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All posts by davidwatts
Game 55 recap: Milwaukee 10 Twins 5
Sometimes awesome things happen at baseball games. The hot topic around the Twins-sphere today was Joe Mauer's bunt in Boston. Today, he answers the critics by pulling (!) a 3run (!!) home run (!!!) to tie the game at 5. Or a guy with a sub 5.0 k/9 rate getting 9 strikeouts in 7 innings. Good job Kyle Gibson!
Sometimes not so awesome things happen, like the Brewers taking sinkerballer Kyle Gibson deep 3 times. Or Torii Hunter misplaying a line drive that leads to the go ahead run. Or an infield fly that travels 25 feet from home is allowed to drop in and Adam Lind can easily lumber in from second base to score a run. And also not awesome is the Twins losing to the Brewers. yuck.
But, there are still two more games in the series. We can still get a series win.
Notes:
- Mauer's home run was his 111th of his career and passed Roy Smalley on the Twins HR list. Next up is Jacque Jones with 132.
-Mauer is already 10th on the franchise RBI list. With 3 tonight he has 722. Rod Carew had 733 and Torii Hunter added one more tonight, he has 747
- Kyle Gibson had a career high 9 strikeouts. His previous high was 8 and that happened only two starts ago against the White Sox.
Game 55 Twins hosting Milwaukee. 7:10pm.
I cant say much about the team because due to working long hours and falling asleep at 8:30 most nights I have missed a lot of Twins baseball.
All I know is that the Twins are good, Milwaukee is bad and on their second manager this year. Ron Roenicke wen 7-18 and Craig Counsell hasnt done much better at 11-18.
Game 47???? Blue Jays at Twins.
This game will start with a rain delay. Yippeeeee.
Game 42 Twins at Chicago
game in progress
Game 41 recap: White Sox 3 Twins 2.
It started with a bunt.
White Sox starter Jeff Samardzija was struggling in the first and second inning. He was running counts 3-2 on batters and the Twins got 2 runs in the first and Ed Escobar led off the 2nd with a walk. Then a bunt. A first pitch bunt by Eddie Rosario halted all that momentum. Sure he was trying for a base hit and was credited for a sac but that pitch, that play seemed to have thing click on for The Shark. Next batter Aaron Hick swung at the first pitch and hit a lazy fly ball and Santana struck out and that was all she wrote for the Twins offense.
Phil Hughes pitched well except for the 4th inning where the wheels fell off. A walk, a defensive misplay and a misplaced pitch led to 2 runs. Hughes was lifted after 7 inning even though he had 89 pitches (72 strikes!) and was in control. Aaron Thompson came in and walk the second batter he faced and that run came around to score Twins lose 3-2.
NOTES
- Joe Mauer stole third base in the first inning and it led to sac fly by Plouffe. Mauer is 3 for 4 in stealing 3rd. His last attempt was in 2010.
- Mauer has 25 RBI this season, a team high.
- Mauer has 9 doubles, giving him 12 extra base hits this year. That is 4th most on the Twins (Dozier, Plouffe, Hunter)
Game 41 Twins at White Sox 7:10pm.
Lets take a look at the AL Central Standings
Team W L GB
KCR 26 14 --
DET 25 17 2.0
MIN 23 17 3.0
CHW 18 20 7.0
CLE 17 23 9.0
We almost to Memorial Day and the Twins are still in the thick of the race. Thats awesome! Bonus action this weeks is that if the Twins sweep, they really put a world of hurt to the Pale Hosers, and thats always great.
Go Twins Go.
Game 36 recap: Twins 3, Rays 2.
It looked like it was going to be one of those games where a Twins starting pitcher goes strong but the offense cant score enough runs. But, thats not what happened as the Twins rallied in the 7th to win 3-2 at Target Field Friday night.
