All posts by Jeff A

Where They Stand

Minnesota is 39-47, fourth in the AL Central, eight games behind Cleveland.  The Twins won their last game and are 7-3 in their last ten games.

Rochester is 34-52, sixth in the IL North, 15.5 games behind Lehigh Valley.  The Red Wings have won two in a row and are 4-6 in their last ten games.

New Britain is 45-39, third in the EL East, 4 games behind New Hampshire.  The Rock Cats have won two in a row and are 4-6 in their last ten games.

Ft. Myers is 6-8, fifth in the FSL South, 2.5 games behind St. Lucie, Bradenton, and Palm Beach.  The Miracle lost its last game and is 6-4 in its last ten games.

Beloit is 8-6, tied for second in the ML West, 1 game behind Kane County.  The Snappers won their last game and are 4-6 in their last ten games.

Elizabethton is 9-8, second in the AL West, 3 games behind Johnson City.  The Twins have won three in a row and are 5-5 in their last ten games.

The GCL Twins are 8-8, tied for second in the GCL South, 0.5 games behind the Orioles.  The Twins won their last game and are 5-5 in their last ten games.

The DSL Twins are 22-11, tied for first with the White Sox in the B. C. B. C.  The Twins lost their last game and are 7-3 in their last ten games.

This Week in Twins Transactions

Delmon Young was sent to Rochester on a rehab assignment.
Jake Stevens was promoted from New Britain to Rochester.
Jeff Manship was activated from the disabled list by Rochester.
Anthony Slama was placed on the seven day disabled list by Rochester.
Kevin Slowey was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain on his rehab assignment.
Bruce Pugh was sent from New Britain to Ft. Myers.
Dakota Watts was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Joe Benson was sent to the GCL Twins on a rehab assignment, then was activated from the disabled list by New Britain.
Kyle Knudson was placed on the seven day disabled list by Beloit.
Matthew Summers was assigned to Elizabethton.
Stephen Wickens was activated by the GCL Twins
Kelvin Mention was transferred from the seven day disabled list to the sixty day disabled list by the GCL Twins.

This Week in Ex-Twins

Arizona organization (AAA Reno) activates David Winfree from the disabled list.
Cubs purchase the contract of Ramon Ortiz from AAA Iowa.
White Sox organization (AAA Charlotte) places Michael Restovich on the seven day disabled list.
Dodgers place Casey Blake on the fifteen day disabled list.
Yankees organization (AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) releases Bartolo Colon.
Yankees organization (AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) places Mike Lamb on the seven day disabled list.
Oakland assigns Grant Balfour to Sacramento (AAA) on a rehab assignment, then activates him from the disabled list.
Pittsburgh assigns Joe Beimel to Bradenton (A) on a rehab assignment, then sends him to Altoona (AA).
San Diego promotes Bobby Kielty from San Antonio (AA), where he was on a rehab assignment, to Tucson (AAA).

Minor Details: Games of 7/7

Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 4 in Rochester.  Chase Lambin hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie.  Lambin was 3-for-3; he also singled, doubled, and walked, scoring three times.  Delmon Young and Steve Singleton each had two hits.  Scott Diamond pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on ten hits and a walk.  Dusty Hughes worked a scoreless eighth, walking two, to get the win, and Jim Hoey struck out the side in the ninth to get his second save.

New Britain 4, New Hampshire 3 in New Hampshire (12 innings—completion of suspended game).  Chris Herrmann’s two-out single brought in Yangervis Solarte with the winning run.  Seven Rock Cats had one hit each.  Blake Martin worked four shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out three.  Tony Davis got the win with two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.  Ex-Twins Yohan Pino and Bobby Korecky each pitched for the Fisher Cats, with Korecky taking the loss.

New Britain 5, New Hampshire 2 (Game 2—Scheduled 7 innings).  The Rock Cats scored all of their runs in the seventh inning.  Evan Bigley had two hits.  Steve Hirschfeld struck out five in six innings, giving up a run on three hits and two walks to get the win.

