MINNESOTA TWINS 6, SEATTLE MARINERS 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 8, 2009.

Batting stars:  Justin Morneau was 2-for-3 with a home run (his first), a double, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Jason Kubel was 2-for-4 with a double.  Alexi Casilla was 2-for-4.  Denard Span hit a two-run homer, his first.

Pitching stars:  Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Jesse Crain pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.  Joe Nathan pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jose Lopez was 2-for-4 with a home run, his first.  Russell Branyan hit a home run, his first.  Chris Jakubauskas struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the bottom of the first inning, as Alexi Casilla hit a one-out single and Justin Morneau hit a two-out two-run homer.  The lead lasted until the top of the second, when Adrian Beltre led off with a double and Russell Branyan followed with a two-run homer, tying the score at two.

The Twins got right back in front in the bottom of the second, as Carlos Gomez led off with a double and Denard Span hit a two-out two-run homer.  This time the lead lasted until the fourth, when Jose Lopez homered, Ronny Cedeno hit a two-out single, Yuniesky Betancourt followed with an RBI double, Endy Chavez got an infield single, and a wild pitch put Seattle ahead 5-4.

That lead didn’t last long, either.  In the fifth Denard Span led off with a single and went to second with two out on a wild pitch.  Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel then hit consecutive doubles to give the Twins a 6-5 advantage.

And that was it.  The bullpen held it from there.  The Mariners got a man to second base in the seventh, when Yuniesky Betancourt led off with a single and was bunted to second, but he was stranded there.  They got only one other baserunner, a one-out walk to Russell Branyan in the eighth, who never got past first base.

WP:  Kevin Slowey (1-0).

LP:  Carlos Silva (0-1).

S:  Joe Nathan (1).

Notes:  Jose Morales was behind the plate in place of Joe Mauer.  Nick Punto was at short.  He played the most games there with 58, followed by Orlando Cabrera with 57 and Brendan Harris with 56.  Denard Span was in left.  Delmon Young had the most games there with 98, followed by Span with 74.

Denard Span was batting .444.  He would finish at .311.  Jason Kubel was batting .375.  He would finish at .300.  Alexi Casilla was batting .308.  He would finish at .202.

Craig Breslow had an ERA of zero.  He would finish at 6.28.  Joe Nathan had an ERA of zero.  He would finish at 2.10.

Carlos Silva started for Seattle.  He had pitched for the Twins from 2004-2007.

It’s always interesting to me how some guys get chance after chance and others, at most, get one.  Chris Jakubauskas pitched in parts of three seasons and in 69 major league games, 15 of them starts.  He went 8-10, 5.58, 1.46 WHIP.  In no season did he have an ERA under five.  Give him credit for persistence–he spent over four years in independent ball before he even got to a major league organization.  Unfortunately, he was a better story than he was a pitcher.

Record:  Seattle was 1-2, tied for third with Los Angeles in the AL West, 1.5 games behind Texas.  They would finish 85-77, in third place, twelve games behind Los Angeles.

The Twins were 2-1, in first place in the AL Central, a half game ahead of Chicago and Kansas City.  They would finish 87-76, in first place, one game ahead of Detroit due to winning game 163.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 44-46 (.489).

MINNESOTA TWINS 9, TEXAS RANGERS 6, IN TEXAS

Date:  Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Batting star:  Joe Mauer was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth) and three RBIs.  Michael Cuddyer was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Brendan Harris was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Denard Span was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Delmon Young was 2-for-5 with a home run (his seventh), a double, and four RBIs.  Orlando Cabrera was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Jesse Crain pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one.  Matt Guerrier pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.  Ian Kinsler hit a three-run homer, his twenty-sixth.

Opposition star:  Julio Borbon was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Omar Vizquel was 2-for-4.  Michael Young was 2-for-5.

The game:  Julio Borbon and Michael Young led off the bottom of the first with singles, putting men on first and third, but could only score one on a double play.  In the third, though, they appeared to take control of the game. Borbon led off the inning with a walk.  With one out, Josh Hamilton hit an RBI double.  Marlon Byrd walked.  The next man went out, but Ian Kinsler hit a three-run homer, giving Texas a 5-0 lead.

Joe Mauer led off the fourth with a home run, but it was still 5-1 going to the sixth.  In the sixth, however, Orlando Cabrera led off with a single-plus-error and scored on a Brendan Harris single.  Singles by Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede produced another run, and Delmon Young followed with a two-run double, tying the score 5-5.

The Rangers got the lead back in the bottom of the sixth on two-out singles by Omar Vizquel, Julio Borbon, and Michael Young.  Undaunted, the Twins went into the lead to stay in the seventh.  Joe Mauer again led off with a home run to tie the game.  Brendan Harris followed with an infield single, and with two out Delmon Young delivered a two-run homer to put the Twins ahead 8-6.  They got an extra insurance run in the eighth on consecutive singles by Denard Span, Orlando Cabrera, and Mauer to make it 9-6.  Texas did not bring the tying run to bat after that, and the Twins came away with a victory.

WP:  Jesse Crain (4-4).

LP:  Jason Jennings (2-4).

S:  Joe Nathan (30).

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was at first base in place of Justin Morneau.  Nick Punto was at second base.  Alexi Casilla played the most games there with 72, with Punto right behind at 63.  Denard Span was in right field in place of Cuddyer.

Joe Mauer was batting .383.  He would finish at a league-leading .365.  Jason Kubel was batting .311.  He would finish at .300.

Carl Pavano started for the Twins.  This was his third start as a Twin, having been traded from Cleveland for a player to be named later, who turned out to be named Yohan Pino.  He would pitch for the Twins through 2012.  He was really good in 2010, going 17-11, 3.75, 1.20 WHIP and leading the league in complete games and shutouts.  He was still decent in 2011, but that was about it for him.

Philip Humber pitched 1.1 innings of relief for the Twins.  He would appear in only three more games for the Twins.  He would pitch for four more seasons and was pretty good in one of them, 2011 with the White Sox.  He was somehow able to pitch in parts of eight seasons and make 51 starts while compiling a record of 16-23, 5.21, 1.42 WHIP.

Joe Mauer won his third batting title in 2009 and had his best season.  He batted .365/.444/.587, leading the league in each of those categories, and, of course, in OPS and OPS+.  Plus Gold Glove defense.  An amazing season.

Texas catcher Taylor Teagarden played for parts of eight seasons, but this was the only one in which he got more than eighty-five at-bats.  He had 510 at-bats in his career and batted .202/.260./376.  One assumes he was considered good defensively and a good guy in the clubhouse.

Record:  Texas was 67-51, in second place in the AL West, 5.5 games behind Los Angeles.  They would finish 87-75, in second place, ten games behind Los Angeles.

The Twins were 57-62, in third place in the AL Central, 6.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 87-76, in first place, one game ahead of Detroit due to winning game 163.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 43-46 (.483).