Game 41: Twins at Oakland

Pitchers:

Twins     C. Pavano (2-4)
Oakland    B. McCarthy (1-4)

Lineups:

Twins
CF Span, Denard
SS Plouffe, Trevor
DH Kubel, Jason
1B Morneau, Justin
RF Cuddyer, Michael
3B Valencia, Danny
LF Revere, Ben
C Butera, Drew
2B Casilla, Alexi

Oakland
RF DeJesus, David
1B Barton, Daric
LF Willingham, Josh
DH Matsui, Hideki
C Suzuki, Kurt
CF Sweeney, Ryan
2B Ellis, Mark
3B Kouzmanoff, Kevin
SS Pennington, Cliff

GO TWINS!

Game 40: Twins 2, Mariners 1

Sorry for getting this up so late everyone.

It is strange to feel strange about winning a game. But it is a good feeling. I was disappointed with yesterday's lineup because I badly wanted them to win one in honor of Harmon. They still managed to win the game because they got great pitching. Liriano pitched a great ballgame, and it feels to me like he's turned a corner. I am definitely looking forward to his next start. Perkins has obviously had a robotic arm transplanted onto his left arm, and Capps was the Proven Closer that he is. The offense still feels like it's spinning its wheels, but to hear that Nishioka, Thome, and the sissy catcher Mauer are all down in extended spring training gives me a glimmer of hope.

Still, a win is a win. The offensive futility of both teams seemed fitting yesterday, in retrospect. They both got 3 hits and scored a total of 3 runs.

RIP, Harmon.

Final Score: Minnesota Twins 2, Seattle Mariners 1.
Twins Record: 13-27, 11.0 GB in the AL Central. Worst record in MLB.
WP: Francisco Liriano (3-5) | LP: Felix Hernandez (4-4)

Minor Details: Games of 5/17

Rochester 7, Gwinnett 6 in Gwinnett.  The Red Wings led 4-0 after two, fell behind 5-4 after five, but came back to win.  Rene Tosoni had three hits.  Jason Repko homered and singled.  Brian Dinkelman had a pair of doubles.  Starter Eric Hacker gave up all five of his runs in the fifth; his line was five runs on four hits and five walks in 4.1 innings.  Carlos Gutierrez got the win with 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out three.  Kyle Waldrop came in with the tying run on second and struck out the only man he faced to get the save.

New Britain 4, Harrisburg 1 in Harrisburg.  The Rock Cats scored all of their runs in the eighth.  Evan Bigley had two hits.  Steve Hirschfeld got the win, going seven innings and giving up one run on six hits and no walks.  He struck out seven.  Cole DeVries threw two shutout innings of relief to get his ninth save.

Ft. Myers 6, Daytona 5 in Daytona.  The Miracle scored three in the third and three in the fourth to build a 6-1 lead, then hung on.  Ramon Santana had three doubles and drove in three.  Aaron Hicks singled and homered.  Anderson Hidalgo had two doubles.  Logan Darnell got the win in his FSL debut, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks in five innings.  Bruce Pugh allowed a run in the ninth but still got the save.

Beloit 7, Wisconsin 0 in Wisconsin.  Beloit scored three in the fourth and was never challenged.  Manuel Soliman struck out eleven in six innings, giving up two hits and three walks.  Clinton Dempster struck out three in two innings, and Jose Gonzalez fanned two in a perfect ninth.  Nate Roberts singled and tripled, scoring three times.  Jamaal Hawkins and Michael Gonzales each singled and doubled.

Happy Birthday–May 18

Babe Adams (1882)
Arndt Jorgens (1905)
Gil Coan (1922)
Jack Sanford (1929)
Carroll Hardy (1933)
Brooks Robinson (1937)
Reggie Jackson (1946)
Osamu Higashio (1950)
Dennis Leonard (1951)
Eric Gregg (1951)
Jim Sundberg (1951)
Andre David (1958)
Jim Bowden (1961)
Erik Hanson (1965)
Eric Young (1967)
Rich Garces (1971)
Joakim Soria (1984)

Two players who share a name with Minnesota Twins players, Scott Baker (1970) and Roy Smith (1976), were also born on this day.

Today is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Randy Rosario (1994).

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 18

NBA Lottery Alternatives

There's something about tweaking the rules of sports leagues that really appeals to me. It's probably because I'm a control freak, but there could be other factors.

No one seems all that happy about the NBA's lottery process. If I understand correctly, it used to be evenly weighted amongst non-playoff teams, which would reduce the incentive for tanking at the end of the season. Under that system, some didn't feel the worst teams were getting enough help. Fair enough. Now there's a weighted lottery, but some teams clearly play to lose "improve their draft position" at the end of the season. The system opens itself up to conspiracy theories, and it doesn't seem to be all that fair to fans of some of the most terrible teams in the league. Is there a better way?

I'm not really sure that there's an absolute better way, but I like exploring alternatives.

Continue reading NBA Lottery Alternatives

2011 Game Logs: Game 40 Minnesota @ Seattle

Franky

@

King Felix

I was kind of hoping to make this game log a eulogy for Harmon. There are plenty of people out there who could do a better job than me though. I thought maybe I'd write a clever story about the Killer looking down from the big Diamond in the sky, talking with Kirby, Lyman, and Delmon Young's zone judgment but thought better of it. I thought about writing about the game itself but it somehow seems insignificant.

Tonight, you have two pretty good young pitchers. If you have the chance, watch the game with your fathers, your sons, your mothers, or your daughters. Watch it with your grandparents, your brothers, sisters, or spouses. Life is a fickle thing. It takes away people who are by all accounts are amazing to everyone with little or no explanation. So raise your glass, thank those around you for the good times and hope that maybe, just maybe there might be a couple of people in Heaven rooting for Minnesota tonight.

 

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.