Twins 5, Reds 3

I like the Twins. I dig 'em. Think they're cool.
I love the Reds. Even romantically, if you'd prefer. But probably not.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: All the people screaming for Milton's outright release or trade for chump change (and that includes me most of the time) had some reason to do so again after today's performance. 5 innings, 8 hits (1 homer), 4 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 K's. There he goes again, being mediocre but leaning to the bad side of things. That's just who the man is. Again, the point is brought up about him automatically getting the #3 spot. Has he ever deserved it? Not quite. Lohse should get it. Should that mean Milton gets #4 automatically? No. ANYWAY.....No runs allowed after Milton left, as the 6-7-8 innings were pitched well by Burton, Coutlangus, and Coffey with the anti-save. Coutlangus in particular looked good, fanning 2. Burton walked 1, threw a wild pitch, and gave up a hit. But I still like the guy. That might have hurt him, though.

Hitting: Ryan Freel was back in action at the leadoff spot, going 0/2 and grounding into a double play but taking a walk and scoring on it. He was lifted late in the game, though it seems as a precaution. EdE was 2/4 with a run scored. Hamilton was 1/3 with an RBI, and took a walk as well. Javier Valentin, not hitting well, was only 1/4 today but it was a crucial hit, a 2-RBI single that tied the game. Alas, it was not meant to be. Denorfia reverted to old form, going 0/4 with a K. This is not helping you out, kiddo. Considering some guy named T. Godwin got the only extra-base hit, that being a double, the hitting was not very great.

Fielding & such: Remember the last time the Reds made no errors? I don't think it was that long ago, but the point is that they make errors more often than not, no matter how much Narron talks about it. How about action vs. talk? Maybe. Anyway, today it was Castro of ALL PEOPLE who threw the ball like a grapefruit. Ah well, even the best can have their bad days.

Maple Leafs 2, Devils 1

Just what I feared. There they go, down the tubes. They can't avoid the playoffs, they're in there. They better start acting like they want to be.

Hard to do with injuries flying in from all over the place, but possible to do. Remember when Brodeur was everyone's savior and everyone wrote a million pages on him per day? He is still amazing, but can you remember the last time people have talked about him? I mean, in a positive way, not in a he's-been-yanked-from-the-net kind of way.

Revenge, blah blah, horrible hit, blah does Cam Janssen have a soul? blah blah Kaberle blah Belak! Belak! Belak! blah blah worst hit I've ever seen blah blah REVENGE. Oh, and the Maple Leafs won the game, by the way. That's a key stat because the Devils look pretty poor right now. Stumbling into the playoffs isn't a worthwhile goal.

In a game where the shots on goal were even and the faceoffs identical, along with a close low-scoring game, it seemed everything was pretty even. Didn't feel that way, though. Felt like the Devils packed it up and were waiting for a lucky bounce instead of trying to seize the moment. Tough.

I know I'm a complainer and a pessimist. I apologize for these things, that's just my nature. I realize that if I step back and look at things, look at the win-loss-tie record, look at the points for what they are, the Devils have had a very good season and are still currently #2 in the East, no matter what it looks like. So I need some perspective. I just can't help feel like everything is falling apart.

Mavericks 92, Knicks 77

And to think, I was actually worried about this game. The Mavs, though bit by the injury bug as of late, are good. The Knicks are bad. So I guess the score makes sense, even if I was a bit unneccessarily pessimistic. It was so obvious (sorry Dirk!) that the Mavs were going to win this game, Isiah Thomas repeatedly pleaded to the media that the Knicks had no chance. Very weird.

Anyway, not much of a story here. The Mavs came to New York, saw some sights, ate some food, got in a game, and are now out of there. Josh Howard had 24 and 10, pacing the Mavs all night long. Nowitzki was right there with him, pouring in 24 of his own while taking smart shots and getting 5 rebounds. Dampier showed up, and you never know when he'll do that, but he got 10 points and 13 rebounds, so that's nice. Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse were unspectacular, but made some nice shots. Devin Harris was disappointing.

Not much the Knicks did, except having Eddy Curry and Nate Robinson score points. They were an awful 36% from the field, that's the whole team. They made many mistakes and didn't look like they wanted to be playing the best in the league. I wonder where that idea came from, head coach of the Knicks perhaps? Possible.

Nothing more to see here, move along.

Reds release Wilson

I was hoping so.

It's only made tough by the fact that the guy is a heckuva guy. Great guy, good leader. Never pitched very well, though. I mean, think about it, this guy used to be our #1 pitcher. That's how bad the Reds were. At best he was reliable and decent, but never great. His time has come and gone, it's nice to see he recovered well from surgery and all, but this move needed to be made.