The 2009 National League Most Valuable Player award will go to Albert Pujols as long as he stays healthy. On Saturday, there was more proof of why that is the case. Against the Minnesota Twins, Pujols smashed two homers as the St. Louis Cardinals pulled out a 5-3 win.

On the game, Pujols was 2-for-2 with two runs, four RBIs, two homers and two walks. He’s now hitting .328 with 28 blasts, 74 RBIs, 59 runs and an on-base percentage of .450. He’s leading the entire big leagues in homers, RBIs, runs and on-base percentage.

Against the Twins, Pujols hit a two run homer in the first inning to put the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. After Brendan Harris hit a bases clearing single with the bases loaded in the second inning, Pujols hit another two-run blast in the third inning to put the Cardinals up for good.

With the win, the Cardinals are 41-35. The loss dropped the Twins to 38-38.

Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals (Image: Zuma Press)

Although Ken Griffey Jr. has had his ups and downs during his return to the Seattle Mariners, he came up big on Saturday. In the eighth inning, hit a double to knock in Ichiro. That hit gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead that they would prove to be enough to beat the Minnesota Twins.

Ichiro and Ken Griffey Jr. key the Mariners victory (Image: Zuma Press)

Griffey, who was batting cleanup, is now hitting .224 on the season with six homers and 16 RBI. He’s also scored 16 runs and has an on-base percentage of .335.

Ichiro, a day after his 27-game hitting streak came to an end, was also a hero. He went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. He’s now hitting .354 on the season, which is good enough to be tied for second in the American League.

With the win, the Mariners are 27-29. The loss dropped the Twins to 28-29. The two teams end their series on Sunday afternoon.

After losing their last six games, the Minnesota Twins were mad. The Chicago White Sox can give a first hand account of how mad the Twins were on Thursday night. After jumping out to an 8-0 lead after two innings, Minnesota kept bashing away and finished the game with a 20-1 victory.

The 20-1 final score was the second largest win for Minnesota, while it tied Chicago’s worst loss in their history. With the win, the Twins are now 19-23. The loss dropped the White Sox to 17-23.

Bartolo Colon got pounded for eight runs, seven hits and two walks in two innings of work. However, the good news for his ERA is that only one of the eight runs were earned. Lance Broadway entered the game next and gave up six runs in 3.1 innings. Next, Jimmy Gobble allowed the final six runs in one inning of work. Amazingly, D.J. Carrasco threw 2.2 innings of shutout ball to finish out the game for the White Sox.

At the plate, Joe Mauer was 3-for-4 with two runs and six RBIs. Mauer’s big hit was a grand slam in the 6th inning that made it 16-0. Second baseman Matt Tolbert entered the game with four RBIs — and added four more RBIs and his first home run.

Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede added homers for the Twins. Nick Blackburn pitched seven scoreless innings to pick up his third win of the season.

Joe Mauer should be smiling after that win (Image: Newscom)

For the third straight game, the New York Yankees won via the walk-off. This time, Johnny Damon was the hero. His solo home run in the bottom of the tenth inning gave the Yankees a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Overall, this is the Yankees fifth straight win. At 20-17, the Yankees are in third place in the AL West — 1.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox and 4.5 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The other two runs the Yankees scored were on an Alex Rodriguez solo shot in the seventh and a Melky Cabrera sacrifice fly in the same inning.

For the Twins, this was a difficult loss to swallow. They had a 2-0 victory heading into the bottom of the seventh and lost it. The loss dropped the Twins to 18-20. Minnesota is now in third place in the AL Central, three games back of the Detroit Tigers.

Johnny Damon (Image: Flickr)

In his first at-bat this season after returning from hip surgery, Alex Rodriguez hit a homer. However, his batting average had dipped all the way to .136 entering Saturday’s game. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Rodriguez’s struggles were the last thing on his mind as he hit a two-run walk-off homer to beat the Minnesota Twins by a final count of 6-4.

That homer upped Rodriguez’s batting average to .154 and it was his first homer since his first at-bat. The win took the New York Yankees to 19-17 on the season. With the loss, the Twins dropped to 18-19.

