sweep = donuts for the office. White Sox Sweep = Amish donuts! Which will it be?

The Twins are gonna win it! The Twins have won it! (A little less dramatic, but I'll take it.)

If so, that speaks even more to their superior intelligence and homework!

Yes. This. It's clear that Benetti does his homework, and Stone is also so much better when working with Benetti than when working with Hawk. A few highlights from tonight or last night, aside from Benetti's sometimes hilarious quirky sense of humor: 1. Sticks and Stones, where they usually make fun of Steve Stone's pitching career. On this one, where one of the wrong answers was Larry Hisle, Stone noted that he played in a high school all-star game with Hisle, Thurman Munson, and some other guy I'm not remembering. 2. Observing that Garver's second career triple came before his first career double or homer. Later he came back to reporting he is the first Twin to do so since Sam Perlozzo. They were also speculating on how many catchers might have done that. 3. "People who don't like sabermetrics think that sabermatricians think they know what is going to happen. They don't. They just know what is most LIKELY to happen." This, immediately before Mauer grounds directly at the SS who has shifted up the middle. 4. And my favorite from the night -- calling the Twins SS "George Herman Jorge Polanco."

I read that he's going to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Friday night. Too bad they can't find a way to have him through the ceremonial LAST pitch. If I had tickets, I'd certainly stay around to see it. Two specific memories that I'll remember -- first, the "pbbbbttt" of his exhale as he would take his final deep breath before going to the set position. It reminded me of a horse, which seemed fitting given the way he carried the team at times. Second, my sons were about 10 in the midst of his years wit the Twins. We went to a lot of games in away stadiums (Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, etc.). I'm not an unbiased observer, but from my perspective the Twins bullpen was far and away the best bunch among any teams for signing autographs, and it always felt like Nathan (and Rincon) set the tone for the group. I had to think that the response from others was, "If our leader can sign for kids, I can too." Always a gentleman to my sons, and he would even give a small toward the camera.

At the risk of going off-topic (okay -- pretty clearly I'm going off topic), there's a bio of Joe Lis at: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8dddbbbb. No mention of Erik, but a pretty fun read nonetheless. Sounds like Joe was a character: "Joe liked the American League because of the nice people he met, people like umpire Bill Kunkel. Lis recalled one incident in particular. When he entered one game as a defensive replacement, Kunkel said, 'It's good to see you, Joe; because when I see you, I know the game is almost over.'" Article also sounds like Joe makes Vargas look like a Gold Glover.

Fun article. Is Erik Lis related to the Joe Lis who played for the Twins in 1973-74? I see that Joe Lis died and is buried in Evansville, Ind. Erik Lis graduated from high school in Illinois, but played at the University of Evansville. And when I was looking up Joe, I came across what seems like an oddity. How many players debut came on a different day than the day of the game? That is, Joe's debut came on Sept. 5, in the completion of a game listed as Sept. 4, but that was suspended and completed on the 5th. That can't have happened TOO often.

Northern Indiana, but they are also delivered fresh to several Chicago locations. Visit risenroll.com for locations. The caramel cinnamon are the local legends in the donut world. Other folks are big on the cashew crunch candy. You won't go wrong on anything you have there, including many different flavors of homemade bread.

By the way, the last four sweeps have all occurred at the beginning of one of my business trips. If you'd like to contribute to the "Keep Sending IndianaTwin on Business Trips Fund," PM me and I'll send you bank routing and account number information.

Have my co-workers been paying you off? With the second game considered the makeup, our office rules consider this to be the completion of a sweep, since the Twins won the other two games back in May. That means donuts for the office next time I'm in. AND, since it's not a normal sweep, but a sweep of the White Sox, this calls for more than your basic Dunkin' Donuts. It's off to the local Amish bakery to celebrate.

Important question -- which game today was considered the makeup and which was the regularly scheduled one? There may be doughnuts riding on the answer.

Agreed. Berthiaume is great, and Brenley may be the best color guy in baseball. And what takes them over the top is that they work so well together. The only pairs I can think of that compare are Kasper-Deshaies and back when it was Kasper-Brenley.

Statcast record of 13.85 seconds home-to-home, per the radio guys.

And with that homer, his 33rd in 805 career at bats, Der Schlagger remains atop the list in fewest ABs per homer. He's competing with Aaron Altherr, who is at 25 in 642. He moved ahead with the blast last night.

Der Schlagger!