The Doctor of Divinity (4-6, 4.94 ERA) takes the mound tonight at the K, with the Royals desperately looking for a win. Or maybe it's just the fans who are desperate. The last time Bannister faced the Twins , he absolutely controlled the game, allowing just three hits and a walk over nine innings, in a 5-1 Royal victory. In his seven starts since then, Banny's posted a 7.02 ERA over 41 innings, so perhaps another matchup with those ohh-so-scrappy Twins (they do the little things so well, up there, donchaknow) may be just what the Son of Floyd needs.
The Twins counter with Nick Blackburn (4-3, 3.55 ERA), an Oklahoma native who has not faced the Royals this year. If he had, his ERA would probably be under 3.00.
Thanks to everyone who has participated in the site explosion over the last twenty four hours, even if much of this energy was occasioned by poor performances. I've enjoyed all the posts and comments.