Minor Details: Games of 7/21

Durham 18, Rochester 3 in Rochester.  The Bulls took a 10-0 lead after two innings.  Chase Lambin had two hits.  Denard Span was 0-for-3 and Jason Kubel was 1-for-3.  Andy Baldwin surrendered ten runs on eight hits and two walks in two innings, yielding five home runs.  Cole DeVries worked 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits, and Toby Gardenhire took the mound to pitch a scoreless ninth.

Altoona 8, New Britain 4 in Altoona.  The Curve scored seven runs in the sixth.  Chris Herrmann had two singles and a double.  Joe Benson and Mike Hollimon each singled and doubled.  Deinys Suarez pitched five shutout innings, but then surrendered all seven sixth-inning runs; for the game he allowed seven runs (four earned) on four hits and four walks in 5.2 innings, striking out five.

Clearwater 2, Ft. Myers 1 in Clearwater.  The Threshers scored both their runs in the first inning.  Oswaldo Arcia singled and tripled, scoring the only Miracle run.  Jhon Garcia went seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out seven.  Matthew Tone struck out two while giving up one hit in one inning.

Great Lakes 6, Beloit 5 in Great Lakes.  The Snappers led 5-0 after seven, but the Loons scored three in the eighth and three in the ninth.  Nick Akins hit a walk-off three-run homer off Bart Carter with one out in the ninth.  It was the only batter Carter faced.  Daniel Ortiz doubled and tripled.  Jairo Perez and Derek McCallum each hit a two-run homer; it was Perez’ ninth.  Starter Ryan O’Rourke pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and two walks while striking out four.

Princeton 12, Elizabethton 3 in Princeton.  The Rays scored three in the second, three in the fourth, and six in the seventh.  Miguel Sano had two doubles.  Eddie Rosario hit a two-run homer.  Tim Shibuya allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk in only four innings.  Seven of the Rays’ runs were unearned.

GCL Twins 7, Rays 5 at Twins.  The Twins scored four in the seventh to overcome a 5-3 deficit.  Romy Trinidad, Joshua Hendricks, and Michael Quesada each singled and doubled.  Jorge Polanco had two hits.  Starter Angel Mata gave up an unearned run on two hits in three innings.  Miguel Munoz got the win, giving up a run on a hit and three walks in three innings.  Luis Nunez worked a perfect ninth, striking out two, to get the save.

DSL Twins 7, Reds 6 at Twins.  The Twins led 6-0 after seven, but needed a run in the ninth to get the win.  Victor Arias singled to drive in Jose Ramirez with the winning run with two out.  Dubal Baez had three hits.  Ronald Jimenez drove in three runs.  Starter Javier Vargas pitched five hitless innings, giving up only one walk and striking out five.  Elias Villasana followed with two perfect innings, striking out two.  The next pitcher, Carlos Suarez, did not allow a hit either, but walked three and hit one, retiring only one batter.  Both Rays hits came off Edgar Martinez.  Francisco Nunez retired all four batters he faced to get the win.  The two teams combined for only seven hits, but combined for six errors and thirteen walks.

Game 98 Recap: Tigers 6, Twins 2

DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 2
Record
- 46-52 (4th in Central, 1.0 game out of 3rd, 6.0 games out of first)
Highest WPA
- Cuddyer and Mauer (both 2 for 4) were the only positive WPA Twins
Lowest WPA - Jim Thome (0 for 3, BB, 3 SO) - Only one true outcome short of the complete set.
NOTES -
Twins are 0-6 against Detroit this year.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap

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Not exactly the start to the series that the Twins were looking for.  Verlander was pretty good, and he dialed it up a bit after Cuddyer's leadoff triple in the second inning.  Strikeouts of Thome and Valencia along with a Delmon groundout to second (BOOM BITCH!) got him off the hook and kept the game scoreless.

Then it was a matter of Pavano trying to keep it close.  After a frightening 4th inning (bases loaded, one out) was defused by a double play, it seemed like a one-run deficit could be overcome.  Then a 2-run Brennan Boesch homer in the 5th extended the Tiger lead.  3 runs against Verlander seemed a tall order, but the Tiger bullpen has been pretty bad and my friend who is a Tiger fan wouldn't admit victory.

The sixth inning saw the Twins score on a string of 2 out hits, but the top of the inning had already yielded two more Tiger runs, so the deficit was only narrowed to four.

Beating Verlander is always a tall order, and it was one the Twins weren't up to last night.  Fortunately, there are three more games in the series, and no more Verlanders in the Tigers' rotation.

2011 Game 98: Tigers at Twins

Tonight, the Twins play the first of four against the scarier of the two not-scary-to-any-other-divisions-out-there Central division leaders. Of course, the home field advantage is nullified by the pitching matchup:

Carl Pavano 6-6, 130 IP, 3.88 K/9, 1.73 BB/9, 4.08 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 4.12 xFIP, 1.6 WAR
Justin Verlander 12.5, 157 IP, 8.77 K/9, 1.89 BB/9, 2.29 ERA, 2.70 FIP, 2.96 xFIP, 4.7 WAR

You know, now that Pavano's numbers are starting to look not so bad, it's cruel that I have to set them up against Verlander's ludicrous numbers. Well, Pavano walks 0.16 fewer guys per nine innings. That's something, right? Guys?

