We interrupt the daily agony of following the Twins with a link to the best baseball story I’ve read all season. (Hat tip to MinnPost’s BrauBlog.)

(** Note, the former clubhouse leader for best baseball story all season was Lee Jenkins’ piece on Mark Buehrle’s perfect game in Sports Illustrated. That was a fun behind-the-scenes look at history, describing how the people closest to Buehrle experienced that day. The above story, by Todd C. Frankel in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is a tale that transcends sports. You’ll see Albert “The Machine” Pujols in a very different light. )

OK, now that I’ve softened you up, here’s a more constructive way to follow the AL Central “race” from K-Bro’s Baseball Blog. Kristen Brown’s plan is to donate two food shelf items for every Twins victory and one item for every Tigers loss the rest of the season.

For reverse psychologists, you could also pledge two items for every Twins loss and one for every Tigers victory. That way, even as the Twins get closer to elimination, you’ll be helping a good cause.

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.

(*) Can’t count how many times I’ve wondered what Twins players thought of the crushing high fives Michael Cuddyer gives after big moments on the field. So my knees were buckling in Gardy’s postgame session Tuesday, when he said, “I love Michael hitting the home runs. I hate the high fives. If you watch him, he breaks your hand in the dugout, and you can’t get away from him because you have to high five him.”

With another homer, Cuddyer will have 25, setting a new career-high. When it happens, it might be a good time for teammates to give him the silent treatment. For their own safety.

(*) Gotta love Jose Morales citing the old Branch Rickey quote, “A full mind is an empty bat.” Morales thought it was a Yogism, but either way, the point is clear. Don’t overthink things in those big situations (ahem, GoGo), just go up there and do your thing.

Morales’ thing is to hit. And it’s time for the Twins to recognize what a weapon he gives them off the bench. It’s worth adding another outfielder, and perhaps another infielder to the active roster, just so the Twins don’t have to hesitate using Morales.

If Jason Pridie had been there Tuesday, Gardy could have used Morales to pinch hit for Gomez. And if Brian Buscher hadn’t arrived from Class AAA Rochester on a late-afternoon flight, Gardy wouldn’t have been able to use Morales to pinch-hit for Casilla.

How would that have looked if Gomez and Casilla had gone down in flames in the ninth?

(*) The whole Brad Penny release waiver saga gave me one thought about this two-time All-Star and two-game winner from the 2003 World Series: He’s soft. He wanted no part of this AL Central race. He wanted back in the NL. After shunning the Twins, Penny makes his first start for San Francisco tonight in Philadelphia. Looking back, the Twins are thrilled Jeff Manship could make Tuesday’s start.

Pitching coach Rick Anderson noted that Manship threw 16 change-ups among his 80 pitches. His ability to change speeds and trust his off-speed pitches made it easier to overcome his first-start jitters. Twins had to be relieved, knowing they could need Manship for five more starts.

(*) Anxious to see how Matt Garza does tonight opposite Josh Beckett. The Rays sit six back in the AL wild card race and these next two games against the Red Sox are crucial. Garza is 7-9 with a 3.95 ERA. He was terrific last year in the ALCS, no doubt, and has pitched better than his record again, but remains riddled with inconsistency.

He has yet to go on one of those extended runs like the ones Scott Baker has given the Twins the past two seasons. Baker got off to a terrible start this season, but he is 10-1 with a 3.52 ERA in his past 17 starts.

(*) The Twins and White Sox wrap things up today with at 12:10 p.m. La Velle is at the controls, so head to his blog later this morning for the lineups, etc. For more updates, follow us on Twitter: @LaVelleNeal, @JoeCStarTribune, @SouhanStrib and @AM1500_Reusse.

Ding dong, the witch is dead.

I had those words written on my screen shortly before our midnight deadline last night, describing what it meant for the Twins that the White Sox had just traded Jim Thome to the Dodgers and Jose Contreras to the Rockies.

Yes, those moves seemed to signal a white flag. I wrote that but deleted the part about the witch because I don’t think the White Sox are dead. In fact, I think they are going to be even more dangerous for the Twins these next two days.

