Royals at Twins.
Minor Details: Games of June 9
Danny Santana makes his season debut in Rochester. Adam Brett Walker II hits his sixteenth and Jose Berrios has a good game in a Lookouts sweep. An eight-run inning carries the DSL Twins.
Paul Butterfield Blues Band – Driftin’ Blues
Our boys have looked a little aimless lately...
1967
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Loading... Game 58 Recap: Royals 2, Twins 0
Nothin' from nothin'.
Happy Birthday–June 10
Jack Graney (1886)
Garland Braxton (1900)
Danny McFayden (1905)
Vic Harris (1905)
Mike Kreevich (1908)
Frank Demaree (1910)
Chuck Thompson (1921)
Hank Foiles (1929)
Carmen Cozza (1930)
Ed Palmquist (1933)
Kazuhisa Inao (1937)
Johnny Edwards (1938)
Ken Singleton (1947)
Elias Sosa (1950)
Gerry Hunsicker (1950)
Francisco Barrios (1953)
Scott Ullger (1955)
Floyd Bannister (1955)
Pokey Reese (1973)
Jack Graney had a few unusual "firsts". He was the first major leaguer to bat against Babe Ruth. He was the first player to wear a number on his uniform. He as also the first player to become a broadcaster.
Outfielder Vic Harris was a long-time Negro League player and manager, leading the Homestead Grays to nine Negro National League pennants.
Chuck Thompson was a long-time broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles.
Outfielder Carmen Cozza played in the low minors in 1952-1953, batting .242. He later became a college football coach, most notably at Yale. Upon his retirement in 1996, he held the record for most coaching victories in the Ivy League (179) and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
Kazuhisa Inao is one of the greatest pitchers in Japanese baseball history.
Gerry Hunsicker is a long-time baseball executive, working for the Mets, the Astros, and the Rays.
June 10, 2015: Another Work Week Down
...and my long Minnesota trip inches ever closer.
Game 58 Royals at Twins
game in progress!
Half-Baked Hall Results: 1930-1933
From now on I vow never to add a player during the middle of a ballot. The spreadsheets got all wonky. I can only hope I got everyone's vote right in the end. I think I did.
Game 57: Royals 3, Twins 1
We've known all year that the fellas wouldn't keep up the opportunistic scoring in bunches with men on base indefinitely, or even without interruption. Unfortunately, over the past 10 (5-5 record), they have averaged 3.2 runs per game, or just under 1.5 runs less than they averaged through the first 47 games.
Last night, the Twins scattered 8 hits over 9 innings, the lone run coming off a Rosario homerun in the 7th. Their best opportunity to score came with the bases loaded and one out in the 3rd after a couple of infield singles and a Hicks double. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens in baseball, the next batter - Hunter - hit into a double play and the inning was over.
In the 5th, Escobar made it as far as second before Dozier flew out and again in the 7th, Escobar was on second with two outs and Dozier struck out to end the home half.
This year, Dozier is hitting .091/.375/.091 with 2 out and RISP (not good) but Hunter is a much more robust .381/.480/1.048 in that spot and is slashing .500/.500/.750 with 1 out and the bases full.
Plouffe was 0-4 last night and is hitting .150/.171/.250 in his last 10 games.
Of the regulars,* only Dozier, Hunter & Plouffe have an OPS+ over 100 and only Dozier (.268 BA) has an OPS over .800. The team leader in RBI is Hunter with 36, with only 3 GDP in more than 200 AB's. As I noted, sometimes the GDP happens in baseball, but you'd like to think that one in the 3rd inning won't end your last, best chance to score.
On the mound, Hughes took his 6th loss of the year, despite pitching 7.2 innings and allowing only 3 earned runs on 7 hits. The last run charged to Phil resulted from Thompson giving up a single to Hosmer and allowing an inherited runner to score. The first runs charged to Hughes came courtesy of a Kendrys Morales bomb in the 2nd. Hughes allowed a lead off single to Hosmer after getting ahead 0-2, and then fell behind 3-1 to Kendrys before grooving a fastball which was promptly deposited in the upper deck in right center. He settled in nicely after that, allowing only 5 hits in the next 21 at-bats.
All in all, it wasn't a bad outing from Hughes, he just didn't get any help from the offense.
End result, the Royals have moved in front of the Twins for 1st place in the Central by mere percentage points. They'll have 2 more games to take the top spot back. They still have the second most wins in the AL, behind only Houston.
*Minimum 45 games played and 150 at bats.
Bear Image Copyright: Gerald D. Tang
Minor Details: Games of June 8
The Red Wings score late to make it look better. Stephen Gonsalves makes his high-A debut. The Theofanopoulos-Hildenberger connection leads the Kernels. The DSL Twins win by a touchdown as Jorge Parra hits for the cycle.