This one could get frustrating for the hitters, but hey, Kubel might be back tomorrow, and Verlander isn't all that likely to pitch in back-to-back games, as durable as he is.

Go Twins! Bunt early, bunt often. Get Verlander tossed!

OMG!! Raising a Teenage Daughter

Copyright 2011 Baby Blues Partnership. Dist. by King Features Syndicate

My daughter turns 18 in a few days and we will send her off to college three weeks later.  Since most WGOM citizens have younger children or are just starting families, I thought it would be interesting to hear from someone on the backend, someone who successfully (I think) raised up a kid and is preparing to send her out into the world.  What I write below is based on my experiences raising a daughter (and a nearly 16 year old son) but also from talking/venting with friends and relatives with similar aged kids.  The following is both advice and just top of the head rambling.

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating:  Girls are harder than boys.  Girls are harder on their moms than their dads, although your mileage may vary.  This just isn’t our experience but the experience of all of our friends who have both boys and girls.  I think it’s because girls (and their mothers) generally are more emotional.  There’s more drama involved with girls than with boys.  Issues that are a BIG DEAL to girls and moms get shrugged off by males.  It’s not a bad thing (especially for us dads), but something that you (and particularly your wife) will have to deal with, especially once your daughter hits about age 10.

The flip side of course is that girls are closer to their mothers.  It seems counterintuitive I know but the fact that moms and daughters battle one another means that they have a closer relationship.  There are things that my daughter tells her mother that she wouldn’t dream of telling me, and not just issues related to “women’s personal hygiene.”   So being a father to a teenage daughter is kind of a mixed bag.  You are relieved that you don’t have the battle scars your wife does, but you kind of envy the bond that those scars form.

Continue reading OMG!! Raising a Teenage Daughter

Minor Details: Games of 7/20

Durham 7, Rochester 6 in Rochester (10 innings).  The Red Wings led 6-5 after six, but the Bulls tied it in the eighth and won it in the tenth.  Jason Kubel had two singles and a home run, his first.  Chase Lambin doubled and tripled.  Kevin Slowey pitched seven innings, allowing five runs (all in the third) on eight hits and a walk.  Jim Hoey pitched the tenth and took the loss, giving up a game-winning home run.

Richmond 7, New Britain 5 in New Britain.  The Rock Cats led 5-1 after seven, but the Flying Squirrels scored five in the ninth to win.  Deibinson Romero doubled and hit his eighth home run.  Joe Benson singled and hit his sixth home run, driving in three.  Blake Martin worked five shutout innings, giving up four hits and a walk.  Brett Jacobson surrendered all five ninth-inning runs, allowing three hits and three walks in two-thirds of an inning.

Ft. Myers 6, Dunedin 5 in Dunedin.  The Miracle scored two in the ninth to break a 4-4 tie, then held on.  Ramon Santana singled and hit his fourth home run.  Danny Rohlfing singled and doubled.  Steven Liddle and Josmil Pinto each had two hits.  Logan Darnell allowed three runs on five hits and two walks in four innings, striking out four.  Alex Wimmers struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Clinton Dempster got the win despite giving up a run on two hits and a walk in one inning, and Bruce Pugh got his twelfth save despite giving up a run on two hits in one inning.

Great Lakes 10, Beloit 5 in Great Lakes.  The Loons took the lead with four in the fourth and put the game away with five in the eighth.  Wang-wei Lin had two singles and a double.  Adrian Salcedo took the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits in five innings.  Nelvin Fuentes pitched two shutout innings, giving up only two walks.

Bristol 14, Elizabethton 3 in Elizabethton.  The White Sox scored multiple runs in four innings.  Kennys Vargas had three hits.  Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano each homered.  David Hurlbut took the loss, allowing six runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks while striking out eight in 4.1 innings.

GCL Twins 13, Rays 8 at Rays.  The Twins scored six in the third and never trailed after that.  Stephen Wickens had two singles and a double.  Kelvin Ortiz doubled and homered, driving in three.  Phillip Chapman singled and doubled, driving in four and raising his average to .326.  Javier Pimentel had two doubles.  Romy Trinidad and Joshua Hendricks each had two hits.  Starter Hein Robb surrendered six runs (four earned) on six hits and a walk, striking out three in three innings.  Kyle Wahl got the win, allowing no runs and no hits while striking out three in two shutout innings.  Nick Cicio struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.  Marcus Limon struck out two in a perfect ninth.

DSL Rockies 10, Twins 5 at Rockies.  The Twins led 3-0 after three and a half, but it was all downhill after that.  Ronald Jimenez had two singles and a double.  Wander Guillen doubled and homered to raise his average to .318.  Erick Gonzalez had two hits to raise his average to .311.  Starter Randy Rosario allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits in 3.2 innings.  Sterling Bonilla took the loss, surrendering five runs (four earned) on six hits and a walk in 3.2 innings.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.