My wife and I were uncertain about making a trip to the Twins’ new venue, what with finding the best route, fighting city traffic, locating a parking lot, etc. I never thought I would miss the Metrodome and its surrounding lots. But I guess what becomes familiar becomes easier each time you repeat it. I even thought fondly of our old parking lot machines, Mr. Chew and Mr. Spit.

However, there is another method of getting to Target Field. Heartland Tours offers a ticket on the second deck between third base and left field with a ride up and back from Rochester for $49. Not too bad! It figures out that the bus ride costs about $20 each. By the time you figure in parking expense, the cost of driving or taking the bus is about even. And you don’t have to fight the traffic.

So Kay and I decided to take the bus leaving at noon for a 3 o’clock game with the Detroit Tigers. We started out Saturday morning, drove though a huge rainstorm, had lunch at Wendy’s and arrived at the bus in plenty of time. I like Heartland’s buses. Big windows, spacious seats, air conditioning with a bathroom. What more could you want?

Something interesting I saw. The bus raises and lowers itself, accommodating people who might have difficulty with the first step getting on the bus and conversely the last step getting off. It was a nice ride with Kay and me chatting with each other and our neighbors. Baseball was the primary topic.

We arrived about an hour before game time, walked a block to the stadium, filled out a form to get a Chevrolet-Twins book bag, used the escalator to get to the second deck and found our seats. Good seats in the fourth row looking down on the first deck and playing field.

Out of the four games with Detroit, Heartland picked the right one. Scott Baker held the Tigers in check and the Twins got just enough runs to take the pressure off the relievers. Twins 4, Tigers 1.

Kay and I enjoyed the game and Target Field, particularly the view from our seats looking toward right field and the Minneapolis skyline.

Here are some observations about the Twins and Tigers: Detroit looked good even though they lost. Their batting order has a "murderers row" in Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta. The Twins’ pitchers rightfully approached them with caution. Cabrera and company appeared extremely confident and seemed somewhat perplexed when they didn’t get hits.

Delmon Young got the big hit for the Twins, driving in two runs, but he is probably the worst Major League outfielder I have ever seen. He takes some terrible routes to fly balls and has to recover to make the catch. I saw one ball hit over his head; he fumbled it off the wall and then made a wonderful throw to second base, making a routine play close. He can throw a bullet from the outfield, but that only makes him a poor outfielder with a great arm.

Twins’ shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka played well in the game we saw. He even got a line-drive single to left field. It looks like he tries to copy Ichiro Suzuki when batting from the left side. He tries to hit the ball on the ground as he leaves the batter’s box and use his speed to get an infield hit. However, Nishioka is no Ichiro, and it mostly looks like he is off balance and bailing out of the batter’s box.

The game showed flaws in our team. Getting Span and Morneau back will help, but it appears that they will have to get extremely effective starting pitching to contend with Detroit.