Monthly Archives: May 2011

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game #32: Red Sox 9, Twins 5

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Twins record: 12-20
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap

The Twins are consistently running out a lot of players who are either just very bad (the catchers, most of the bullpen, Casilla/Tolbert) or some combination of pretty limited and in over their heads (Hughes, Revere, Tosoni, probably Plouffe - although he's been great offensively in all of three games, that will come down to earth, and I'm not sold on his defense at all). Those are all pretty frustrating, but they can only concern me to a point. If all of those guys get lots of playing time because others are hurt, the Twins are probably not going anywhere this season. If, however, many of those guys get replaced by the proper starters, the Twins are still going to most likely need contributions towards success from two guys I am a little more concerned about: Carl Pavano and Justin Morneau.

Pavano went a second straight entire game without striking anyone out today. I harp on this a lot, but it's just a lot less likely to be successful as a pitcher without getting strikeouts. He seems to be getting a little over-hammered - I have his FIP right now at about two runs less than his ERA, but a 4.6-ish FIP still isn't quite where he was at the past couple of years. Morneau, on the other hand, has me concerned that he's not physically back together yet. I have his line after today at .202/.269/.293 so far. I'm a little reminded of the beginning of 2006, when there was much gnashing of teeth over how lost he looked at the plate over the first month, before Gardenhire famously gave him "The Talk" that turned him into a (not-quite-worthy) MVP. His line over March/April that year was .208/.274/.416 - basically the same, except back then he still hit a few homers.

At least one other guy whose physical state/all-the-way-back-ness has been a concern, Joe Nathan, had a pretty good outing today.

Hitter of the Week: Jason Kubel is still pretty close to the only horse in this race.
Pitcher of the Week: Duh.

2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 32: Twins at Red Sox

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Pavanostache (2-3, 5.84 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) vs. Dice-K (2-3, 4.33, 1.33)

Happy Mother's Day, all! MLB marks the day with breast cancer awareness. Any batters who want can use a pink bat. Plus, you'll see pink armbands and cleats, and possibly even gloves. This subject is near and dear to my family as both of my boys' grandmothers have had breast cancer. Fortunately, both were caught early and both are in remission.

Still, this is a worthy cause and not one to be taken lightly. Plus, it's a good reminder to make sure to give your mom a hug (or a call if like me you can't be with her today).

As for the game, Carl Pavano needs to get rid of the beard. He needs to return to the Pavanostache that intimidated hitters into submission last year.

The Twins need to show patience at the plate. Dice-K alwayshas been prone to control problems in the major leagues and the Twins need to take advantage of that. Maybe this can be a breakout game for Justin Morneau. He's 6-for-12 with a home run and two doubles against Dice-K.

This game would have been a media circus if Nishi hadn't gotten hurt. Oh well. At the very least, the Twins can improve to .500 in their last 14 games with a win today. Plus, it would guarantee a split in the series with a chance to win it tomorrow. Let's get er done. Go Twins!!!!

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 5/7

Gwinnett 6, Rochester 3 in Rochester.  The Braves scored once in the eighth and twice in the ninth to break a 3-3 tie.  The Red Wings had only three hits in the game.  Kyle Gibson allowed three runs on six hits and a walk in six innings, striking out six.  Kyle Waldrop surrendered two runs on a hit and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.

Portland 15, New Britain 7 in Portland.  The Sea Dogs scored five runs in each of the first two innings.  Deolis Guerra surrendered ten runs on eight hits and three walks in just 1.2 innings.  Michael Tarsi and Jake Stevens each threw two shutout innings of relief.  Evan Bigley singled and homered and Chris Parmelee singled and doubled.

Jupiter 20, Ft. Myers 2 in Ft. Myers.  The Hammerheads scored five in the second, six in the fourth, and seven in the fifth.  They hammered five Miracle pitchers:  Tom Stuifbergen allowed five runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk in 1.2 innings; Shooter Hunt gave up six runs on five hits and three walks in two innings; Brad Tippett surrendered four runs on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning; Blake Martin allowed three runs on four hits and two walks in 2.2 innings; and Dakota Watts gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in two innings.  James Beresford had three hits and Brian Dozier had two.

Cedar Rapids 5, Beloit 3 in Cedar Rapids.  The Kernels scored three in the fifth to overcome a 3-2 Snapper lead.  Wang-Wei Lin had two hits.  Michael Gonzales hit a two-run homer.  B. J. Hermsen allowed five runs (four earned) on ten hits and a walk in six innings, striking out five.  Martire Garcia pitched two shutout innings.

Cup of Coffee

May 8, 2011: Mom

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Susanne Carol Spookymilk has been a smart, poised, and encouraging mother to me since the beginning. She had four rotten teenagers, but she learned from each and all four of us admire her for what she went through; it's to her credit that we all ended up being solid adults. Cheers, mama Milk.

