Joe Sugden (1870)
Laughing Larry Doyle (1886)
Art Nehf (1892)
Allen Russell (1893)
Elmer Riddle (1914)
Curt Gowdy (1919)
Hank Bauer (1922)
Vic Davalillo (1936)
John Vukovich (1947)
Dave Dombrowski (1956)
Leon Durham (1957)
Mike Bielecki (1959)
Scott Bankhead (1963)
Ted Barrett (1965)
Gabe Kapler (1975)
No players with connections to the Minnesota Twins appear to have been born on this day.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. Billy Smith, I'm looking at you.
Paging New Guy. Paging New Guy. Your infatuation with Madeline Follin is on the phone and waiting to begin.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFngAf4GosY&feature=related
2011
(3 votes, average: 7.67 out of 10)
Loading... Just when you want to believe, the Twins get hammered by a bad offensive team and the Indians go out and get Ubaldo Jimenez. Of course, then the Indians go out and trade Orlando Cabrera for a minor leaguer, so I'm kinda confused, although I guess Cabrera had been relegated to a bench role of late. Also, Jimenez gave up four runs on four walks and two doubles in the first inning before being pulled, presumably when the trade went down, so he may be somewhat of an enigma, something in the lines of a Francisco Liriano.
As for the Twins, it still boggles the mind that Blackburn was handed a starting job over Kevin Slowey, especially after Blackburn's struggles last season. His ERA now stands at 4.49 with a 1.51 WHIP, which is even worse than last year when he could at least blame a sore arm for his struggles. He's now allowed at least four runs in six of his last seven starts and it was the fourth time in that stretch he's allowed double-digit hits. The one slightly encouraging sign was he still was able to get 10 groundball outs, which he must do to have any success.
How bad is it, though, that Blackburn got beat when matched up against a poor man's Slowey. Mancuso is an extreme flyball pitcher without an out pitch. His groundball rate, K rate and walk rate are all worse than Slowey's.
Oh well, at least Span wasn't traded. At least not yet. I did see one encouraging sign that the Twins will be insisting on getting a good deal:
The Twins are insisting on acquiring Storen with Bernadina and minor league infielder Stephen Lombardozzi for Span, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com.
That deal I can get on board, although I still would be upset that Span was traded, since he's one of my favorite players. However, Lombo's son is exactly the type of player the Twins need to focus on. He's a second baseman that can actually hit. He's a switch hitter with a career .370 on-base average in over 1,800 PAs. He's batting .318/.360/.429 as a 22 yr old in AAA. His numbers remind me a lot of a second baseman on a Twins championship team, but thankfully not his dad. If he does get traded to the Twins, we should start a pool on how long it will take for Dazzle to take a swing at him.
After an ugly series against the Tigers and a split against the Rangers, a series against the A's is texactly what we need right now. Going from facing lineups with Miguel Cabreras and Josh Hamiltons to a lineup whose greatest threat is Josh Willingham is kind of a nice change of pace.
Luckily for A's fans, we're going to try to counteract that lineup by bringing out Nick Blackburn tonight. Blackie's been in second-half form lately, carrying a 6.94 ERA over his last seven starts (and that's after a couple of very nice starts in the middle of this month). We've got the resistible force meeting the movable object - which will suck less? Only time will tell.
The Twins get to face Guillermo Moscoso. Guillermo's trad stats look okay (3-5, 3.47 ERA), but he's carrying some ugly peripherals. He's not striking people out (4.5 K/9), he's walking more than a pitcher like him should (3.5 BB/9), and he's giving up lots of homers (1.4 HR/9, which seems high, until you consider he's got a ground ball rate of just over 25%). Combine that with a BABIP of .219, and you would think that this is exactly the type of pitcher the Twins would tee off on (no ground balls, no strikeouts). So, let's see some of that, then.
I expect a high scoring game. However, since I'm expecting that, I'm sure the game will go scoreless until the 17th inning, when Butera will bunt home a run, making Cuddyer the winning pitcher (Jose Mijares won't be used, because no loving manager would put his team's fans through two straight nights of Mijares pitching).
Weather: 64 degrees, clear
Wind: 12 mph, in from left field
Time: 3:07
Attendance: 25,656
The baseball season spans half a year. Old timers will tell you how teams need to use that time: Two months to figure out what's wrong, two months to fix it, and two months to make a run for the top of the standings.
For the Twins this season, it didn't take long to assess the problem -- the clubhouse was as much emergency room as dressing room, and player after player was shuttling back and forth between the active roster and the disabled list. Morneau, Mauer, Span, Thome, Young, Baker, Slowey, Nishioka, Kubel, Casilla, Nathan -- all spent time on the DL, seriously testing the depth of the Twins organization.
Continue reading 2011 Game 106 Recap: Twins 9, White Elephants 5
Minnesota is 50-56, fourth in the AL Central, 6 games behind Detroit. The Twins are on a one game winning streak and are 5-5 in their last ten games.
Rochester is 41-65, sixth in the IL North, 20.5 games behind Lehigh Valley. The Red Wings are on a one game losing streak and are 4-6 in their last ten games.
New Britain is 55-51, fourth in the EL East, 2.5 games behind New Hampshire. The Rock Cats are on a two game winning streak and are 6-4 in their last ten games.
Ft. Myers is 14-21 in the second half, sixth in the FSL South, 5.5 games behind St. Lucie and Bradenton. The Miracle is on a nine game losing streak and, of course, is 1-9 in its last ten games.