Prior to the big hit by A-Rod, Mark Teixeira was the star for New York. He finished the ballgame 4-for-4 with one walk, two runs and four RBIs. His big hit was a three-run blast in the third inning.

The Twins got solo homers from their two big bats in the lineup - Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Mauer is now hitting .423 on the season, while Morneau is at .324.

These two teams will play again on Sunday afternoon and Monday night.

Alex Rodriguez Walk Off Homer (Image: Newscom)

Joe Mauer missed the beginning of the 2009 baseball season for the Minnesota Twins. In his return to the diamond, Mauer hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. He later hit a double to finish 2-for-3 with one walk, one RBI and three runs.

Mauer’s homer got the Twins off to a good start as Minnesota was able to topple the Kansas City Royals by a final count of 7-5. Justin Morneau hit a homer after Mauer’s double and Kevin Slowey improved to 5-0 on the season.

For the Royals, Jose Guillen went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. However, starting pitcher Sidney Ponson got creamed in his 4.1 innings of work. He gave up nine hits and seven earned runs to raise his season ERA to 7.16.

Following the game, both team’s records were 12-11. The two teams are tied for second in the AL Central, a half game being the Chicago White Sox.

Joe Mauer Returns (Image: Newscom)

One of the feel-good stories of spring training has been Corey Koskie’s comeback attempt with the Chicago Cubs. Koskie, who played for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and the Milwaukee Brewers, hasn’t played in a game since suffering a concussion while with the Brewers in 2006.

The Anola, Canada native decided to try to return to the big leagues, however he decided to end his comeback attempt after a recent scare. Following a fielding attempt, Koskie reported feeling light-headed and removed himself from the game. Later discussions with the Cubs’ coaching and medical staffs led to his decision to retire once again.

In his three games in spring training, Koskie was 1-for-5 with his lone hit being a double. During his nine-year career, 6-foot-3, 220 pound infielder hit .275 with 124 homers and 506 RBIs.

Married with two children, Koskie says he has no plans outside of spending time with his family. The 35-year-old also said that he won’t attempt another baseball comeback.

Corey Koskie Retires (Image: Newscom)

Dealing with inflammation and pain in his back, Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins is most likely out for opening day. In fact, there’s no set timetable for when he’ll be able to step on the field for Minnesota.

Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins (Image: Newscom)

The problem area for Mauer is the joint that connects his pelvis with his spine. Even after a second opinion, a lot of mystery surrounds the injury.

Though Mauer had surgery on a kidney during the offseason to remove a blockage, the Twins do not believe that this injury is related to that surgery.

The 25-year-old native of Minnesota is regarded as one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball. Last season, Mauer hit .328 to go along with nine home runs and 85 RBIs. He also scored 98 runs and hit 31 doubles. Arguably the best year of his career came in 2006 when he hit .347 with 13 homers and 84 RBIs.

Even though the Twins don’t know when to expect Mauer back in the lineup, they don’t expect this injury to be a long-term condition or require surgery.

[The Mets, Yankees, Red Sox are seated in a meeting room. The Twins are standing at the front. The Twins speak.]

What we have here is the the best pitcher in baseball, my friends. And we’re willing to part ways with him. But it’s going to take some might fine baseball players, we’re not going to just give away Johan Santana. Don’t wait though, you should act fast. We expect a lot of interest on this one.

[silence]

You don’t want your division rival to get Johan Santana, do you? [Twins look at Yankees.] You better hurry up before your arch-nemesis gets him and wins the world series. [Twins look at Red Sox] You won’t be able to win the whole thing without Johan Santana, the best pitcher in baseball.

[Yankees and Red Sox look at each other, shrug]

Ok, well, maybe he won’t guarantee you a World Series, but this is Johan effing Santana. You want him, badly, and here we are, offering him to you.

[cough]

Seriously, this is a two-time Cy Young winner. We need at least a five-tool major league guy…

[Mets avoid eye contact with Twins]

Well… at least a five-tool prospect…

[Yankees and Red Sox leave while avoiding eye contact]

You assholes, this is some quality pitching I’m offering you here.

[Twins look around, then look down, and sigh]

Ok, Mets, we’ll take whatever you got.

[Mets hand over Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey]

Fine…shit…and remember you only have until Friday to return him if you don’t want him!