A Few Good Notes: Hot and Cold,The Deadline, Blyleven, and Make A Wish

• Yesterday, on the hottest day of the summer, the Twins were swept in a day night doubleheader by, the team they are chasing in the standings, the Cleveland Indians. They lost game one 5-2, and they lost game two 6-2. Both games had acceptable starting performances from Anthony Swarzak and Scott Diamond. But it was too bad that the offense picked an awful time to go completely ice cold.
• Perhaps the only bright spot from yesterday's doubleheader, was watching Joe Mauer raise his average from .260 to .290 by going 6 for 8 (3-4 in each game). And if you got the chance to watch the first game at all, Mauer looked just as impressive at playing first base as he did at the plate making two diving stops. It was very refreshing watching Mauer play at that high caliber once again.
  
• Yesterday, Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman tweeted that the San Francisco Giants have some interest in Twins OF Michael Cuddyer, but that the Twins are unlikely to sell now given the fact they are still in the race. Even if the Twins have a fall off in the next week in a half, I would be very surprised to see Cuddyer traded. And in fact, given how valuable Cuddy has been for the Twins this year, I would think Cuddyer would return to the Twins next year as well.
  
• I've said this before, but if the Twins wish to remain in contention, they need to fix their bullpen. They need to acquire at least two solid righty relievers before the July 31st deadline, if not sooner. And now all of a sudden, we are talking about Jon Rauch having a second stint in a Twins uniform. The only solid arms in the bullpen right now are Glen Perkins and closer Joe Nathan. So obviously, two more right handed arms would be greatly appreciated.
• On Saturday, the Twins retired Bert Blyleven's #28. He became the first Twins pitcher to have his number retired. And coming up on Sunday, he will be enshrined in Cooperstown. This has been a long, overdue series of events for Bert. He is one of the best pitchers to ever don a Twins uniform, and he is one of the best pitchers to take the mound, period. The last Twin inducted into Cooperstown was Kirby Puckett, who was inducted 10 years ago (2001), along with former Twin Dave Winfield.
  
• This week, SportsCenter is doing their annual My Wish series. And on yesterday's show, the Minnesota Twins were the featured team. This is a great video to watch and I encourage you to do so here.