Monthly Archives: May 2019

2019 Twins Game Recaps

2019 Recap: Game Forty-four

MINNESOTA 7, SEATTLE 1 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Friday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Ehire Adrianza was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), scoring twice and driving in two.  Max Kepler was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.  Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Martin Perez struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks.  Matt Magill struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.  Mike Morin pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Edwin Encarnacion was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dee Gordon was 2-for-4.  Mitch Haniger was 0-for-1 with three walks.  Austin Adams struck out four in two perfect innings.

The game:  The Mariners threatened in the first inning, as Haniger walked and Encarnacion doubled to put men on second and third with one out, but Perez struck out Domingo Santana and Ryon Healy to end the threat.  The Twins got on the board in the third when Adrianza homered.  Seattle again threatened in the bottom of the third, as a Gordon single and a walk to Encarnacion put men on first and second with two out, but Santana hit into a fielder's choice to end the threat.

The Twins took control in the middle innings.  In the fourth, singles by Gonzalez, C. J. Cron, and Willians Astudillo loaded the bases with none out.  Kepler singled home one run and a one-out sacrifice fly by Adrianza made the score 3-0.  In the fifth, singles by Jorge Polanco and Gonzalez and a walk to Cron loaded the bases with one out.  A sacrifice fly-plus-error scored one and put men on second and third, and Kepler hit a two-run single to give the Twins a 6-0 advantage.

The Mariners scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth.  With two out, Gordon singled, Haniger walked, and Encarnacion delivered an RBI single.  That was as good as it got for them, though.  The Twins added a run in the ninth when Adrianza singled and Jonathan Schoop doubled.

WP:  Perez (6-1).  LP:  Marco Gonzales (5-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  With Mitch Garver out, Jorge Polanco got the call as leadoff man.  Gonzalez was in left field with Eddie Rosario on the bench.  Adrianza was at third base with Miguel Sano at DH.  Astudillo was the catcher.

Polanco was 1-for-4 and is batting .331.  Perez has an ERA of 2.89.  Magill has an ERA of 2.00.  Morin has an ERA of 1.50.

As a starter, Perez is 4-1, 2.13, 1.00 WHIP with 34 strikeouts in 38 innings.

Over his last four games, Adrianza is 6-for-11 with two home runs, a double, three walks, and five RBIs.

The Twins again did not use Austin Adams in a blowout game.  Magill and Morin had just pitched Wednesday, so it's not like they needed the work.  I don't think they're saving Adams to fill three or four innings if the starter is pulled early, because that's not who Adams is.  He's been a reliever since 2013, and looking at his stats it looks like he's basically been a one-inning guy, maybe two at most.  If they're not going to use him to close out a blowout game, why bring him here at all?

Luis Arraez also did not play.  It's possible that they wanted to give him a day to get acclimated, since he just got here, and that he'll play tonight.  That would make some sense.  But it will make no sense if they've brought him here to sit the bench.  Granted, Arraez just turned twenty-two and he's only played three games above AA, so there could be some question whether he's ready for the majors.  But I'm not the one who decided to bring him up.  He either needs to play in the big leagues or play in AAA.  He does not need to sit for two weeks.  That does neither him nor the Twins any good.  Major league roster spots are too valuable to waste one or two on players you don't intend to use.

Record:  The Twins are 29-15, first in the American League Central, 5.5 games ahead of Cleveland.

Projected record:  We're still on track for 147-15!

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 18

Babe Adams (1882)
Arndt Jorgens (1905)
Gil Coan (1922)
Jack Sanford (1929)
Carroll Hardy (1933)
Brooks Robinson (1937)
Reggie Jackson (1946)
Osamu Higashio (1950)
Eric Gregg (1951)
Dennis Leonard (1951)
Jim Sundberg (1951)
Andre David (1958)
Jim Bowden (1961)
Erik Hanson (1965)
Eric Young (1967)
Rich Garces (1971)
Joakim Soria (1984)
Randy Rosario (1994)

Pitcher Osamu Higashio is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Eric Gregg was a National League umpire from 1975-1999.

