Rain, rain, go away ...

A commenter on Tuesday inquires: Do you see any late-season consequences to having so many games rained out without being immediately made up?

Answer: I don't think it's that many right now.

Tuesday was the third postponement of the young season, but that's to be made up on Thursday evening, so that won't be a problem later in the year. It does jam up the starting rotation a bit, and I assume that if the Twins can get through the Tampa Bay series without dipping into the Eric Hacker well that he'll pick up a start this weekend.

The one that irritates is the first one, in New York. The Twins were, at least on paper, in the better position for that game in terms of pitching; it was the Yankees fifth starter (Freddie Garcia) scheduled, and fearsome late inning relievers Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera were probably both unavailable.

That game has yet to be rescheduled. The Twins had only the one trip to New York scheduled (and why a one-trip series got put in the worst weather week is one of those mysteries known only to the schedule maker), and the teams have relatively few mutual off days. There's no available makeup date that isn't quite inconvenient for one or the other. One date would have the Twins interrupting a homestand to fly to and from NYC; another would fall on a Yankee travel day to the West Coast. My guess is that it will be the Twins inconvenienced.

The other one, Friday against Cleveland, isn't a bad deal for the Twins, at least on paper. Had that game been played — or Tuesday's,  for that matter — the Twins wouldn't have had Joe Mauer or Tsuyoshi Nishioka or Kevin Slowey available. The Friday game would also have been without Delmon Young.

We don't know who'll be hurt or slumping when the games are played, but those are some fairly significant people out now.

A useful rainout

A reprieve from the good god Jupiter Pluvius helped us weather the seventh day of the second half of the season. We were down, and the Giants, clodhoppered and merciless, were anxious to kick us right in our pitching staff, which hurt the most. A brief but violent thunderstorm presented the Cincinnati front office with a chance to cancel the July 11 game. A sellout crowd was advised at six o'clock that there would be no game. At eight o'clock the skies cleared, the moon shone, and the Giants screamed.

-- "Pennant Race," by Jim Brosnan

Even in the rain, a trip to Target Field is
worth commemorating with a self portrait.

Friday's rainout was legitimate, and it was legitimately to the Twins advantage, or so it would appear.

Had they played Friday, the Twins would again have been without Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, Delmon Young and Tsuyoshi Nishioka. There's no guarantee they will all be in the lineup when the game is played (either in July or September), but the odds are pretty good.

There's another factor here: Right now, Cleveland is 13-6, leading the division, and feeling pretty good about themselves. The Twins are 7-12 and filling the basement.

In the fullness of time, these relative positions are not likely to maintain themselves. Manny Acta, the Cleveland manager, has it right: The title chase still runs through Minnesota.

The weather-induced pause gives an opportunity to reflect on the Twins just-completed 3-5 road trip, and specifically to wonder if there isn't a silver lining to it.

Joe Nathan blew two leads in St. Petersburg, Fla., early in the trip. Imagine he'd protected one of those leads. He's still be the closer — even with diminished stuff. 

The Twins may well be better off having had that reality check on Nathan. Now they know, and he knows (which is just as important), that they're better off not entrusting key innings to him.

By the time this game is actually played, that too may change.