Category Archives: 2015 Twins Game Recaps

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 26: Oakland 7, Minnesota 8

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I was running errands last night and turned this on to a 4-0 Athletics lead. Thought to myself, "Wowsers, Hughes must have had a rough couple of innings." Then the hometown club comes to bat and I'm wondering how they fared the first time through the order, seeing as how Dozier's up. He leads off the home half with a double and I'm like, "Awesome. One run at a time is how you get back into a game." Only to hear Provus indicate that this was, in fact, the first at-bat for the Twins. Nothing like an opposition grand slam in the first inning to deflate the feelings of optimism built up by taking it to the woeful White Sox.
I continued to listen as I was still in the car, between purchasing dog food, furnace filters, softener salt and weed & pest control (side note: don't like to use chemicals, but I don't have time to pull weeds for weeks and I don't find groundhog/gopher/mole traps to be all that efficient) and low and behold, the hometown nine managed to get the game back under control, scoring four runs to tie it up after two innings!

I then tuned out for a while (set up wasp/hornet trap, smoke bombed those damn rodent tunnels, filled water softener with salt & changed out furnace filter) and turned the game back on with Jordan Schafer up to bat in the bottom of the 8th and the boys up 8-6. Awesome! Schafer takes a walk which puts runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out and Danny Santana up to bat. This was great - he shows bunt three times and Bassitt won't/can't accommodate the guy; throws four straight balls for Santana's first walk of the year to load the bases. I'm thinking, "Insurance runs would be sweet. I'll take 'em, but I don't think Perk will need 'em." Dozier then has a good at-bat but ends up striking out, and ii follows it with a double play ball to end the threat. I asked the guys if they thought he could've been safe if he'd run hard because the throw from 2nd was bounced to first, bobbled, dropped and picked up by Davis, all before ii even entered the frame. Beau's response,

"That may have been his top speed."

This was confirmed in the top of the 9th as he "hustled" to catch a Billy Butler fly ball to short right field.

He almost didn't get that. In his youth, he could've run there from center.

-spookymilk

Perkins then gave up a double high off the wall in center to Stephen Vogt (he of the first inning Grand Slam) which was only about 10 ft shy of tying the game. With the tying run at 2nd (Sam Fuld pinch-running), Perkins had a pretty good battle with Craig Gentry before striking him out on a nasty back-foot slider.

Everyone was fawning over ii because, admittedly, he hit the three run homer in the 6th to give the Twins the lead. However, I'll contend that Schafer was the player of the game. He had a great night: 3-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 runs scored and a diving catch to end an Oakland threat in the top of the 8th.

Also, after the rough start, Phil Hughes managed to get his first win of the season (1-4) by completing 6 innings, giving up 5 ER on 9 hits and 2 BB. Fear not, he didn't have a great start to last year either, and look how that turned out.

Heard last night that the boys have not won four games in a row to start May in 13 years. Let's hope they keep it up.

2015 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 25: Twins 13, Sad Sox 3

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The Twins managed to get a winning record for the first time in 2015 on Sunday, and there was much rejoicing in Twins Territory for something that normally is considered a rather minor accomplishment, especially this time of the year. After all, even last year, the Twins had a winning record as late as May 24.

But considering how this team started and everything it has gone through, it really seems like almost a miracle to get above .500.

Consider this: The Twins' top 3 starting pitchers coming into this season have made just seven starts and are 1-5 with a 5.67 ERA. Just the fact the Twins have a winning record despite being 0-5 in Phil Hughes' starts is amazing. That means the Twins are now 13-7 when Hughes and Ervin Santana doesn't start. Add on to that, that Tommy Milone was already demoted to the minors before the end of April.

Now consider that the Twins' already thin bullpen has been hurt by injuries to both Casey Fien and Brian Duensing, who have both seen time on the DL. Tim Stauffer also is on the DL now, but that goes in the addition by subtraction category.

Now add on to that the fact that the offense has been below average. A number of the younger hitters have had a hard time just making contact let alone making offensive contributions. Brian Dozier, Oswaldo Arcia and Kennys Vargas are each on pace for just a dozen home runs this season.

And the outfield defense continues to be terrible and shortstop Danny Santana leads the world in errors.

With all these problems, how is this team not in last place let alone have a winning record?

At the end of April last year, the Twins were at .500, but that felt like a mirage. Many things had gone right for them, especially on offense. Chris Colabello was getting a couple hits and an RBI it seemed like every game, but he quickly came back to earth as scouting reports and a high strikeout rate caught up with him and he was demoted before the end of May.

This year, outside of Shane Robinson in a part-time role and Aaron Thompson in middle relief, it doesn't seem like the Twins have anyone playing over their heads. Even the Twins' run differential has vastly improved after that 22-1 beatdown by the Tigers to start the season. The Twins are now just -1 in run differential. That means they are 13-9 with a +20 run differential since that opening series in Detroit.

More problems will arise, as they always do in a long season, but the Twins also appear to be better prepared to cover their problem areas. Remember, Ervin Santana will be plugged into the rotation in July, so he can pick up the slack if a start like today for Mike Pelfrey turns into more of the norm. Also, Taylor Rogers and Pat Dean both have ERAs near 2.00 in AAA and Alex Meyer has been better of late, including a great start Sunday before walking his final two batters to lead off the 8th inning. If the Twins are willing to go down to AA, Jose Berrios, D.J. Baxendale and Tyler Duffey could all be worthy of consideration for a callup in a few weeks.

