I didn't see a game log, so here one is.
That's about as much effort as I feel like putting into this team right now. When the major leaguers outnumber the minor leaguers on the roster, they might grab my attention again.
Category Archives: WGOM
Current 93 — Sleep Has His House
Live at Ikra, Moscow (2009). Music starts at 2:00.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGiDOJCcIxA
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Loading... Game 34: Detroit Tigers 10, Rochester Red Wings 2
I'm not even sure what to say to this one. Monday's game was a heartbreaking loss despite the inability to get any runs across the plate. To get blown out and burn up two starting pitchers the next night is like salt in the wound. Also we got skunked by Rick Porcello. I only paid partial attention to the game, and I instead spent my time on more worthwhile ventures. I think it was for the best.
I still think it's too early to freak out too much but I'm getting pretty close to giving up. Delmon's supposed to be be back on Friday, so I hope that's the start of us getting some of the regulars back. But who knows if that will be enough to counteract The Curse of #6org.
I apologize for the half-baked post, but really, it's hard to give full effort when Matt tolberting Tolbert is batting second.
Final Score: Detroit Tigers 10, Minnesota Twins 2.
Twins Record: 12-22, 11.0 GB in the AL Central. Worst record in MLB.
WP: Rick Porcello (3-2) | LP: Francisco Liriano (2-5)
Witty Remarks?: I'm all out of them. The Twins are terrible right now.
2011 Game Logs: Game 34 Detroit v. Minnesota
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I might be wrong here but I am pretty sure that Francisco Liriano, when starting on Tuesdays in 2011, only throws no-hitters.
Sorry for the shortness of this preview but I am going to be spending most of the week in Rochester this week. I will come back with scouting reports on Ray Chang, Chase Lambin, and Toby Gardenhire to make up for it.
2011 Game 33: Red Sox 2, Twins 1 (11)
Weather: 60°F, cloudy
Wind: 16 mph, in from CF
Attendance: 37,276
Time: 3:55
Twins record: 12-21 (tied for last in AL Central, 10.0 GB)
Fangraphs boxscore | MLB Game Wrap
Highlights:
- Highest WPA, hitter: Span .150 (2-4, R, BB) | Highest WPA, pitcher: Mijares .299 (2.0 IP, H, BB)
- Outfield defense - Revere's diving catch and Span's sliding catch
Lowlights:
- Lowest WPA, hitter: Tolbert, -.346 (0-5, 1 SO) | Lowest WPA, pitcher: Hoey, -.350 (0.1 IP, H, BB, ER)
- Tolbert: still batting second
- MLB's continued employment of Angel Hernandez and Joe West
BOSTON -- The latest rumblings out of the Twins' clubhouse are something else indeed. General Manager Bill Smith accidentally ran his iPhone through the visitor's clubhouse washing machine in Chicago last week after spilling a Chicago-style hot dog on his pants. Smith immediately put the device in a box of rice, to no avail, and had to reluctantly borrow infielder Matt Tolbert's phone so he could make some calls and find a new catcher. Steve Holm wasn't quite Corky Miller bad in his brief appearance, but Bill Smith eventually figured out he wasn't an answer to any question worth asking. Tolbert reportedly told Smith he doesn't make enough for the Twins' GM to call 411 and ask for the Rangers' front office (more on this in a moment), but could swing a call to AAA Rochester as long as it happened on his plan's nights & weekends minutes.
Red Wings infielder Toby Gardenhire is apparently #3 on Tolbert's speed dial, right behind Voicemail (#1) and former teammate Nick Punto (#2). Smith accordingly placed his call to Gardenhire the Younger, who relayed the request for a catcher to Red Wings manager Tom Nieto. Nieto, himself a former Twin, initially volunteered his own services, but apparently requested a few days to iron the fungoes out of his swing, time that Smith just wasn't willing to waste.
In his first season with the Twins, Nieto briefly served as Tim Laudner's backup and outhit regular backup Sal Butera late in the season (.071/.188/.143 for Nieto vs. .063/.118/.125 for Butera in Sept/Oct) before being inexplicably left off the playoff roster. Nieto actually paced Twins catchers in hitting and on-base percentage that year, posting a .200/.276/.314 line to Laudner's .191/.252/.389 and Sal Butera's .171/.217/.243 mark. Overall, Nieto posted an OPS+ of 17 in his Twins career, which spanned 183 plate appearances between 1987-88. When reached for comment, Nieto said, "I out-hit Sal Butera in 1987, and I believe in the depths of my soul I can out-hit his son in 2011." Drew Butera currently owns a positively Buterian .172/.213/.251 line. "But the Twins value defense behind the plate," Nieto continued, "and I accumulated -0.2 dWAR in my Twins career, so Bill Smith elected to pursue other options."
So, that's why Rene Rivera is now with the Twins. But why Rivera instead of, say, Rangers catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli, who has only 63 at bats (but 6 HR) this season despite a career 119 OPS+ and a .238 ISO? Napoli, only 29, is likely still in his hitting prime, and despite whatever Mike Scioscia - Napoli's former manager - thinks, he appears to be a serviceable catcher. Unfortunately, Smith laundered his iPhone and apparently hasn't yet worked up the nerve to tell Jim Pohlad, Dave St. Peter, or Wade Navratil, the Twins' Senior Director of Technology. Of course, Smith could always look up Rangers GM Jon Daniels' number in his laptop's address book, or drop Daniels an email for that matter, but an unnamed source in the Twins' front office divulged that Smith has forgotten how to turn his laptop on. According to another source in the Twins' front office, former Twins GM Terry Ryan and former Twins manager Tom Kelly have offered to call former Twins GM Andy MacPhail, currently the Orioles' President of Baseball Operations, about the availability of Matt "Mauer with Power" Wieters, but Smith has repeatedly expressed the desire to put his own stamp on the club.
