AL Central

The Cleveland Indians move up to a .500 record, keeping the Boston Red Sox winless.  It is clear that the better team won in this game, considering the Tribe’s current team batting average of .290 versus the Red Sox’s .186.

The Minnesota Twins erased a four-run deficit in the eighth to beat the New York Yankees for the first time this season, with a final score of 5-4 in extra innings. 

It was the second straight night the Twins mounted a late comeback, only this time it worked: they tied the Yankees' four-run lead in the eighth inning to bail out Brian Duensing.

The Cleveland Indians have gotten off to shaky start. After three games, the team has the second best team batting average, .318 just behind the Chicago White Sox batting .324.  Collectively, Cleveland has scored 20 runs, 20 RBI, 35 hits, four doubles and four home runs. So what's the problem?

Currently, Michael Brantley starts off the lineup, followed by Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo, Carlos Santana, Travis Hafner, Orlando Cabrera, Austin Kearns, Matt LaPorta and Jack Hannahan.

The Minnesota Twins are now four games into the season and currently sit at 1-3.

It has been an unexpectedly slow start for a team that went 20-12 during spring training and starts the season looking to win a third-straight division title.

Ahead are five observations the Twins will need to address going forward should they want a chance to make another playoff appearance in 2011.

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The curse of the Yankees continues.

The Minnesota Twins began a four game death march in Yankee Stadium Monday by getting handed their third loss of the season. Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova went three scoreless innings before Jim Thome doubled to center scoring Justin Morneau and Delmon Young. Nova gave up a third run in the fifth when the Twins new import Tsuyoshi Niskioka also doubled to deep centerfield scoring Alexi Casilla.

He's been their Opening Day starter nine times in 10 years.

He's given them double-digit wins and 200-plus innings over 10 straight seasons.

He's pitched a perfect game and a no-hitter in his tenure. He went 16-8 with a 3.12 earned run average helping the team to a 2005 World Series championship.

Come on, he's a senior member of Redneck Row!

At age 32, he's still got plenty left in the tank.

But he's given up 200-plus hits nine years in a row.

You know how there are some guys that you just have a good feeling about?

Billy Butler is one of those guys for me.

I used to be an avid baseball card collector and there was always this sector of the hobby that only collected unproven prospects in hopes of hitting it big with one.

The Kansas City Royals knew that they were getting some talented arms when they left camp with rookie relievers Aaron Crow, Tim Collins and Nate Adcock.

But there was no way of telling that the trio would be this dominant in their few games in the big leagues.

In the team's recently completed season-opening series against the Angels, the threesome combined to pitch eight shutout innings while giving up six hits and striking out 11 in the process.

Baseball season is a long and strenuous one. Even the elite teams in baseball face their fair share of ups and downs over 162 games.

It's important not to overreact at the first sign of trouble.

So when the White Sox dropped the finale of their season opening series on Sunday against the lowly Cleveland Indians, rational White Sox fans everywhere had to remind themselves to take a deep breath and relax.

After all it's only one game right?

For the Minnesota Twins, 2011 is a brand new season. So far it's looking too much like how 2010 finished. 

The Twins finished off the regular season by losing three of four games against the Toronto Blue Jays. In that series, the Blue Jays hit 10 home runs and outscored the Twins 25 to 11.

Fast forward to Opening Day 2011—same two teams, different venue, same result.