St. Lucie 5, Ft. Myers 1 in St. Lucie.  The Mets scored three in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie.  Jon Goncalves had two doubles.  Aaron Hicks singled and doubled.  Pat Dean allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits in six innings.  He struck out five and walked none.

Beloit 10, Peoria 4 in Peoria.  The Snappers scored four in the fourth to take a commanding 8-3 lead.  Andy Leer had two singles and a double.  Lance Ray singled and homered.  Jairo Perez singled and doubled, bringing his average back up to .396.  Wang-wei Lin had two hits.  B. J. Hermsen gave up three runs on six hits and a walk in six innings.

Elizabethton 9, Kingsport 7 in Kingsport.  The Twins built a 9-3 lead after five, then held on.  Roy Larson had two two-baggers.  Tyler Koelling singled and homered, driving in three.  Miguel Sano singled and tripled, raising his average to .310.  Rory Rhodes, Matej Hejma, and Justin Parker each had two hits.  Starter Pedro Guerra struck out six in 3.2 innings, but also allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits.  He walked none.  The win went to Bart Carter, who struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings.  Madison Boer struck out the side in the ninth for his third save.

GCL Orioles 3, Twins 1 (Game 1—Scheduled 7 innings).  The Orioles scored single runs in the third, fourth, and sixth.  Drew Leachman singled and tripled.  Hung Yi Chen struck out four in three innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and no walks.  Cole Johnson took the loss, as he gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks while striking out four in four innings.  The Twins made four errors.

GCL Twins 3, Orioles 1 (Game 2—Scheduled 7 innings).  A two-run third provided all the runs the Twins needed.  Aderlin Mejia and Jorge Polanco each had two hits, with Mejia raising his average to .368.  Starter Bobby O’Neill pitched three shutout innings, giving up just one hit.  Matthew Tomshaw got the win, striking out two in two shutout innings.  Luis Nunez worked the last two innings, allowing a run on three hits and a walk while striking out three to get the save.

DSL Diamondbacks 14, Twins 4 at Diamondbacks.  The Diamondbacks scored five in the first and ten in the first four.  Dubal Baez and Pedro Estaba each had two hits.  Starter Javier Vargas faced six batters and did not retire any of them, giving up three hits and a walk and hitting two.  He was charged with all five first inning runs.  Each of the four relief pitchers allowed at least one run as well.  The Twins made three errors, walked eight batters, and hit four.

Happy Birthday–July 8

Hank O'Day (1862)
Ivey Wingo (1890)
Clint Brown (1903)
Salty Parker (1912)
Antonio Ramirez Muno (1927)
Hector Lopez (1929)
Al Spangler (1933)
Darrell Brandon (1940)
Ken Sanders (1941)
Jim Ollom (1945)
Lerrin LaGrow (1948)
Alan Ashby (1951)
Terry Puhl (1956)
Bob Kipper (1964)
Jerome Walton (1965)
Bobby Ayala (1969)
Danny Ardoin (1974)

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to AMR’s daughter.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 8

Minor Details: Games of 7/6

Rochester 7, Lehigh Valley 0 in Rochester.  Four Red Wings pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter.  Jeff Manship pitched the first four innings, walking two and striking out four.  Jake Stevens worked the next three, walking one and striking out four.  Kyle Waldrop and Jim Hoey each pitched a perfect inning.  Stevens was credited with the win.  Dustin Martin doubled twice and scored three times.  Nate Roberts had two hits.  Chase Lambin drove in three runs.  Delmon Young hit a double in four at-bats.

New Britain 1, New Hampshire 0 in New Hampshire. (Game suspended in the bottom of the third).  The game will be completed before the regularly scheduled game this evening.  The Rock Cats do not have a hit yet; the run scored on a two-base error, a wild pitch, and a ground out.  Deinys Suarez did the pitching for the Rock Cats.

Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 2 in St. Lucie (11 innings).  The winning run scored on an error, a wild pitch, a fly out, and another error.  Derek McCallum had two hits.  Jhon Garcia worked six innings, giving up a run on six hits and two walks.  Matt Schuld got the win, giving up a run on five hits in four innings.  Matt Hauser pitced a perfect eleventh to get the save.

Peoria 3, Beloit 2 in Peoria.  The Snappers scored two in the top of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead, but the Chiefs got two in the bottom of the seventh to win.  Michael Gonzales singled and hit his twelfth homer of the year.  Andrew Achter gave up a run on four hits and a walk in six innings, striking out five.  Jose Gonzalez took the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in two innings.

Elizabethton 9, Kingsport 3 in Kingsport.  The Twins scored four in the first and four in the third.  Miguel Sano singled, doubled, and tripled, scoring three times to raise his average to .303.  Nick Lockwood singled and doubled.  Jairo Rodriguez had two hits.  Todd Van Steensel pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and a walk.

GCL Orioles 5, Twins 3 at Twins (Game 1—Scheduled 7 innings).  The Twins had five hits and made four errors.  Angel Mata allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out three in three innings.  Tyler Herr took the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk while striking out three in 2.1 innings.

GCL Orioles at Twins (Game 2).  Postponed.

DSL Twins 3, Padres 2 at Twins.  The Twins scored two in the eighth to overcome a 2-1 deficit.  The Twins had only three hits in the game while making three errors.  Starter Felix Jorge gave up two unearned runs on a hit and a walk while striking out three in three innings.  Jose Abreu pitched three hitless innings.  Melciades De La Cruz got the win with a scoreless eighth and Francisco Nunez got the save with a scoreless ninth.

Happy Birthday–July 7

George Moriarty (1885)
Double Duty Radcliffe (1902)
Satchel Paige (1906)
Billy Herman (1909)
Sammy White (1927)
John Gordon (1930)
Bill Melton (1945)
Tommy Moore (1948)
Dan Gladden (1957)
Tim Teufel (1958)
Dave Burba (1966)
Jeff Shaw (1966)
Chuck Knoblauch (1968)
Matt Mantei (1973)
John Buck (1980)

Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe played in the Negro Leagues for many years.  He got his nickname because he would sometimes catch one game of a doubleheader and pitch the other.  He played professionally until 1954, when he retired at age 52.  He is the oldest player to ever appear in a professional baseball game, throwing one pitch for the Schaumberg Flyers of the Northern League in 1999 when he was 96.

John Gordon, of course, has been a radio broadcaster for the Twins since 1987.

Tommy Moore was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-eighth round in 1966, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 7

Minor Details: Games of 7/5

Pawtucket 4, Rochester 2 in Rochester (Game 2—Scheduled 7 innings).  The Red Sox scored all their runs in the first three innings.  Nate Roberts singled and homered.  Jeff Bailey had two hits.  Trevor Plouffe was hit his fifteenth homer and walked three times, raising his average to .308.  Delmon Young was 0-for-3.  Starter Cole DeVries surrendered four runs on eight hits and two walks in 2.2 innings.  Thomas Diamond pitched 2.2 scoreless innings despite giving up four hits and three walks.

 

New Hampshire 7, New Britain 2 in New Hampshire.  A four-run fifth put the game away for the Fisher Cats.  Chris Parmelee hit a home run, his seventh.  Brett Jacobson surrendered all seven runs on ten hits and two walks in five innings.  He struck out six.  Deolis Guerra struck out two in two shutout innings.

 

St. Lucie 9, Ft. Myers 2 in St. Lucie.  The Miracle tied the score with two in the sixth, but the Mets took the lead back with two in the bottom of the sixth and took command with five in the seventh.  The Miracle had only four hits.  Kane Holbrooks gave up two runs on nine hits and a walk in five innings.  Ricky Bowen took the loss, surrendering two runs on two hits and a walk in just one inning.

