Michael Pineda (2-3, 5.35 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 40 IP, 35 K)
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Erik Swanson (1-4, 6.35 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 28.1 IP, 21 K)
The 2019 MLB season debut of Miguel Sanó shifts Gonzalez to 1st and Cron to DH while leaving the remainder of the starters as expected. I believe Cruz is available off the bench too ... at least I haven't heard otherwise. I'm excited to get Miguel back with the big club, but I'm also very interested in whether a road trip can help Kepler get off the schneid.
Date: Wednesday, May 15.
Batting stars: Ehire Adrianza was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs. Jorge Polanco was 2-for-4 with a triple. Jonathan Schoop was 2-for-4. Jason Castro was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk. Byron Buxton was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second.
Pitching star: Jake Odorizzi pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out three.
Opposition stars: Brian Goodwin was 4-for-4 with two doubles and two runs. Tommy La Stella was 4-for-5 with a home run (his eleventh) and a walk. Jared Walsh was 3-for-5. Jonathan Lucroy was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), a double, and a walk. David Fletcher was 2-for-5.
The game: The Angels threatened in the first two innings but did not score. They started the game with a walk and a single, but a line out and a double play ended the threat. Goodwin had a leadoff double in the second, but nothing came of that, either. The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the second. C. J. Cron reached on a strikeout/wild pitch, Schoop had an infield single, and Adrianza hit a two-run double to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.
The Angels immediately cut it to 2-1 in the third on La Stella's home run. It then stayed 2-1 until the fifth, when the Twins had a big inning. Castro walked and Buxton hit a two-run homer to make it 4-1. With one out, Polanco tripled and scored on Eddie Rosario's double. A wild pitch moved Rosario to third and a Willians Astudillo sacrifice fly scored him to give the Twins a 6-1 advantage.
The Angels again immediately cut it to 6-3 in the sixth when Goodwin singled and Lucroy homered. The Twins got the two runs back in the bottom of the sixth when Adrianza singled and Castro homered. It was 8-3 through six and it looked like it should be an easy Twins win. Los Angeles got one in the seventh on two singles and a sacrifice fly, but it was still a comfortable 8-4 lead going to the ninth.
It got uncomfortable in a hurry. Trevor Hildenberger started the inning and got the first out, but then gave up doubles to Goodwin and Lucroy and a single to Fletcher, making the score 8-6. Mike Morin came in and gave up a single to Walsh. He struck out Luis Rengifo, but La Stella singled to load the bases and Mike Trout was hit by a pitch to force in a run, cutting the margin to 8-7 and bringing up Shohei Otani. Otani, however, grounded to short and the Twins escaped with a victory.
WP: Odorizzi (6-2). LP: Trevor Cahill (2-4). S: Morin (1).
Notes: With Nelson Cruz still out, Polanco was the DH and Adrianza was at short. Willians Astudillo was at third, with Marwin Gonzalez given the day off. It seems odd to give Gonzalez a day off with Miguel Sano presumably returning to third base soon, but then I don't know just what Rocco Baldelli might have in mind over the next few games.
Polanco raised his average to .331.
Blake Parker retired the only man he faced and his ERA is now 1.17. Ryne Harper gave up two hits but did not allow a run in two-thirds of an inning and has an ERA of 1.50. Morin also gave up two hits but did not allow a run in two-thirds of an inning and has an ERA of 1.80. Matt Magill gave up a walk but no runs in two-thirds of an inning and has an ERA of 2.35. Trevor May gave up a run on two hits in a full inning and has an ERA of 2.76.
Odorizzi did not have one of his best games, especially compared to the way he's been pitching recently. He was constantly in trouble and finally, in the sixth, couldn't get out of it. On the other hand, it wasn't reasonable to think he would keep pitching as well as he had been, and he got through 5.1 innings keeping the Twins in the game. It's not what you want, but if that's as bad as it gets he'll be in good shape. His ERA is now 2.63.
The Twins' bullpen did not have one of its best games, either, but they did do a good job cleaning up each other's messes. They then created messes of their own, of course. But May came in with men on first and third and one out and got out of the inning with neither runner scoring. Magill came in with men on first and third and one out and allowed only one to score on a sacrifice fly. Parker came in with men on first and second and two out and retired the man he faced. Even Morin came in with men on first and second and one out and only allowed one to score.
