2014 Game 117: Twins at Astros


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!

33 thoughts on “2014 Game 117: Twins at Astros”

    1. 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.

    1. 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.

      1. 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.

  1. Singleton hit that ball very high. Thankfully it was also well behind the first base dugout.

  2. So, there is this news tonight

    Dustin Morse ‏@Twins_morsecode
    CONFIRMED: The #MNTwins have promoted prospect Byron Buxton to Double-A @RockCats

    1. 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.

      1. 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.

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