Twins record: 58-81
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap
I give Kevin Slowey a solid 7-star rating for today's game. However, I give the offense (non-Mauer division) an absolutely-serious, whopping 1-star rating. No, I did not listen dispassionately before I rated.
Hitter of the Week: Trevor Plouffe
Pitcher of the Week: Kevin Slowey
Draft Day alert!! Don't forget the WGOM football draft is at 7 p.m. CDT today. Oh, also there's a baseball game today.
Slowey vs. Piniero
If Kevin Slowey ever wanted to get out of Gardy's doghouse, this would be his best opportunity. The Twins' bullpen was overworked yesterday when Duensing left due to an injury and the Twins have a doubleheader on Monday and are unsure of who will start in Tuesday's game, so the pitching staff is a mess right now. A complete game from Slowey would make him a hero. Eight innings would leave his manager pleased. Seven innings is almost required.
The Twins have scored19 runs in this series, which just about matched their run total from August. The last time the Twins face Piniero in this ballpark, it resulted in an 11-4 win. A win today would even the season series with the Angels, which would be ... something. GO TWINS!!!
Rochester 6, Pawtucket 3 in Rochester. The Red Wings closed out their home season with a win. They trailed 3-0 after six, but scored three in the seventh and three in the eighth. Chase Lambin and Aaron Bates each singled and doubled, with Bates raising his average to .316. Brandon Roberts had two hits. Jeff Bailey hit a home run, his fifteenth. Andrew Baldwin got the win, giving up three runs on nine hits and three walks in eight innings. Kyle Waldrop struck out two in a perfect ninth for the save.
New Britain 10, Trenton 9 in New Britain (Game 1--Scheduled 7 innings). The Rock Cats had leads of 7-2, 9-5, and 10-8 before holding on to win. Yangervis Solarte singled, doubled, and homered, driving in three and making his average .323. Brian Dozier and Joe Benson each singled and doubled, with Dozier's average going to .314. Chris Herrmann drove in three. Logan Darnell lasted just 4.2 innings, surrendering eight runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks. Tyler Robertson got the win in relief, giving up a run on three hits while striking out three in 2.1 innings to raise his record to 10-3.
Trenton 6, New Britain 5 in New Britain (Game 2--Scheduled 7 innings). The Rock Cats led 5-4 after four, but the Thunder scored in the fifth to tie and in the seventh to win. Mike Hollimon doubled and homered, driving in three. The home run was his sixteenth. Chris Herrmann singled and doubled. Yangervis Solarte and Nate Hanson each had two hits, with Solarte's average going to .324. Starter Steve Hirschfeld pitched just two innings, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks. Dakota Watts took the loss, giving up one run on two hits and two walks in 2.2 innings. Reading defeated Binghamton 6-5, so the Rock Cats are a game out of the wild card race with two days left in the season.
Ft. Myers 7, Jupiter 0 in Ft. Myers (Game 1--Scheduled 7 innings). The Miracle jumped to a 2-0 lead after one, made it 3-o after five, and put it away with four in the sixth. Danny Rams singled and homered, driving in four. James Beresford had two hits. Angel Morales hit a home run. Edgar Ibarra pitched a complete game, giving up five hits and a walk while striking out six.
Ft. Myers 1, Jupiter 0 in Ft. Myers (Game 2--Scheduled 7 innings). Alex Wimmers threw a no-hitter, walking two and striking out five. He faced the minimum twenty-one batters thanks to a caught stealing and a double play. The lone run of the game came in the fifth. Aaron Hicks singled and tripled, driving in the run.
Wisconsin at Beloit. Cancelled.
Just one more blackout day before I have to start watching this team again.
Tilly Walker (1887)
Eddie Waitkus (1919)
Hawk Harrelson (1941)
Paul Jata (1949)
Doyle Alexander (1950)
Frank White (1950)
Mike Piazza (1968)
Luis Lopez (1970)
Aaron Fultz (1973)
Pat Neshek (1980)
Ho-hum. Another day, another injury.
This game went far too long, so I'll keep it short.
It's truly amazing how much injury this team has gone through. And then it seems like all the injuries seem to pile up in one part of the team. The Twins trade Delmon Young because they have too many outfielders, but suddenly Joe Mauer has to play right field. In the first part of the season, the rotation was the one part of the team that wasn't hurt much by injury, just ineffectiveness. Now the Twins have three members of the rotation on the DL and Duensing is probably headed there as well. What would a Yankee fan say if he was told that Carl Pavano was the only member of the rotation to stay healthy?
