Small ball is all well and good, but three-run homers are like chugging Red Bull, especially when you don’t drink the stuff too often.

I think the rush the Twins got from the Morneau and Kubel bombs will reinforce what’s possible in the final third of the season. To come from four runs down twice in a series against the team ahead of you — and the team that administered a bad beatdown in their previous series — was almost as good (75 percent as good) as dominating the White Sox from start to finish. And if Wednesday’s loss is the one that will finally spark changes in the pitching staff, then maybe it wasn’t a total loss.

I’ve written about my concerns over the rest of the schedule, especially the 13-game road trip to the West Coast and Toronto. But check out the White Sox schedule and you’ll see they still have seven games left with Boston and four at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers actually have the easiest August/September schedule, but they’re the Tigers and have shown a knack for staggering regardless of how hard they try to walk a straight line.

I assume we will finally see Francisco Liriano in the rotation, perhaps Monday night at Seattle in place of Livan, whose use of mirrors and sparklers to rack up victories has apparently run its course. Many of us tried to have Senor Smoke Free’s back, but digging five-run holes for your team in consecutive key starts isn’t the stuff of an able veteran.

I’ve made the argument — backed up by what people have told me — that Livan has been a good influence on some of the young pitchers. Now, however, it’s time for them to cut the cord and figure things out among themselves and with Rick Anderson as their Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Change speeds tonight, Young Blackburn!)

Friends, the AL Central is there for the taking. There’s hard work ahead. Starting pitchers will have to step up and pitch like Viola/Blyleven in ‘97 ‘87 and Morris/Erickson/Tapani in ‘91. The Twins can’t pine for Casilla if the news about his hand is bad and Cuddyer can’t sulk if he finds himself playing a fourth outfielder/platoon DH role when he returns to health. Lamb and Monroe need to understand they are end-of-the-benchers and we have to understand that, as much as we’re tempted to disrespect them, having them available beats heck out of having Luis Rodriguez and Jason Tyner in those spots. Punto has to resist all kinds of batcentric temptations.

And the front office needs to keep working on improvements. Trades can be made if players can get through waivers and I wouldn’t rule out the Twins being able to get their hands on Mark Grudzielanek and/or Rich Aurelia for the final weeks of the season. Same goes for another reliever.

I hesitate to crib a slogan from a presidential candidate, but the Twins and their fans can honestly look at the road ahead and tell one another: “Yes, we can!”

other people are here too

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 8:45 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.