As for relievers, the injuries have made room for Michael Tonkin and Ryan Pressly. Both throw in the mid-90s and have shown improved breaking balls. Pressly was really impressive Sunday. His curveball for strike 3 called with the bases loaded was so nasty that Chris Herrmann couldn't even catch it. Otherwise, Lester Oliveros is in AAA with a 0.833 WHIP and 16.5 K/9. In AA, the Twins have three relievers that can reach triple digits at times, including Zach Jones, who has a 0.625 WHIP and a 14-1 K-BB ratio in 8 innings.

So the Twins have certainly had their fair share of problems, but have they been lucky to win in spite of these problems or have these problems kept them from having an even better record? Only time will tell for sure.

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 19: Tigers 5, Twins 4

Because the Twins signed you to be the OAFFOTF (once and future face of the franchise), all you really need to do to have a good night at the park is smile.

Because swinging for the fences when a hit to the outfield ties the game shows you're a leader.

Because your former team understands your value and therefore didn't make you an offer ... but your former, former, former team saw something that no one else saw: leadership.

More succinctly:

#VeteranLeader0-5hip

-Zack

Let's be honest, the real story tonight was the Tigers running themselves out of the game (Boyer being the lucky recipient), Joe Mauer hitting his 313th double to move past Kent Hrbek and into sole possession of third place on the Twins career list, the Twins defense playing solid and their offense putting together some decent at-bats and scoring a few runs to make things interesting in the bottom of the 9th. To be sure, Milone wasn't strong and Detroit jumped him early, but the boys kept playing and had a chance there at the end. Unfortunately, Danny Santana was asked to bunt and Dozier wasn't able to do anything against Soria either. ii with a chance to show us what for and failing miserably was just the proverbial icing on the cake.

Go Wild.

2015 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Twins 4, Mariners 2 (11)

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These Guys Ain't So F'n Bad

In my favorite baseball movie, Major League, which is based on a fictional miracle run to winning the pennant by the hapless Cleveland Indians, they show a montage of Indians fans right after the roster is set at the end of spring training. All of the fans are complaining about that they don't know who most of the players are or that they just suck (with a lot of worse language thrown in).

After the season starts and the Indians somehow hang around .500, the movie goes through another montage of the same fans, most of whom are talking about how this team might not be so terrible after all, including a construction worker who looked up at a fellow worker and exclaimed, "These guys ain't so [redacted]-ing bad!" (The Japanese groundscrew were still not convinced).

I think I'm starting to get to that point with the Twins.

After a brutal 12-3 home opener following a disastrous initial road trip, the Twins were 1-6 on April 14 and had been outscored 45-16. They had just found out a week earlier that their biggest free agent signing in team history, Ervin Santana, was going to be suspended for the first half of the season and their second-biggest free agent, Ricky Nolasco, was going on the DL with a sore elbow. Paul Molitor's tenure as manager could hardly have gotten off to a worse start.

Since then, however, the Twins are 7-4 and have outscored their opponents 44-36, which means they have allowed an average of 3.27 runs per game in that stretch. In fact, they have the best record in their division in games played after April 13.

The Twins (8-10) are closing in on .500 despite the fact that they have won 0 games started by Phil Hughes, Santana or Nolasco. The Twins are 8-5 in games not started by their presumed top 3 starting pitchers.

On Sunday, the Twins also saw a continued resurgence from Joe Mauer, who's raised his batting average 49 points to .299 over his last five games. He had three hits on Sunday, including a tiebreaking two-run triple in the 11th inning. He could have had five hits after lining out twice. He also was intentionally walked, which gives him as many walks on the season as strikeouts (11 of each).

Also, for a second-consecutive game, the bullpen played a key role in a win. On Saturday when Trevor May got hurt in the fifth inning of a tie game, I figured that was all she wrote right there. But the bullpen only allowed two runs on a two-run home run with a five-run lead late while the Twins' batters took it to the Mariners' bullpen. Then on Sunday, the Twins' best relievers of Aaron Thompson, Casey Fien and Glen Perkins combined for four scoreless innings with 4 Ks and 1 BB. Those three relievers have no greater than a 0.75 WHIP, which is incredibly good.

There's still plenty of problems and concerns with this team, but at least for now there's at least some small signs that maybe this team won't be so [redacted]-ing bad after all.

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 Recaps

Game 13 Recap: Royals 7, Twins 1

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Kyle Gibson took the loss, going 5 innings while giving up 4 runs (3 earned - more on that in a minute) on 4 hits, walking 4 and striking out none. Even so, the performance saw him lower  his ERA to 5.97 and his WHIP to 1.96...trending the right direction after a horrible start in Detroit on the 9th and a better start against Kansas City last week.

The Twins' offense managed 5 hits and 1 run off of Edinson Volquez, scoring after getting the first two men on to lead off the 2nd inning. A ground ball out and subsequent double play later and the threat was over. In 7 innings, Volquez struck out 5 and walked 1, Brian Dozier, who scored the only Twins run when Hosmer's force attempt went high and wide of second base.

KEY INNING

"Arcia's defense in LF makes me yearn for _elmon Young patrolling that area. wooooof"

-davidwatts

Tied 1-1 in the 6th, the aforementioned error by Arcia in left resulted in Moustakas reaching to lead off the home half of the inning. Gibson proceeded to walk Hosmer; Kendrys Morales slapped a double down the third base line, scoring Moustakas, and Moliter went to the pen. On his 2nd pitch, Blaine Boyer skipped the throw past Suzuki allowing Hosmer to come home and concluded the Perez at-bat with a sac fly, sending Morales home. Boyer managed to get the next 5 batters out, but the damage was basically done.

Thielbar and Stauffer combined for another 3-run inning (the 8th) and the Twins' 4, 5 and 6 hitters sleep-walked through the top of the 9th to end the game with a whimper.