Beloit is 16-17 in the second half, fourth in the ML West, 4 games behind Kane County and Quad Cities. The Snappers are on a one game losing streak and are 3-7 in their last ten games.
Elizabethton is 20-17, second in the AL West, 4 games behind Johnson City. The Twins are on a two game losing streak and are 2-8 in their last ten games.
GCL Twins are 17-17, second in the GCL South, 4 games behind the GCL Orioles. The Twins are on a one game losing streak and are 5-5 in their last ten games.
DSL Twins are 31-21, tied for second in the B. C. B. C., 3 games behind the DSL Orioles. The Twins are on a one game losing streak and are 4-6 in their last ten games.
Jason Kubel was activated from the disabled list by Minnesota.
Scott Diamond was optioned from Minnesota to Rochester.
Luke Hughes was optioned from Minnesota to Rochester, then was recalled from Rochester to Minnesota.
Scott Baker was activated from the disabled list by Minnesota.
Matt Tolbert was recalled from Rochester to Minnesota.
Chuck James was optioned from Minnesota to Rochester.
Alexi Casilla was placed on the fifteen day disabled list.
Kevin Slowey was activated from the disabled list and optioned to Rochester.
Thomas Diamond was released by Rochester.
Danny Lehmann was placed on the seven day disabled list by Rochester with an ankle injury.
Andrew Albers was sent from New Britain to Ft. Myers.
David Bromberg was activated from the disabled list by New Britain.
Bruce Pugh was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Ramon Santana was released by Ft. Myers.
Angel Morales was activated from the disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Kane Holbrooks was placed on the restricted list by Ft. Myers.
Miguel Munoz was activated from the disabled list by Ft. Myers, then was placed back on the seven day disabled list.
Jonathan Goncalves was activated from the disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Steven Liddle was placed on the seven day disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Matthew Tomshaw was promoted from the GCL Twins to Ft. Myers.
Andy Leer was activated from the disabled list by Beloit.
Corey Williams was assigned to Elizabethton.
Jose Montanez was assigned to the GCL Twins.
Arizona assigns Michael Restovich to AAA Reno.
Arizona organization (AAA Reno) places David Winfree on the seven day disabled list.
Detroit transfers Brad Thomas to the sixty day disabled list.
Florida organization (AAA New Orleans) releases Frank Mata.
Dodgers assign Casey Blake to Rancho Cucamonga (A) on a rehab assignment.
Mets assign Johan Santana to St. Lucie (A) on a rehab assignment.
St. Louis places Nick Punto on the fifteen day disabled list.
San Diego organization (AAA Tucson) activates Bobby Kielty from the disabled list.
San Diego recalls Pat Neshek from AAA Tucson, then options him back to Tucson.
Tampa Bay recalls Rob Delaney from AAA Durham, then options him back to Durham.
Toronto organization (AAA Las Vegas) activates Sean Henn from the temporarily inactive list.
Louisville 8, Rochester 3 in Louisville. The Bats scored seven in the second. No Red Wing had more than one hit; Denard Span was 1-for-5. Scott Diamond was hammered for eight runs on twelve hits and two walks in 2.2 innings. Cole DeVries pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and two walks.
New Britain 4, Bowie 3 in New Britain (Game 1--Scheduled 7 innings). The Rock Cats scored two in the second and two in the third. Deibinson Romero singled and doubled. David Bromberg pitched four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks. Deolis Guerra got the win in relief, allowing a run on two hits with three strikeouts in two innings. Tyler Robertson walked two in a scoreless seventh to get his eleventh save.
New Britain 3, Bowie 1 in New Britain (Game 2--Scheduled 7 innings). The Rock Cats scored in the first, fourth, and sixth. Chris Herrmann hit a home run, his sixth. Steve Hirschfeld pitched six innings, striking out six while giving up a run on three hits and three walks. Brett Jacobson worked a perfect seventh for his first save.
Lakeland 11, Ft. Myers 0 at Ft. Myers. The Flying Tigers pounded out nineteen hits and scored in six of the nine innings. Angel Morales had two hits. Tom Stuifbergen surrendered seven runs on ten hits and a walk in five innings.
Burlington 2, Beloit 0 in Burlington. The Bees scored both runs in the third. Lance Ray had two hits. A. J. Achter gave up two runs on four hits and four walks in five innings. Bart Carter struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Danville 5, Elizabethton 4 in Elizabethton (10 innings). The Twins lost leads of 1-0, 3-2, and 4-3. Chase Larson homered off Cole Johnson leading off the tenth for the game-winner. JaDamion Williams singled, doubled, and drew three walks. Miguel Sano hit his seventh homer. Pedro Guerra struck out six in five innings, giving up two runs on six hits. Matthew Summers struck out four in two innings, allowing a run on two hits and two walks.
GCL Red Sox 15, Twins 9 at Red Sox. The Twins led 7-0 after three and a half, but the Red Sox scored seven in the fourth and four in the fifth. Stephen Wickens had two hits and scored three times. Jacob Younis singled and doubled. Michael Quesada and Joshua Hendricks each had two hits, with Quesada driving in three. Starter Bobby O'Neill pitched three shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk. Of the six relief pitchers, only Nick Cicio went unscored upon, and he allowed three hits in two-thirds of an inning.
DSL Rockies 5, Twins 0 at Twins. The Rockies broke a scoreless tie with one in the sixth, then put it away with three in the seventh. The Twins had only four hits. Junior Subero gave up a run on three hits and a walk in five innings.