Links of the Day for 8/18/06

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This Friday’s links compiled while chatting it up with Greg Anderson…

• The Twins fell to Cleveland in the series finale on Thursday, 3-2. Paul Byrd went the Distance (but not for speed), peddling his mid-80s slop through nine full innings of two-run ball. Twins starter Matt Garza took a large step forward, going five innings with five strikeouts and allowing three runs. His fourth and fifth innings were especially encouraging, as he retired eight of the last nine hitters he faced, with three strikeouts.



• The first two runs allowed by Garza came after Torii Hunter failed to cut off a Hector Luna drive to left-center, allowing it to roll to the wall for an RBI triple. Inglett followed with a sac fly to score the second Cleveland run. In this article, Hunter tells LEN3 that his left foot is causing him to run flat-footed. Somehow, I have a feeling these things are related.



• The White Sox avoided a sweep yesterday, squeezing out a 5-4 win over suddenly feisty Kansas City. The wild card gap is back to two, although I would propose that after three days of playing Cleveland while the Sox took on KC, making up a game in the standings was a victory for the Twins. Elsewhere in the junior circuit, Baltimore crushed New York, shrinking the Yankee lead over Boston to 1.5 games going into a five game set this weekend.



• Speaking of this weekend, as you may have heard, the Champs are coming to town. Two out of three would be huge. ESPN lists the starters as Bonsor v. Garcia, Radke v. Garland, and El Presidente v. Vasquez. Of course, if any of the three Chicago starters is unable to go, the White Sox surely have a replacement in mind.



• And finally, Kevin Brown to neighbor: stay off my lawn. My favorite part: “Haws said he plans to buy a mulching mower.” Words to live by, my friends.