Category Archives: Gamelog Archive

Archive for game logs from previous seasons.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 86: Twins at Hosers

363 Comments

Hey, the White Sox! This should be fun.

Carl Pavano 5-6, 4.19 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 4.13 xFIP, 1.5 WAR
Philip Humber 8-4, 2.69 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 4.02 xFIP, 2.1 WAR

Well, that looks like a personnel decision that hasn't worked out for the Twins, but I suppose we knew that when Santana was traded in the first place.

Humber strikes out a lot more guys than Pavano at this point, but he walks considerably more, too. It would appear that this very good year is thanks in part to a .222 BABIP, but his 103 innings aren't an insignificant sample, so it looks like Humber might just be a better than average starter.

Pavano, meanwhile, continues to look more like Blackburn, striking out nobody and being prone to the occasional shelling. The Twins have been owning the White Sox in recent years, but I'm not all that comfortable tonight. Hopefully I'll be able to see it - the internet at the place in Phoenix isn't great. Hopefully Dumatrait and Burnett won't get anywhere near it, either.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 85 Recap: Spoiler! Twins Lose.

1 Comment

Oh, the spoiler feature doesn't work in the headline.
Twins 5, Rays 12 (The 7 runs they scored in the 8 + 9th innings were enough to win without the other 5 they scored)
LP: A. Burnett WP: The other team.
Twins record 38-47, 8.0 games out of first (3 games ahead of the Royals(!)/small victories/)
Save? not.

Oy. I'm glad that I watched this game while I was in the studio because at least I accomplished something of value on my own. Frankie wasn't sharp, but the offense picked him up. Sinkingship was called on to relieve F-bomb, and pitched quite well surrendering just one hit and one walk while striking out 3 in two innings pitched. After Mijares stuck out the dude who he was asked to strike out gardy decided it would be a good idea to bring in Burnett. Previously, I had been under the impression that the only time it was a good idea to bring in Burnett was when the other team had already won the game, but I guess I was wrong about that. Alex's line for the day reads like the script for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, he gave up 4 hits, a walk, and 4 earned runs over one and a third innings pitched. Awesome. Dumatrait came on for the ninth and expanded the suck by securing two fast outs and then letting some dude named Long"donger'oria jack a three run shot. Boo.

Cuddy had an allstar day at the dish, and TK thinks that Joe Mauer shouldn't be a catcher. That about sums up this stinker.

I was all set to link to the Mill City Museum, but they're closed because the man is holding them down. Boo.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 85: TB visiting MN

166 Comments

21-9 just feels so much better than 17-37. Twins are looking to sweep the Rays at home for the first time in six years. Wade Davis versus Francisco Liriano in the Twins' most important game of all time.

Lineups:
Twins
1. Revere         8
2. Casilla        4
3. Cuddyer        3
4. Homie        DH
5. Valencia    5
6. Tosoni        7
7. Repko 9
8. Rivera        2
9. Nishioka    6

Rays
1. Damon        DH
2. Zobrist        9
3. Longoria    5
4. Upton        8
5. Rodriguez    4
6. Kotchman    3
7. Ruggiano    7
8. Shoppach    2
9. Johnson        6

GO Twins!

2011 Twins Game Recaps

2011 Game 84: Twins 3, Rays 2

1 Comment

This was one of those games that even though the hometown nine won, it wasn't terribly satisfying. Early in the game, they had some hits against Shields but never really seemed to string together enough to get an extended rally. The runs they scored were on a ground out and a bloop single that got past the Rays' right fielder. Clearly the more concerning things are Baker leaving with an elbow injury & Capps's continued ineptitude.

Everything the training staff said yesterday made this seem like a minor injury for Baker, but their track record is spotty at best. If Baker is out of the rotation for significant time, this will definitely hurt the Twins' chances of making a comeback. He's definitely been the ace of the staff, and I would be pretty bummed if he lost significant time since he has been so darn good. I want Slowey to be freed and I look forward to seeing Gibson in the rotation, but I do not want it to come at the expense of Baker's rotation spot.

Capps has been crapp in his last three outings, and I don't want him on the mound at all. He's pure butt right now. He needs a couple days off to get his mind right. He needs some low leverage work to get sorted out. Early in the season, I liked him as the middle-late inning fireman. If Nathan can take over 9th inning duties, Perkins can continue to ball outrageous, and Capps can reclaim that role the bullpen would be much better for it. There's no sense in throwing him out there to get pounded in the 9th over and over just because he's the "closer."

The Indigenous People & Tigers lost last night. Seven back. I can hardly believe it. I can't wait for the Indians & Tigers to come to town after the All Star Break.

Final Score: Minnesota Twins 3, Tampa Bay Rays 2
Twins Record: 38-46, 7.0 GB in the AL Central.
WP: Scott Baker (7-5) | LP: James Shields (8-6)

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game Logs Game 84: Rays @ Twins

260 Comments

James Sheilds

@

Scott Baker

The Twins are in a pretty good position right now. If they win the next two Minnesota will go into the All Star Break riding an 8 game winning streak, setting themselves up nicely for a second half run.  What? Is it too soon to just chalk up every game against the White Sox as a win?

