Beating Like A Drum
Minnesota’s sports teams went through two heart-stopping games last night, one in which a team trailed until the final inning, and one in which a slim lead prevailed, despite two last-ditch shots to tie.
The Twins, showing plenty of pluck (as Henry Chadwick would have written), scored six runs in the final two innings for the second time in a week to come back and beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-4. Jacques Jones went 3-5 with the walk-off homer. Not surprisingly, he faced a right-handed pitcher for every at-bat. Someone please tell Gardy that he has one hell of a player on his hands–if Jones is held out of the lineup against lefties.
A timezone away, the Timberwolves celebrated their fourth straight instance of being the #2 game on the NBA’s schedule (behind the Hornets/Heat, for cripe’s sake) by barely hanging on for an emotional and pivotal win over Denver. In fact, I will go so far as to say the win tonight was the most important in the team’s history. It extended the series lead to 3-1, and avoided what would have been a gut-wrenching blow to the team’s confidence. Game 5 on Friday has been rescheduled, but still won’t air until 9:30. I guess anything’s better than having a weekday afternoon playoff game, though. Has any number-one seed ever had such an audience-avoiding schedule?
Weird fact of the day: the city of Denver had three teams from three professional sports visiting tonight (Wolves, Marlins, and Sharks, who will play tonight), and all three are staying in the same hotel.