Wednesday Wrapup

• Matt Garza gave the Twins exactly the lift they needed today with six strong innings and his first big league win. Garza only struck out one Oriole hitter, but worked in and around the strike zone and only threw a total of 80 pitches. Regardless of the Twins' problems at the back end of the rotation, they possess something that few teams do: a serviceable bullpen. Tonight, Ron Gardenhire threw his 'big-game' guys at the Orioles, sending Pat Neshek, Dennys Reyes, Juan Rincon, and Joe Nathan to the hill. All of these guys have been more than solid this season, and they all possess ERAs below 2.44. Nathan is easily the most underrated closer in the bigs, ranking second to Jonathan Papelbon in WXRL while only earning half the accolades pitchers like Bobby Jenks (6th in WXRL) and Billy Wagner (7th) have garnered. The AL Central race is split between three teams with above-average bullpens. The White Sox have shut down set-up men Riske and MacDougal, the Tigers' Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya, and the Twins the reliable Nathan. The Tigers are by far and away the best complete team of the three, but if the Wild Card ends up being decided by the bullpens, I'm definitely not putting my money on Bobby Jenks and Co.

• As I guessed in the previous post, Mark Mulder didn't have a good night in New York. Mulder was shelled to the tune of nine runs in three innings. The Cards' bullpen kept them in the game, but the Mets pulled a second straight win from under the Cardinals, who should feel lucky they don't have any good teams nipping at their heels.