I was going to do up a full log with Twins on Leaderboards and whatnot, but then the little one didn't nap, and we decided to go to town to do some errands. I'll probably post them in an LTE.
Today, Milone takes on the ineffable Ian Kennedy. Arcia gets to begin his last stand and Buxton gets a day off.
I've looked over things a bit in the last couple of days, and this is a game that the Twins should consider winning. Can't get to 90 wins without winning at least one.
Our first report of the season!
ROCHESTER 3, SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE 0 IN SCRANTON
It was actually suspended after four innings and finished April 8. The Red Wings scored single runs in the first, sixth, and eighth. Jorge Polanco led the way, going 3-for-4 with two triples. Kennys Vargas was 2-for-3 and Adam Brett Walker II (they're just listing his as Adam Walker this year, but to me he'll always be Adam Brett Walker II) hit a home run. Tyler Duffey pitched four shutout innings before the suspension, giving up two hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
BILOXI 4, CHATTANOOGA 0 IN BILOXI
Biloxi scored three in the first and that was all they needed. The Lookouts had only three hits. Jason Wheeler struck out five in five innings but gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk.
BRADENTON 3, FORT MYERS 1 IN FORT MYERS
Again, Bradenton scored three in the first and that was all they needed. Tanner English was 1-for-2 with two walks and scored the only Miracle run. Stephen Gonsalves pitched well after the first inning, striking out six in six innings and allowing three runs on six hits and no walks.
CEDAR RAPIDS 12, QUAD CITIES 4 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
The Kernels already led 6-2 when a six-run eighth put the game out of reach. Chris Paul was 3-for-4 with a triple. A. J. Murray was 2-for-5 with a home run. Randy LeBlanc pitched five innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE 7, ROCHESTER 2 IN SCRANTON (7 INNINGS)
This one was played after the completion of the suspended game. The Red Wings took a 2-0 lead in the second and still led 2-1 going to the bottom of the sixth, but S/WB scored six in the sixth to take control. Most of the damage came off Loek Van Mil, who surrendered four runs (three earned) in just two-thirds of an inning before leaving the game after taking a line drive off his leg. Pat Dean had pitched well for five innings before giving up hits to the first two batters of the sixth, leaving his final line three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk with six strikeouts. Buck Britton was 2-for-3 with a double to lead the Rochester offense.
BILOXI 6, CHATTANOOGA 2 IN BILOXI
The Shuckers again scored three runs in the first inning and it again was all they needed. The Lookouts closed to 3-2 in the top of the seventh, but Biloxi got on in the bottom of the seventh and two in the eighth to put it out of reach. Chattanooga had only four hits, one of them a Mitch Garver homer. The starter again pitched well after the first inning, with D. J. Baxendale giving up three runs on six hits and no walks with five strikeouts.
FORT MYERS 3, BRADENTON 2 IN FORT MYERS
Ryan Walker's RBI single finished a two-run seventh that overcame a 2-1 deficit and carried the Miracle to victory. Kohl Stewart gave up a two-run homer in the fifth but that was about it, as he was charged with two runs on four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in six innings. Walker went 2-for-2 with a walk and Alex Real was 2-for-3.
CEDAR RAPIDS 6, QUAD CITIES 2 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
It was deuces wild, as the Kernels got two in the second and two in the third and put it away with two in the seventh. Max Murphy was 2-for-4 with a triple to lead the offense. Andro Cutura struck out eight in five innings, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks.
Let's find some.
Doc White (1879)
Hippo Vaughn (1888)
Vic Sorrell (1901)
Fred Frankhouse (1904)
Claude Passeau (1909)
Zip Payne (1909)
Joe Brinkman (1944)
Peter Gammons (1945)
Nate Colbert (1946)
Kirk McCaskill (1961)
Hal Morris (1965)
Graeme Lloyd (1967)
Rudy Hernandez (1968)
Cecil "Zip" Payne was a long-time minor-league player and manager, collecting 2,179 hits.
Joe Brinkman and Derryl Cousins hold the record for most games umpired together, 2,123.
Rudy Hernandez was an infielder in the Mets organization from 1987-1991, reaching AA. With the exception of 2004, he has been a manager or coach in the Twins' organization since 2001. He is currently the assistant batting coach for the major league team.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mama MagUidhir.
There do not appear to be any major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.
The Twins are the only American League team without a win. This is not cool, but at least the losses were not shutouts like last year.
Last night, Joe Mauer hit his 120th career HR. Maybe this is the year he hits the 15-20 that will maybe silence some of the "Joe Mauer never hits HRs" critics. I hope he hits 80.
Ervin Santana will start for the Twins. He had a handful of pitched Opening Day before being pulled out of the game due to a long rain delay. Yordano Ventura starts for the Royals.
I predict the Twins will get their first victory of the season.
No reason, I just want to play some EMA.
2011
(2 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
Loading... Different year, same start. Twins once again are swept in the opening series. It would be easy to say it worked out okay for them last year, but it didn't really. Yes they performed better than expected but they finished three wins behind the Astros. If they instead had swept the Tigers to start the season they would have at least had a playoff game.
I watched barely any of the games and had the radio on for only a plurality of the time so I'm going to fill in the bad and good from the boxscores.
Four negatives from the series:
Three positives from the series:
On this day in 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th career home run. We've come a long ways since days when white fans would issue death threats against a black man for hitting too many home runs.
"When you've seen the very best, the rest can't hardly play.
I've seen it, [citizens], and I've seen it go away."
One of the best "Get off My Lawn!" songs ever.
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I forgot to stop and put a schedule together for the next bunch of months of FMDs. I'll for sure do that after today.
If you haven't yet, sign up for a 5-8 week turn at FMD duties below. Say something like, "I'll do _ weeks!" and I'll put it all together. If there's a period that doesn't work for you mention it.
Update! Here's the schedule for nearly the remainder of the year:
Nibbish: 4/15 through 6/3
freealonzo: 6/10 through 7/8
MagUidhir: 7/15 through 8/12
Zack: 8/19 through 9/9
Can of Corn: 9/16 through 10/21
Philosopher: 10/28 through 12/2
John Peters (1850)
Kirby Higbe (1915)
Stan Wasiak (1920)
Charlie Maxwell (1927)
Turk Farrell (1934)
Takao Kajimoto (1935)
John Hiller (1943)
Catfish Hunter (1946)
Randy Marsh (1949)
Mac Scarce (1949)
Gary Carter (1954)
Alex Gonzalez (1973)
Timo Perez (1975)
Jeremy Guthrie (1979)
Matt Ford (1981)
Felix Hernandez (1986)
Yonder Alonso (1987)
Stan Wasiak holds the record for most wins as a minor league manager, 2,530. He managed from 1950-1986, managing at levels from Class D to AAA.
Pitcher Takao Kajimoto won 254 games in Japan and was a twelve-time all-star.
Randy Marsh was a major league umpire from 1981-2009 and is currently a director of umpiring.
Yonder Alonso was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2005, but did not sign.
We would like to wish a happy birthday to the brother of Daneeka's Ghost.