Without getting too New Guy-y here I predict the Twins will be in third place in the AL Central before the Mid Summer Classic.

2011 Twins Game Recaps, View from the Ballpark

2011 Game 83 – Twins 7, Rays 0

16 Comments

Weather: 83°F, sunny
Wind: 9 mph
Attendance: 39,528
Time: 2:24

Twins record: 37-46 (4th in AL Central, 8.0 GB)
Fangraphs boxscore | MLB Game Wrap

Highlights:

  • Highest WPA, hitter: Nishioka .153 (1-3, 2 RBI, SO) | Highest WPA, pitcher: Duensing .295 (9.0 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 7 K)
  • Duensing threw his second career shutout.
  • Cuddy go boom! and Juicy!
  • Laddy and Cuddy flashed some leather.

Lowlights:

  • Lowest WPA, hitter: Hughes, -.045 (0-4, 3 SO) | Lowest WPA, pitcher: N/A
  • Hughes, pretty much.

As games go this season, yesterday's was a fun one. Well, it would have been a fun one any season, but this one it was a particular treat. Which means I naturally Battey'd the wrap until just now. I guess I'm more used to wrapping a loss at this point.

-------

There's a slightly different image format for this week's View from the Ballpark. Let's see if that helps or hinders:

photo by Nyall and Maryanne

photo by Flickr user Nyall & Maryanne

Remember, no embiggening.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

2011 Game 82 (2nd Half, Game 1) Recap: Brewers 7, Twins 9

1 Comment

Minnesota (36-46)  -  Milwaukee (45-40)
WP: Dumatrait (1-1)
LP: Loe (2-7)
SV: Perkins (1)

JI JIM Mashes Taters and the Iceman cometh up big time as the pair drove in 4 runs and scored 4 runs. Jim crossed home plate 3 times but arguably the biggest moment was not career HR 595 in the 2nd (which was nice), it was the 2-out walk off of Grienke in the 4th. Juicy followed with his first hit of the day, a double, which paved the way for Rene Tosoni's 3-run blast. The Iceman's donger got the Twins back into the game after a terrible top half of the 4th saw the visitors throw up a 5 spot.

After that, it was all Twins bullpen (with a little help from Kotsay in the 7th). Snicklefritz, Dumatrait, Nathan, Capps and Perkins combined to go 5 innings giving up only 1 run on 4 hits. Twins batters scored 4 times in the 7th - all with 2 outs and all off of walks or singles...or on the hilarious fielding error by Mark Kotsay.

Nathan looked good in the 8th. Conversely, Capps looked pretty bad in the 9th. Gardy, quite surprisingly, pulled him out after he managed to put runners on 1st and 2nd with only 1 out and Prince Fielder due up. Perkins got the call and struck the big vegetarian out on 3 pitches! The Brewers still had one more batter, but you just knew it was in the bag after that.

Neither Grienke nor Blackburn figured in the decision. Zack went 6 innings giving up 5 runs on 5 hits, 4 of them earned. Nick went 4 innings giving up 6 runs on 6 hits, all of them earned.

Cuddyer is our All Star representative. They announced it during the game and he got a pretty good ovation. After that, it's a good thing he got in on the scoring with 2 RBI on 2 hits as he badly misplayed a ball off the right field wall in the 4th, leading to a triple for Kotsay and at least one of those 5 runs for the Crew.

On a personal note, I'd like to post a thank you to Cornsilk  (thanks for that one guys) who took me to the game today. She doesn't follow the World's Greatest, but I am blessed and wanted to share it with you all.

Weather: Gorgeous

Time of Game: 3 hours 14 minutes

Attendance: 41,195



2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Second Half, Game 1: Brewers at Twins

129 Comments

Wouldn't it be cool if the major leagues do as the lower-level minors do with the first-half and second-half winners both getting into the playoffs? You could wipe the slate clean halfway through the season and give last-place teams in July something to hope for. That's something the Twins could lobby for.

As it is, the Twins have still gone 19-9 in their last 28 games and they've managed to hover around the fringes of contention thanks to a mediocre division. If they can continue to hang in there until at least Delmon and Kubel can return, then they might be able to put another big run together.

The key will be for the team to figure out how to avoid the long losing streaks. This is why today's game is so key. The Twins need to avoid letting last night's Crapptastic ending force them into another losing streak. A win today would do just the trick.

Blackburn also needs to bounce back after his last disastrous start against the Dodgers. Having a heavily right-handed Brewers lineup should help him as long as he can keep the ball down in the zone. GO TWINS!!!

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 81: Brewers 8, Twins 7

12 Comments

Matt Capps sucks. Joe Mauer is a wuss. This was the worst ...

Nope. I'm not going to say it. Every time someone says it, a worse one comes along.

I just would like to know if this was the eighth inning and Capps was considered a setup man, how long would he have been in there? I would have to believe that he would not have been allowed to face Nyjer Morgan.

Maybe some good will come out of this if Joe Nathan is reinstated as the closer. It certainly couldn't hurt.