Tag Archives: Anthony Swarzak

Game 6: Twins 4, Orioles 3

Slapadiddlesack gets a win! Multiple rednecks gets the go-ahead RBI after an 0-13 stretch. Perk'n'Play gets the Save in impressive 1-2-3 fashion: 2 strike outs and a Laddie ground out and the Twins win their second series of the season.

Favorite quote from yesterday. When interviewed following the game, his second in the majors, Twins starter Pedro Hernandez said he wasn't nervous in his 2013 debut.

 "Not really," [he] said. "This game is for men, this game is not for a child."

Twins are now 4-2, tied with the Pale Hose for the AL Central lead. They head to Kansas City to face Ervin Santana. In his first start for the Royals, Santana gave up 5 runs on 5 hits (3 HR's) and a walk. He also struck out 8.

In other news:

Continue reading Game 6: Twins 4, Orioles 3

Game 65: Brewers 4, Twins 5

In a 15 inning game, Swizzlesnacks gets the "W". DSpan with the walk off RBI single.

35 hits between the 2 teams, only 6 extra base hits.
Twins with 20 hits, and Span had the only extra base hit with a double.
Twins relievers pitched 9 shutout innings.
Twins pitchers walked 5 and struck out only 7.

-davidwatts.

"I was just trying to get us to dinner," Span said, smiling.

"Jeff Gray was the pitcher of the game as far as I'm concerned," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire.

"I'm pretty stiff," he said. "It's good timing for the off day tomorrow." Joe Mauer

Willinghammer had a rough day going 0-6 with 4 K's. He reached base a single time by way of a BB. As Padre would say, "Days like that are bound to happen!"

That is all.

 all quotes courtesy of The AP

 

Game 13 Recap: The Bully

"Are you ready to do it? Let's do it!" Carl shouted into Anthony's ear.

Anthony stood up and dusted himself off. He'd been crouching in the dirt for the past twenty or so minutes, trying not to think about anything. To go zen, or whatever. Anthony didn't really understand the whole meditation thing, but he knew that he didn't want to think about what he was about to do. It wasn't easy, with Carl jabbering along the entire time with what he thought was a helpful pep talk.

Continue reading Game 13 Recap: The Bully

Game. Cleveland vs. Minnesota

It's sort of sad that the Twins will never win another baseball game. I was a fan of the occasional win, but if I can't have that, I guess watching errors and strikeouts will have to get me by.

I'll be listening to this one, driving to Brainerd on a road trip with the wife. Since this one is obviously impossible, let's at least make it close.

Gomez vs Swizzlestick, who seems to be our best starter lately. Who knows, maybe we'll only lose by three?

2011 Game 94: Indigenous Persons at Gardy’s Guys

According to the Yahoo preview, the Twins have now attained "surging" status, having won 12 of 16 to threaten to be a factor in the AL Central race.

This game matches up a guy who has a mug shot, but has yet to appear in a Major League game this year, vs. a guy who has no mugshot but has been the darling of the local media for being Not Kevin Slowey.

Huff has thrown 100 1/3 innings in 17 starts at AAA in 2011, with underimpressive peripherals (63:28 K:BB) but impressive outcomes (3.86 ERA, 4.01 FIP). He's a big-ish (6'2", 215 lbs) lefty with a mediocre fastball and a mix of other pitches. In 2009-10 with the Indians, he went 13-19 over 208 innings, with a 5.84 ERA, 5.12 FIP and 5.19 xFIP. Chosen in the supplemental round in 2006 out of UCLA, he doesn't quite qualify as a Jeremy, but he's close.

Stompsnake has bounced back and forth between the big club and Rochester this year, putting up good results despite missing few bats (19:11 K:BB in 40 innings with the Twins, 25:7 in 32 1/3 in Rochester). Hopefully he brought his smoke and his mirrors in his suitcase from upstate New York. In his last appearance for the Twins, on July 10, he held the White Sox to one run on four hits and two walks over six innings, striking out five.

It's a great day to play two, but it would be really nice if Songsack managed to go the distance in this one. How 'bout we get him some runs, boys?

Fun fact: Cleveland is 7-2 against the Royals, 6-10 against the rest of the division, including 1-4 against the Twins.

2011 Game 55: Twins at Royals

The good news is that it's the Royals! The bad news is that we're still the Twins, and we're as injured as ever.

Anthony Soulsister 0-2, 15 IP, 3.60 ERA, 4.80 FIP, 5.06 xFIP, 0.0 fWAR
Sean O'Sullivan 2-4, 50.2 IP, 6.75 ERA, 6.05 FIP, 5.47 xFIP, -0.5 fWAR

I may never say this again, but this pitching matchup seems to favor Sickleshuffle pretty heavily. O'Sullivan is out of his element as a starter in MLB, as he wasn't even that good in AAA. This year his Ks are down and his walks are way up in what's not all that small a sample anymore.

O'Sullivan's a righty, too, so he doesn't even qualify as a Jeremy.

Can the Twins win some games in June? Can they start a bona fide winning streak tonight? Hey, if Drew Butera can hit a home run (with a runner on base, even!), I can believe anything.

Game #51: Angels 6, Twins 5

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.

2011 Game 24: Twins at Rays

In general, it takes a lot for the NBA and NHL playoffs to pry my eyes from the Twins. This year, it's getting harder and harder to resist the urge to favor them over my injury-riddled, assbatting Twins.

The good news is that our starter today, Anthony Slapshanks, has as many Wins as Rays starter Jeff Niemann.

Stripsearch hasn't pitched in the majors since he did so rather poorly in 2009, and his 2010 in AAA was nearly as bad. He was 5-12 last year with a 6.21 ERA and a 4.75 FIP. This year he's off to a better start, but the Rays are a far tougher test than he's had in a couple of years, even without Longoria.

Niemann is off to an awful start, with a 7.08 ERA and a 5.30 FIP in 20 innings, but his .348 BABIP is so much higher than his career .287 mark that he's bound to regress soon. Still, if the Twins can't beat up on a right-hander at home after a couple of beatings in a row, it's going to be a tough pill to swallow. Well, the playoffs are only a click away. I suppose the draft is, too, but I only watch that when a friend is around to tell me who the hell all the players are, and the friend who was going to do that is sick.

Go, Twins. Let's get a split out of today, at least. Win one for the Smokestack.