Minor Details: Games of May 3

SAINTS 5, SOUNDS 3 IN ST. PAUL

Matt Wallner hit a two-run double in the eighth to give St. Paul a 4-3 lead.

Michael Helman was 3-for-4 with a double.
Alex Kirilloff was 2-for-4.

Starter Jordan Balazovic struck out six in 3.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit and three walks.
Jorge Alcala struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and three walks.
Kody Funderburk struck out the only man he faced.

WIND SURGE 3, NATURALS 1 IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

Anthony Prato's two-run single in the seventh broke a 1-1 tie.

Brooks Lee was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.
Prato was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Aaron Rozek pitched 5.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits and striking out two.
Tyler Beck pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.
Alex Scherff pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

KERNELS 9, CUBS 5 IN SOUTH BEND

Cedar Rapids scored six in the ninth to break a 3-3 tie.  Kyler Fedco had a three-run double in the inning.

Kala'i Rosario was 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.
Tanner Schobel was 2-for-5.
Ben Ross was 2-for-5.
Jose Salas hit a home run.

Alejandro Hidalgo struck out nine in 5.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk.
Niklas Rimmel struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

BLUE JAYS 5, MIGHTY MUSSELS 4 IN FORT MYERS

Fort Myers had the bases loaded with two out in the ninth, but Jorel Ortega struck out to end the game.

Dalton Shuffield was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Jose Olivares pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out four.
A. J. Labas retired all four men he faced, striking out two.

TODAY'S TILTS

6:00  Dunedin at Fort Myers (Zebby Matthews, 3-0, 3.10)
6:05  Cedar Rapids (Orlando Rodriguez, 2-1, 1.59) at South Bend
6:37  Nashville at St. Paul (Brent Headrick, 0-0, 6.00)
7:05  Wichita (Chad Donato, 0-2, 12.54) at Northwest Arkansas

TBD gets a day off.

Happy Birthday–May 4

Charlie Hickman (1876)
Jack Tobin (1892)
John Tsitouris (1936)
Rene Lachemann (1945)
Ken Oberkfell (1956)
Rick Leach (1957)
Tim Tschida (1960)
Eddie Perez (1968)
Joe Borowski (1971)
Miguel Cairo (1974)
Ben Grieve (1976)
Jason Michaels (1976)
Ryan Jorgensen (1979)
Matt Tolbert (1982)
Kevin Slowey (1984)

 St. Paul native Tim Tschida was a major league umpire from 1986-2012.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 4

2023 Game 31: Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox

Louie Varland
vs
Dylan Cease

Overall good pitching last night. Not so much the same for the batting part. The White Sox, through yesterday, have averaged 6.17 runs allowed per game while the Twins have scored an average of 4.53 runs per game. Today is a good day to get closer to those averages. Cease strikes out a bunch and the Twins love strikeouts, ranking fifth in most batter strikeouts. I'd suggest stealing some bases as Cease also walks four per nine, but that's simply not happening with this team.

Happy Birthday–May 3

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

George Gore (1857)
Garry Herrmann (1859)
Eppa Rixey (1891)
Red Ruffing (1905)
Goose Tatum (1921)
Chuck Hinton (1934)
Chris Cannizzaro (1938)
Davey Lopes (1945)
Dan Iassogna (1969)
Darren Dreifort (1972)
Ryan Dempster (1977)
Homer Bailey (1986)
Ben Revere (1988)
Mike Morin (1991)
Edwar Colina (1997)

Garry Herrmann was the president of the Cincinnati Reds from 1903-1920 and was chair of the National Commission from its creation in 1903 until the commissioner's office was created in 1920.  It is puzzling that he is not in the Hall of Fame.

Better known as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Goose Tatum played in the Negro Leagues for several years in the 1940s.

Dan Iassogna has been a major league umpire since 1999.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 3

2023 Game Log 30 – Twins at White Sox

Twins at The Rate for the first time this year against the comically bad White Sox. White Sox have spent the first month of the year mixing poor pitching and lousy batting to their usual menu of atrocious fielding which unsurprisingly has led to a sub .300 record. You hate to see it.

Michael Kopech on the mound for the Whities and even though the Twins can bring out the ass bats with the worst of them, hopefully Kopech's 7.01 ERA and 1.71 WHIP will strike no fear in Twins batters hearts. Joe Ryan puts his undefeated record on the line and looking to add a league leading 6th win to his 2023 totals.

Looks like a chilly but dry night for baseball on the Southside tonight. First pitch scheduled for 6:10.

Twins Lineup:
DH - Byron Buxton
2B - Jorge Polanco
SS - Carlos Correa
LF - Trevor Larnach
3B - Jose Miranda
RF - Max Kepler
1B - Joey Gallo
C - Christian Vázquez
CF - Michael A. Taylor

Minor Details: Where They Stand: May 2

The St. Paul Saints are 15-10, in fourth place in the International League West, two games behind Memphis, 1.5 games behind second place Iowa and Toledo.

The Wichita Wind Surge is 9-12, tied for fourth (last) place in the Texas League North with Springfield, five games behind Arkansas, one game behind third-place Northwest Arkansas.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels are 9-11, tied for third place in the Midwest League West with Quad Cities, five games behind Beloit, 3.5 games behind second-place South Bend.

The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are 12-9, in third place in the Florida State League West, three games behind Clearwater, one game behind second-place Bradenton.