Category Archives: MLB

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins

2011 Game 80 Recap: Ambrosiamen 2, Twins 6

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOaT6M6GOEA

Weather: 71 degrees, rain
Wind: 15 mph, in from LF
Time: 2:30.
Attendance: 40,812.

Box Score
Fangraphs

Francisco Liriano was the bomb, going seven strong and giving up just two runs on four knocks with seven sit-downers.

Joe Mauer went three for four, all singles, and scored twice. At the suggestion of Ron Gardenhire, Top Jimmy was last seen flagellating his own face with a trout.

JI

JIM THOME MASHED A TATER OVER THE OPPOSITE FIELDERS HEAD AND DROVE IN THREE RUNNERS.

Twins win to climb back to eight games out of first with nine to play before the break. And it's Independence Day weekend. Where I come from that means fireworks. Stay safe, kids.

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

2011 Game 78: Dodgers 4, Twins 6

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WP: Duensing (5-7, 4.69)
LP: Lilly (5-8, 4.97)
SV: Capps (12)
I love the mojo gumshoe, ballpark views and quick glances at statistics like WPA to tell you a bit about what went down, but none of those things are mine. I tried think of something clever for my first recap since the season opener (glad that fiasco was left in the other basement) but instead I decided, don't over think the thing. I watched the game, took notes, and below is what I saw.

Also, I DVR'd the game so I could cover the recap after bottling my first try at brewing a hefeweizen. Missing the game live for what turned out to be a nice win seems worth it if this brew ends up better than my last one. /Side note: tip of the cap to cheap - letting that last one sit for a few months has improved it enough that I don't expect to boil a huge batch of brats anytime soon/ After watching the game, I read the game log and found that my notes pretty well shadow the conversation...funny how that works.

As I said before, these are my notes. If you didn't see the game and want to know what went down, read on...if you just wanted the score, now you have it.

-Game Notes-

Got off to a good start for both Dunce and the offense. Quick top of 1st and then a nice little single, sac bunt, stolen base (3rd base!  by Revere), and a RBI single by our resident slap-hitting p*ssy DH to get the Twins on the board.

A great catch by Valencia to start the 2nd led to another quick inning by Duensing. Bottom half, Replicant gets on with a single, steals 2nd, moves over to third and then scores on a single by Revere. Revere then steals 2nd while Laddie is batting and scores on Lexi's doubtriple…

I hate to admit it, but I really was entertained watching Laddie smash that ball off the left field wall and get thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple (despite the play being in front of him as he rounded 2nd base). That young man is truly a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma…or as Gardy would say, “bonehead”.

5th Inning: watched Dunce give up a home run to Aaron Miles. It was the first HR for the Dodger since 2008 and only the 17th of his MLB career. I thought to myself, “God, I hope this inning doesn’t spiral.” Well of course it spiraled. Dunce was trying hard not to give up hits; instead he managed to walk the 9 hitter Jamey Carroll and, eventually, Casey Blake to fill the bases. With Ethier stepping into the box I thought to myself, “Self, why did you spooky this inning?” Sure enough, RBI # 39 & 40 for Andre and the 3-run lead has dissipated. Then he gets to face Kemp, who (as Dick so kindly informs us) is “a dangerous man at the plate…Kemp with 22 home runs and the Twins active roster with 28 this year.” “Awesome,” says I. Dunce gets ahead of Kemp at 0-2 and somehow finagles a shallow fly-out to keep the score even at 4.

Next thing I know (Holy Sh!t, Dick with the call!), Aussie’s 5th inning donger jack with 2 outs and one on (Valencia) puts the boys back up by 2! That was actually one of the stories tonight: 2-out RBI by Revere, Laddie and Aussie (2).

Following a hit batsman, Burnett comes in for Dunce with no one out in the 6th and promptly coaxes a nice little around-the-horn double play ball out of Thames and a ground out by Miles.

1 out and 1 on in the 7th and Perkins comes in for Burnett. Gets a ground out and then gives up a single to Blake. I laughed right out loud when Rivera tagged Carroll out at home. Took a great tag to "get" him, but the throw from Replicant was there to make it happen (or appear to happen). Jason seemed to be doing it to the Dodgers all night long.

8th starts and Twitchy comes in for Perkins after a hit by Ethier. Strikes out Kemp and should have been out of the inning with a double-play grounder. Though it seemed like a weird distance for an underhand toss from Nishioka, Laddie still had a chance at the out with an on-target throw - pretty tough to do with Ethier sliding hard under him at the 2nd base bag. Nathan next faced a pinch-hitter (James Loney) ending the at-bat with a nasty curve for strike 3, (apparently the first breaking ball of his evening), down goes Loney and we move on.

