Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 91: Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins

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Luke Hochevar vs Nick Blackburn

This has to be a perfect way to start the second half for the Twins. First, a warm-up against the Royals. Four games, more than enough to find the mojo and remind everyone about owning the AL Central. Then, taking on the first place Indians with another four game series. After that, yet another four game series against the other first place team, the Tigers.

I had some stuff written about the four consecutive series against AL Central, breaking down some possibilities. Someone decided to steal it for the game recap though. Instead, I'll close with Win Twins!

Keeping Track

Where They Stand

Minnesota is 42-48, fourth in the AL Central, six games behind Cleveland and Detroit.  The Twins have won two in a row and are 7-3 in their last ten games.
Rochester is 35-56, sixth (last) in the IL North, 18.5 games behind Lehigh Valley.  The Red Wings lost their last game and are 4-6 in their last ten games.
New Britain is 46-43, tied for third in the EL East, 5.5 games behind New Hampshire.  The Rock Cats won their last game and are 4-6 in their last ten games.
Ft. Myers is 10-10 in the second half, fifth in the FSL South, 2 games behind Charlotte.  The Miracle lost its last game and is 6-4 in its last ten games.
Beloit is 10-8 in the second half, tied for second in the ML West, 1 game behind Kane County.  The Snappers have won two in a row and are 5-5 in their last ten games.
Elizabethton is 14-9, second in the AL West, 3 games behind Johnson City.  The Twins have won five in a row and are 8-2 in their last ten games.
The GCL Twins are 11-10, second in the GCL South, 1.5 games behind the Orioles.  The Twins have lost two in a row and are 6-4 in their last ten games.
The DSL Twins are 25-15, tied for second in the B. C. B. C., 1.5 games behind the Orioles.  The Twins lost their last game and are 5-5 in their last ten games.

Keeping Track

This Week in Twins Transactions

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Rene Rivera was optioned to Rochester by Minnesota.
Rene Tosoni was optioned to Rochester by Minnesota.
Delmon Young was activated from the disabled list by Minnesota.
Trevor Plouffe was promoted from Rochester to Minnesota.
Jair Fernandez was sent from Rochester to New Britain.
Carlos Gutierrez was placed on the seven day disabled list by Rochester.
Steve Holm was activated from the disabled list by Rochester.
Michael Tarsi was placed on the seven day disabled list by New Britain.
Spencer Steedley was activated from the disabled list by New Britain.
Daniel Rohlfing was sent from New Britain to Ft. Myers.
Andrew Albers was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Matt Schuld was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Estarlin De Los Santos was sent from New Britain to Ft. Myers.
Derek McCallum was sent from Ft. Myers to Beloit.
Clint Dempster was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers.
Brad Stillings was activated from the disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Matthew Tone was placed on the seven day disabled list by Ft. Myers.
Reggie Williams was sent from Ft. Myers to Beloit.
Andrei Lobanov was released by Beloit.
Bart Carter was promoted from Elizabethton to Beloit.
Nate Roberts was placed on the seven day disabled list by Beloit with a strained right knee.
Tyler Grimes was placed on the seven day disabled list by Beloit with a strained neck.
Sam Spangler was promoted from Elizabethton to Beloit.
Andy Leer was placed on the seven day disabled list by Beloit.
Javier Pimentel was promoted from the DSL Twins to the GCL Twins.
Wander Guillen was sent from the GCL Twins to the DSL Twins.
Alex Wimmers was assigned to the GCL Twins.
Miguel Munoz was assigned to the GCL Twins.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 90 Recap: Twins 8, Royals 4

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MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 4
Record - 42-48 (4th in Central, 1.0 game out of 3rd)
Highest WPA - Liriano (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 SO, 2 BB), Plouffe! (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI)
Lowest WPA - Danny V. (1 for 5, RBI) - the flyout double play in the first must have hurt him.
NOTES - 5 Twins had multi-hit games (Delmon, Plouffe, Mauer, Casilla, Nishioka)
Fangraphs
MLB Recap
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And so begins the second half.  Right out of the gate after the All-Star break the Twins have three 4-game series at home against AL Central teams.  With the doubleheader against Cleveland on Monday, the Twins will play 12 games in 11 days.  At the end of next week, when the dust clears, everyone in the Central will have played 100 or 101 games, so a lot of the "games in hand" that the Twins and Indians have had for most of the season will be gone.

I could have all kinds of fun breaking down all the potential outcomes over the next week and a half (and, trust me I have the spreadsheets to show that I have), and tell you what needs to happen to have the Indians, Tigers, White Sox, and Twins all within 0.5 games at the top of the standings next Sunday (it's unlikely).  Instead, let's consider what the Twins need to do to make up ground and whether or not they adhered to those guidelines in last night's victory.

Continue reading Game 90 Recap: Twins 8, Royals 4 →

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game #89: Twins 6, White Sox 3

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Twins record: 41-48
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap

This week I am faced with the prospect of pushing back not just one, but two excellent food-and-drink posts, both of which concern material that I find myself much more interested in than baseball at this point of this season, frankly. So I will once again try to get out of the way and tell you to go read those posts just below here instead. As for today, I'll just say that even I can't complain about taking three of four from Chicago in Chicago.