My first thought for the ninth was that Rocco should've left Parker in. But Parker had pitched 1.1 innings the night before, and the Twins had a four run lead. If you can't trust Hildenberger for one inning with a four run lead there's no point in having him on the team. As it turned out, unfortunately, you can't and there's not, at least not right now. Hildenberger is kind of a puzzle. He has stretches where he seems unhittable, and he has other stretchers where he seems to be throwing batting practice. I wonder if there's some sort of flaw in his delivery that he slips into sometimes and has a hard time getting out of again. That's just speculation, of course. But I can't blame the Twins for wanting him to go to Rochester until he gets straightened out.
It was asked if the Twins didn't have someone in Rochester better to bring up than Austin Adams. The answer, in my opinion, is no, they really don't. Kohl Stewart, maybe, but I suspect the Twins want him to continue starting. Devin Smeltzer has made two really good starts for the Red Wings, but it's only two starts, so I suspect a) they want him to get more experience before bringing him up and b) they want him to continue starting as well. Adams appears to be a replacement-level pitcher at best. He will presumably try to fill the Fernando Romero groundskeeper role, but I'm not sure I wouldn't rather have another position player on the team instead.
Record: The Twins are 27-15, first in the American League Central, 4.5 games ahead of Cleveland.
Projected record: We're still on track for 147-15!
Looks like I'm ticking off one of cheaptoy's orphan tags.
(5 votes, average: 7.60 out of 10)
Loading... Trevor Cahill
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Jake Odorizzi
Odorizzi tries to keep the winning ways going. Sanó not in the starting lineup.
Date: Tuesday, May 14.
Batting star: Mitch Garver was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth.
Pitching stars: Kyle Gibson pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks and striking out five. Ryne Harper pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit. Blake Parker pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Shohei Otani was 3-for-4. David Fletcher was 2-for-3 with a double. Tommy La Stella was 2-for-5. Taylor Cole struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.
The game: The Twins got on the board in the first inning. Jorge Polanco got a one-out single, stole second with two out, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Eddie Rosario's single to make it 1-0 Minnesota. It went to 3-0 in the third when Max Kepler led off with a single and Garver hit a one-out two-run homer. The Twins added one more in the fourth when Marwin Gonzalez led off with a double and scored on Byron Buxton's two-out double to make it 4-0.
The Angels got back into the game in the sixth. Gibson had been in control through five, not allowing a man past first base. In the sixth, however, Luis Rengifo walked and David Fletcher doubled him home. La Stella's single put men on first and third and a wild pitch made the score 4-2, still with none out. Mike Trout struck out, but Otani's RBI single cut the margin to 4-3. Andrelton Simmons then singled, but Otani was thrown out trying to go to third. Ryne Harper then came on to retire Albert Pujols and keep the score 4-3.
Each team threatened in the seventh.Los Angeles got a pair of singles but did not score. The Twins got three walks and failed to score. The Angels again threatened in the eighth. The personal injury law firmPlatte River Injury Law emphasizes that when it comes to sports, injury is unavoidable but they can claim for it .You can also consult fall accident lawyers in case of injuries. In recent days women are also facing sexual assault in sports , in such cases it is always better to consult attorneys for sexual abuse victims at earliest to voice out and to uplift justice. Singles by Otani and Pujols put men on first and second with two out. Brian Goodwin singled, but Byron Buxton threw Otani out at the plate to keep the score 4-3. Catcher Garver was injured on the play, about which we'll say more later. Although the lawyers for traffic injuries cases had warned players to be careful in games, injuries keep recurring. It is advised to contact expert lawyers from a reliable law firm practicing in Tulsa to get compensation and recover claim to cover medical bills. These expert lawyers can give you legal guidance to recover personal injury compensation based in Clinton and represent your interests. Los Angeles got a one-out walk in the ninth, but no more, and the Twins held on for the win.
WP: Gibson (4-1). LP: Cam Bedrosian (1-2). S: Parker (7).
Notes: With Nelson Cruz out, Willians Astudillo was the DH.
Garver is batting .329 with an OPS of 1.164. Polanco was 1-for-3 with a walk and is batting .327 with an OPS of 1.010. Harper has an ERA of 1.56. Tyler Duffey gave up a hit to the only man he faced, but he didn't score and his ERA remains 1.42. Mike Morin retired the only man he faced and his ERA is 2.08. Taylor Rogers pitched two-thirds of an inning and gave up a hit, but no runs, and has an ERA of 1.47. Parker has an ERA of 1.20.
