Game 21: nationals @ twins

Twenty games in the books. A full 1/8 of the season already done. How do the Twins look?

Well, they mostly look pretty good! The pitching has been excellent, led by a deep rotation and a pretty sharp high leverage bullpen. The Pablo Lopez trade has looked like a win/win, but the extension nudges it into the Twins' favor, I think. I loved the trade from the moment it was announced, and haven't seen anything to make me rethink it.

The hitting has been....less good, to be charitable. Gallo pretty much IS the offense at the moment. Getting Polanco back and sitting the next Denard Span Danny Santana squarely onto the bench will help, but a lot of the other pieces have to get moving. Jose Miranda has been slightly less valuable than Miguel Cabrera, which would be fantastic news....if it was 2012 - quite a bit less so in the year of our lord 2023.

Hosting the second worst team in baseball should help, but the non-Gallo contingent of the lineup is going to have to show up.

Luckily, one run is all they'll really need, because Pablo Lopez is in the mound, and he's going to be slinging zeroes all day. Let's go Twins!

Minor Details: Games of April 21

SAINTS 10, RAILRIDERS 9 IN ST. PAUL (11 INNINGS)

St. Paul led 6-3 and 7-6, but had to score three in the eleventh to win it.  Kyle Garlick hit a three-run homer to win the game.

Matt Wallner was 3-for-4 with a grand slam (his second homer), a double, and a walk.
Andrew Stevenson hit a home run, his second.
Garlick hit a three-run homer, his third.
The Saints had only seven hits but drew nine walks.

Simeon Woods Richardson was supposed to start, but he was called up to the majors, so Dereck Rodriguez got the call.  He pitched four innings, giving up three runs on two hits and three walks and struck out two.
Cole Sands pitched three innings, giving up one run on one hit.

DRILLERS 6, WIND SURGE 5 IN TULSA

Wichita led 4-2 and 5-4, but Tulsa scored one in the eighth to tie it and one in the ninth to win it.

Armani Smith was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.
Brooks Lee was 2-for-5.
Jake Rucker hit a home run, his second.

Aaron Rozek pitched four innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk and striking out four.
Jordan Brink struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning.

SKY CARP 4, KERNELS 3 IN BELOIT

Cedar Rapids led 3-2, but Joshua Zamora hit a two-run single in the eighth.

Willie Joe Garry, Jr. was 2-for-4 with a home run.
Noah Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a triple.

Starter Marco Raya pitched 2.2 innings, giving up two runs on one hit and three walks and striking out four.
John Wilson pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.
Alejandro Hidalgo, who had been scheduled to start the game, pitched four innings of relief, giving up two unearned runs on five hits and striking out four.

MIGHTY MUSSLES 13, HAMMERHEADS 2 IN FORT MYERS

Fort Myers scored five in the fifth and six in the seventh.

Danny De Andrade was 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.
Andrew Cossetti was 2-for-2 with a double.  He is batting .394 with an OPS of 1.372.  He also left the game early, and I don't know why.
Michael Helman was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.
Jorel Ortega was 2-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs.
Dylan Neuse was 2-for-5 with three runs.

Jose Olivares pitched 5.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk and striking out four.
Ben Ethridge struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

TODAY'S TILTS

2:07  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at St. Paul (Louie Varland, 1-0, 1.80)
3:05  Cedar Rapids (Orlando Rodriguez, 2-0, 0.00) at Beloit
5:00  Jupiter at Fort Myers (Zebby Matthews, 2-0, 0.00)
7:05  Wichita (Chad Donato, 0-1, 27.00) at Tulsa

Happy Birthday–April 22

Bob Smith (1895)
Taylor Douthit (1901)
Ray Benge (1902)
Lew Riggs (1910)
Mickey Vernon (1918)
John Orsino (1938)
Steve Jones (1941)
David Clyde (1955)
Moose Haas (1956)
Dave Schmidt (1957)
Terry Francona (1959)
Jimmy Key (1961)
Jack Savage (1964)
Mickey Morandini (1966)
George Williams (1969)
Tyson Ross (1987)
Dee Strange-Gordon (1988)
Kevin Kiermaier (1990)

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

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 22

Minor Details: Games of April 20

SAINTS 5, RAILRIDERS 4 IN ST. PAUL

St. Paul led 4-0 after three and held on.

Alex Kirilloff was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Hernan Perez was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second.
Jorge Polanco did not play.

Jose De Leon struck out five in four shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks.
Every reliever gave up exactly one run.

DRILLERS 3, WIND SURGE 0 IN TULSA

Tulsa scored one in the first, second, and fifth.  Wichita was shut out for the second consecutive game.

Wichita had five hits, all singles, and no batter had more than one.

Travis Adams pitched four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks and striking out four.
Tyler Beck pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and striking out one.
Michael Boyle retired all five men he faced, striking out one.

SKY CARP 3, KERLENS 2 IN BELOIT

Yiddi Cappe's RBI single in the seventh broke a 2-2 tie.

Kala'i Rosario was 4-for-4 with a triple and a double.

Jordan Carr pitched 4.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk and striking out three.
Mike Paredes struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Miguel Rodriguez pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

MIGHTY MUSSELS 11, HAMMERHEADS 1 IN FORT MYERS

Andrew Cossetti hit a grand slam in the third and Fort Myers added four in the fifth to take an 8-1 lead.

Cossetti was 2-for-4 with a grand slam (his fourth homer), a double, two runs, and seven RBIs.  He is batting .355 with an OPS of 1.280.
Danny De Andrade was 2-for-4 with a double.

Cory Lewis struck out six in five innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks.
Samuel Perez retired all eight men he faced, striking out one.
Jackson Hicks struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

TODAY'S TILTS

6:00  Jupiter at Fort Myers (TBD)
6:35  Cedar Rapids (Alejandro Hidalgo, 0-0, 5.40) at Beloit
6:37  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at St. Paul (Simeon Woods Richardson, 0-2, 9.00)
7:05  Wichita (TBD) at Tulsa