As has become more typical than I’d like, Crisco makes the 9th inning interesting. Ground out to start the inning, a walk to Oeltjen, Crisco with an “athletic move” to get Navarro for the second out and a walk to Gwynn Jr.  put the tying run on base. Finally, another ground out to Laddie salts it away.

Twins Win !



History, Minnesota Twins

June 27, 1988: Random Day in Twins History

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I used a random number generator to pick a season from the past with the idea that I would quickly highlight the Twins history that occurred today in that year.  The generator sent me to the year 1988.

Angels 16, Twins 7 - BR boxscore

In a game with an odd 5:10pm start time, the Angels hitters teed off against Minnesota pitchers.  The Twins pitchers combined to allow 24 baserunners in 7 innings.  A performance made all the more shameful when Dan Gladden pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning.  In fact, the Twins ended the game with the following defensive lineup:

P-Gladden; C-Brian Harper; 1B-Kelvin Torve; 2B-Steve Lombardozzi; 3B-Al Newman; SS-Greg Gagne; LF-Mark Davidson; CF-John Moses; RF-Randy Bush

Tony Armas managed to go 0-for-5 for the Angels even though the other eight players in their starting lineup all had scored at least one run and had at least one hit by the fourth inning.  Bob Boone had four hits while batting ninth for the Angels.  It was his first four-hit game in more than four years.  He may have been exacting revenge against the Twins for not signing his son, Bret, after they had drafted him in the 27th round the previous year.  Bret would ultimately get the last laugh with his comically inept cameo in a Twins uniform at the end of his career.

Kirk McCaskill "earned" the win by throwing 102 pitches while staggering through 5 innings and allowing 10 hits and 4 runs.  When asked after the game, McCaskill told reporters, "[T]oday I was pretty sorry."

The Angels 5-run third inning featured two walks and three different hits that made contact with Twins in the infield (Johnnie Ray singled off Torve's glove, Jack Howell singled off Lombardozzi's glove and Devon White singled off starter Fred Toliver's leg).

Torve hit his only Major League homerun in the seventh inning off future-Twins minor league coach Stew Cliburn.  Randy Bush reached base four times (including getting hit by his fifth pitch of the season) and the most important man in America had three hits, including a double.

Finally, reliever Jim Winn made his Twins debut allowing six hits in one inning of relief work after entering after Devon White's abovementioned third inning single with the game tied 3-3 and runners on the corner.  Winn had been a first round pick for the Pirates in 1981 (four spots after the Twins drafted Mike Sodders) and had been signed as AAA filler after getting cut at the end of Spring Training by the White Sox.  He stuck around with the Twins for a month, and then got another cup of coffee in September to end his Major League career.  Tom Kelly managed to use Winn nine times that season in relief and never brought him into another game UNLESS the Twins were already losing.  TK knew how to use a groundskeeper.

Randon Thing I Noticed While Researching This Date: In 1988, Tom Nieto had four singles and a walk in 62 plate appearances as a backup catcher.  If only the Twins could have someone of Brian Harper's ability to come up and replace Butters...

2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 76: Red Wings at Brewers

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Carl Pavano vs. Chris Narveson

Remember when the Twins thrived in Interleague? Yeah, me neither. The Twins are looking to avoid their second Interleague road sweep this season. At least there's only one more game until Thome can DH.

I'm guessing Drew Butera will start today. Day game after a night game, Pavano starting and the opposing pitcher is a lefty. If Butera doesn't start, I think it's pretty clear who goes if the Twins ever decide to go with two catchers. I think that's why Gardy wants Mauer to play first or third, so he can easily have Mauer catch the last inning or two when he needs to pinch hit for Rivera or Butera without losing the DH.

This will be one ugly looking lineup. Narveson has allowed at least four runs in five of his last six starts, so I'm sure he's looking forward to this start.

Right now, the Twins need to find a way to scratch out a win and find a way to keep from losing much ground in the division for when Kubel and Span return. Otherwise, the Twins might be throwing up the white flag pretty soon. It may not matter since most of their veteran players will be too hurt to trade away anyways.

GO TWINS!!

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 75: Brewers 11, Twins 1

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Another day, another injury.

I didn't get to see much of this one since I was going to an Inland Empire Sixty-Sixers game to get a replica San Bernardino Spirit Griffey jersey. I didn't miss much. For some reason, I didn't like Liriano matching up against the Brewers, but I wasn't expecting this. Add to that Delmon's injury and it's getting awfully hard to be hopeful about this season. Delmon wasn't having a good season on the whole, but he's been hitting better of late. Now it sounds like he's going to be out for awhile. Twins called it just a sprain, but when a guy gets carted off the field, that usually is more than a couple weeks for recovery. I wouldn't be surprised if Morneau returns to the field before Delmon does.

