2011 Twins Game Logs

Game (1 of 2): Twins and Clevelanders

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Hey, doubleheader... why not?

So it seems that baseball's 200,000th major league game will be played today. They're counting the start of the actual National League as the first game, mostly because it's easier to place a direct date on it that way. If nothing else, it's kind of cool that much as it's changed over the past 140 years, there's still a certain heart at the center of the game that ties it all together.

Now, before I go all Field of Dreams on everyone and start misattributing everywhere, there are urgent matters to attend to in Cleveland. A win today would ensure that the race to the bottom will fall short of its "target". Much as I believe that this is the worst year of Twins baseball since the franchise got here, it would be nice the ragtaggers to win back at least that much of their dignity. Hell, if they sweep the doubleheader, they would only need one more win to avoid 100-losses. That would be.......something, I guess.

Looking into the crystal ball, we've got three opening day batters in our lineup (which, if I'm not mistaken is about the most there can be for the rest of the season, so the lineup's not getting nay better than this). Rivera gets to try to out-Butera Butera. Right now he's at a .406 OPS, so it'll be exciting to see whether he can push that into sub-400 territory.

Brian Duensing's on the mound, if he can make it through five and a third innings, he'll qualify for the ERA title. Then again, if he gives up 4 runs in those five and a third, he'll have the worst ERA for any qualifier, so... go Duensing?

David Huff pitches for Cleveland, he ate us alive his last time out, so maybe 1982 isn't safe, just yet.

2011 Twins Game Recaps, MLB

2011 Game 156 Recap: Twins 5, Gentleman Masher 3, Other Indians 3

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Weather: 61 degrees, drizzle
Wind: 12 mph, L to R
Time: 2:52 (:27 delay)
Attendance: 36,807

Box Score
Fangraphs

By the banks of the mighty Cuyahoga River (Non-flammable for Half a Century!™), the good people of Cleveland paid tribute tonight to Jim Thome. The Gentleman Masher rose to the occasion with a home run, a double, and an infield single, driving in half of the Tribe's runs for the night. I'm going to miss that guy. Oh, hell - I miss him already.

Like many games this season, the Twins could just as easily have won this one had they been able to coax a clutch hit with men in scoring position. The Twins left a team total of 11 runners on base, and left runners in scoring position in seven innings.

Despite that brain-rattling level of offensive impotence, the Twins managed to score five runs off Cleveland, four of them off starter Justin Masterson, who struggled with his command and didn't make it out of the fifth inning.

Chris Parmelee earned his coffee tonight by leading off the Twins' scoring in the top of the first, driving in Ben Revere and Trevor Plouffe! with a roller up the middle that made it to the grass just in time. In his next at bat leading off the third inning, Parmelee jacked one into the right field seats and took a 360-foot stroll. Joe Benson added to the Twins' tally with a productive out, scoring Dinkleman on what would have been a double play if not for a throwing error by pivot man Jason Kipnis.

With the game tied 5-5 going to the home half of the ninth inning, Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire sent seven-million dollar man Matthew Dicus Capps to the mound to extend the game. Instead, he extended an invitation to mash a tater to pinch hitter Carlos Santana, who deposited said tuber over the fence in right center. Meanwhile, in the District of Columbia, young Wilson "League Minimum" Ramos has played in 109 games and booked 420 plate appearances. He's batting .267 with a 112 OPS+. Drew Butera is not.

The Nation Has An Appetite

Currying favor: Curried Broccoli Pesto over Creamy Polenta

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I have been watching a disturbing amount of Chopped lately on Food Network (thanks, U-Verse!). Watching trained chefs being tortured into producing edible dishes from scratch around oddball ingredients in 15 or 30 minutes (depending on the course) is oddly compelling, as well as occasionally inspiring.

Today's post was dinner earlier this week, and it is inspired by Chopped, as well as a big bag o' broccoli that the Mrs. had purchased from Costco: Curried broccoli pesto over creamy polenta.

For the pesto: bring a pot of water to boil and add about 4 cups of broccoli florets (cut into bite-sized pieces). Boil for about 2 1/2 minutes until just tender. Remove from the pot (reserving about 4 cups of boiling liquid for the polenta), shock in icewater to preserve the color, and drain.

To your food processor, add 1 tablespoon green curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen), 1-2 tablespoons chopped ginger, 3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped, a half-cup or so of fresh basil leaves (I had around 10-12 leaves fresh from my back yard), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce (I was making a vegan version; for better flavor, substitute fish sauce), the juice of one lime, a teaspoon of sambal and/or a tablespoon of Sriracha for some heat, two cups of the cooked broccoli florets, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (or parsley for a lighter flavor -- the Mrs. abhors cilantro, so I used parsley), and about 1/2 cup coconut milk. Process until smooth. Adjust seasonings. Reserve the remaining florets for topping the dish.

For the polenta: bring about 3 1/2 cups of the boiling liquid back to a boil in a saucepan. Stirring, pour in one cup of polenta (coarse corn meal) with a big pinch of salt. Continue to stir, lowering heat to simmer. This will quickly thicken to a heavy porridge (4-5 minutes). At this stage, gradually stir in about one cup of coconut milk. This should take another 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally so that no crust develops. You want the polenta to be creamy -- thick enough so that it will spread only a little on the plate, but not gooey.

To serve, spoon polenta into the centers of pasta plates, top with about a half cup of pesto plus 4-5 floret pieces and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro. Makes about 5 servings.

Goes great with a Victory Prima Pils.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.