The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Related Content

• Around the Horn: Rookie Road-bump
• Around the Horn: Summer Has Arrived
• Around the Horn: Road Woes Continue
• Around the Horn: A First Impression
• Around the Horn: Slump Buster

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Season Record: 20-23

Up Next: Brewers (6:10 CT, 5/23)

1. Slowey Speeding Up

After a slow start to the season, Kevin Slowey has heated up recently. In his most recent start, Slowey held the New York Yankees, one of the best hitting lineups in the league, to two runs over 7.2 innings. Prior to that outing, Slowey went six innings and allowed only one run against another top lineup, the Detroit Tigers.

Taking the mound with a solid 5-1 record thanks to incredible run support and timely quality starts, Slowey continued to heat up. The young right-hander went 7.1 innings, allowed eight hits and only two earned runs to advance to 6-1 with another start remaining in the second month of the season.

Slowey and Nick Blackburn are starting to take control, and if the rest of the rotation can follow suit, the team just might be able to rebound from some early pitching struggles.

2. Cuddyer on Fire

Kirby Puckett did it on August 1, 1986. Carlos Gomez ended the 22-year drought last season in Chicago. After the long stretch without a cycle, the Minnesota Twins have added two this season. Jason Kubel did it in dramatic fashion with a grand slam earlier in the year, and Michael Cuddyer made the Twins the first team since the Montreal Expos to have two players complete the feat in the same season.

Cuddyer upped his average to .291 with his 4-5 night at the plate, and with his recent streak, the veteran leader in the clubhouse has started to live up to his big deal which he signed a year ago. On the season, in addition to the high average, Cuddyer has hit 7 homeruns and driven in 30 runners. 

If the hot hitting continues for Cuddyer, a string in the lineup of Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, and Kubel will be tough for opposing team's to deal with.

3. Pouring it On

24 hours after scoring 20 runs on 20 hits to end a six-game losing streak, the lineup strung together 12 hits and 11 runs to begin a winning streak. The Twins in their past two games have collected 32 hits and scored a whopping 31 runs off of those hits; very productive to say the least.

In the most recent surge, four players collected multiple hits. Cuddyer collected his four hits and the cycle, Justin Morneau had a few singles and a run-producing triple, Brendan Harris reached two more times, and Denard Span hit his third homerun of the season and moved back over the .300 mark.

The Twins won't produce the number of runs they have in recent days for the remainder of the season, but their recent hot streak shouldn't be a fluke either. With guys like Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Kubel, Crede, and others, the lineup has the potential to be powerful and dangerous.