The Rays took the lead in the 2nd on a David DeJesus solo home run. The Twins answered back in the 3rd with a Brian Dozier birthday blast. In the 5th is where things got frustrating. 2 outs and a runner on second and Kevin Keirmaier hits a soft pop up to left field. Eduardo Escobar looks like he had a play on it, then pulled up and let the ball fall in and Joey Butler easily scores. Im pretty sure Delmon Young makes that play.
I like Double E, but is it worth having a guy whose career batting slash line of .254/.297/.365/.662 and playing wobbly, but average defense out there when the potential future mainstay Eddie Rosario is up and sitting on the bench (although he made a pinch hitting appearance tonight)? I suppose if the team is winning more games than losing you dont want to rock the boat too much and keep the same guys out there.
Anyway, the Twins took the lead in the 7th on a Aaron hick single, Danny Santana triple, and Brian Dozier sac fly. Blaine Boyer pitched a scoreless 8th and Glen Perkins saved it in the 9th.
NOTES
- Glen Perkins now has 100 career saves. Joe Nathan, Rick Aguilera, Eddie Guardado, Ron Davis, and Jeff Reardon are also in the 100+ Save as a Twin Club.
-The Twins have hit at least 1 triple in 3 of the last 4 games (5 total in that span)
-Phil Hughes was credited with a win, his 19th as a Twin. Other Twins players with 19 wins include Keith Atherton, Matt Guerrier, Ron Davis, Roy Smith, and Scott Diamond.
-Did Brian Dozier score a run? Yes. He is now at 26 for the season. A little bit behind last years pace where he had 34 runs scored after 26 team games.
Game 36: Twins hosting Rays. 7:10pm.
The Twins are coming of a disappointing series in Detroit, only winning 1 of 3 games. Overall I would say the season is a bit surprising on the good side. It just may by one of those deal where Detroit is a real bad matchup for us and they are going to win 14 games against us ever year.
The Twins come home to play Tampa. Phil Hughes starts for the Twins. Jake Odorizzi throws for the Rays. Odorizzi has an interesting transaction history as he has been part of two mega deals in 5 years. First the Zach Grienke to the Brewers trade (a trade decidedly in favor of the Royals) and the second trade was the Wil Myers/Ordorizzi to the Rays and the Royals get James Shields/Wade Davis. That trade seems to have worked out for both teams (Myers being spun off tot he Padres this past off season). Further down the road, it will be interesting to make a Odorizzi Trade Tree.
Go Twins Go.
Game 30 Recap: Twins alot Cleveland not enough.
Mike Pelfrey was solid, Torii Hunter had his best day of the year at the plate, and the Twins continue to win more than they lose in a 9-3 romp over Cleveland.
I suppose this is a good night to have a discussion about Hunter. Most people, including me, did not like the signing. He is old, not a great defensive player, and threw players under the bus. He started off the season terribly, but has come on strong lately (batting avg up to .280 hitting more doubles and HRs). I am wondering if anyone has changed their opinion on Hunter? Or even softened their stance to a grudging acceptance? I kind of fall into that camp. But then ii will take to Twitter and I just want him to go away.
Anyway, Hunter went 4-4 with 3 extra base hits (2 doubles and a HR) to lead the Twins offense. He would have had 3 doubles but was thrown out by a good distance trying to stretch a single into a double.
Pelfrey had a wobbly start and Cleveland struck for 2 runs in the 3rd inning. but settled down and ended up going 7 innings. I'll take that from Pelf every start. Although the zero strikeouts are a bit worrying.
NOTES
-The Twins scored in 6 of the 9 innings.
- JR Graham finally got the Twins off the no strikeout schneid. The 1 team strikeout matches a season low, done two other times .
- The Twins had 6 doubles that is a season high.
- Every Twins batter had either a run scored, or an RBI
- Hunter now has 473 career doubles, tied for 74th all time with Carlos Delgado, Jimmy Rollins, Dwight Evans, and Ted Simmons.
- The Twins are 8-2 in the last 10 games. While Cleveland drops to a .367 win percentage, last place in the AL.