Guthrie v. Pelfrey
Twins:
1. Danny Santana (S) SS
2. Torii Hunter (R) RF
3. Joe Mauer (L) 1B
4. Brian Dozier (R) 2B
5. Kennys Vargas (S) DH
6. Trevor Plouffe (R) 3B
7. Oswaldo Arcia (L) LF
8. Kurt Suzuki (R) C
9. Jordan Schafer (L) CF
Royals:
1. Alcides Escobar (R) SS
2. Mike Moustakas (L) 3B
3. Lorenzo Cain (R) CF
4. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B
5. Kendrys Morales (S) DH
6. Alex Gordon (L) LF
7. Salvador Perez (R) C
8. Paulo Orlando (R) RF
9. Christian Colon (R) 2B
Go Twins!
Milone (2-0, 2.08 ERA) vs. Vargas (1-1, 6.00 ERA)
Hooray, the first Tuesday game of the year! And it isn't Big Pelf starting!
I suppose one could say that Milone is the Twins new ace in this SSST of the first month of the season. He's the only one having any real consistent success. Considering the brutality of the Twins OF defense, his team leading 6.9 SO/9 could be a part of that. (although I do expect Hughes's totals to come up from where they are at the moment.)
My main point here is to say that I really can't wait until the young'uns in the lower levels show some success and make their way to the big club.
Here's to hoping the Twins can rough up Vargas like they did last week, if only due to reports yesterday of moldy hot dogs being served at Kaufman stadium for dollar dog day on Friday. (Ok, it was against the A's, but still. Nice reminder that, yes everyone liked the Royals last year but they are still owned by terrible people.)
Sorry, busy night. Here's a Twins game log, should you need it.
Twins sending Trevor May to the mound to face Glenn Anthony (TJ) House with a chance to secure the second series win in a row. In just over 100 innings last year, Mr. House struck out 80 batters and walked 22. For comparison, Mr. Salazar (yesterday's starter) struck out 120 in only 8 more innings while walking 35...hopefully the boys can put some balls in play today.
Santana is taking a day off and Escobar is filling in at SS - Dozier leading off. Lineup pretty much the same otherwise (Escobar batting 8th, Shane Robinson in Center, batting 9th).
Trevor May
2015 season
0-1, 8.44 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 4 Ks
vs. Indians last 5 years
1-1, 8.38 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, 6 Ks
TJ House
I'm kicking it at an eight hour childbirth class today, so i might miss this one.
Phil Hughes takes the mound against Salazar. Let us hope tjat he can maintain this momentum we've got going these last couple of games.
Go Twins!
The Twins are on a winning streak! Only two games but I'll take it.
Cy Young Award winning Corey Kluber throws for Cleveland. Since this years lineup is mostly the same as last year, lets go back and look what Kluber did against the Twins.
2014-09-21 @MIN W 8.0 7 2 2 1 14 0
2014-09-11 MIN W 8.1 8 2 2 0 7 0
2014-08-21 @MIN L 7.0 6 3 3 4 8 1
That jumbled mass of number says Kluber was very good against the locals. Mike Pelfrey goes for Minnesota. Lets hope he makes it at least 6 innings and keeps the run total low.
Did yickit and I just accidentally switch days? I wanted to write something up yesterday on the curious case of Kyle Gibson, but ended up getting asked to work later.
Anyway, Vargas vs. Milone. Morning baseball!
Lets double our 2015 win total tonight! Go Twins!
Probables
Edinson Volquez, RHP
1-0, 1.13 ERA
Kyle Gibson, RHP
0-1, 14.73 ERA
Lineups
Twins
1. Danny Santana, SS
2. Tori Hunter, RF
3. Joe Mauer, 1B
4. Brian Dozier, 2B
5. Kennys Vargas, DH
6. PLOUFFE!, 3B
7. Oswaldo Arcia, LF
8. Kurt Suzuki, C
9. Jordan Schafer, CF
Royals
1. Escobar, SS
2. Moustakas, 3B
3. Cain, CF
4. Hosmer, 1B
5. Morales, DH
6. Gordon, LF
7. Perez, C
8. Infante, 2B
9. Dyson, RF
We inaugurate a new year with our own home opener. If the first 6 games are any indication, this should be a pretty exciting year!
Continue reading 2015 Game 7: Kansas City Royals vs. Minnesota Twins
I heard all offseason that the club this year would play insufferable defense and have improved (but still mediocre at best) pitching. The talking heads and conventional wisdom suggested that, based on the performance last year, this team wouldn't have much trouble scoring runs.
The boys had one really nice inning yesterday, plating four runs off of Jeff Samardzija, before he settled in and the Twins' offense went missing. There were a few really nice defensive plays that were key to this, but mostly the Twins just couldn't do any additional damage.
Let's hope that they get it figured out today...unlikely considering they face Chicago's ace Chris Sale (0-0, -.-- ERA ... but 6-1, 2.45 ERA over 16 appearances and (eight starts) against the Twins). On the bright side, this is his first start of the season, recently off the 15-Day DL from a broken foot bone.
He'll be opposed by Minnesota's ace Phil Hughes (0-1, 6.00 ERA), who we're hoping can rebound from an unremarkable start to the season in Detroit (4 earned runs off of 8 hits (including 2 HR's) in six innings of work; 6 K's & 1 BB).
