Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 5/28

Lehigh Valley 4, Rochester 3 in Lehigh Valley.  Tagg Bozied’s homer in the sixth broke a 3-3 tie.  Ray Chang hit two home runs, his first two homers of the year, driving in all of the Red Wings runs.  Eric Hacker allowed all four runs on eight hits, walking none.  Carlos Gutierrez pitched two shutout innings of relief.

New Hampshire 4, New Britain 0 in New Hampshire.  The Fisher Cats scored three in the first, which was more than they needed.  The Rock Cats had only two hits, both singles.  Steve Hirschfeld allowed all four runs on seven hits and two walks, striking out six in five innings.

Clearwater 7, Ft. Myers 2 in Ft. Myers (Game 1—9 innings—Scheduled 7 innings).  The Threshers scored five in the ninth.  Reggie Williams homered and singled.  Danny Rams homered.  Logan Darnell gave up two runs on six hits and a walk in 5.1 innings.  Bruce Pugh surrendered the five ninth inning runs, but it was his fourth inning of work and two of the runs were unearned.

Clearwater at Ft. Myers (Game 2).  Postponed.  Game will be made up today.

Clinton 6, Beloit 4 in Clinton.  The LumberKings scored five in the fifth to overcome a 4-1 deficit.  Danny Ortiz had two doubles, Michael Gonzales singled and homered (his seventh), and Lance Ray had two hits.  B. J. Hermsen allowed all six runs (only two earned) on seven hits and a walk in 4.2 innings, striking out four.  Clinton Dempster pitched 2.1 scoreless innings.

DSL Twins 4, White Sox 3 (12 innings) at Twins.  Victor Arias came around from second on an infield out to score the winning run.  Adonis Pacheco had two singles and a double.  Erick Gonzalez and Joel Polanco each had two hits.  Sterling Bonilla struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up just one hit and no walks.  Randy Rosario followed with two perfect innings.  The win went to Francisco Nunez, who struck out five in 4.1 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and no walks.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 29

Bob Hope (1903)
George McQuinn (1910)
Loel Passe (1917)
Fred White (1936)
Fay Vincent (1938)
John Kennedy (1941)
Blue Moon Odom (1945)
Jamie Allen (1958)
Mike Stenhouse (1958)
Eric Davis (1962)
Charlie Hayes (1965)
Trever Miller (1973)
Jerry Hairston (1976)
Matt Macri (1982)

Comedian and actor Bob Hope was a long-time part-owner of the Cleveland Indians and was on their Board of Directors.

Loel Passe broadcast Houston Astros games from the team’s inception through 1976.  Along the way, he worked with two Hall of Fame broadcasters, Gene Elston and Harry Kalas.

Third baseman Jamie Allen was drafted by Minnesota with the tenth pick of the 1976 draft, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 29 →

2011 Twins Game Recaps, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 50: Twins 1, Angels 0

Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in!

In all seriousness, this is why I love this sport. Moments like these. This is a historically bad baseball team right now and yet we still will have great memories from this season. You have Sizzlepop's amazing spot start that ends with a walkoff win Saturday night and then Francisco Liriano's no-hitter. Plus ... hmm ... well, that's all I can think of at the moment, but you get the idea.

What really made Saturday fun was Snapcracklepop seems like a guy that is really easy to root for. Pitchers are really taught to not show any emotion on the mound, but Swivelhips let it show through on occasion and you could really feel for him. You could tell he knew he got away with a bad pitch to the FOTF when he jerked his head around to see where it went (easy catch to Span) and then he let out a big sigh of relief when Cuddyer caught a ball on the warning track. He even showed a little frustration when the no-hitter was broken up on a hanging breaking ball. I feel for you, Slamdance!

I think it was fitting that he was filling in for Liriano, who had his no-hitter earlier this month. The Twins  now have four extra-inning wins and Danny Valencia has walk-off hits in two of them. He also had a go-ahead RBI hit in an extra-inning game, but the bullpen blew it (shocking, I know). Valencia is quickly becoming one of my favorite Twins, probably because Gardy seems to love to bag on him plus he's exceeded my original expectations for the most part. Plus, he's active on Twitter making himself more accessible to fans.

It was pretty ingenious of the Twins to figure out a way to win without forcing the bullpen to protect a lead. The bullpen has lost the last four games it has been given a lead to protect. The last Twins win before this one was Nick Blackburn's complete game.

But, for a night, it was fun to forget all about that and enjoy a well-played game and an exciting win.

