Category Archives: MLB

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins

2011 Game 137 Recap: Gemini 13, Cherubim 5

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Weather: 74 degrees, clear
Wind: 3 mph, out to CF
Time: 3:23
Attendance: 37,198

BOX SCORE
FANGRAPHS

The dog days of summer were not good to the Twins this year. The team posted its worst monthly record ever in August, winning just seven games while losing 21. If Target Field weren't such a lovely place, and if Minnesotans weren't so gosh darn polite, you'd probably see a lot of empty seats in the stands for home games after a month like that. For my own part, I knew going into the season that August would be a lost month for me as far as watching baseball goes. Major product launch at work, family road trip vacation, getting ready to send Elder daughter to college. I just figured back in April that August would be a lost cause. I was more right than I could have known.

But those hot August nights are behind us now, and the Twins/Red Wings want to finish the season strong. At this point, that basically means staying out of last place in the worst division in baseball. For a team that's never been in first place this year, or even above .500 this year, even that may prove to be a tall order.

So what can you say about a meaningless road win in September? Well, you can say its better than a meaningless road loss in September. You can say Carl Pavano pitched an okay game, giving up four runs, just three of them earned, in six and three-quarters innings. You can say the Twins were facing a rookie pitcher who struggled with his control, and that the Angels bullpen resembled nothing more than the Twins bullpen, allowing seven runs in five innings. And you can say that it was the Twins, not the Angels, who played like they were only a few games out of first place going into the home stretch of the season.

You could probably say a lot more if you actually watched the whole game instead of just the last couple of innings.

Minnesota Twins

September Callups

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Since this is a lost season, it means the expanded rosters in September take on new meaning. The Twins haven't called up many players in recent years, but they haven't had many lost seasons in recent years either. Calling up players would serve two purposes: get (some) people interested again and allow the Twins to evaluate players at the major league level.

The Twins have one spot free on the 40-man roster, hence the catch-all "other" choice. Some brief info on the four minor leaguers that haven't played for the Twins yet is below the poll.

Who will the Twins call up?

  • Chuck James (17%, 20 Votes)
  • Matt Tolbert (16%, 19 Votes)
  • Jim Hoey (14%, 17 Votes)
  • Joe Benson (12%, 15 Votes)
  • Jeff Manship (12%, 14 Votes)
  • Chris Parmelee (9%, 11 Votes)
  • Anthony Slama (7%, 9 Votes)
  • Someone else (6%, 7 Votes)
  • Deolis Guerra (5%, 6 Votes)
  • David Bromberg (2%, 3 Votes)

Total Voters: 30

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2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 133: Tigers at Twins

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Brad Penny vs. Brian Duensing

Brad Penny is not a good pitcher. His 3.6 K/9 is worse than Pavano's and is a full 1 K/9 worse than Blackburn's. And he's walking more per 9 than Duensing, so he doesn't have good control to offset a low K rate either.

However, Duensing has been awful of late and the Tigers pretty much feast on lefties.

The Twins need this one to avoid losing 10 games on a homestand. Wow, that's bad. Let's get it done. GO TWINS!!!

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 132: Tigers 6, Twins 4

FOX spared me the pain of watching this one, so I don't have much insight on this game, but at least the annoying streak of pitiful offense is over finally. The Twins had gone 61 straight innings without scoring more than one run. And all it took to end the streak was the Twins getting back-to-back home runs by Luke Hughes and Jason Repko off Justin Verlander at Target Field.

The Twins are now 5-19 in August, their second 19-loss month in this season that will seemingly never end. The Twins haven't had lost 20 games in a month since September 1999 when they went 7-21.  However, the Twins' record for most losses in a month is safe, at least for August,  since the Twins only have four games left. However, they will have to go 2-2 to avoid having their worst month since the Twins went 3-26 in May 1981. Wow, that would kill any hopes for a season real fast.

The Twins are 14-29 since the AS break. Surprisingly, they have outperformed their Pythag by five games on the season.. They are 23-23 in one-run games and 5-4 in extra-inning games.

 

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins

2011 Game 131 Recap: Tigers 8, Twins 1

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Box Score
Fangraphs

Weather: 86 degrees, clear
Wind: 12 mph, out to RF
Time: 2:55
Attendance: 38,918

I woke up with a head pounding like Niagara Falls and a mouth as dry as Death Valley. An empty bourbon bottle lay on its side on the table, another soldier that gave its last full measure. The dame was long gone, more than a month ago now. One night while we were having a few laughs she slipped me a mickey and took a powder, taking the mojo and my wallet with her. Yeah, she played me for a real sap, and I let her. The name's Twayn. I'm a shamus.

