Foul tip: bring on the Sox

1. For fear of stating the obvious: The performances of Matt Garza and Boof Bonser over the last two nights were huge. The Orioles might be a bad team, but they still field a pretty badass lineup. When your number nine hitter (Ramon Hernandez, at least in two of the three games) has 71 rbis, the team is not to be taken lightly. Garza, in particular, had opportunities to wilt under the pressure. When Jason Bartlett booted a potential double play ball in the first inning the rookie could've imploded. But he got out of the mess only allowing one run. Bartlett hurt him again in the fourth after Hunter made a leaping catch. An Oriole baserunner (I can't remember who) would've been easily doubled off first base, but for a bad throw by the shortstop.

2. Will Bartlett be a defensive liability down the stretch? I know it's heresy to say anything bad about Bartlett considering that he's hitting nearly .350 and has been a huge part of the Twins turnaround. But as previously mentioned he cost the Twins three outs in a tight game on Wednesday night. Bartlett's now got nine errors, tops on the team, in 63 games, with a .966 fielding percentage. Among everyday shortstops in the American League, only Carlos Guillen has a worse fielding record.

3. By prominent baseball insider he apparently means Krusty the Clown: Charlie Walters had one of the most idiotic items of recent vintage in Tuesday's Pioneer Press. And that's saying something when your competition is Sid. Here's the bit in its entirety:

) A prominent baseball insider says the defending World Series champion Chicago White Sox don't have the intensity to compete with the Twins in the wild-card race.