Just when I had discounted any possibility of the Twins’ season having any excitement left, my words swifly dove back into my mouth like a boomerang’s return. The Minnesota Twins — through lineup juggling and one of their leaders falling to 6th in the batting order — managed an impressive sweep of the Boston Red Sox (for a complete breakdown, I recommend Bat Girl’s blog).

Brooms out!The sweep was impressive for several reasons. Besides the fact that it was the same Twins we’ve been watching over the past month, the victories came largely on the shoulders of a few youngsters recently injected into the lineup in Jason Kubel, Terry Tiffe and Jason Bartlett, the last of whom convinced management that Juan Castro was dispensible - a decision that has already displayed it’s wisdom. Kubel was the greatest hero of the bunch, hitting a home run in each of the three games, including a grand salami in game two (a game that also featured one hell of a pitcher’s duel with Santana and Schilling each going eight deep). But maybe most impressive feat of the series was the impressive pitching outings by some of the Twins struggling veterans. On Wednesday, the usually-rocked Brad Radke gave up only one run and five hits in six and Carlos Silva followed it up last night with his best performance of the season, picking up the win. Yes, the same Silva who entered Thursday with one quality start in 10 attempts. I almost pinched myself to see if I was in fact dreaming.

Moreneau’s hitting for power and decent average. Maurer’s still tearing it up. Young guys are making an impact. Pitchers are pitching — and well. Dare I say the Twins could still be exciting to watch this season? It might be prudent to wait ’til after the midsummer classic to make a statement like that.

Speaking of, don’t forget to vote for Joe Mauer for the AL All-Star team. The kid is getting slept on!

Posted by Eric.