Tag Archives: Injuries

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Ninety-two

ANAHEIM 6, MINNESOTA 1 IN ANAHEIM

Date:  Saturday, July 12.

Batting star:  Denny Hocking was 1-for-3 with a home run, his second.

Pitching star:  Brad Radke struck out seven in 6.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:   Jerrod Washburn pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and one walk and striking out five.  Francisco Rodriguez struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.  Scott Spiezio was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.  Jeff DaVanon was 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base (his tenth) and two runs.

The game:  There was no score, and not much in the way of threats, until the fifth, when Hocking hit a one-out homer.  Radke had given up just three harmless singles through five innings, so it looked like the one run might hold up.  In the sixth, however, Spiezio reached third on a single-plus-error and scored on a Troy Glaus double, tying the score.

The Angels took control in the seventh.  DaVanon and Adam Kennedy opened the inning with singles.  With one out, Darin Erstad tripled them both home to make it 3-1.  Consecutive singles by Spiezio, Tim Salmon, and Garret Anderson increased the lead to 5-1, and there it stayed.  The Twins had only one hit after Hocking's home run, a one-out single by Doug Mientkiewicz in the sixth.

WP:  Washburn (8-9).  LP:  Radke (5-9).  S:  None.

Notes:  Chris Gomez was at short in place of Cristian Guzman, who may have been battling a minor injury.  Denny Hocking was at third in place of Corey Koskie, who was also injured.  Dustan Mohr remained in left in place of Jacque Jones, with Bobby Kielty in right.

Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-4 and was batting .301.

Radke's ERA came down to 5.49.  J. C. Romero gave up a run while retiring no one and had an ERA of 5.20.  James Baldwin retired both men he faced and had an ERA of 2.70.

This was Rodriguez' rookie season, although he'd appeared in five games in 2002.  The Angels had a tremendous bullpen:  closer Troy Percival had the highest ERA of the bunch.  It was Brendan Donnelly (1.58, 1.07 WHIP); Ben Weber (2.69, 1.32); Scot Shields (2.85, 1.19), Rodriguez (3.03, 0.99), and Percival (3.47, 1.14).  Plus, the had Scott Schoeneweis (3.96, 1.22) in long relief, and in September they called up Derrick Turnbow (0.59, 0.65).  On the other hand, Washburn had the best starters' ERA at 4.43.  If you were going to beat Anaheim, you'd better get them early.

The Twins had lost seven in a row and eleven of twelve.  The only good news was that Kansas City wasn't playing all that well, and third-place Chicago was playing just about as poorly as the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 44-48, in second place in the American League Central, 6.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were a half-game ahead of third-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2018, Game Six

MINNESOTA 4, SEATTLE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 5.

Batting stars:  Eddie Rosario was 1-for-2 with a home run.  Miguel Sano was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his third) and a walk.  Mitch Garver was 1-for-3 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Gibson pitched 4.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk.  He threw 80 pitches.  Taylor Rogers pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up only a walk.  Addison Reed struck out two in a perfect inning.  Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Daniel Vogelbach was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jean Segura was 2-for-4 with a stolen base.  James Paxton struck out seven in five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.

The game:  The Mariners got both of their runs in the first inning.  Dee Gordon and Segura opened the game with singles.  With one out Mitch Haniger hit what might have been a double play ball, but a throwing error brought in a run and no one was retired.  Vogelbach delivered a two-out RBI single to make it 2-0 Seattle.

Each team threatened in the second and the third, and the Mariners got a pair of one-out walks in the fifth.  It was still 2-0 until the sixth, however, when Joe Mauer led off with a single and Sano followed with a two-run homer, tying the score.  The Mariners put men on first and third with none out in the seventh but failed to score, so Garver was able to put the Twins on top in the bottom of the seventh with a home run.

Rosario homered in the eighth to make it 4-2 Twins.  Gordon walked leading off the ninth and stole second, but the next three batters were retired and the Twins had the victory.

WP:  Zach Duke (1-0).  LP:  Dan Altavilla (0-1).  S:  Rodney (1).