 

Wisconsin 8, Beloit 3 in Beloit.  The Snappers led 3-0 after two, but a four-run fifth gave the Timber Rattlers the lead for good.  Tyler Grimes continued his good start, hitting a homer and a single.  Adam Bryant had a single and a double.  Manuel Soliman allowed six runs on seven hits and a walk in 4.1 innings.

 

Elizabethton 6, Kingsport 4 in Kingsport.  The Twins scored two in the ninth to break a 4-4 tie.  Niko Goodrum had two hits and Miguel Sano hit a three-run homer, his third.  Tim Shibuya allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in four innings, striking out three, but the bullpen came through with five scoreless innings.  Derek Christensen worked two and Pedro Guerra, Madison Boer, and Matthew Summers worked one each.  Boer got the win and Summers the save.

 

GCL Twins 8, Rays 3 at Rays.  A three-run first propelled the Twins to victory.  Michael Quesada hit two home runs, his first two of the season, and drove in six.  Joshua Hendricks had two singles and a double to raise his average to .323.  Phillip Chapman had two doubles, raising his average to .381.  Starter Hein Robb pitched three shutout innings, with perfection being marred only by an error.  Matthew Tomshaw got the win despite allowing two runs (one earned) on a hit.  He struck out two.  Marcus Limon struck out three in three shutout innings.

 

DSL Reds at Twins.  Postponed.

Minor Details: Games of 7/4

Pawtucket 6, Rochester 3 in Rochester.  The Red Sox scored three in the first and three in the fourth.  Trevor Plouffe, Aaron Bates, and Chase Lambin each had two hits, with Bates raising his average to .333.  Delmon Young was 1-for-4 with a double.  Eric Hacker allowed all six runs on four hits and five walks in seven innings.

New Hampshire 11, New Britain 1 in New Hampshire.  The Fisher Cats took a commanding lead with four in the fourth and put it away with five in the eighth.  Mike Hollimon’s home run was the Rock Cats’ only run.  The Rock Cats made four errors.  Bobby Lanigan struck out seven in six innings, but gave up six runs (one earned) on nine hits and a walk.

Ft. Myers 9, St. Lucie 5 in St. Lucie.  The Miracle scored five in the third and never trailed.  Oswaldo Arcia had four hits including a double and drove in three.  James Beresford had three hits and scored three times.  Danny Rams singled and homered, driving in three.  Anderson Hidalgo had two hits to raise his average to .306.  Logan Darnell went seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks.  Andrew Albers struck out three in two shutout innings to get the save.

Wisconsin 11, Beloit 8 in Beloit (11 innings).  The Snappers led 6-1 after three, but fell behind and needed a run in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.  Jairo Perez singled and homered, driving in four but dropping his average to .410.  Daniel Ortiz singled and doubled.  Nate Roberts and Michael Gonzales each had two hits.  Ryan O’Rourke struck out eight in 5.2 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits with no walks.  Michael Tonkin took the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in 1.1 innings.  The Snappers made four errors.

Greeneville 6, Elizabethton 3 in Elizabethton.  The Astros scored four in the fifth.  The Twins had seven hits, but no Twin had more than one.  David Hurlbut allowed four runs on nine hits in four innings.  He did not walk anyone.

GCL Twins 3, Rays 2 at Twins (Game 1).  The Twins fell behind 2-0 after three, but scored single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh.  The Twins had six hits, but no Twin had more than one.  Ricardo Arevalo struck out five in three innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk.  Tyler Herr got the win with two shutout innings.  Kyle Wahl also pitched two shutout innings to get the save.

GCL Twins 6, Rays 2 at Rays (Game 2).  The Twins scored four in the eighth to overcome a 2-1 deficit.  Joshua Hendricks was 3-for-3 with two walks.  Michael Quesada singled and doubled, scoring three times.  Starter Angel Mata struck out five in three innings, giving up four hits and a walk.  The win went to Luis Nunez, who struck out nine in four hitless innings, walking two.  Nick Cicio struck out four in two perfect innings of relief.

DSL Twins at Rockies.  Postponed.