LiveBlog - Broom in hand.

Pregame

The Twins haven't been able to sweep a series yet this year, but they'll have a chance today against Detroit. Standing in their way is sinkerballer Rick Porcello and some less than ideal conditions. They'll counter with Kevin Slowey.
Top of the first

Magglio Ordonez bounces out to short, ending a quick one-two-three inning for the Tigers. He's kindof a goof. He got mad at Michael Cuddyer for throwing the ball to first base after he singled out to right. He gave him to old stare-down. Which isn't very scary coming from a guy with a jerry-curl.

Was it bush league for Cuddyer to throw it quickly to first? Who knows? These unwritten rules are so confusing. Luckily some guy wrote them down in book form. He also shared ten really obscure ones with Big League Stew.

Two of those caught my eye, because I violate them all the time:

Don't stand on the dirt cutout at home plate while a pitcher is warming up.

and

Don't walk in front of catcher or umpire when getting into batter's box.

But then again, I play in the bush league.

Bottom of the first

Justin Morneau smacks a "booming double," and Cuddyer gets Hudson in. The Twins love to score runs in the first inning.

2-0 Twins.

Here's another unwritten rules article. Bert Blyleven was asked questions about different situations, but he brings up a good point: Why do hitters get to wear a bunch of pads? I remember one article questioning Barry Bonds' use of his gigantic elbow armor, saying it actually helped his mechanics. I don't know about that, but I know I hate Barry Bonds.

Top of the second

Kevin Slowey gets a double play and a strikeout, still 2-0 Twins.

Breaking news: Kevin Millar, of Boston Red Sox fame, signs with the St. Paul Saints. He played there in 1993, their first season. I wonder how their attendance will be with 40,000 people at outdoor Target Field all summer.

Bottom of the second

Wilson Ramos grounds out. He's really fallen back to earth. He hasn't had a hit in his last four at-bats. I think they should send him back to double-A. Punto and Casilla are also out. No surprises there.

Top of the third

Alex Avila bashes one into the upper deck. Or at least that's what John Gordon says. If he truly put it up in that trapezoidal section, it'd be the first time anyone has done it. On Monday, Cuddyer became the first to hit one into the left field upper deck. But the facing of the upper deck is flush with the outfield fence, so Cuddy's homer was only about 410 or something like that.

2-1 Twins

Bottom of the third

John Gordon has been talking about how he got to visit the Budweiser party deck before the game today. I think he'll get a stern talking to by the Twins front office, because he had nothing positive to say about it. He wasn't complaining or anything, but merely stated that it was very high, offered poor sightlines and was awfully windy. Dan Gladden began talking about seeing the stadium, and taking a long time to see everything. Gordon hasn't even visited the upper deck yet. Which depresses the hell out of me, if you want to know the truth.

I feel like you don't even know a stadium unless you see a game from multiple viewpoints, during both the day and the night. And then there's these broadcasters who get paid to go to the game, and they just sit in the exact same chair, game after game.

Jason Kubel doubles, driving in Orlando Hudson. I'm glad I picked up the O-dog for my fantasy team.

Twins lead 3-1.

Top of the fourth

Slowey gives up a laser shot homer to Miguel Cabrera. Is the ball jumping today or is Kevin just hanging his pitches? 3-2 Twins

Bottom of the fourth

Oh my, Boesch just drops the ball. That's 29 errors for the Tigers. Oh, make that 30, as Santiago olays one into left field. Tigers lead the league in errors. I don't think the Tigers' heads are in this thing. They must be mourning Ernie Harwell.

Note: they didn't rule that Denard Span hit an error. The official scorer must have been marking the previous error and missed it.

Twins fail to get a hit with the bases loaded, as usual. But they pick up two and now lead 5-2.

Top of the fifth

Good job. One hit, one left on. Twins up 5-2.

Here's a plug for Batting Stance Guy, who is, to date, Alright Hamilton's most famous interview subject. He wrote a book. I don't get it, either.

Bottom of the fifth

quick inning. So I'll close out a very controversial subject from last week: drinking while biking.
Take a look at that poll up there in the right hand corner. 28 people thinks you can get a bike-specific DUI. Well, they're wrong. All 28 of them.

I got this email from a Minneapolis police officer:

Thanks for your question. For the charge of DWI, a person would have to be in physical control of a motor vehicle. A bike would not constitute this crime. Being intoxicated while riding a bike might violate other laws such as impeding traffic, or disorderly conduct or a host of others.

So there.

Top of the 6th

Another solo shot. An absolute bomb. And a base hit and a walk. Slowey is not at his best today. So after throwing 97 pitches, he'll be replaced by JESSE CRAIN, who works out of it.

Twins- 5
Tigers- 3

Bottom of the 6th

The Tigers are playing like the Twins usually play in series finales.

The only problem is that the Twins are playing only slightly better than they normally play in series finales. Kubel goes down with the bases loaded, as usual. And they fail to score. Yikes.

Top of 7

Good job, Crain.

Does anyone know if the Twins have worn their 'M' hats yet this year?

Bottom of 7

Boy, this game has really ground to a halt. I gotta run, but I'll check in with the postgame notes at about 3:30. Anyone else wanna take over?