Notes:  Ehire Adrianza was at shortstop in place of Jorge Polanco, who was suspended for the first half of the season.  Sano was at third base.  He was the regular third baseman when he was healthy, but he was only able to play 56 games there due to injuries.  Eduardo Escobar played the most games at third with 77.  Adrianza also saw substantial time at third (28 games).

Byron Buxton was in center field.  Again, he would have been the regular there, but injuries limited him to 27 games in center.  Jake Cave played the most games in center with 70.  Max Kepler was there for 55 games and Ryan LaMarre played 34 games in center.  LaMarre was in left field in this game, with Rosario given the day off.  Rosario pinch-hit for LaMarre in the sixth inning and remained in the game in left field.

The Twins did not have a .300 hitter unless you count Willians Astudillo, who had just 93 at-bats.  Polanco and Rosario each batted .288 to lead the team.  The Twins batted .250, which was sixth in the league.  Boston led at .268.

Rosario led the team with 24 home runs.  Kepler had 20, Brian Dozier 16, Escobar 15, Logan Morrison 15, Cave 13, and Sano 13.  The Twins hit 166 home runs, twelfth in the league.  New York led the league with 267.

We went through the Twins pitching staff when we did a 2018 game about a week and a half ago, so there's no need to repeat that.  The Twins were ninth in ERA at 4.50--Houston led at 3.11, which was more than half a run better than the second place team (Tampa Bay, 3.74).  The Twins were tenth in WHIP at 1.38--Houston led there, too, at 1.10.

As you can see, the Twins were clearly not a bomba squad yet.  Still, with all four runs coming on three homers, perhaps the beginnings were there.

The losing pitcher, Dan Altavilla, was actually having a solid season out of the bullpen until he got hurt in early June and had to miss the rest of the year.  He was 3-2, 2.61, 1.26 WHIP in 22 games (20.2 innings).  He had a poor year in 2019, leading one to think he may not have been fully healthy.  One hopes he can bounce back for 2020.

The Mariners were 2-for-17 with men in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.

It seems like more than two years ago that we had these guys:  Morrison, Logan Forsythe, Bobby Wilson, Gregorio Petit, Johnny Field, Taylor Motter, Oliver Drake, Tyler Kinley, David Hale.

Record:  The Twins were 4-2, in first place in the American League Central, one game ahead of Chicago.  They would finish 78-84, in second place, 13 games behind Cleveland.

The Mariners were 3-3, in third place in the American League West, 2.5 games behind Houston.  They would finish 89-73, in third place, 14 games behind Houston.

Random record:  The Twins are 49-48 in Random Rewind games.

 

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1995, Game Sixteen

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OAKLAND 13, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 13.

Batting stars:  Marty Cordova was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer (his third), a double, and a stolen base (his second).  Chuck Knoblauch was 3-for-5 with a double.  Scott Leius was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jerald Clark was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.

Pitching star:  Mo Sanford pitched 3.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Stan Javier was 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.  Mark McGwire was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), two walks, three runs, and three RBIs.  Terry Steinbach was 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Rickey Henderson was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second) and a walk.  Geronimo Berroa was 2-for-5 with a walk and three runs.  Ruben Sierra was 2-for-6 with a two-run homer (his third) and two runs.  Jim Corsi pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and striking out one.  Mark Acre pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and three walks and striking out one.

The game:  McGwire walked leading off the second and Sierra followed with a two-run homer, giving the Athletics a 2-0 lead.  Henderson led off the third with a home run to make it 3-0.  Later in the third Berroa walked, Sierra singled, and Steinbach hit a two-out two-run double to make the score 5-0 Oakland.

The Twins got back into the game in the bottom of the third.  Knoblauch led off with a double and scored on an Alex Cole triple.  Kirby Puckett followed with an RBI single.  Clark singled, Scott Stahoviak drew a one-out walk to load the bases, and Leius walked to force in a run, making the score 5-3.  The Twins still had the bases loaded with just one out, but Matt Walbeck struck out and Pat Meares flied to left to end the inning.

Javier led off the fourth with a home run to increase the Athletics' lead to 6-3.  Oakland then loaded the bases, but could do no more damage.  The score stayed 6-3 through six.