Keeping Track

This Week in Twins Transactions

Glen Perkins was placed on the fifteen day disabled list by Minnesota.
Kevin Slowey was placed on the fifteen day disabled list by Minnesota.
Jim Thome was activated from the disabled list by Minnesota.
Dusty Hughes was recalled from Rochester to Minnesota.
Jim Hoey was recalled from Rochester to Minnesota.
Luke Hughes was optioned from Minnesota to Rochester.
Ben Revere was optioned from Minnesota to Rochester.
Ryan Mullins was promoted from New Britain to Rochester.
Jake Stevens was promoted from New Britain to Rochester.
Jeff Manship was placed on the seven day disabled list with a sore right shoulder.
Tony Davis was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Dakota Watts was placed on the seven day disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Brad Stillings was activated from the disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Derek McCallum was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers.
Kane Holbrooks was placed on the seven day disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Aaron Hicks was placed on the seven day disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Kyle Knudson was activated from the disabled list by Beloit.
Martire Garcia was released by Beloit.
A.J. Achter was promoted from Elizabethton to Beloit.
Angel Mata was placed on the reserve list by the DSL Twins.

Keeping Track

Where They Stand

Rochester is 18-27, sixth (last) in the IL North, 10 games behind Lehigh Valley.  The Red Wings have lost two in a row and are 4-6 over their last ten games.

New Britain is 27-18, third in the EL East, 3 games behind New Hampshire.  The Rock Cats have lost one in a row and are 5-5 over their last ten games.

Ft. Myers is 27-21, second in the FSL South, 0.5 games behind St. Lucie.  The Miracle has lost two in a row and is 7-3 over their last ten games.

Beloit is 22-26, sixth in the ML West, 12 games behind Burlington.  Then Snappers have won one in a row and are 1-9 over their last ten games.

Keeping Track

This Week in Ex-Twins

Atlanta organization promotes Eliecer Cardenas from Lynchburg (A) to Mississippi (AA).
Atlanta promotes Julio Lugo from Mississippi (AA) to Gwinnett (AAA).
Boston places Darnell McDonald on the fifteen day disabled list.
Cubs place Matt Garza on the fifteen day disabled list.
Detroit places Brad Thomas on the fifteen day disabled list.
Dodgers assign Casey Blake to Albuquerque on a rehab assignment, then activate him from the disabled list.
Dodgers organization (AAA Albuquerque) activates Randy Keisler from the disabled list.
Philadelphia organization promotes Jeff Lanning from Lakewood (A) to Reading (AA).
San Diego places Orlando Hudson on the fifteen day disabled list.
Tabasco of the Mexican League signs J. D. Durbin.
Tampa Bay options Rob Delaney to Durham (AAA), then sends him outright to Durham.
Veracruz of the Mexican League activates D’Angelo Jimenez.

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 5/25 – 5/27

ROCHESTER

Wednesday—No games scheduled.

Thursday—Lehigh Valley 3, Rochester 2 in Lehigh Valley.  The IronPigs scored three in the first and it was all they needed.  Matt Brown singled and doubled and Ben Revere and Brian Dinkelman each had two hits.

Friday—Lehigh Valley 10, Rochester 2 in Lehigh Valley.  The IronPigs scored three in the seventh and four in the eighth.  Kyle Waldrop surrendered four runs on seven hits and a walk in 1.1 innings.

NEW BRITAIN

Wednesday—New Britain 4, Binghamton 3 in New Britain. (Game 1—8 innings—scheduled 7 innings).  Mark Dolenc doubled to bring in Chris Cates with the winning run.  Dolenc was 4-for-4 on the game.

Binghamton 6, New Britain 2 in Binghamton (Game 2—Scheduled 7 innings).  Santos Arias allowed four runs on three hits and two walks in one inning of relief.

Thursday—New Britain 7, Binghamton 3 in New Britain.  Mark Dolenc doubled and homered, driving in three runs.  Tyler Robertson got the win with three shutout innings of relief.

Friday—New Hampshire 15, New Britain 3 in New Hampshire.  Steve Singleton had two singles and a double.  Santos Arias surrendered nine runs on eight hits and two walks in three innings of relief.

FT. MYERS

Wednesday—Tampa 12, Ft. Myers 1 in Tampa.  Kane Holbrooks surrendered eleven runs on fourteen hits and two walks in 3.1 innings.  Jhon Garcia struck out four in two shutout innings.

Thursday—Clearwater 5, Ft. Myers 0 in Ft. Myers.  Brian Dozier had two of the three Miracle hits.  Edgar Ibarra worked 5.2 scoreless innings, giving up four runs and three walks.

Friday—Postponed.  Will be made up as part of a doubleheader today.

BELOIT

Wednesday—Burlington 5, Beloit 4 in Beloit.  Lance Ray singled and doubled and Tobias Streich had two hits.

Thursday—Burlington 2, Beloit 0 in Beloit.  The Snappers had four hits. A. J. Achter struck out five in three shutout innings, giving up just one hit and one walk.

Friday—Beloit 10, Clinton 1 in Clinton.  Nate Roberts was 3-for-3 with three doubles and a walk, scoring four times.  Manuel Soliman walked five in five innings, but he allowed just one hit and one run while striking out five.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.