Twins still half in it

This is tough to take. This was the "easiest win" on paper. Pavano had beat the Tigers all year. It almost goes without saying that he was due for a clunker against them, and he chose the worst time to do it. He left the cookie jar open all night, and we all know how felines like cookies.

More concerning though is how the line-up has cooled off. Most notably, the bottom five batters. Two runs scored, three runs batted in. That's from all three games. Yes, that includes the until-Detroit heroic Michael Cuddyer. A couple more hits, some fewer unproductive at-bats from , and this could be an entirely different situation. As it is, the season could be over very soon.

The truth of the matter is that the Twins' have had a patchwork roster during the hot stretch that got them into the position they wanted. They did this with scrubs filling out half the line-up. The pressure was all on the Tigers, and they responded while the Twins' scrubs finally ran out of hits. The Tigers' scrubs clawed back to take control of the division they almost frittered away, and now only a choke of the most epic proportion would send the Twins to the playoffs. Assuming the Twins buy one more good outing out of a struggling pitcher and much more than one hit out of a collection of four stars, a has-been, and four career minor-leaguers.

It's a shame that the last series at the Metrodome might not mean anything, but it's impressive that any game is meaningful at this point. To come back and fall short is always disappointing, but it's good to have come back at all, especially with what the Twins' have had to work with.