In the seventh Steinbach doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Javier's single to make it 7-3.  The Twins stayed in it in the bottom of the seventh, though, as Clark hit a one-out double and Cordova followed with a two-run homer to reduce the margin to 7-5.

That was as good as it got, though.  Brent Gates opened the eighth with a walk.  Singles by Berroa and McGwire followed, bringing home a run.  A sacrifice fly scored another, and an RBI double by Scott Brosius made the score 10-5.  The Athletics added three more in the ninth.  Henderson singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Berroa's single.  McGwire then hit a two-run homer, bringing the final score to 13-5.

WP:  Acre (1-0).  LP:  Pat Mahomes (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cole was in center.  He was the more-or-less regular centerfielder at the start of the season, but was apparently injured at the end of May.  Rich Becker would take over the centerfield job.

Clark was in right.  Kirby Puckett, the regular right fielder was moved to DH.  Pedro Munoz made the most starts at DH with 77.  Puckett was there for 28 games, Chip Hale 27, Matt Merullo 13, and Kevin Maas 12.

Cole may actually have hurt himself in this game.  He came out after grounding out to shortstop in the sixth.  David McCarty replaced him and went to right field, with Clark moving to left and Cordova to center.  There's no apparent reason to do that other than injury or illness.

Hale pinch-hit for Clark in the ninth.

The Twins' leading batter in the young season was Clark at .387.  He would finish at .339 but would play only 36 games due to injuries.  Stahoviak was batting .350--he would finish at .266.  Cole was batting .327--he would finish at 342 but would play only 28 games due to injuries.  The Twins' leading batter would be Knoblauch at .333.  Puckett batted .314 and Munoz batted .301.  The Twins were fourth in batting average at .279.  Cleveland led at .291.

Cordova led the team with 24 homers.  This was the season he won Rookie of the Year, batting .277/.352/.486 to narrowly beat out Garret Anderson.  Anderson had a higher batting average, a higher slugging percentage, and tied Cordova in OBP, but did play 31 fewer games.  Puckett was second on the team with 23 homers, Munoz hit 18, Meares 12, and Knoblauch 11.  The Twins were next-to-last in home runs with 120, beating out Kansas City by one.  Cleveland led with 207.

Mahomes started but lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing five runs on five hits and two walks and striking out two.  The Twins' rotation left a lot to be desired, to put it mildly.  The only starter with an ERA under five was Kevin Tapani, and he was just barely under at 6-11, 4.92.  Brad Radke made the most starts, 28, but went 11-14, 5.32 in his rookie season.  Mike Trombley was 4-8, 5.62; Frankie Rodriguez was 5-6, 5.38; Scott Erickson was 4-6, 5.95 before being traded to Baltimore in July.  Jose Parra was 1-5, 7.95.  The Twins were, of course, terrible in 1995, but looking at that rotation, it's surprising they weren't even worse.

What a group of forgettable (and sometimes forgotten) Twins were in this game.  Kevin Campbell.  Jerald Clark.  Alex Cole.  Chip Hale.  Vince Horsman.  Mo Sanford.  Scott Stahoviak.  Other Twins that played in 1995 include Steve Dunn, Riccardo Ingram, Kevin Maas, Dan Masteller, Matt Merullo, Oscar Munoz, Brian Raabe, Erik Schullstrom, Dave Stevens, and Scott Watkins.  Good grief.

1995 featured a strike at the beginning of the season, which is why the Twins' sixteenth game was played on May 13.

This was the sixth game of a stretch in which the Twins lost six of seven.

Record:  The Twins were 5-11, in fifth (last) place in the American League Central, 5.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 56-88, in fifth place, 44 games behind Cleveland.  Their winning percentage figures out to a record of 63-99 over 162 games.

The Athletics were 8-9, in third place in the American League West, two games behind Seattle.  They would finish 67-77, in fourth (last) place, 11.5 games behind Seattle.

Random record:  The Twins are 38-36 in Random Rewind games.