Take a look at those bullpen ERAs for a second. The Twins bullpen has taken some criticism, and I know ERA isn't necessarily the best way to evaluate a relief pitcher, but still. Four relievers with ERAs under two. Morin is just barely over two, and the other two relievers are at 2.35 (Trevor May) and 2.56 (Matt Magill). That strikes me as being pretty good.
Garver was injured when Otani slid into him in the eighth inning. Nothing wrong with the slide or the way Garver set up--no matter how hard MLB tries to make the game safer, injuries will still happen sometimes. Reports this morning say Garver has a sprained ankle and will be evaluated further today. I would certainly expect him to go on the injured list.
Bedrosian was used as the opener by the Angels and gave up one run on two hits in one inning. It strikes me that being used consistently as an opener would be a pretty thankless job. If you hold the other team scoreless, well, that's what you were supposed to do. And it was the first inning, maybe two, of the game, so by the end of the game everyone's forgotten about it anyway. And if you give up a run or two, well, who put that bum in to start the game, anyway? Plus, you'd have the chance to get a really ugly won-lost record, because you can't possibly get the win, but it wouldn't be at all hard to get the loss. I don't think it's a job people would be clamoring for the chance to do.
The Angels out-hit the Twins 11-7, went 3-for-4 with men in scoring position, but still lost the game. Two double plays helped, and two outfield assists were very important, too. I've said this before, but it is a lot of fun to watch a good defensive baseball team.
Record: The Twins are 26-15, first in the American League Central, four games ahead of Cleveland.
Projected record: We're still on track for 147-15!
(3 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)Loading... Last Thursday the Twins had come off a nice little 4-2 road trip, including a three game sweep of the Blue Jays. They had the best record in baseball and I had already placed a lawn chair on the Nicollet Mall to save may space for the inevitable victory parade. Now it’s Tuesday and the Twins have lost 3 of last 4 at home to the Tigers and Angels, Nelson Cruz is nursing a sore wrist (not a good sign for a power hitter), and Jose Berrios was Lance Lynn-like last night. What happened, the Twins have to do something! “Forget it Jake, it’s a long season.”
Kyle Gibson on the mound for the Twins and we’ve seen the emergence of Good Gibby lately. Let’s hope that continues. Angels going with an Opener tonight with Cam Bedrosian pitching first inning and then Felix Pena coming in afterward. This will be the third time this season Pena will have had an opener. I wonder if Cam has any fond memories of Minnesota when his dad pitched here? Usually the local paper writes something up along those lines.
Game time 6:40p. It promises to be another very pleasant night. I hope you can get to the ballpark or other enjoy the game as the Twins try to right the ship back toward my parade route. That lawn chair cost me $8.00.
Here's a track from Mac's suspiciously familiar new album Here Comes The Cowboy.
(3 votes, average: 5.67 out of 10)Loading... Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated. This situation will continue for a few more days.
J. L. Wilkinson (1878)
Ed Walsh (1881)
Alex Pompez (1890)
Earle Combs (1899)
Bob Thurman (1917)
Les Moss (1925)
Dick Howser (1936)
Tony Perez (1942)
Dick Tidrow (1947)
Dave LaRoche (1948)
Dennis Martinez (1955)
Hosken Powell (1955)
Pat Borders (1963)
Joey Cora (1965)
Larry Sutton (1970)
Roy Halladay (1977)
Luke Gregerson (1984)
J. L. Wilkinson was the long-time owner of the Kansas City Monarchs.
Alex Pompez was the long-time owner of the New York Cubans.
We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to Lucy and SBG.
Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 14
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 10)Loading... 
Happy Berríos Day!
After splitting the series with Detroit (which admittedly was a disappointment), an even more capable team in the Angels are coming to town. The Twins have .650 winning percentage at Target Field this year, but have split the games when the Angels have stopped by.
Hopefully Cron and Parker will look to extract some revenge against their old team. Cruz has whipped out his Boomstick 50 times against the Angels (good for 2nd most against them as a team), but he's day to day with his wrist is being evaluated. Hopefully we can find another dong masher or two on the team in the meantime.
On the mound for the Angels is Skaggs, whose numbers don't look all that great this year (3-3, 4.70 ERA, 1.37 WHIP). Maybe we can find some of that missing offense tonight.
Finally, don't forget, we're still on 1840 start times. Some of the senior citizens around here can get to bed a little earlier.
