In honor of Memorial Day, the soul of brevity:
pitching matchup:
Darling Nicky (3.20 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 3.84 xFIP, 35:20 K:BB, 52.6 pct GB in 64 2/3 innings)
Pretty Penny (4.45 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 4.41 xFIP, 27:22 K:BB, 55.3 pct GB in 62 2/3 innings)
Both are 4-4 on the season, both have average-ish FIPs, both induce a lot of ground balls but miss very few bats.
Anyone around?
Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 2 in Lehigh Valley. The Red Wings scored four in the third, which was all they needed. Brian Dinkelman singled and homered, driving in three and raising his average to .308. Rene Tosoni also homered. Ben Revere had two hits. Kyle Gibson struck out ten in 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk. Anthony Slama retired all four men he faced, striking out two of them.
New Hampshire 2, New Britain 1 in New Hampshire. Joe Benson doubled to tie the game in the top of the ninth, but the Fisher Cats won with one in the bottom of the ninth. Benson had two hits in the game. Liam Hendriks pitched seven innings, giving up a run on five hits and two walks while striking out six. Tony Davis allowed the losing run in his second inning of relief. The win went to ex-Twin Bobby Korecky, who had allowed the tying run in the ninth.
Ft. Myers 2, Clearwater 0 in Ft. Myers (Game 1—Scheduled 7 innings). Brian Dozier’s third-inning double brought in both runs. Dozier also singled. Brad Stillings worked the first four innings, giving up a run on two hits. Andrew Albers went the last three to get the win, walking none and giving up two hits.
Clearwater 1, Ft. Myers 0 in Ft. Myers (Game 2—Scheduled 7 innings). The Threshers scored the game’s only run in the sixth. Steve Liddle had the only Miracle hit, a single leading off the third inning. Tom Stuifbergen took a complete game loss, giving up seven hits and a walk while striking out six.
Beloit at Clinton. Postponed. Game will be made up as part of a doubleheader this afternoon.
DSL Twins—No game scheduled.
Amos Rusie (1871)
Turkey Mike Donlin (1878)
Rube Oldring (1884)
Al Mamaux (1894)
Twink Twining (1894)
Turk Lown (1924)
Mel Nelson (1936)
Mike Sadek (1946)
Dana DeMuth (1956)
Mike LaCoss (1956)
Mike Oquist (1968)
John Courtright (1970)
Manny Ramirez (1972)
Scott Eyre (1972)
Oh. Joe. Come home soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VigOzx_8BbU
No Miles video of this one online or I'd of gone with that.
(6 votes, average: 8.50 out of 10)
Loading... Twins record: 17-34
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap
Not a lot to say. Dan Haren, even when he's not great, is pretty good. The Twins, this year, are not, and their infield defense today especially was not.
I feel kind of bad for Jim Hoey. I can't hate him. It's not his fault someone thought he was a decent trade return for a salary dump of a bona fide major league shortstop. It's not his fault someone thinks he's a major league quality relief pitcher, and it's not his fault that he keeps being asked to perform as one when it seems clear, right now, that he's not. When he came in the game in the top of the 9th today, the score was 5-3, and I figured that after he did his damage, the Twins were about to make it closer in the bottom of the 9th. They did, scoring two runs after Hoey gave up a home run to Mark Trumbo, the first batter he faced. It's been that kind of year.
Hitter of the Week: Denard Span
Pitcher of the Week: I ought to be more selective, but I can't, because suddenly it's the majority of the starting rotation that's keeping the Twins' heads anywhere close to above water. Nick Blackburn pitched a good game that he won, and Scott Baker and Anthony Swarzak pitched possibly even better games that they didn't win, earning them the undying ire of Twins broadcasters, but hopefully some respect from Twins fans.
Dan Haren vs. Pavano.
Of the 53 pitchers in the AL that qualified for the ERA title, Pavano is dead last with a 75 (through Friday's games). Haren is sixth in the AL at 174, so this could very well be a worse matchup than Saturday's game. Of course, the Twins won that game.
But who cares? Chuck James is here!!! OK, I doubt he'll be anything close to dominant, but his numbers certainly warrant him being called up before this. Who knows, maybe he can get the save. Matt Capps was battling a sore arm and pitched last night, so who knows about his availability in a day game after a night game. Also, no Jim Thome most likely as he was expected to get a cortisone shot in his shoulder last night. But I hear Jim Hoey is available!!
So, once again the Twins have an opportunity to win a three-game series for the first time this season. They can't lose them all, can they?
The good news is the Twins are now .500 against the AL West (6-6). Of course, that means they are 11-27 against everyone else.
They're due, right? Go, TWINS!!!
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.
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.
One in a row!