2023 Game 56: Minnesota Twins at Houston Astros

Louie Varland
vs
Hunter Brown

Final game against the Astros this season. The Twins won the series at home in early April and today's rubber match would make it two series wins against a good team.

This is Hunter Brown's rookie season, but not his first season as he tossed 20 ⅓ innings last year across seven games. He earned Houston's sole win in the first series with seven innings, two hits, and a single unearned run. Here's hoping the Twins have figured out a better plan of attack for their hot-or-not batters.

Minor Details: Games of May 30

SAINTS 9, BISONS 1 IN BUFFALO

Leading 4-1, St. Paul scored five in the ninth.

Matt Wallner was 3-for-5 with a home run (his fifth), a triple, a double, three runs, and four RBIs.
Mark Conteras was 3-for-5.
Jose Miranda was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs.

Kenta Maeda struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.
Caleb Thielbar pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.
Brent Headrick pitched five innings of relief, giving up one run on five hits.
Oliver Ortega pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

DRILLERS 9, WIND SURGE 8 IN WICHITA

Brandon Lewis' two-run single in the eighth broke a 6-6 tie.

Yunior Severino was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his eleventh) and a double.
Brooks Lee was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, and two runs.
Pat Winkel was 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.
Yoyner Fajardo was 2-for-5.
Alex Isola hit a two-run homer, his seventh.

Blayne Enlow struck out ten in 4.1 innings, but allowed five runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks.
Michael Boyle struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

KERNELS 5, LUGNUTS 4 IN LANSING

Tanner Schobel singled home the tying and go-ahead runs in the ninth.

Schobel was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

Jaylin Nowlin pitched six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk and striking out four.
Regi Grace pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

MIGHTY MUSSELS 6, METS 5 IN FORT MYERS

Dylan Neuse hit a two-run homer in a three-run sixth that gave Fort Myers a 5-4 lead.

Mikey Perez was 2-for-2 with a double.
Neuse was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, a double, and a walk.
Danny De Andrade hit a two-run homer, his second.

Develson Aria pitched four innings, giving up three runs on three hits and four walks and striking out three.
A. J. Labas struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two walks.

TODAY'S TILTS

10:05  Cedar Rapids (Kyle Jones, 2-3, 5.13) at Lansing
12:05  St. Paul (Aaron Sanchez, 2-4, 4.17) at Buffalo
6:00  St. Lucie at Fort Myers (C. J. Culpepper, 1-2, 3.08)
7:05  Tulsa at Wichita (Carlos Luna, 0-3, 5.68)

Happy Birthday–May 31

Socks Seibold (1896)
Edward Bennett Williams (1920)
Russ Goetz (1930)
Ray Washburn (1938)
Tippy Martinez (1950)
Joe Orsulak (1962)
Kenny Lofton (1967)
Bill Miller (1967)
Dave Roberts (1972)
Ray Olmedo (1981)
Jake Peavy (1981)

Edward Bennett Williams was the owner of the Baltimore Orioles from 1979-1988.

Russ Goetz was an American League umpire from 1968-1983.

Bill Miller has been a major league umpire since 2000.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 31

2023 Game Log 55 – Twins at Astros

After some heroics from Royce Lewis yesterday, Twins back at it tonight against Houston in an evening game. Joe Ryan on the mound vs. Brandon Bielak. Twins definitely come out ahead on today's pitching match up so hopefully the bats can be active and timely once again. No word this morning on Byron Buxton who was not in the line up yesterday. He's been pretty wretched at the plate since he dinged that knee so hopefully a few days off will get him back on track. LATE

UPDATE: Buxton in today's lineup. Hopefully the one day did him good.

First pitch at 7:10 from lovely Houston, TX.

Minor Details: How They Stand: May 30, 2023

The St. Paul Saints are 27-22, in second place in the International League West, 2.5 games behind first-place Iowa.

The Wichita Wind Surge is 20-24, in fourth place in the Texas League North, 9.5 games behind first-place Tulsa, a half game behind third-place Springfield.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels are 25-20, in first place in the Midwest League West, one game ahead of second-place Quad Cities.

The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are 25-20, in second place in the Florida State League West, 6.5 games behind Clearwater.

Happy Birthday–May 30

Amos Rusie (1871)
Turkey Mike Donlin (1878)
Rube Oldring (1884)
Al Mamaux (1894)
Twink Twining (1894)
Laymon Yokely (1906)
Turk Lown (1924)
Mel Nelson (1936)
Mike Sadek (1946)
Dana DeMuth (1956)
Mike LaCoss (1956)
Mike Oquist (1968)
John Courtright (1970)
Scott Eyre (1972)
Manny Ramirez (1972)
Mark Kiger (1980)
Fernando Salas (1985)
Tony Watson (1985)
Zack Wheeler (1990)

Dana DeMuth was a major league umpire from 1983 to 2019.

Mark Kiger is the only player to have played in the major leagues in the post-season but never have played in a regular season game.  An infielder, he was added to the Oakland roster when Mark Ellis fractured a finger.  He appeared in two games in the 2006 ALCS but did not bat.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 30