The 2011 season...
Category Archives: Gamelog Archive
Archive for game logs from previous seasons.
Game 118, Indians 3, Twins 2
A pinch hit recap for Twayn...I wish I was on vacation and he were writing this.
I was really looking forward to having all of our opening day starters back together again. Then Cuddy tweaked something in his neck in early batting practice and Kubel had to sub in right. Good start out of Pavano. Not a good outing by Perkins. Mountie and Lexi back in the lineup - Laddie back out of the lineup in the 7th with a tweaked hamstring...lots of "tweaking" tonight.
Batters 1 through 6 were 1 for 20 with a walk and rare were the outs made on well struck balls (typically they didn't even leave the infield). That's simply not going to cut it. Most exciting moment for the hometown 9 may have been the Dude's 400+ ft fly out to center in the 5th. Nishi had both rbi's for the Twins, but also had a pretty gawd-awful night in the field.
"We basically gave it away," Gardenhire said. "We missed a lot of plays. It's a tough loss for us. We need some people to play a lot better baseball. It's kind of embarrassing to tell you the truth."
I couldn't agree more. Highlight of the night for me was the shout-out to Rhubarb_Runner of WGOM and é rayhahn, rayhahn fame who is "jostling for position" with someone named Matt Krieger...and Rhu_Ru didn't even submit the winning answer tonight!11!1!
For some reason, I've been hanging on to hope that this team would make a run and challenge for a playoff spot. Watching them run around like monkeys f*cking a football tonight has pretty much cinched it for me. How about you?
2011 Game 118: Twins at Indians
Carl Pavano vs Justin Masterson
Last time Masterson faced the Twins, he threw 104 pitches. 103 of them were fastballs. I'm a little skeptical they were all fastballs, since the velocity range was 89.9 to 97.7. Let's check his pitch selection this year. BIS says a mere 0.8% of his pitches have been change-ups, while MLBAM says 0.1%. Okay, maybe it really was 103 fastballs. Depressing.
Pavano meanwhile... it's not too pretty. He hasn't been terrible, but below average for a 35 year-old pitcher with another year on the contract. He'll be worth more than two wins, but by virtue of eating a lot of innings.
Oh yeah; welcome back Morneau.
Game 117: Red Sox at Minnesota Nice
I approve of this lineup. Sort of.
Go Twins!
Game 116: Red Sox 4, Twins 3
WP: Albers (4-3), LP: Capps (3-6)
I didn't see a recap for last night's game...perhaps that was done on purpose? I have no doubt this will add very little to the current GOSO sentiment currently enveloping the WGOM, but I'm bored this afternoon and this post from JoeC included some interesting thoughts from the manager about the pitcher last night. Full disclosure, I didn't watch the game - just heard the end of it in the car, but a career high in walks is pretty brutal. However, Gardy seemed to think that F-Bomb did okay.
There were a lot of pitches that were close, borderline, just missing, and we like where the ball was, down around the knees. That's a pretty good start for him. Hopefully he can continue that process.
As you can see from the strikezone plot, Frankie was down in the zone. I guess my hope is that he can continue to work on staying down, throwing strikes and getting ahead in the count for the remainder of the year. His value to the Twins depends on those moments of brilliance associated with that funky delivery and left arm.
2011 Game 116: Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins
Liriano looks to stop the bleeding. Thome looks to smash homers until the cows come home. That's all I got.
2011 Game 115: Red Sox 8, Twins 6
The Twins have a 3-10 record on Mondays this year.
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And now, this week's View from the Ballpark:
photos by The WGOM's very own Can of Corn
Remember, no embiggening.
2011 Game 115: Red Sawks!!!! on ESPN!!!!
Tonight on the 4ltr, the Red Sawks play*, and the Yankmees don't!!!!111one111!!! How did that happen?
Anyway, there is some sort of milestone at stake (Tim Wakefield seeks career win 200, including many games NOT against the Yankmees).
In order to provide context for the milestone, there may or may not be another team on the field. However, it is rumored that two non-Sawks players that 4ltr viewers may have heard of, Joe Mauer and Jim Thome, may be mentioned. Mauer, because his iconic sideburns are two of the most notable features of flyover America, and Thome because he too is within striking distance of a milestone of sorts, even though it is likely to happen in obscurity unless it happens tonight.
Bring the snark, kids. That's what we are playing for.
*some guy named Booker or Barker or something is starting for the other team, in case anyone cares.
Game #114: White Sox 7, Twins 0
Twins record: 51-63
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap
Hitter of the Week: Jason Kubel
Pitcher of the Week: Carl Pavano
Game 114: White Sox at Twins
I started following the Twins on an everyday basis in 1986. My family had moved to Minnesota in 1984 and we had gone to a handful of games the previous two years, but I had not really discovered the joy of baseball yet.
Then, a plucky center fielder with a unique body build suddenly discovered his power stroke and the country began to take notice. I remember Bob Costas saying he would name his son after him if he was hitting .350 at the All-Star break. And, of course, that was how Keith Michael Kirby Costas was named.
Kirby was so fun to watch, it didn't really matter how bad the Twins were (and they were pretty bad that year), I just had to watch (or as often or not listen to home games) to see what he would do next. He could do it all. He could hit for average and power, he could steal bases and was a Gold Glove center fielder who specialized in leaping over the short center field wall at the Metrodome to rob the opponents of home runs.
The next season, of course, the Twins won the World Series, and what a magical ride that season was. That season cemented my love affair with baseball for life, but it was Kirby that piqued my interest to begin with. Of course, he's most famous for his Game 6 in 1991, but he was pretty good in Game 6 in 1987 as well (4-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a SB). Of course, he also was the ALCS MVP in 1991.
Of course, his career was too short due to glaucoma and his life was too short due to a stroke, which I guess is appropriate since he was deemed to be too short to play in the major leagues for much of his youth.
Today, Kirby will be remembered at Target Field, which will include a pregame video tribute. I sure hope I get to see it, along with a couple Thome dingers.
I mentioned yesterday that the Twins need to finish 30-19 to finish at .500. I would be happy, all things considered, if they could do that. I also would like to think they could pass the White Sox. A big step toward that goal can be accomplished today with a win. It's Peavy vs. Duensing. GO TWINS!!!