Twins Bullpen's Road Woes Continue

For the second day in a row, the Twins' bullpen failed on the road as Minnesota lost ground on the White Sox in the AL Central race. The Twins sit only a game back but failed to take advantage of playing the Mariners with Francisco Liriano on the mound. Liriano and Kevin Slowey, in particular, have been spectacular in outpitching their opponents to keep the Twins in the thick of the division race. The bullpen, however, is one of the worst in baseball on the road. Conversely, the unit has been spectacular at home. The Twins do, however, play the White Sox at the Metrodome in the final week of the season, and the Dome has been a house of horrors for the ChiSox. This race has been too tight for the division title not to come down to the season's final week.

Huge win for the Phillies on Monday, as the team completed its sweep of the Dodgers behind another gem from Brett Myers. Reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins' bat finally seems to be heating up, helping set the table for a dominant offense. Meanwhile, Mike Pelfrey continued to live up to his potential with a complete game win over the Astros to keep the Mets a half-game ahead of the Fighting Phils in the AL East. John Maine, however, has been placed on the DL, making it even more crucial for Pedro Martinez and Pelfrey to continue their strong pitching. And that bullpen continues to be painfully bad on most nights. The Mets and Phillies play in one of three huge series that kick off tonight, along with the Brewers/Cardinals and Red Sox/Yankees. The Brewers, by the way, are 15-6 since getting swept by the Cubs at home. Ned Yost did a very nice recovery job.