2014 Game 27: Orioles 3, Twins 0

This is exactly why the Twins brought Ricky Nolasco to Minnesota. He's not going to dominate too much, but they need him to be the veteran presence they can count on to keep the bullpen from falling apart.

The Twins spent three days waiting around to play a game, then played three games in 27 hours and were suddenly so desperate for bullpen help, they actually added a 14th pitcher to the staff.

Gardy is certainly a man who knows how to expect the worst. Even with Logan Darnell in the bullpen, he was sweating it out knowing how worn out the other eight relievers were following an exhausting 15 innings of work the previous two days.

However, Nolasco said, "I got this," and pitched all nine innings and held the Orioles to 1.5 runs below their average, although his task was made a mite easier by facing Twins castoff Steve Pearce four times instead of Chris Davis.

Of course, since baseball is a crazy game, the Twins couldn't do anything against Ubaldo Jiminez, who has been terrible this season mostly because of very bad control. The Twins lead the world in walks, so of course Jiminez only issues 1 while striking out 10.

The lone bright spots on offense were hits by Sam Fuld and Eduardo Escobar, who are trying to solidify themselves in the lineup in place of the struggling Aaron Hicks and Pedro Florimon, although it is hard to say if Florimon is struggling since he's never hit in the first place. Fuld will be playing every day for at least the next week while Hicks recovers from a concussion. Meanwhile, top shortstop prospect Danny Santana was just called up after Mike Pelfrey pulled a groin while watching Dodgers' hits flying off their bats. Santana should be in the lineup instead of Escobar to see how he handles it, but Twins assistant GM Rob Antony has indicated that Escobar will continue to play and Santana will be mostly on the bench. That might be better for the Twins for the next few weeks, but it won't help Santana's development and will just be a waste of his service time.

In the past, Gardy has tended to play the prospects even when they are up for a short time. Hopefully, he will stick to that. In the meantime, the Twins have three shortstops and no true backup center fielder. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Twins trade Florimon for a veteran center fielder to back up or even platoon with Fuld if Hicks' concussion symptoms persist or if the Twins decide that Hicks needs to figure things out in AAA.

If only Byron Buxton hadn't gotten hurt.

FMD 5-2-14: Lydia

It's been more than a week now, but I'm still thinking of that show.  
She needs to get a guitar that stays tuned or something. There was so much momentum-draining dead time between some songs.
Maybe other venues have spoiled me, but the sound seemed really muddy.
She's a great performer with great songs, and that was a really good show. I don't mean to be so harsh, but it could have easily been so much better for me.

Happy Birthday–May 2

Eddie Collins (1887)
Bing Crosby (1904)
Joe Falls (1928)
Eddie Bressoud (1932)
Gates Brown (1939)
Clay Carroll (1941)
Keith Moreland (1954)
Dr. A (1956)
Felix Jose (1965)
Paul Emmel (1968)
Jerrod Saltalamacchia (1986)
Neftali Feliz (1988)

Entertainer Bing Crosby was part-owner and a vice president of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1947 into the 1960s.

Joe Falls was a long-time sportswriter in Detroit and had a weekly column in The Sporting News for many years.

Paul Emmel has been a major league umpire since 1999.

It appears that no players with connections to the Minnesota Twins were born on this day.  However, it is the birthday of my brother, who is the head of the Mining and Minerals Department at Virginia Tech.  Happy Birthday, Dr. A!