@
The Twins are in a pretty good position right now. If they win the next two Minnesota will go into the All Star Break riding an 8 game winning streak, setting themselves up nicely for a second half run. What? Is it too soon to just chalk up every game against the White Sox as a win?
Without getting too New Guy-y here I predict the Twins will be in third place in the AL Central before the Mid Summer Classic.
Weather: 83°F, sunny
Wind: 9 mph
Attendance: 39,528
Time: 2:24
Twins record: 37-46 (4th in AL Central, 8.0 GB)
Fangraphs boxscore | MLB Game Wrap
Highlights:
Lowlights:
As games go this season, yesterday's was a fun one. Well, it would have been a fun one any season, but this one it was a particular treat. Which means I naturally Battey'd the wrap until just now. I guess I'm more used to wrapping a loss at this point.
-------
There's a slightly different image format for this week's View from the Ballpark. Let's see if that helps or hinders:
photo by Flickr user Nyall & Maryanne
Remember, no embiggening.
Pawtucket 6, Rochester 3 in Rochester. The Red Sox scored three in the first and three in the fourth. Trevor Plouffe, Aaron Bates, and Chase Lambin each had two hits, with Bates raising his average to .333. Delmon Young was 1-for-4 with a double. Eric Hacker allowed all six runs on four hits and five walks in seven innings.
New Hampshire 11, New Britain 1 in New Hampshire. The Fisher Cats took a commanding lead with four in the fourth and put it away with five in the eighth. Mike Hollimon’s home run was the Rock Cats’ only run. The Rock Cats made four errors. Bobby Lanigan struck out seven in six innings, but gave up six runs (one earned) on nine hits and a walk.
Ft. Myers 9, St. Lucie 5 in St. Lucie. The Miracle scored five in the third and never trailed. Oswaldo Arcia had four hits including a double and drove in three. James Beresford had three hits and scored three times. Danny Rams singled and homered, driving in three. Anderson Hidalgo had two hits to raise his average to .306. Logan Darnell went seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks. Andrew Albers struck out three in two shutout innings to get the save.
Wisconsin 11, Beloit 8 in Beloit (11 innings). The Snappers led 6-1 after three, but fell behind and needed a run in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings. Jairo Perez singled and homered, driving in four but dropping his average to .410. Daniel Ortiz singled and doubled. Nate Roberts and Michael Gonzales each had two hits. Ryan O’Rourke struck out eight in 5.2 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits with no walks. Michael Tonkin took the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. The Snappers made four errors.
Greeneville 6, Elizabethton 3 in Elizabethton. The Astros scored four in the fifth. The Twins had seven hits, but no Twin had more than one. David Hurlbut allowed four runs on nine hits in four innings. He did not walk anyone.
GCL Twins 3, Rays 2 at Twins (Game 1). The Twins fell behind 2-0 after three, but scored single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh. The Twins had six hits, but no Twin had more than one. Ricardo Arevalo struck out five in three innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk. Tyler Herr got the win with two shutout innings. Kyle Wahl also pitched two shutout innings to get the save.
GCL Twins 6, Rays 2 at Rays (Game 2). The Twins scored four in the eighth to overcome a 2-1 deficit. Joshua Hendricks was 3-for-3 with two walks. Michael Quesada singled and doubled, scoring three times. Starter Angel Mata struck out five in three innings, giving up four hits and a walk. The win went to Luis Nunez, who struck out nine in four hitless innings, walking two. Nick Cicio struck out four in two perfect innings of relief.
DSL Twins at Rockies. Postponed.
Jack Farrell (1857)
Robert Brown (1876)
Charles Stoneham (1876)
Bump Hadley (1904)
Jack Krol (1936)
Curt Blefary (1943)
Gary Matthews (1950)
Rich Gossage (1951)
Dave Eiland (1966)
Tim Worrell (1967)
Jesse Crain (1981)
One of Cathy's friends lives here, and an aunt and uncle of mine live here. bS made a crack about Fresno being gang central, but if my aunt and uncle are part of a gang, I'm no longer scared of gangs.
Eight hundred miles of driving yesterday. Gross.
One of my favorite Motown hits.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vf3ZE7CLg0
English tv, 1975.
(6 votes, average: 7.33 out of 10)
Loading... David Price vs Brian Duensing
The good doctor seems to have expended all of his posting energy this morning on the book club.
We got ourselves a doozy of a soccer post today. We have 4 different competitions to recap.
MLS Results
Programming Note: Seattle-Los Angeles tonight on ESPN2 at 9:30 Central
MLS News
Happy Independence Day, Citizens. In celebration of a holiday born of revolt, I bring you Book Two of George R.R. Martin's magnificent A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Clash of Kings
Martin paints on a grand canvas, maintaining threads for each of the Starks as well as a small handful of others. Don't be fooled. I'm most of the way through the third volume Everybody Dies. Martin has no compunction whatsoever about sucking the reader in to a character and storyline, only to snuff it out.
Joseph Campbell, in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces, describes the classic "hero's journey" thusly:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
This volume gets the "fabulous forces" and "mysterious adventures" in gear, larding on layers of myth, macabre and magic only hinted at in the first book. But who the hell are the heroes in this series? I've identified several potentials, only to see them offed. Other characters who, to all appearances seemed to be cast as villains, he rehabilitates with a change of perspective and/or circumstances.
I'm smitten at the same time. Martin is a brave and compelling writer. The stories twist and turn in unexpected ways, while maintaining a dramatic tension often lacking in Robert Jordan's more ponderous Wheel of Time series. The characters are more real, more engaging and more bloody too. Just what a day of ice (in the drinks), fire (on the grill) and fireworks needs!
What have you been reading?
Lehigh Valley 3, Rochester 1 in Lehigh Valley. The IronPigs scored single runs in the first, sixth, and eighth. The Red Wings had only five hits. Andrew Baldwin struck out seven in 6.1 innings, but gave up two runs on five hits and two walks to take the loss.
New Britain 9, Harrisburg 3 in New Britain. The Rock Cats scored in six of the eight innings they batted. Mike Hollimon doubled and homered. Chris Parmelee singled and homered. Danny Rohlfing singled and doubled, driving in three. Yangervis Solarte and Mark Dolenc each had two hits, with Solarte raising his average to .332. Liam Hendriks struck out seven in seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk to raise his record to 8-2.
Charlotte 6, Ft. Myers 0 in Ft. Myers. The Miracle was out-hit 16-7. James Beresford and Jamaal Hawkins each had two hits, with Hawkins raising his average to .321. Tom Stuifbergen surrendered four runs on seven hits in just 2.2 innings to take the loss. Matt Hauser pitched two shutout innings.
Wisconsin 5, Beloit 4 in Beloit. The Snappers led 4-2 after seven, but the Timber Rattlers scored two in the eighth and one in the ninth. Tyler Grimes had two hits. Adrian Salcedo gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks in 6.2 innings. Jose Gonzalez struck out three in 1.1 innings, but allowed an unearned run on two hits and two walks. Three of the five Timber Rattler runs were unearned.
Greeneville 3, Elizabethton 2 in Elizabethton. The Astros scored three in the first and it was all they needed. Max Kepler had two doubles and Miguel Sano singled and tripled. Cesar Ciurcina gave up three runs on five hits, walking none and striking out four in five innings. Bart Carter struck out six in three perfect innings. Matthew Summers struck out the side in his only inning.
GCL Twins. No game scheduled.
DSL Twins. No game scheduled.