2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 70: Padres at Twins

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Dustin Moseley vs. Francisco Liriano

The Twins already have won four 1-0 games. The Padres struck out 10 times in eight innings against Scott Baker yesterday and now face Francisco Liriano. The Twins scored just one run yesterday and Mauer won't be catching today, although he could be a DH. Danny Valencia has homered in consecutive games, but he strained a muscle his arm in the eighth inning last night and most likely won't be playing today. Based on this and my many years of watching baseball, I'll predict a 9-7 game.

At least we won't have to sweat through a Matt Capps save since he's pitched in each of the last three games and probably won't be pitching today. Glen Perkins will probably pitch the ninth. I'm fine with that as long as Liriano goes eight. Actually, a blowout will be much better.

FWIW, Capps has allowed 1 run in his last seven innings with 5 hits and 1 BB and five strikeouts.

2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 65: Rangers at Red Wings

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No, this isn't the Stanley Cup Finals. This is a baseball game. And it is an opportunity for the Twins to win their third straight series. I would have to say I would be satisfied with a split giving the minor league nature of the lineup, but a win would sure be sweet.

The mound matchup is Matt Harrison vs. Francisco Liriano. So, another lefty to pitch against the Twins, the third in the series. Probably a good time for Justin Morneau to get a few days off, if there is such a thing. Harrison had little margin for error with a below-average K rate and he doesn't help himself much by walking more than average. His groundball rate is only average, but despite all this he has a shiny 122 ERA+. His stats show that he has gotten a ton of popups and double plays and has allowed few line drives, so it looks like he has had pretty good command despite the excessive walks. FWIW, the Twins have hit him well, but most of those in the lineup today weren't in the lineup the last time he pitched against the Twins. Harrison also has been trying to pass a kidney stone, so don't be surprised if he collapses in pain during the game.

Liriano was solid in his last start and hasn't allowed more than two runs in his previous three starts. Hopefully, he's getting ready to start dominating again. For the Twins to continue this run of good play, the starters will have to lead the way. It's difficult to imagine that this lineup will continue to score runs like they have of late. However, I've got to say, Ben Revere is quickly moving up my list of favorite players. GO WINGS!!

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 64: Red Wings 8, Rangers 1

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Something amazing has been going on in the Upper Midwest.

The Minnesota Red Wings are starting to makes some noise. They were originally the Rochester Red Wings, the AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, until they were promoted en masse earlier this season to replace the original big leaguers due to injuries, bad attitudes and general suckitude.

"We just figured we would give some other guys an opportunity and see what happens. It's not like they could be much worse," said Wings manager Ron Gardenhire, who's team at one point had dropped to 20 games below .500 and had allowed the most runs and scored the fewest in the American league.

The Wings have cut a 16 1/2-game deficit down to 10 games in a little over a week as they have won eight of 10 games just as the red-hot Cleveland Indians finally started to cool off. The Wings are surprising many with their surge in the mediocre AL Central, but Jim Mandelaro, a baseball writer and blogger for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, is not one of them.

"We joke in the press box about how players do BETTER in Minnesota than Rochester, but it’s true. I’ll never know why, but it’s true," Mandelero wrote in his blog.

The Wings still have a long ways to go to give their fans real hope of pulling off a comeback to trump all the comebacks of recent years that their parent club has pulled off, but they at least are showing that they are capable of playing a much better brand of baseball, the kind of play that might just allow them to earn their Twins name back.

Minnesota Twins, MLB

Is a return in sight?

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From Joe C:

Meanwhile, at Class A Fort Myers, Joe Mauer is back in the lineup at catcher tonight after catching eight innings last night, according to the Miracle's broadcaster, Alex Margulies (via Twitter).

Mauer isn't eligible to return from the 60-day disabled list until Sunday. The Twins are off Monday, but there is growing speculation that he'll be back at Target Field on Tuesday to face the White Sox.

Can you imagine the excitement if the Twins win the series with Texas and then Mauer returns Tuesday? And don't forget Kubel and Nishi should be back pretty soon. Glen Perkins and Joe Nathan have been starting to throw as well, although it sounds like Nathan is a lot further away. Haven't heard much on Jim Thome.

Anyways, the Twins play 30 of their next 40 at home and Interleague is coming up. Sounds like a good time to get healthy and make a run to get back in this thing. It would be a record comeback, but the schedule is in their favor, now they just need to get real major league bodies back in the lineup and bullpen.