I thought I had her angle figured, see? It seemed clear that the dame was setting me up for a double cross. It was the smart move, after all. Hire me to find the mojo for her, then stick a shiv in my back and make tracks. There's no shortage of teams looking for some mojo this time of year, and they're willing to shell out a stack of semollians to get it. Some of them aren't above using a dame to get what they want. I was onto her from the start, but I let my guard down that night. Maybe it was the way her eyes shined in the moonlight, or the sob story she poured out along with the whiskey.

I've heard a lot of sob stories in my day. They mostly went along with the sound of a tinny piano playing in the parlor downstairs. "Mister, I met a man once when I was young," it always began. This one wasn't much different. So I let her set the hook and start reeling. I just didn't figure she'd make her move quite so fast. Now the mojo is gone for good, and things have been going south ever since she flew the coop. Bad pitching, bad hitting, bad defense -- it's pretty much been the perfect storm of horseshit baseball for the team. And to top if off, Jim Thome got shanghaied to Cleveland.

I still watch the games most nights. Call it my self-imposed penance for letting the mojo get away, and since the boys downtown pulled my license I don't have a lot to do these days. But it doesn't take a detective to see the signs of a team that's lost its mojo. A 5-18 record in August, the worst in the major leagues. Six losses in a row, and no more than a run scored in any of them. Hell, the boys haven't scored more than a run in 13 of their last 23 games. And for the first time in franchise history, they've lost six straight games at home.

I pull the covers back and drag my sad sack of bones out of the bed, run fingers through my hair and head for the shower. There's an afternoon game today, and I need to get to the liquor store before first pitch. Maybe I should just get a case this time. I have a hunch it's going to be a long September.

2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 128: O’s at Twins

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Don't see a game log, so here you go. Randall Simon vs. Brian Duensing.

ORIOLES (48-77)

1. J.J. Hardy, SS
2. Nick Markakis, RF
3. Adam Jones, CF
4. Vladimir Guerrero, DH
5. Matt Wieters, C
6. Mark Reynolds, 1B
7. Robert Andino, 3B
8. Nolan Reimold, LF
9. Ryan Adams, 2B

Starting pitcher: RH Alfredo Simon (3-6, 4.68 ERA)

TWINS (55-72)

1. Ben Revere, CF
2. Trevor Plouffe, SS
3. Joe Mauer, 1B
4. Justin Morneau, DH
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Jason Kubel, LF
7. Danny Valencia, 3B
8. Luke Hughes, 2B
9. Drew Butera, C

Starting pitcher: LH Brian Duensing (8-12, 4.75 ERA)

2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 126: Yankees at Twins

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The good news is the Twins have a chance today to avoid losing a series to the Yankees for the first time since Aug. 11-13, 2008.

The bad news is the Twins are sending Nick Blackburn to the hill, who is going through a bad stretch. He has given up at least four runs in four of his last five starts, although his one good start came against the Red Sox, the one team with a better offense than the Yankees. So, you never know.

Since the Delmon Young trade, the Twins are averaging 5 runs per game and that stretch includes facing Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia. Hopefully, they can do better than that against Ivan Nova. They'll most likely need it. GO TWINS!!

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins

Game 125: Twins 9, Evil Incarnate 4

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Ahhhh. Savor that one for a while.

It might have been more fun to do that to Captain Cheeseburger, but I'm not sure. A.J. Burnett probably represents the biggest reason the Yankees' dominance over the Twins is so infuriating. It wouldn't be so bad if their stars dominated the Twins, but it seems like any role players or even disappointing players they put in there against the Twins have their best games against them.

Burnett has probably been one of the more disappointing Yankees of recent years but he sure seems to have no problem dominating the Twins. That was until Saturday.

I was worried this one could be ugly for Francisco Liriano. His control problems against a team known for its patience can be a bad combination. Fortunately, Liriano showed that when he consistently throws strikes, he can dominate any lineup.

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 119: Indians 3, Twins 1

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No more excuses.

If I thought that the Twins had packed it in for the season like most teams would have a long time ago, then I would understand it. But, that would mean Ben Revere playing and Trevor Plouffe on the roster, so I don't believe that.

Josh Tomlin? Really? His picture is next to the word "junkballer" in the dictionary. He's got nothing. A team with this many lefties who supposedly can hit should be teeing off on him.

I saw one inning in which a bunch of hard-hit balls found gloves, but I'm tired of the excuses. But what I'm really tired of is incompetence.

I'm tired of seeing impatient at-bats. I'm tired of seeing not making routine plays. I'm especially tired of seeing Matt Tolbert. Is there anyone that has brought so little to a team that was allowed a major league job for this long? He has zero power. He can't hit from either side of the plate. He has no patience at the plate. He's a below-average fielder. He might have average speed, but he's not a good base stealer. He makes me long for the days of Nick Punto or even Denny Hocking. Even Al Newman.

I'm not asking for the Twins to try to make a miracle run. Right now, I'm just wanting to see some sign of hope for 2012.