Ricky Rubio has motivational words for the Twins
We are going on a win streak. Like a 20 games. Its going to be awesome. Go Twins!
Tag Archives: Chicago White Sox
Game 7: Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins – Home Opener Edition
Game 43: Minnesota @Chicago
After last night's game, Chicago ace Chris has 2 losses on the year and both of 'em have come courtesy of the Twins. Game three will decide who takes the Memorial Day weekend series.
Today's matchup features Kyle Gibson (3-3, 2.98 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) and Jose Quintana (2-4, 4.13 ERA, 1.35 WHIP).
Gibson's coming off consecutive losses for the first time this season, though the 2-1 loss against Detroit on May 12 wasn't his doing (5 hits, 1 earned run, 0 BB and 6 K's in 7 innings). He wasn't nearly that good on the 17th against Tampa (8 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 BB and 2 K's in 5 innings). Hopefully, we get a bounce-back game from Kyle.
He'll be opposed by Quintana who's coming off a string of five games where he's allowed 2 earned runs or less while averaging 6.2 innings pitched, 6.1 K's and 2 BB per game. During that stretch, he's 2-3 due to a notable lack of offense (a total of 10 runs scored in those five games). His last start against Cleveland on the 19th wasn't great, allowing 8 hits and 4 BB while only striking out 4. Hopefully, we get another game like that and the Twins can put up some runs.
Game 41 recap: White Sox 3 Twins 2.
It started with a bunt.
White Sox starter Jeff Samardzija was struggling in the first and second inning. He was running counts 3-2 on batters and the Twins got 2 runs in the first and Ed Escobar led off the 2nd with a walk. Then a bunt. A first pitch bunt by Eddie Rosario halted all that momentum. Sure he was trying for a base hit and was credited for a sac but that pitch, that play seemed to have thing click on for The Shark. Next batter Aaron Hick swung at the first pitch and hit a lazy fly ball and Santana struck out and that was all she wrote for the Twins offense.
Phil Hughes pitched well except for the 4th inning where the wheels fell off. A walk, a defensive misplay and a misplaced pitch led to 2 runs. Hughes was lifted after 7 inning even though he had 89 pitches (72 strikes!) and was in control. Aaron Thompson came in and walk the second batter he faced and that run came around to score Twins lose 3-2.
NOTES
- Joe Mauer stole third base in the first inning and it led to sac fly by Plouffe. Mauer is 3 for 4 in stealing 3rd. His last attempt was in 2010.
- Mauer has 25 RBI this season, a team high.
- Mauer has 9 doubles, giving him 12 extra base hits this year. That is 4th most on the Twins (Dozier, Plouffe, Hunter)
Game 41 Twins at White Sox 7:10pm.
Lets take a look at the AL Central Standings
Team W L GB
KCR 26 14 --
DET 25 17 2.0
MIN 23 17 3.0
CHW 18 20 7.0
CLE 17 23 9.0
We almost to Memorial Day and the Twins are still in the thick of the race. Thats awesome! Bonus action this weeks is that if the Twins sweep, they really put a world of hurt to the Pale Hosers, and thats always great.
Go Twins Go.
Game 23 recap: Twins 1 White Sox 0
Has Kyle Gibson turned a corner, or did he look good against a White Sox lineup that cant score runs? Its probably a little of both but it resulted in another Twins win over the White Sox . Gibson had his sinker working, of his 24 outs recorded 13 were ground ball outs, 2 by fly ball and 4 by strikeout. Perhaps the Nick Blackburn comparisons/ceiling projections are not that far off base. The Twins led 1-0 after 8, but Paul Molitor decided that was enough and sent Glen Perkins in for the 9th to get the save and preserve the shut out.
Jose Quintana had himself a nice game too, going 7 innings and giving up 1 run. The run was scored by the speedster Kennys Vargas. While on second, Vargas tagged up on a ball to medium deep CF and scampered home on a wild pitch. The Twins have run at will on center fielder Adam Eaton's arm. And really, he has shown no accuracy and his throws so I think that trend will continue.
The Twins will try to win another one Saturday. Game time is 1:10pm.
NOTES
- After a 1-6 start, the Twins are 10-6 and are only 1 game below .500
-Torii Hunter collected two hits. Its his 3rd game of 20 played where he has 2 or more hits.
-Brian Dozier did NOT score a run, breaking a 5 game run scoring streak (plating 8 times in those 5 games). Dozier has scored at least 1 run in nine of the last eleven games.
-This is the third time in Gibson's career he has recorded 24 outs. He has not pitched a complete game.
-This is the third team shutout for Twins pitching. It took until May 21 last year to reach that mark.
- Roster Moves: Twins will activate Ricky Nolasco & Brian Duensing & have optioned Tommy Milone & Caleb Thielbar to AAA.
Game 23: White Sox at Twins. 7:10 pm
Go Twins Go!
Game 4 recap : Twins 6 Bad Guys 0.
Its always nice to get a win. To me, its always better when that win comes against the Southsiders. The sun shines brighter, the birds sing happier, the Twins Twittersphere has less angst.
The Twins wasted no time to get on the scoreboard as Joe Mauer knocked in Eddie Escobar and the score was 1-0 after a half inning. That is all Tommy Milone needed. Milone allowed only 2 hits and walked 2 in 7.2 of work, the longest a Twins starter has pitched this season. At one point, Milone had retired 16 straight White Sox batters. Its weird seeing a Twins pitcher be that stingy with base runners. Lets hope its a trend and not a mirage.
Back to the offense, The Twins walked 9 times today (3 IBB's), got a few extra base hits, and its resulted in 6 runs. I am not expecting 6 every night, but loved seeing the batting order churn over and over.
Get your rest, the Twins next game is in a few hours. 1pm central.
NOTES
-Paul Molitor notched his first win as manager. He needs 34 more to pass Johnny Goryl
-Brian Duensing got a save. He came in the 8th inning after Milone gave up a double to Tyler Flowers. Then the Twins erupted for 3 runs in the 9th. Molitor decided to keep Duensing in, even though Perkins was warming in the pen during the 9th. Its Brian's 2nd career save.
- WGOM.org's favorite player Torii Hunter stole a base in the 9th. Its his 127th as a Twin. There are only 4 players who have stolen more bases as Twin than Hunter: Kirby (134), Cesar Tovar (186), Rod Carew (271), and Chuck Knobluach (276)
- The Twins shut out opponents 7 times last year, with the earliest being April 17 against Toronto
Game 4: Twins at White Sox. 3:10 pm.
Early season baseball screws up my Twins watching. Games start at noon or 1 or in this case 3pm because spring temperatures make it not ideal for playing baseball or watching baseball in the stands. And because of these early starts, I only can catch an inning or two on my lunch break and see the score when I get home.
Well this year, I haven't missed much. The most exciting Twins related thing to happen was Bert Blyleven taking to Twitter and offering his insights on Detroit. That is not a good thing.
The Twins move on to Chicago to take on the White Sox. Both teams are 0-3.
Tommy Milone will throw for the Local 9. The current White Sox roster has a .250/.284/.391/.674 career slash line against him (67 plate apps). Chicago will throw out Hector Noesi. I would be willing to wager a lot of money that the Twins score more than 1 run this series.
GO TWINS
Twins in Chicago. Doubleheader
there are games today!