*For all the talk of the offense at the bottom of the order, Brian Buscher showed me yesterday afternoon that the chatter about him working to become a more adept defensive player has merit. After he’d driven in the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth, he bailed out Scott Baker by throwing home on a grounder — with runners on second and third, and one out — in time for Mike Redmond to make the tag. It was an awkward play in which Buscher had to move one way and throw in another to get the ball home, and a play I’m convinced he wouldn’t have made during his ‘07 stint with the Twins. He keeps reminding me of how Corey Koskie got defensive religion at third base back in the day. Click here to watch the play, as well as Justin Morneau’s 5,000-foot home run to center.

*Our umpiring buddy Brian Runge capped out a rough month yesterday by getting suspended for bumping Mets manager Jerry Manuel while ejecting him from a game on Tuesday. The Twins have had a couple of run-ins with Runge already this season, including the one in Milwaukee a couple of weeks back when he booted Gardy. But those weren’t the only dust-ups. Go here for some photos of Brian Runge practicing conflict resolution.

*Yes, the Twins are catching a break this year because the White Sox have their six rivalry games with the hot Cubs while the Twins are facing the Brewers six times. Still, it’s a good weekend for all of us to root for the Cubs, even if the trendiness of it all makes you gag a little bit. If you want to work on your Cubs fan skills, you can practice singing along to the Steve Goodman song they play after the Cubs win. (If you were watching the Cubs-Sox game last Sunday night, that’s what people were singing in the background during the post-game interview with Ryan Dempster.) Go, Cubs, Go! Go, Cubs, Go! Hey Chicago what do you say, Cubs are gonna win today! The Twins need an anthem like that. (Cubs and Sox are on WGN at 3.)

*Sweeping struggling teams is all well and good, but I’m up for the Detroit/Cleveland/Boston/Detroit sequence that’s coming up after the Brewers leave town and gets the Twins to the All-Star break. Taking a step up in competition — face it, the Nationals and Padres are pretty dreadful — should keep anyone from getting the idea that winning is easy. Isn’t that what seemed to happen after the Twins played the Red Sox and Yankees last month and then went on to stumble against lesser teams. The Milwaukee games this weekend will be a good challenge, especially the Ben Sheets vs. Slowey match-up on Sunday.

*I’ve made fun of the Rays at times over the last two seasons, including my “Carl Crawford baseball school” rant a couple of months back. But, seriously, I like what they’re doing to the AL East. If they can play havoc with the rest of baseball and keep brain cramping against the Twins, I won’t have anything to complain about. Nice job by Matt Garza yesterday.

*Back to Morneau’s mammoth homer. That may have Dick Bremer’s best home run call ever: “That one is drilled… tattooed… crushed. Home run to center.” You could feel him trying to stay calm. For all the grief announcers take, this one is worth noting. Hear it here.

*Finally, our Bottom Feeder update for the last eight games: 31 for 79 (.392) with 22 RBI. Chomp on, men.

*Enjoy the weekend.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 8:46 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.