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This week's View from the Ballpark:
I know at least 5 6 7 10 Hall of Famers played here. | photo by Flickr user LugoLounge
Remember, no embiggening.
Black Dice — Ultra Vomit Craze
I love these guys on record, but have never been able to make a show. I've gotta fix that next time they come through. (As would be expected with this kind of music, sound quality is not great.)
Live at the State Theater, St. Pete FL, 2009
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O37TiLrydo8
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Loading... 2011 Game 33: Twins at Sawks
So, about that winning streak. It was nice, wasn't it? The last two games, not so much.
Tonight, Our Boys make an appearance on Monday Night Baseball on the 4ltr. I'm sure we are all excited to have the nation see our AAAA (AAA?) squad take the field. Will Cuddyer play shortstop?? Go team!
Game time: 6:10 p.m. Central.
Pitching matchup:
Nick Blackburn (4.41 ERA, 5.53 FIP, 4.47 xFIP, 6.18 tRA, 15:13 K:BB, 6 HR, 34 2/3 innings)
Josh Beckett (2.35 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 3.26 xFIP, 3.07 tRA, 35:12 K:BB, 3 HR, 38 1/3 innings)
On paper, this one does not look good. We get Blackie instead of F-Bomb, who has been suffering from "Flu-like symptoms." Mebbe next year, the team can set up a flu shot clinic, please?
Blackburn has been awful in three of his six starts so far, having given up five runs each on April 15 and April 20, then seven in 3 1/3 horrible innings at home on April 28. But there are glimmers of hope, as his other three starts have been quite good, including a solid 6 2/3 inning outing to beat the Bitch Sox on May 4. When things are going well, Blackburn is a league-average pitcher who doesn't miss many bats, but who generates a lot of ground balls. In his three good outings, he induced 35 ground balls against only 17 fly balls and 9 line drives. In his three bad outings -- 27:19:16.
For his part, Beckett has been good-not-great so far. I see some hope in that he gave up 7 fly balls and 3 walks in a rain-abbreviated 4 1/3 innings against LAAAAAA on May 4th in his last start, and got hit hard by the Orioles (4 runs on 2 HR, 10 fly balls and 5 LDs in 6 innings) the start before that.
Fenway Bandbox isn't the sort of place you want to be giving up a lot of fly balls in, so let's hope the Good Blackie shows his beard tonight, and Beckett pipes a few to the Dude and Mountie.
Ryoji Ikeda — Test Pattern
An excerpt. Live at Sónar 2010, Barcelona
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXAevrYhicI
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Loading... Game #32: Red Sox 9, Twins 5
Twins record: 12-20
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap
The Twins are consistently running out a lot of players who are either just very bad (the catchers, most of the bullpen, Casilla/Tolbert) or some combination of pretty limited and in over their heads (Hughes, Revere, Tosoni, probably Plouffe - although he's been great offensively in all of three games, that will come down to earth, and I'm not sold on his defense at all). Those are all pretty frustrating, but they can only concern me to a point. If all of those guys get lots of playing time because others are hurt, the Twins are probably not going anywhere this season. If, however, many of those guys get replaced by the proper starters, the Twins are still going to most likely need contributions towards success from two guys I am a little more concerned about: Carl Pavano and Justin Morneau.
Pavano went a second straight entire game without striking anyone out today. I harp on this a lot, but it's just a lot less likely to be successful as a pitcher without getting strikeouts. He seems to be getting a little over-hammered - I have his FIP right now at about two runs less than his ERA, but a 4.6-ish FIP still isn't quite where he was at the past couple of years. Morneau, on the other hand, has me concerned that he's not physically back together yet. I have his line after today at .202/.269/.293 so far. I'm a little reminded of the beginning of 2006, when there was much gnashing of teeth over how lost he looked at the plate over the first month, before Gardenhire famously gave him "The Talk" that turned him into a (not-quite-worthy) MVP. His line over March/April that year was .208/.274/.416 - basically the same, except back then he still hit a few homers.
At least one other guy whose physical state/all-the-way-back-ness has been a concern, Joe Nathan, had a pretty good outing today.
Hitter of the Week: Jason Kubel is still pretty close to the only horse in this race.
Pitcher of the Week: Duh.
Game 32: Twins at Red Sox
Pavanostache (2-3, 5.84 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) vs. Dice-K (2-3, 4.33, 1.33)
Happy Mother's Day, all! MLB marks the day with breast cancer awareness. Any batters who want can use a pink bat. Plus, you'll see pink armbands and cleats, and possibly even gloves. This subject is near and dear to my family as both of my boys' grandmothers have had breast cancer. Fortunately, both were caught early and both are in remission.
Still, this is a worthy cause and not one to be taken lightly. Plus, it's a good reminder to make sure to give your mom a hug (or a call if like me you can't be with her today).
As for the game, Carl Pavano needs to get rid of the beard. He needs to return to the Pavanostache that intimidated hitters into submission last year.
The Twins need to show patience at the plate. Dice-K alwayshas been prone to control problems in the major leagues and the Twins need to take advantage of that. Maybe this can be a breakout game for Justin Morneau. He's 6-for-12 with a home run and two doubles against Dice-K.
This game would have been a media circus if Nishi hadn't gotten hurt. Oh well. At the very least, the Twins can improve to .500 in their last 14 games with a win today. Plus, it would guarantee a split in the series with a chance to win it tomorrow. Let's get er done. Go Twins!!!!