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(AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Season Record: 15-16

Up Next: Mariners (1:10 CT, 5/9)

1. A Winning Combination

Joe Mauer has never been the biggest power hitter. He's always hit for a great average, sprayed the ball around the field, and come up with clutch hits. In eight games however, Mauer has now put three balls over the left field fence to give him three homeruns in just over a week of play. The smooth-hitting lefty has been on fire since his return to the lineup, and the homeruns are a plus.

On a night when Mauer received three awards: the Silver Slugger Award, the Gold Glove Award, and the silver bat for being the American League Batting Champion, the catcher showed off all facets of his game. A great throw nailed Adrian Beltre at third to end a rally, and two hits, two walks, a homerun and three RBI helped display the bat.

Mauer's counterpart, Justin Morneau, has been Mauer's partner in crime. A night after hitting back-to-back homeruns in the fifth inning, the M&M Brothers did it once again in the third inning to complete the feat in back-to-back nights. 

When both have hit, the Twins have been hard to beat and fun to watch.

2. Back and Forth

Francisco Liriano has struggled to form a consistent groove early on, and after two straight quality starts, the lefty took the mound looking to continue his recent stretch of solid outings. Three innings of no-hit ball and complete domination had things looking good. The fourth inning however changed the game for Liriano.

In the fourth inning, Liriano allowed a leadoff hit and then struggled to locate his pitches, and quickly fell apart. Liriano allowed three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth, but thanks to a big offensive performance he maintained the lead and collected his second victory of the season.

With a record of 2-4 and a 5.75 ERA, it doesn't look like Liriano has been even decent through mid-May. That however is not the case; Liriano has had several good outings, and several good innings prior to falling apart in many of his losses. Consistency is the key, and Liriano needs to continue to work at it.

3. Finishing it Off

The Twins will take the field on Mothers Day looking to sweep the Seattle Mariners in their final game in the Metrodome's history. The Twins need to pick up the sweep to make it back to the .500 mark on the season. It's been an up and down season in Minnesota, but a sweep with a day off on Monday and the Tigers coming to town on Tuesday should give the Twins confidence and it might just be the stretch that gets the team going.

The ERA numbers don't look very good for Slowey, Baker, Liriano or Blackburn, and some of the bullpen pitchers have struggled too. All have shown signs of stardom however, and if the team can start playing more consistently as summer approaches, the four months ahead should be fun ones.