All posts by davidwatts

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 128 recap: No Mauer, No Sano, No Problem. Twins 3 Astros 0

Joe Mauer  was getting a day off (He has played in 125 of 128 games and only batting .231 against Scott Kazmir) and Miguel Sano getting a day off because of a tender hamstring. Well, the regulars and fills in made do and scored enough runs to get the Twins another win this week.

Eduardo Nunez replaced Sano and he hit a home run and got another RBI on a fielder choice (and really a nifty play by Jose Altuve. Made the stop deep to his right and threw an off balance throw to get Nunez by a half step). Torii Hunter drew a bases loaded hit-by-pitch to get the other run.

 

Kyle Gibson was OK, going 5 2/3 scattering 4 hits, issuing 4 walks, and striking out 4. The bullpen then went to work with Glen Perkin coming in the game in the 7th and striking out two. He looked like his pre-All Star Game form striking out two. Trevor May's assortment of 95 mph fast balls and dipsy-do curveballs pitched a clean 8th. Kevin Jepsen made things hairy in the 9th but got enough outs to preseve the shutout.

NOTES

-The Twins won a game despite only getting 3 hits. Two of those hits were for extra bases.

-Eduardo Nunez had a "whoopsie" moment when he tossed a ball towards first base and it ended up somewhere near the State Fair.

- After getting swept by New York the Twins have won 7 of the last 8 games.

- Kevin Jepsen notched his 4th save in a Twins uniform. Other notable pitchers  4 saves: John Candelaria, Hector Carrassco, Mark Portugal, Pete Filson.

- Kyle Gibson made his 67th career start as a Twin. That is 38th on the Twins list. If he pitches one more full season, he will crack into the Top 25. I find that fascinating because to me it goes to show how much roster turnover the Twins have had. Although Nick Blackburn made 137 starts and is 16th on that list, so sometimes stability is not the best.

 

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 128. Astros at Minnesota!

45 Comments

I think the phrase "biggest game at Target Field in 5 years" is a bit overblown, but hey its sports, everything is hyperbole!

 

No Mauer (tough matchup against Kazmir) and no Sano (tender hamstring) tonight for the Twins. Kind of a bummer, but whatever the Twins have dealt with worse. Like the evaporation of a starting pitcher getting more than 15 outs.

Kyle Gibson will try to buck that trend, again.

 

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 122 recap. Twins 4 Baltimore 3

6 Comments

The Yahoo! Play By Play recap for the 8th inning went like this

 

Darren O'Day

pitching

Miguel Sano walked
Trevor Plouffe singled to shallow right,  Miguel Sano to second
Torii Hunter hit by pitch,  Miguel Sano to third, Trevor Plouffe to second
Eddie Rosario hit sacrifice fly to right,
Miguel Sano scored, Trevor Plouffe to third. Torii Hunter to second advancing on throw
Kurt Suzuki singled to shallow right center, Trevor Plouffe and Torii Hunter scored

PIRANHA BALL IS BACK BABY!

Tommy Milone pitched well, just had literally three bad pitches in a row (single, single, hanging curveball for a home run on), but was pulled after running out of gas in the 6th. The bullpen was excellent with Fein putting out the fire in the 6th, getting outs in the 7th. Trevor May in the 8th and Kevin Jepsen struck out the side in the 9th. The Twins will try to build on their modest 2 game win streak Saturday.

NOTES

The Twins added some bullpen help by acquiring Neal Cotts from Milwaukee. AJ Acther is being sent down. I imagine he'll be back when rosters expand.

Did Brian Dozier score a run? NO Dozier went 1-5 with 4 LOB. He is stuck on 84 runs scored good for 2ns in the AL

Miguel Sano scored twice, and is now up to 25 runs in 42 games. Thats a pretty good rate!

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 109 ‘recap’ Twins 10 Cleveland 9

4 Comments

Because of a work call and a prior engagement, I didnt see too much of this game. The part I saw was Mike Pelfrey have a complete meltdown after being given a 6-0 then 7-4 lead. I try not to be really hard on players, after all the are humans and me yelling at my tv or computer at them does zero good, but Mike Pelfrey has made me break that personal rule. He needs to be at least demoted to the pen, DFA or Waiver Claim trade would be ideal.

The Twins busted out the whoopin sticks tonight, 9 of their 15 hits were for extra bases. That is a welcome sight for fans getting used to the team scoring 1 run a night and barely mustering a hit attack.

NOTES

Eddie Rosario hit two more triples tonight giving him 8 for the season. Surpringly, there have only been 19 other times in Twins history were a player hit at least 8 triples in a season. I thought it would be more.

Did Brian Dozier Score A Run? Yes, he score two runs giving him 78 for the year. Josh Donaldson leads the AL with 80, 65 of those scored against the Twins.

AJ Achter made his season debut tonight. He recorded 4 outs, all of them strikeouts. That is nice.

Trevor "Tony Fiore" May vultured another win.  He has 8 on the season. If he was a starter and had 8 wins, the Twins tv crew would be singing his praises as a quality pitcher.