Don't forget to call your own today.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 8

Dan Brouthers (1858)
Edd Roush (1893)
Turkey Stearnes (1901)
Mike Cuellar (1937)
Steve Braun (1948)
Orestes Destrade (1962)
Todd Greene (1971)
John Maine (1981)

Mike Cuellar pitched in AAA in the Twins’ organization in 1961.  He does not seem to have belonged to the Twins, however.  It may be that he was temporarily loaned to them, a practice which was not uncommon in the 1960s.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 8 →

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 31: Red Sox 4, Twins 0

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I hate Fox with a passion.

I have discovered the greatest help to baseball watching ever conceived. I record the games with a DVR and I set my Skip function to skip ahead 10 seconds. This allows me to skip ahead between each pitch, eliminating 10 seconds between each one. I also can skip through the commercials, pitching changes, umpire arguments, pitcher-catcher discussions, and, yes, rain delays. Which has been working fantastic until today.

The Twins were on Fox, and only on Fox (I have MLB Extra Innings package that I paid a pretty penny for), and I started to watch it a couple hours after it started. This, of course, means that I have to remain offline, or at least avoid sites that will display the score, as well as other channels, like ESPN. (I once turned on the TV to start watching the game, but it was on ESPN and the Twins score was at the bottom of the screen at the exact moment I turned it on. I would have really been upset, except it showed the Twins won, so I was still happy to watch the game in its entirety). So, I had no idea the Twins went into a rain delay. I was OK about it (I set the DVR to record 4 1/2 hours for each game) because I could fast forward it. I was fine until I saw a different score at the bottom of the screen, which meant the game had resumed, but Fox had not gone back to the game. So, I had to go to the computer to find out that I had missed three innings of the game.

Of course, as it turned out, I didn't really miss much. I listened to the rest of the game on XM, but there wasn't much drama to it, especially once Alex Burnett came in. If the Twins are going to make a move, I would bet on it being a setup right-handed reliever. At the very least, maybe they can give Anthony Slama another shot.

Justin Morneau does not look good right now. A week or so ago, he was hitting line drives and not having much luck. Now he looks like he's trying to do too much and trying to pull everything. He probably should have gotten the whole day off today and not just DH. That is probably the worst thing to do is DH when you are struggling. The player can only sit around and think about his last weak swing instead of go out and play defense. I know some are panicking that this is the result of the concussion and that he'll never be the same, but we have no evidence of that and it's not like he hasn't gone through stretches like this before. He just needs to remember that there is a left field out there as well.

The good news is Kevin Slowey pitched well in his return, so the bullpen has been bolstered. Hopefully, Delmon Young will be back soon as well.

2011 Twins Game Logs

game 31: twins at red sox

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Well, hey! I'm able to post a game log from my phone. Good times.

Last night's game was a lot of fun. In fact, the last few games have been. I'm under no illusions that everything's gotten better, but as long as they can fake it until a couple folks get off the DL, we could turn this thing around.

Time to give one of baseball's more annoying fanbases just a little more to bitch about.

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 5/6

Rochester 7, Gwinnett 5 in Rochester.  Steve Singleton hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.  It was Singleton’s second homer of the game; he also singled, scoring three times.  Ray Chang singled and doubled.  Eric Hacker gave up one run on four hits and two walk in 4.1 innings.  Anthony Slama gave up two unearned runs in the ninth to blow the save and get the win.

New Britain 10, Portland 7 in Portland.  The Rock Cats scored two in the eighth and five in the ninth to overcome a 7-3 deficit.  Chris Parmelee had two singles and a homer, driving in four.  Chris Herrmann had two doubles.  Evan Bigley doubled and singled.  Mike Hollimon had two hits and scored three times.  Daniel Osterbrock surrendered seven runs on eight hits and two walk in just 3.1 innings.  Brett Jacobson worked 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.  Michael Tarsi pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Cole DeVries had a scoreless ninth for the save.

Ft. Myers 4, Jupiter 3 in Ft. Myers (10 innings).  Ramon Santana singled in Anderson Hidalgo with the winning run.  Hidalgo had three hits, and Santana and James Beresford each had two.  All twelve Miracle hits were singles.  Andrew Albers allowed three runs on six hits and two walks in four innings.  Matt Tone and Bruce Pugh each threw three shutout innings, with Pugh striking out four and getting the win.

Wisconsin 4, Beloit 3 in Beloit.  The Timber Rattlers scored single runs in the seventh and eighth for the win.  No Snapper had more than one hit.  Manuel Soliman struck out seven in five innings, giving up two runs on five hits.  Matt Hauser struck out three in 1.2 innings.  Both the tying run and the winning run were unearned.