This has been the road trip from hell for Chicago. The Sox are 1-7 after getting beat up at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium. But sometimes when gloom and doom envelopes a clubhouse, trades like this can give everyone a healthy new perspective.

Look no further than Cleveland’s 15-12 August to realize how teams can somehow play better after losing stars. Cleveland’s July fire sale included Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez.

When the White Sox traded for Jake Peavy at the July 31 deadline and took on Alex Rios in early August, their roster became more talent-laden, but their performance lagged. Why? Perhaps because too many people became unsure how they were going to fit in.

Without Thome, the White Sox now have the DH spot to give more at-bats to an extra outfielder. As long as they’re healthy, Rios, Carlos Quentin, Scott Podsednik and Jermaine Dye shouldn’t wonder if they’re going to play every day.

The Sox will miss Thome’s production — .249/.372/.493, 23 HR, 74 RBI — but their lineup should be a little more dynamic each game. Consider how much better the Tigers played after shedding Gary Sheffield.

Thome and Contreras are two of the classiest players you’ll meet, but the White Sox knew they’d be turning the page after the season, so why not get started now?

Before long, Peavy will be ready to join the rotation, and Contreras will be a distant memory. It was scary when Peavy had that MRI on his right elbow Monday, after cutting short Saturday’s outing for Charlotte, but it sounds like he had some swelling in there from the comebacker in his previous start, no structural damage.

The White Sox might be 2-15 in their past 17 games at the Metrodome, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them win the next two games. Tonight, Jeff Manship will be making his first major league start, opposite John Danks, who was 4-1 with a 3.60 ERA in September.

And Wednesday, Brian Duensing will be making his fourth major league start, opposite Mark Buehrle, who is 0-4 with a 5.77 ERA since his July 23 perfect game. That slump is not going to last forever. Buehrle is 23-15 for his career against the Twins.

Rios is batting .179/.190/.304 in 15 games since coming over from Toronto. Jermaine Dye batted .189/.284/.267 in August. Again, those two will produce eventually. This shakeup might be exactly what this team needed to get back on track.

Last night, the Twins were riding high, perhaps feeling like they’d knocked a team out of the race. Chicago sits six games behind the Tigers, while the Twins have climbed within 3 1/2. But things could look a lot different by Wednesday afternoon if Chicago wins these next two games.

Note: Check back here this afternoon for tonight’s starting lineups.

The Tigers are the only AL Central team above .500 right now and they had lost 10 consecutive road series before winning the first two at the Big A this week. That about sums up the division, eh?

John Lowe explains here how defense spurred Detroit to its 5-3 win over the Angels on Tuesday, helping give a shaky Jarrod Washburn his first win since the trade from Seattle.

Meanwhile, Joe Cowley describes this as a road trip that could define Chicago’s season (@ Bos, @ NYY, @ Min, makeup game @ Cubs), and there are plenty of angst-ridden quotes from Ozzie Guillen after his club slipped back to .500.

A key moment in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to the Red Sox came in the eighth inning. Tie score, runners at first and third with no outs, and Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski and Alex Rios can’t bring home another run. Cue Ozzie:

That killed us. If you watched us all year long, we’re really bad with men on third base and less than two outs, maybe the worst team in baseball right now. If someone is worse than us, that’s a record.

That and Scott Linebrink’s latest meltdown prompted Guillen to suggest it’s not a good time for certain body parts to start tightening.  

The White Sox had hoped Jake Peavy could start Saturday at Yankee Stadium, but he took a comebacker off his pitching elbow Monday at Class AAA Charlotte. If Peavy is held back, he could still face the Twins next week at the Metrodome. As Cowley notes:

Mark Buehrle hasn’t won since his perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 23, Jose Contreras is now a reliever, and Freddy Garcia still is working through the kinks as he tries to return from shoulder problems.

Note: Check back here later for tonight’s starting lineups as the Twins’ try to extend their winning streak to six games.