Jim Bowden was the general manager of Cincinnati and of Washington and is currently a broadcaster for MLB Network Radio.

Two players who share a name with Minnesota Twins players, Scott Baker (1970) and Roy Smith (1976), were also born on this day.

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2019 Twins Game Logs

Game 44: Twins at Mariners

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So May 17th is a somewhat infamous day in Twins history. The way I see it, every year that they don't add to bad history is a win. And a win is like a double win.

The Twins'll pitch Perez against the Mariner's Marco Gonzales, who has been pretty solid this year. Hopefully they'll get to him early, so, like last night, folks can go to bed in the confidence that the bullpen will hold on.

Here's hoping for a double win!

Friday Music Day

FMD: 5/17/1981 – We Bought A Piano!

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So last week I found an old upright piano on craigslist. My family had looked at pianos for some time, but hadn't ever quite found a match. This was just a little one, without the huge full top, and it seemed like it would be perfect for the kids to maybe take lessons on. Or not. Just having a piano is awesome. Really, it's been a dream of mine ever since I was about in early high school...

See, my parents loved the idea of us growing up with a piano. They managed to find a free one, not far from where we lived, but they had to haul it. So they borrowed my uncle, and his truck, loaded it up, and set back home. I remember I was watching my brothers and sister, waiting anxiously. We had a split level, and so we'd have to carry the piano straight up the stairs immediately upon getting it in the door, and I was going to have to help. It was a big project. I remember the truck pulling in the driveway... no piano to be seen. My mom, dad, and uncle got out, and they were just laughing, harder than I'd ever seen. Eventually we were able to get the story out of them. "We were driving so slow," Dad said, "everything was perfect. But there was that curve... and as we went around it, the piano... it just started sliding to the other side of the truck... and then it just kept sliding." They held up a broken piece of wood. "It was shattered, on the side of the road," Mom continued, "and your dad gets out, and he looks at this twisted pile of wood and metal, and he says 'Do you think we can fix it?'" With this, they burst into laughter again, and directed us kids to go move the piano from the truck bed, piece by piece, to the firewood pile. Honestly, we had the best fires ever that summer.

So before I got ours, I had to figure out transport. I spent forever looking up how to move pianos, whether I should hire someone, etc. Ultimately, I arranged to borrow a truck and a trailer, and recruited my brother-in-law, after figuring out how to move a piano with just two guys. It turned out I put a lot of time figuring out the right ways to turn and flip pianos for nothing, since this was light enough that the two of us were able to carry it. We drove the 45 minutes, loaded it up - strapped it down like nobody's business - and drove back. And it was $75. Which, all told, is a pretty darn painless way to end up with a piano.

I've been tinkering on it just about every day. I don't know how to play piano, except for "Twinkle, Twinkle" or "Heart and Soul". But it's so much fun. I've decided to start teaching myself a few other songs, and already have part of "Werewolves of London" down. My kids enjoy it too, but they're less sure about it, since they know practice = work.

Anyway, we've got a piano now. And I love it.

If you've got any piano stories. Or tips. Or songs a beginner should aspire to play. Or a list you want to drop... whatever! Chime in. It's looking like a good day!

2019 Twins Game Recaps

2019 Recap: Game Forty-three

MINNESOTA 11, SEATTLE 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, May 16.

Batting stars:  C. J. Cron was 4-for-5 with a two-run homer, his tenth.  Eddie Rosario was 3-for-5.  Byron Buxton was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer (his third) and two runs.  Miguel Sano was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Jorge Polanco was 2-for-5.  Max Kepler was 1-for-4 with a home run, his ninth, and two runs.  Jason Castro was 1-for-5 with a home run (his seventh), scoring twice and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Michael Pineda pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and no walks and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Mitch Haniger was 2-for-4.  Daniel Vogelbach was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twelfth.  Mallex Smith was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Ryon Healy was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  J. P. Crawford was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Connor Sadzeck pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.

