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2015 Twins Game Recaps

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.
2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 36: Twins hosting Rays. 7:10pm.

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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.

2015 Twins Game Recaps

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.

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 23 recap: Twins 1 White Sox 0

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Has Kyle Gibson turned a corner, or did he look good against a  White Sox lineup that cant score runs? Its probably a little of both but it resulted in another Twins win over the White Sox . Gibson had his sinker working, of his 24 outs recorded 13 were ground ball outs, 2 by fly ball and 4 by strikeout.  Perhaps the Nick Blackburn comparisons/ceiling projections are not that far off base. The Twins led 1-0 after 8, but Paul Molitor decided that was enough and sent Glen Perkins in for the 9th to get the save and preserve the shut out.

Jose Quintana had himself a nice game too, going 7 innings and giving up 1 run.  The run was scored by the speedster Kennys Vargas. While on second, Vargas tagged up on a ball to medium deep CF and scampered home on a wild pitch. The Twins have run at will on center fielder Adam Eaton's arm. And really, he has shown no accuracy and his throws so I think that trend will continue.

 

The Twins will try to win another one Saturday. Game time is 1:10pm.

NOTES

- After a 1-6 start, the Twins are 10-6 and are only 1 game below .500

-Torii Hunter collected two hits. Its his 3rd game of 20 played where he has 2 or more hits.

-Brian Dozier did NOT score a run, breaking a 5 game run scoring streak (plating 8 times in those 5 games). Dozier has scored at least 1 run in nine of the last eleven games.

-This is the third time in Gibson's career he has recorded 24 outs. He has not pitched a complete game.

-This is the third team shutout for Twins pitching. It took until May 21 last year to reach that mark.

- Roster Moves: Twins will activate Ricky Nolasco & Brian Duensing & have optioned Tommy Milone & Caleb Thielbar to AAA.

 

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 16 recap. Seattle 2 Minnesota 0

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Phil Hughes was awesome. 8 innings, 9 strikeouts, 0 walks (natch), but two solo home runs as all King Felix needed as the Seattle Mariners beat the Twins 2-0 in a game played in a little over two hours.

Hernadez was dominant early, taking a perfect game into the 5th inning before Trevor Plouffe hit a solid single. The Twins made some waves in the later innings of the game but could not plate the run. The best chance was in the 6th. Suzuki reached 2nd on a hit/error combo. Moved over to 3rd on an infield single by Jordan Schafer (he made one bunt attempt but whiffed), but Hernandez slammed the door.

One is supposed to cheer for the home team, and perhaps I am underselling how awesome Phil Hughes pitched tonight,  but I appreciate good baseball and watching King Felix is pretty darned good. I dont have a MLB package and the Mariners are never on national TV, so I dont get to watch him as often as I would like. Perhaps the M's will be half way good this year and get some national love.

NOTES

- Phil Hughes has 2 complete games as  a Twin. Both are 8 inning losses.

-This is Hughes' 4th career complete game. His first complete game was a shutout. But only 6 innings in a rain shortened game.

-Other pitchers with 2 CGs as a Twin: Brian Duensing, LaTroy Hawkins, Livan Hernandez, Les Straker, Luis Tiant, Bill Campbell, and more.

-Schafer's 6th inning infield single broke a 0-21 slump. Perhaps his time as a Twin is done at the end of April.

-This was Hernadez's 24th career complete game and 10th shutout.  CC Sabathia lead active players with 38 CGs and Tim Hudson leads with 13 SHO

-The Twins had 5 hits, all singles. This is the third time this year they have been extra baseless.

-The is the third time the Twins have been shutout. The first two happened in  Detroit in games 1 and 2.

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 15: Twins at Seattle. 9:10 central time.

29 Comments

West coast baseball for a short spell. The beginning of this game will compete with the Wild game so make sure you give your thumb a warm up before you furiously flip back and forth between the two games.

On paper, this is a good pitching matchup. Phil Hughes throws for the Twins, King Felix for Seattle. I hope the Twins win 2 out of 3 this weekend.