The morning after the White Sox traded Jim Thome and Jose Contreras, I suggested those moves could actually make them more dangerous to the Twins. One of these days, I need to fix my crystal ball.

Watching Chicago the next two games, I wished I could take every word back. By Wednesday afternoon, the White Sox looked like a team that was playing out the string.

(Part of my theory was that Jermaine Dye and Alex Rios are going to start hitting again eventually. But they combined to go 1-for-15 on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving me to wonder if either will revert to form again this season.)

All this added to my shock when the White Sox mounted that four-run rally with two outs in the ninth off Joe Nathan and Matt Guerrier. Toughest loss of the year for the Twins? Oh, yes.

In fact, I can’t remember a tougher September loss for the Twins since I started covering them in 2005. (Will take your suggestions below.)

(*) I’m also eating some crow this morning about Brad Penny. That was quite a performance last night against a good team in a hitter’s ballpark.

(*) I’ll save the Matt Garza/Scott Baker comparisons for another time, but please don’t lump me with the knuckleheads who think those discussions boil down to won/loss records. (If I were asked for vote for the AL Cy Young Award right now, I’d pick Zack Greinke.) The point I tried to make yesterday — albeit too quickly — was about consistency. Making a note to revisit that sometime.

(*) Mark Gonzales, of the Chicago Tribune, toured Target Field this week and posted a cool slide show. I look at those photos and pinch myself, thinking about covering games there next year.

(*) Then again, I’m reminding myself to appreciate these final games in the Metrodome, too. Here’s a terrific ode to the Dome by Scott Miller, the former Twins beat writer from the Pioneer Press now with CBSsports.com.

(*) The Tigers play Cleveland today in a noon start. Nate Robertson vs. Fausto Carmona. When that game ends, the Twins will either be four or five games behind the Tigers, with 29 games remaining for both teams, including seven head-to-head.

Note: With La Velle handling our off-day coverage, I’m taking today off. (Considering a State Fair trip with the family.) Heading to Cleveland in the morning for the Twins series against the Indians, so check back here for the starting lineups, etc., and have a great Labor Day weekend.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 12:13 pm and is filed under Around MLB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.