 

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2019, Game Forty-four

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MINNESOTA 7, SEATTLE 1 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Friday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Ehire Adrianza was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), two runs and two RBIs.  Max Kepler was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.  Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Martin Perez struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks.  Matt Magill struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.  Mike Morin pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Austin Adams retired all six men he faced, striking out four.  Edwin Encarnacion was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dee Gordon was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his twelfth.  Mitch Haniger was 0-for-1 with three walks.

The game:  The Mariners put men on second and third with one out in the first, but a pair of strikeouts ended the inning.  The Twins started the scoring in the third on Adrianza's solo home run.  In the fourth, the Twins opened the inning with consecutive singles by Gonzalez, C. J. Cron, Willians Astudillo, and Kepler, making the score 2-0.  They added one more on Adrianza's sacrifice fly to take a 3-0 lead.

The Twins built their lead some more in the fifth.  Jorge Polanco and Gonzalez singled and Cron walked, loading the bases with one out.  Astudillo hit a sacrifice fly, and an error moved everyone up a base.  Kepler then delivered a two-run single, making it 6-0 Twins.

Seattle got their lone run in the bottom of the fifth.  With two out Gordon singled, Haniger walked, and Encarnacion had an RBI single.  They had only one hit after that, a two-out double by J. P. Crawford in the sixth.  The Twins added a run in the ninth when Adrianza singled and scored from first on a two-out double by Jonathan Schoop.

WP:  Perez (6-1).  LP:  Marco Gonzales (5-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Astudillo was the catcher in this game, one of 21 games he caught.  Mitch Garver and Jason Castro split the catching duties almost evenly, with Garver catching 82 games and Castro 78.

Adrianza was at third base.  Miguel Sano, who would become the third baseman, was just getting back from injury.  This was his second game of the season, and he was the DH.  Nelson Cruz, the regular DH, missed a few weeks due to injury.

Gonzalez was in left field in place of Eddie Rosario, who was apparently just given the day off.

The Twins did not make any position player substitutions.

Polanco was leading the team in batting at .331.  He would finish at .295.  Luis Arraez, who had not been brought up yet, would lead the team in batting at .334.  Cruz would be the only other .300 hitter, at .311.  The Twins were second in the league in batting at .270.

Cruz would lead the team in home runs with 41.  The Twins would have eleven batters who hit double-digit home runs:  Kepler (36), Sano (34), Rosario (32), Garver (31), Cron (25), Schoop (23), Polanco (22), Gonzalez (15), Castro (13), and Byron Buxton (10).  As you know, the Twins would set a new record for home runs in a season with 307.

Perez was 6-1, 2.89 at this point of the season.  Unfortunately, he couldn't sustain that, and ended up at 10-7, 5.12.  The Twins had three solid starters:  Jose Berrios (14-8, 3.68), Jake Odorizzi (15-7, 3.51), and Michael Pineda (15-11, 4.01).  They struggled after that, though, with Perez and Kyle Gibson (13-7, 4.84).  When Pineda was suspended they really struggled, which led to Randy Dobnak making a start in the playoffs.

The Twins used 31 pitchers in 2019.  So they won't be forgotten, let's tip our cap to Andrew Vasquez, Chase DeJong, Jorge Alcala, and Austin Adams, each of whom pitched one or two games for the Twins last season.

This was the fourth game of a five-game winning streak for the Twins.  After a loss they would win six more in a row, meaning they won eleven of twelve.

Record:  The Twins were 29-15, in first place in the American League Central, 5.5 games ahead of Cleveland.  They would finish 101-61, in first place, 8 games ahead of Cleveland.

The Mariners were 22-25, in fourth place in the American League West, nine games behind Houston.  They would finish 68-94, in fifth (last) place, 39 games behind Houston.

Rewind Record:  The Twins are 38-33 in Random Rewind games.

NHL

Game 10 – Wild v. Predators

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They won some games at home and looked pretty good doing it.

Their reward? A road game against Nashville.

Gross.

Injury update?

 

Nashville is 4-1-1 at home, and the Wild are not great so far on the road (1-5). So the deck seems stacked against Minnesota.

Brad Hunt continues to lead the Wild in scoring. Which is fine and normal and expected.

Apologies for brevity. The day got away from me.