Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That umpire Todd Tichenor made quite a name for himself in a big league cameo as a vacation replacement. Tichenor, a 32-year-old Triple-A ump, ejected both managers and both starting catchers in one inning of the Red Sox-Twins game on Thursday afternoon.
"Sometimes, those things happen -- everybody handles thing differently," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "It looked like he had his hands full today."
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was tossed for the 43rd time in his career. An expert on ejections, he said that Tichenor acted too quickly. Tichenor did not make himself available to the media to explain himself.
In the top of the seventh, Twins catcher Mike Redmond argued with Tichenor after he called Jeff Bailey safe at home. Redmond got ejected, and then Gardenhire got ejected when he came out. In the bottom of the inning, Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett and catcher Jason Varitek both expressed their displeasure at not getting a called third strike. Tichenor ejected Varitek and then Francona, who came out to defend his catcher.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Indians are trying to find rock bottom.
"It would be nice to win some of these games," pitcher Cliff Lee said. "I think a lot of them we could have won if we had done some things a little different."
Cleveland has lost four straight games to fall to 14-26, blowing leads in three of them, including a seven-run lead last Friday and a four-run lead Tuesday.
The latter included letting a three-run lead in the ninth inning at Kansas City evaporate, as closer Kerry Wood (right) allowed two homers and a triple in a four-run rally.
BALTIMORE -- Joe Mauer returned to the Twins lineup less than a week ago after missing the first month of the season with an inflamed sacroiliac joint in his back, but manager Ron Gardenhire has already penciled backup catcher Mike Redmond into the lineup twice since Mauer came off the disabled list.
So what gives?
Wallowing below .500 and ranked 12th in the American League in runs, you would think that the Twins would want to get Mauer's ever so valuable bat into the lineup as much as possible after going without it for so long.
BALTIMORE -- The Twins optioned 24-year-old second baseman Alexi Casilla to the minors Wednesday, calling up infielder Matt Tolbert to replace him.
Casilla has struggled offensively this season, hitting .167 over 24 games with just two extra-base hits to his name, but Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire was clear that his demotion was about more than just his troubles at the plate.
"He's not playing the whole game, not running balls out, not doing everything that's involved with being a Minnesota Twin," Gardenhire said, citing two specific examples -- one where Casilla didn't run out a bunt and ended up getting doubled off and another where he ran all the way down to first base with the bat in his hand.
The Twins' 2009 season was already off to a rough start before they lost to the Mariners on Monday because they found out this spring that they were likely to be without Joe Mauer for the first month of the season. But at least they had Mike Redmond to turn to behind the plate in his place. Redmond is no Mauer, but he has played very well with the Twins as Mauer's backup the last few seasons.
Of course, when you're 37-years old and catching, you should probably expect some bumps and bruises to come your way, and on Monday Redmond found himself way ahead of schedule. As if taking a broken bat to the side of his head and shoulder wasn't bad enough, Redmond also hurt his groin after doubling off of Felix Hernandez in the fifth inning.
Here is everything you need to know about Minnesota: they have the biggest mall on Earth, it is negative thirty-eight degrees in the middle of July, nobody would ever want to go there, and their baseball team is next up for the AL Central leg of our The Dugout Spring Training Event.
We started it off yesterday with the Detroit Tigers, so give that a read if you haven't yet. And check back tomorrow when we cover the Royals and the White Sox, and it's all really biased because I am an Indians fan, and the closest I will come to "winning" is insulting people anonymously on the Internet.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Minnesota Twins.
Last year was supposed to be the season in which the Minnesota Twins finally had to deal with reality. They traded Johan Santana to the Mets because they couldn't afford him any longer, and the heart and soul of the team, Torii Hunter, left for the glitz and glamor of Los Angeles. Then the Twins went out and won 88 games and were one run shy of making the playoffs after losing to the White Sox in a one-game playoff for the Central title. This is just what the Twins do. They defy everyone's expectations but their own, and odds are they're going to do it again this season.
What does this mean for the Twins? Obviously it means "we are trying to do something to light a fire under Delmon's ass so he stops playing defense like that." It could also mean Delmon being traded, hopefully to the Nationals, because that would be really hilarious and awesome.
The first immediate result of this is that the rumors that Young might be available for trade this winter are all. If you happen to know a team that's interested in adding a 23-year-old outfielder that's really only had one lackluster year to tarnish his pedigree as a prospect, you should tell them to give Bill Smith a call.
If it seems insane that the Twins have given up on Young so quickly, well, it probably is. Young failed to progress much in his second year as a regular in 2008, but to give up on him to give playing time to a middling player like Cuddyer (who was actually much worse than Young at the plate last year) is just plain foolish. There will certainly be some well run teams this winter trying their hardest to pluck Young out of Minnesota while his value is at what may be its lowest.
Whether the Twins are losing star players due to monetary concerns (Torii Hunter, Johan Santana) or getting mugged in ill-advised trades (giving up 2008 ALCS MVP Matt Garza for Delmon Young), they somehow always remain competitive in the division. This year was yet another example of stellar managerial work from Ron Gardenhire, and he would have garnered serious consideration for Manager of the Year in the AL had Joe Maddon not pulled off the miracle with his Tampa squad.
"Ron and his staff have done an outstanding job over the last seven years, and none was better than the 2008 season," said Twins general manager Bill Smith said in a statement. "We had a lot of new players and a lot of young players, and our major league staff did a marvelous job with a changing cast of players. Continuity has been a great strength of the Twins organization for two decades. The current staff has played an important role in the design and development of the Target Field facilities, and these agreements will carry the staff into the new ballpark in 2010."
I guess my only question is: Why not longer? Only two more years, with all this young talent? Lock him in and give him the job security he needs to mold these kids into a title contender. He's only 51.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
Starting Five
BALTIMORE -- 
BALTIMORE -- The Twins optioned 24-year-old second baseman 
The Twins' 2009 season was already off to a rough start before they lost to the Mariners on Monday because they found out this spring that they were likely to be without 
Here is everything you need to know about Minnesota: they have the biggest mall on Earth, it is negative thirty-eight degrees in the middle of July, nobody would ever want to go there, and their baseball team is next up for the AL Central leg of our The Dugout Spring Training Event. 
All Twins, all the time! We just 
At just about this time last year, the Twins and Rays swapped budding stars 
