Indians @ Twins, 8/6/07

And that's how you do that.

What can you say about Paul Byrd? What is there to say?

I've always liked Byrd, even after his rather average year last season. I think veteran pitchers who don't have overpowering stuff are a Godsend in a rotation, particularly when they're fit in with young guys who have raw talent (C.C. and Fausto) or guys who are struggling (Westbrook). His ability and his knowledge can not be understated.

We even managed to score a few runs for him tonight. He said afterwards that he's been waiting to pitch a game like tonight to make up for all the games where he's depended upon the offense to get him the win. He wanted to return the favor. You have to love a guy like that.

As for the offense, we saw a couple of positive things. We saw Hafner hit (he got some good at bats in even before the homer). We saw Peralta hit all over AND deliver timely hitting. We saw Casey deliver timely hitting, even. We even saw a bunt single by the master of the bunt single, Kenny Lofton.

You know, I like Jason Michaels. He's taken advantage of his chances this season. Unfortunately, he's not able to do the little things that a player like Lofton can do to ignite an offense. I have to wonder if we'll start seeing the outfield we had tonight on a regular basis soon (that would be Goot in right as well).

All in all it was a great game for us. Let's not forget that the Twins are a good team. But let's also not forget that we beat Santana and still only came away with a split.

Big things need to come out of the next week.