Well, everything that could be said about the Twins series was opposite in the Astros series. That's not entirely true though, because the pitching was actually very good in this series too. The team was finally able to get some runs on the board and were even able to overcome an average pitching performance from Jeremy Guthrie and come back in extras in the second game of the series. I think that this series could be really big heading forward. I don't know where many people stand on the topic of confidence, but as a former athlete, though merely low level, I think that confidence can play a huge part in your actual ability to play.
When Mike Moustakas hit that go ahead home run in the 11th on Wednesday night, he created a large wealth of confidence, the likes of which can stick with an individual, or an entire team, for a good deal of time. In my opinion, a high confidence creating play like that could have a noticeably positive effect in the locker room for about a week. When you combine that with the stellar performance by James Shields last night and the recent trend for Billy and Moose to start getting hits, we could be very well on our way to a short hot streak. This should only be compounded by returning home and playing against a team that swept us just a weekend ago. The team should be very ready to come out with guns blazing. Though I personally always feel that you should play smarter, not harder when you have something to prove, anger can be just as strong of a motivator.
The only things to note that aren't really positive are Chen's back and Cain's groin. These injuries are minor and are to non-essential players. Although Cain is amazing on defense and has done decently well on offense so far, he is not someone that we cannot afford to lose. Every indication is that he will only be out for a couple of weeks and then be back to full-time duty, barring something crazy happening. It is unfortunate that Dyson has a family issue right now, because this is exactly when we need him. Hopefully we will be able to pick up the series win this weekend and everything will be good.
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