And finally, is it me or does every former Twin have like a 1.500 OPS against the Twins this year?
this one is for AMR as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JBpkVpnX6I
2007
(11 votes, average: 7.45 out of 10)
Loading... Of all the things I thought September would bring, runs wasn't exactly one of them. I'm not complaining, it's just that I wish they could try scoring some during games that I watch. Still, any lineup that insists on batting both Nishioka and a player with a OBP forever hovering around .300 can't complain about any runs they might score along the way.
Duensing takes on Weaver tonight. Normally, that would sound like a sure-fire loss, but Weaver's ERA has jumped up a half run since last month (still league leading at 2.28), and lately a lot more of his pitches have been turned into souvenirs (9 in his last 47 1/3 innings). Besides, Duensing was mostly watchable, and the Angels' lineup usually features at least one lefty... so...
Yeah, it's still pretty bleak.
Weather: 74 degrees, clear
Wind: 3 mph, out to CF
Time: 3:23
Attendance: 37,198
The dog days of summer were not good to the Twins this year. The team posted its worst monthly record ever in August, winning just seven games while losing 21. If Target Field weren't such a lovely place, and if Minnesotans weren't so gosh darn polite, you'd probably see a lot of empty seats in the stands for home games after a month like that. For my own part, I knew going into the season that August would be a lost month for me as far as watching baseball goes. Major product launch at work, family road trip vacation, getting ready to send Elder daughter to college. I just figured back in April that August would be a lost cause. I was more right than I could have known.
But those hot August nights are behind us now, and the Twins/Red Wings want to finish the season strong. At this point, that basically means staying out of last place in the worst division in baseball. For a team that's never been in first place this year, or even above .500 this year, even that may prove to be a tall order.
So what can you say about a meaningless road win in September? Well, you can say its better than a meaningless road loss in September. You can say Carl Pavano pitched an okay game, giving up four runs, just three of them earned, in six and three-quarters innings. You can say the Twins were facing a rookie pitcher who struggled with his control, and that the Angels bullpen resembled nothing more than the Twins bullpen, allowing seven runs in five innings. And you can say that it was the Twins, not the Angels, who played like they were only a few games out of first place going into the home stretch of the season.
You could probably say a lot more if you actually watched the whole game instead of just the last couple of innings.
Syracuse 10, Rochester 9 in Rochester. The Red Wings scored seven in the seventh to take an 8-5 lead, but the Chiefs scored three in the seventh to tie and won with two in the ninth. Brandon Roberts and Dustin Martin each had two singles and a triple, with Martin driving in three. Aaron Bates singled and doubled, making his average .314. Starter Dusty Hughes allowed four runs on six hits and three walks while striking out five in four innings. Jake Stevens pitched the ninth and took the loss.
Trenton 4, New Britain 1 in New Britain. The Thunder scored three in the first. The Rock Cats had only one hit, a home run by Evan Bigley. Pat Dean pitched well other than in the first, giving up three runs on nine hits and a walk in six innings. Reading defeated Binghamton 4-2 to move a half game ahead of the Rock Cats in the race for the last playoff spot. The Rock Cats play a doubleheader with Trenton today beginning at 4:05 Central.
Ft. Myers 10, Jupiter 4 (Game 1--Scheduled 7 innings). The Miracle scored seven in the third to take an 8-3 lead. James Beresford had three hits and drove in three. Reggie Williams and Danny Rams each singled and doubled. Steve Liddle had two hits. Starter Matthew Tone allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in three innings. Cole Nelson got the win in relief, giving up a run on six hits and a walk in four innings.
Jupiter at Ft. Myers (Game 2). Postponed.
Peoria 4, Beloit 2 in Beloit. The Snappers scored in each of the first two innings, but that was it. The Chiefs scored three in the fifth to take the lead. The Snappers had only four hits and made three errrors. Ryan O'Rourke struck out eight in seven innings, giving up all four runs (two earned) on seven hits and no walks.
Bluefield 11, Elizabethton 7 in Bluefield. The Twins led 3-2 after one, but the Blue Jays scored three in the third and three in the fifth to take an 8-3 lead. The Twins came back with four in the sixth to make it 8-7, but that was as close as they would come. A three run eighth put it away for Bluefield. Eddie Rosario singled and tripled. Miguel Sano and Matthew Koch each singled and doubled, with Koch driving in four. Matt Parker hit a home run. Derek Christensen surrendered five runs on eight hits in 2.1 innings. Steven Gruver worked two shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit. The loss ends the season for Elizabethton. Bluefield will go on to play Johnson City in a best-of-three series for the league championship.