The highlight of postgame was before we got downstairs.

Twins first base coach Jerry White was being wheeled into the Twins clubhouse and the team was letting him have it, making ambulance noises and everything.

That’s a sign that everything was going to be all right. Sure enough, we learned that White only had a contusion - but the way he was laid out on the field reminded me of Prince at the end of, `Under The Cherry Moon.’

“At first, I thought it was broken,” White said.

Mike Redmond walked by while White spoke to reporters while on crutches.

“I never thought they get J-Dub,” Redmond said.

LIRIANO GOOD

Enough with hearing the Twins talk about Francisco Liriano. Detroit skipper Jim Leyland provided this assessment of Liriano’s outing.

“You know he’s got a great slider, but he also mixed in some changeups and his fastball was moving,” Leyland said.

Later….
   

   “He’s got three pretty good weapons. He’s very firm for a left-hander at 91, 92, and his nasty slider that’s been his bread-and-butter pitch over the years. It looks like he’s throwing not quite as hard as he used to, but he’s very good.”

So it looks like Liriano took a step forward tonight.

OTHER STUFF

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire credited Cuddyer for getting locked in and pointed out that Joe Crede is starting to drive the ball to the opposite field, like he did with the RBI double. I don’t think he goes with that pitch a couple weeks ago.

Gardy said he had a lengthy chat with Alexi Casilla after he popped up a bunt and didn’t run hard out of the batter’s box in the first inning. Tigers starter Edwin Jackson let the ball drop and threw to first, where Miguel Cabrera tagged Casilla out and had time to throw Denard Span out at second. If Casilla hustles there’s a chance someone ends up safe.

Gardenhire said Casilla responded after the talk and played well….

Michael Cuddyer is batting .500 during a six-game hitting streak.

Denard Span has a hit in seven of his last eight games and is batting .364 over that period. He had the second, four-hit game of his career on Monday.

Joe Crede is batting .310 during an eight-game hitting streak.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 9:26 pm and is filed under Random thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.