I don’t think the Breslow impersonator that Milwaukee sent to the mound was trying to hit Joe Mauer in the seventh. Load the bases for Justin Morneau in a one-run game? Not likely. I’m a little less sure about Dave Bush hitting Joe Crede, though, given the bases were empty with one out at the time and the less threatening types who followed Crede in the batting order. Still Bush leads the major leagues with nine hit batters this year — and pitching inside is something Bush needs to do because he isn’t exactly going to overpower anyone. You can make a good argument that he threw a pitch that got more up and more in that he intended, an argument I’ll be willing to buy if Crede is 100 percent soon. (The entire Twins pitching staff has hit only 11 batters this season.)

Whatever the case, I don’t feel bad right now if some of the Milwaukee batters will be wondering about Twins pitchers coming inside when the teams meet again next month.

Also, I don’t know how the argument played out when Mauer was awarded base after he got hit in the seventh. But Gardy did a pretty good job with the cap-off, cap-on thing and, watching this replay this morning, it sure looked like Mauer was headed back to the batter’s box until Gardy yelled his piece above the din of the 38,000 at the Dome.

His better performance, though, was something you had to be sitting on the first-base side of the Dome to see. It came when the game was delayed by a moron who ran onto the field and got about 10 feet before being tackled between the Twins bullpen and the left-field corner. (On TV, you were watching a mattress commercial while much of this played out.) Because those bozos usually make it to the middle of the outfield or further before being captured, they usually get walked quietly to the truck entrance in the right field corner before being shipped to Gitmo.

This guy, however, was walked past the Twins bullpen, the third-base box seats and the dugout before being taken up to the stairs that lead to from dugout to clubhouse. It was a great perp walk — and got even better when Gardy got off his chair in the corner of the dugout and shouted at the guy as he walked by. I want to know what he said to that guy almost as much as I want to know what he said to Adrian Johnson, the home plate umpire, on the Mauer deal.

After the Mauer dust-up, I told Ms. Baseball that it would be kind of cool if Morneau hit a grand slam because then, maybe, the Twins would have a big enough lead that after a few more outs, Baker could leave stitch marks on some Brewer butt. It wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever said.

In reality, though, the grand slam is the best revenge — and the uncertainty about whether the Twins will knock down a Brewer or three when the teams play next month is more effective than actually nailing one of them. The Twins didn’t need to pick another fight after Morneau’s knockout.

Lefties had gotten only two hits in 25 at-bats off Mitch Stetter before Morneau’s blast.

The only other thing I’m wondering last night if whether — after nailing Corey Hart on three dirt-diving sliders to end the game — Joe Nathan looked toward Hart and made like he does in that Target Field ad when he strikes out Mauer while they’re playing MLB09.

If you’ve seen it,  you know the line.

Have a great holiday.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 25th, 2009 at 9:38 am and is filed under From the Dome. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.