Get Lowe

Awesome game! Everything just came together - pitching, hitting - and we were rewarded heartily.

Here, we'll give you a soundtrack for this post (it's the song "Get Low" by Lil' Jon):

Derek Lowe - the old man pitcher we got courtesy of Atlanta, who paid us $10mm to take him off their hands, pitched a complete game shutout today. He had 18 ground-ball outs and NO strikeouts in just 127 pitches. Out-fucking-standing! He got his 6th win and is tied for the league lead.

It all seemed so easy for him today too. The weather was perfect for baseball, the Twins aren't very good and Target field is a "neutral" park for hitting. Lowe was all "Yeah, I can do this" and then he did it.

Our batters didn't let Lowe down (they never do) just in case he needed some help.

Choo was leading off for the second game in a row and he had it going on! He went 2 for 4 with a home run, a double and a walk. So far after 2 games he's just about the most successful leadoff man we've had this year! Let's hope his momentum stays built up when he finally faces a lefty as leadoff.

Of all the awesome hitting we had today, Jason Kipnis was not a part of it. Pretty weird, as he was doing the bulk of our good getting-on-base last week. Today he went 0 for 5.

OMG! Asdrubal got his 4th homer of the year and went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI. Following up Choo's and Asdrubal's homers in the 5th was a third solo shot by Santana! He must have been feeling good today as DH, because Santana got me that multi-hit game I've been asking for and went 2 for 4 with a homer and a double just like Choo. We should all be more like Choo!

Michael Brantley is diggin' the second half of the lineup it seems. He also had a multi-hit game with his second triple of the year, going 2 for 4. And he got a steal!

After him came Jose Lopez, who's filling in at 3rd while Jack Hannahan rests his back.  I think if Jack's going to get hurt, doing it while we play the Twins is an excellent plan. I feel like Lopez could be a pretty great addition to our lineup if he has a chance to play. Unfortunately our infield is pretty awesome with the bats, and we've got Duncan, Donald and Santana able to cover 3rd and 1st. So I don't know how or where Lopez would fit, but he could hit if he fit. Otherwise he's sort of wasting away on the bench. He came in and went 1 for 4 today, so at least he's contributing!

Johnny Damon was also in this game.

Casey Kotchman! FINALLY up over .202, going 1 for 3 with a walk today! That one hit was a 2-out RBI single, too! We might have to start calling him "Old Reliable."

Poor Lou Marson - not enough playing time, he forgets how to bat. He went 0 for 4 today with a strikeout and is still batting under .100.

We ended the game having scored 5 runs for Derek Lowe, which is 4 more than he needed but nobody doesn't like insurance runs. And it was the first time we'd had 3 homers in a game since [I forget the statistic. 2008?]!!!

Tomorrow the team is back in town against Seattle, against whom we're already 2-1 this season and Felix Hernandez against whom we're already 1-0!! Of course Ubaldo is pitching so this could either go well, or go horribly, horribly wrong.

Oh well - we've got the next 27 hours to revel in Lowe's great game and our big, big bats. See you then!

Radio Chatter:
"You look at this Twins lineup and you go 'Huh? Who are these guys?'"
- Tom Hamilton

"You know Damon is struggling when you see he's only walked twice."
- Tom Hamilton

"Boy the Indians could play a 1-game series and they still wouldn't miss King Felix."
- Tom Hamilton

"After a while, seeing that blue jersey...the Indians would wear polka-dotted pants with it if they thought it would make them win."
- Tom Hamilton does not like the blue jerseys

"Manny Acta looks like a genius, huh?"
- Jim Rosenhaus after Choo's home run

"How do you think Atlanta feels? 'We're paying ten million dollars to have him win in Cleveland?'"
- Tom Hamilton on Derek Lowe