Tonight we commence a three-game set against the Astros and we get something old and something new. The something old is Joe Mauer, returning to the team after a minor league rehab assignment in Cedar Rapids stemming from an injury to his right oblique. Mauer had a 12-game hitting streak going before the injury.
The something new is starting pitcher Tommy Milone, acquired from Oakland for Sam Fuld just before the non-waiver trade deadline. Milone this year sports a 3.55 ERA and is giving up just 8.5 hits per 9 innings, which are career high marks in both categories. Unfortunately, his strikeout rate has declined from 7.3 to 5.7/9 innings, but he is still posting a 1.215 WHIP, the lowest of his career so far. Houston counters with Brad Peacock, who has amassed a 16.00 ERA in his last three games. That compares to a 3.71 ERA over his first 11 starts this year for the 26-year old righthander. Play ball!
on the board!
That bomb Tommy Milone just gave up to freaking Jose Altuve was massive.
Double E
Wow, that's his 30th. Crazy.
97 wRC+ / 98 OPS+. UZR rates his defense slightly above average while DSR is slightly below average. ~1.5 WAR in almost half a season of PAs, I'll take it.
Joe Mauer hit his 300th career double tonight.
Danny Santana has an arm on him. Whoa.
Hey y'all, this is the free game of the day if you don't normally get broadcasts.
Mother effer, I'm in the Houston blackout area. That didn't even cross my radar. Never mind that I get the Rangers on TV here.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that gets excited about the Free Game only to be inevitably crushed. Heck, this time I'm in Wyoming and MLB.com couldn't figure out where I was so they wouldn't let me watch it.
Just another Escobar double.
TWINS BASEBALL!!!
what the heck happened there?
hahah
Singleton just ran over 1B ump Bill Welke.
Singleton hit that ball very high. Thankfully it was also well behind the first base dugout.
I don't care, those bunt singles are pretty sweet.
ahhhhh dang.
Hasn't been said yet, so I will - bandbox
Still one of my favorite playoff memories.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsEuTYbDRwE
That baseball is still in orbit.
Head's up, Dozier! Also boo for padding that pussy Mauer's stats.
what the heck was up with the OF? Throw the stupid ball! We'll know where to send the thank you card for that insurance run.
Accoring to the b-r.com pbp, that was no RBI for Mauer.
Joseph Patrick Mauer remains good at playing baseball.
Joe's back!
So, there is this news tonight
That's nice for him, and I hope he does well, but he wasn't exactly dominating the Florida State League. He's hitting .240/.314/.405 in 121 at-bats. But it certainly could be that the Twins know some things that I don't know. Or it could be that there were some injuries at AA and they simply needed to move someone up. Anyway, good luck to him.
After Hicks was promoted to AAA, New Britain didn't have a true CF. They've been using Rosario there, but I think they also want Rosario to play 2B. Mike Kvasnicka played CF last night, but he's been mostly a corner OF in his career. I think they were waiting for Buxton to start hitting a little bit after he went into a slump. He had four hits in his last three games before he got promoted, so I guess they figured that was enough.
Makes sense. Thanks!
glove save AND A BEAUTY by Mauer
Yup. Very solid.
welcome back, joe.
two straight wins.... winning streak!
Back to .500 for the month.