Gardenhire was a bit blocked up so he paid a recent visit to Taco Bell. I am sad to report that he still couldnt manufacture any runs. And so as the Twins manager sits on the pot unable - unable to get his players to move runners over, unable to time a hit and run, unable to configure a batting order capable of scoring 1 run in Kansas City Wednesday - the light dims at the end of the dark tunnel for the 2005 Minnesota Twins. The season of sensational starting pitching has been squandered. Waste, waste, waste.....not the type of waste floating around New Orleans but the kind when your least effective pitcher in the starting rotation allows only 1 run in a must win game and you cant find a way to beat Denny Hocking's Kansas City Royals. When Denny played for the Twins he always found a way to pester and annoy the other team, it was almost as though the opposition wanted him to score so that they wouldnt have to talk to him while he was on base. The only facsimile of that type of ballplayer i've seen this season has been Luis Rodriguez but Gardenhire apparently isnt interested in the art of manufacturing runs he would rather play favorites and Rodriguez aint one of them. Rookie contributions dont impress Gardy and there is no more damning evidence of this than Scott Baker. I remember our west coast road trip months ago when Baker was called up to make a spot start against the ball-crushing California Angels and all Baker does is hold them to 1 earned run. Eric Milton threw a 10 a.m. no hitter against the Angels in 1999 (it was so early the metrodome rats were still eating breakfast) but since that memorable morning (an early start because the Humpy Dump had to be converted from a baseball diamond to a football field so that the Gophers could play a night game against Prarie View A & M) i dont recall a whole lot of Twins pitchers shutting down the Angel attack. After Baker's start he wasnt given another one before Gardy shrewdly put him on the Greyhound back to the Grapefruit league. Scott Baker returned weeks later and pitched lights out again but the pilot light flickering in Gardenhire's brain convinced him to send Baker immediately back to AAA. Yet somehow our manager finds a place on our staff for Terry Mulholland. I was waiting for a famous Gardentool quote like "this young man is simply to valuable to the Rochester Red Wings at this time to make a move to our starting rotation" similar to when the entire State of Minnesota was clamoring for Johan Santana to get some starts back in 2003 only to be repeatedly rebuffed by Gardenhire who, for those of you who care to remember, said Santana was to important to the bullpen to get put in the rotation.