The game:  It was scoreless through two, but Castro changed that by leading off the third with a home run.  Kepler also homered in the inning, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Smith got one of the runs back with a home run of his own in the bottom of the third, making the score 2-1.

The Twins then broke it open with a big fourth inning.  Rosario singled and Cron homered to make it 4-1.  Marwin Gonzalez singled, Sano doubled, and a fielder's choice/error made the score 5-1.  Buxton then hit a three-run homer to increase the lead to 8-1.  The Twins still weren't done, as Kepler was hit by a pitch, Polanco singled, and an error brought home a run to make the score 9-1.

The Mariners got back-to-back homers from Healy and Crawford leading off the fifth to cut the margin to 9-3.  There was no more scoring, or even threats, until the eighth, when Buxton singled, took second on a wild pitch, and score on Polanco's single.

With the score 10-3, it was deemed safe to let Tyler Duffey pitch.  He retired Dee Gordon, but Haniger doubled, Edwin Encarnacion singled, and Vogelbach hit a three-run homer to cut the lead to 10-7.  To Duffey's credit, he regrouped to retire the next five batters.  The Twins added a run in the ninth on singles by Rosario and Cron and a double by Sano.

WP:  Pineda (3-3).  LP:  Erik Swanson (1-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Sano returned to the lineup, playing third base and batting seventh.  There is probably some wisdom in not throwing him into the middle of the lineup right away, although I assume he'll be put back up there at some point.  Gonzalez moved to first, with Cron taking the DH spot and Nelson Cruz still out of the lineup.  Jonathan Schoop batted third.  He's not really an ideal third-place hitter, of course, and he didn't get the job done last night, either, going 0-for-5.  Still, it didn't hurt them.

It had to feel good to Sano to get a couple of doubles in his first game back.  I gather that one of them was not exactly hard hit, but still, a double's a double.  One game proves nothing, of course, but at least he's off to a good start.

By game scores, last night was not Pineda's best start of the season.  That would be his first start, when he pitched four shutout innings against Cleveland.  I think most of us would agree that this one was better, though.  He gave up a few gopher balls, but this start would be the perfect illustration of "solo home runs don't hurt you".  He has gotten steadily better in his last few starts.  It is to be hoped the trend will continue.

This would seem to have been a perfect game to use new Twin Austin Adams.  Perhaps they wanted to give him more chance to get acclimated before using him in a game.  Or, perhaps they would've used him to pitch the ninth if Duffey had pitched a clean eighth.

Over the last two weeks, the Twins have played Toronto, the Angels, Detroit, and now Seattle.  Not exactly a tough schedule, but at least a couple of those teams are close to .500.  Over that same time, Cleveland has played the White Sox, Oakland, the White Sox again, and now Baltimore.  That's certainly no tougher schedule, and arguably an easier one.  Over that stretch, the Twins have gained 2.5 games on the Indians.  That strikes me as a good sign.

Record:  The Twins are 28-15, first in the American League Central, 4.5 games ahead of Cleveland.

Projected record:  We're still on track for 147-15!

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 15

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Hal Carlson (1892)
Del Webb (1899)
Cool Papa Bell (1903)
Ace Parker (1912)
Billy Hoeft (1932)
Ozzie Virgil (1932)
Dan Monzon (1946)
Carlos May (1948)
Pascual Perez (1957)
Greg Mathews (1962)
Jose Guillen (1976)
Carlos Pena (1978)

Del Webb was an owner of the New York Yankees from 1945-1964.

As you probably know, James "Cool Papa" Bell was a star in the Negro Leagues.  It was said that he was so fast he could turn out the light and be in bed before the room got dark.

Ace Parker is a member of both the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame.  He was an infielder for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1937-1938.

Left-hander Greg Mathews was drafted by Minnesota in the ninth round of the January draft in 1982, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Philosofer.

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