Hitter of the Week: I'm going to pick the Iceman, just because, since I make my offensive stat charts in sets of eight games and today's game was the start of a new set, I'm going to get a kick out of Iceman's three times reached out of four PAs today keeping him on the top of the chart for a whole week after this, as he won't appear again on this set unless someone else gets hurt.

Pitcher of the Week: I think I liked Brian Duensing and his two very nice starts this week the most.

2011 Twins Game Logs

Game 88: JETER GOT HIS 3000TH HIT (Also, Twins and Sox)

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The greatest player in Yankees history hit his 3000th hit today. The good Yankee Captain, as he is called worldwide (even by those who are otherwise oblivious to baseball) because the first player ever to use nothing but willpower and intangibles to guide the ball over the fence for the milestone (the other player to hit a home run for his 3000th hit, Wade Boggs, used some combination of shoe polish and eastern mysticism). Ray's pitcher David Price wept openly, and joyfully ran to give the heroic shortstop a hug, thanking Jeter for allowing him to be used for his higher purpose.

Commissioner Selig decreed July 9th to be "Jeter Day" for 'as long as baseball is played, both on earth and into the stars above'. "Today, he truly has made the intangible 'tangible'" he said in a pre-recorded speech to the President and his Cabinet. In less well-received news, the commissioner's office has decided to continue playing the rest of the games on today's schedule, in blatant disrespect to the All-Star Shortstop's acomplishment. Certainly, there will be a 30 minute mandatory silence period between each inning to reflect on what this moment in history means, but there are many who believe that the rest of the month's schedule should be nullified in favor of the planned month-long Jeterbration to be held nationwide, beginning Sunday.

You are all encouraged to immediately begin making your pilgrimage to New York to pay homage.

For those who prefer to watch Brian Duensing take on Mark Buehrle in today's meaningless contest between two flyover teams, do so knowing that you spit in the face of history.

2011 Twins Game Logs

2011 Game 87: Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox

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Nick Blackburn vs Gavin Floyd

The last time the Twins have lost a series against Chicago was May 19-21, 2009. There was a two game split on May 11-12, 2010, but there's no doubt the Twins would have won the series if given the chance. Overall, the Twins are .732 against the White Sox from 2009 through today.

Blackburn has done his part this year, abusing the White Sox with a 0.61 ERA in 14.2 innings. His FIP is probably quite ugly though, since he struck out only two while walking five. Could you try to keep the ratio above two one today?

Keeping Track

This Week in Twins Transactions

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Delmon Young was sent to Rochester on a rehab assignment.
Jake Stevens was promoted from New Britain to Rochester.
Jeff Manship was activated from the disabled list by Rochester.
Anthony Slama was placed on the seven day disabled list by Rochester.
Kevin Slowey was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain on his rehab assignment.
Bruce Pugh was sent from New Britain to Ft. Myers.
Dakota Watts was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
Joe Benson was sent to the GCL Twins on a rehab assignment, then was activated from the disabled list by New Britain.
Kyle Knudson was placed on the seven day disabled list by Beloit.
Matthew Summers was assigned to Elizabethton.
Stephen Wickens was activated by the GCL Twins
Kelvin Mention was transferred from the seven day disabled list to the sixty day disabled list by the GCL Twins.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

2011 Game 82 (2nd Half, Game 1) Recap: Brewers 7, Twins 9

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Minnesota (36-46)  -  Milwaukee (45-40)
WP: Dumatrait (1-1)
LP: Loe (2-7)
SV: Perkins (1)

JI JIM Mashes Taters and the Iceman cometh up big time as the pair drove in 4 runs and scored 4 runs. Jim crossed home plate 3 times but arguably the biggest moment was not career HR 595 in the 2nd (which was nice), it was the 2-out walk off of Grienke in the 4th. Juicy followed with his first hit of the day, a double, which paved the way for Rene Tosoni's 3-run blast. The Iceman's donger got the Twins back into the game after a terrible top half of the 4th saw the visitors throw up a 5 spot.

After that, it was all Twins bullpen (with a little help from Kotsay in the 7th). Snicklefritz, Dumatrait, Nathan, Capps and Perkins combined to go 5 innings giving up only 1 run on 4 hits. Twins batters scored 4 times in the 7th - all with 2 outs and all off of walks or singles...or on the hilarious fielding error by Mark Kotsay.

Nathan looked good in the 8th. Conversely, Capps looked pretty bad in the 9th. Gardy, quite surprisingly, pulled him out after he managed to put runners on 1st and 2nd with only 1 out and Prince Fielder due up. Perkins got the call and struck the big vegetarian out on 3 pitches! The Brewers still had one more batter, but you just knew it was in the bag after that.

Neither Grienke nor Blackburn figured in the decision. Zack went 6 innings giving up 5 runs on 5 hits, 4 of them earned. Nick went 4 innings giving up 6 runs on 6 hits, all of them earned.

Cuddyer is our All Star representative. They announced it during the game and he got a pretty good ovation. After that, it's a good thing he got in on the scoring with 2 RBI on 2 hits as he badly misplayed a ball off the right field wall in the 4th, leading to a triple for Kotsay and at least one of those 5 runs for the Crew.

On a personal note, I'd like to post a thank you to Cornsilk  (thanks for that one guys) who took me to the game today. She doesn't follow the World's Greatest, but I am blessed and wanted to share it with you all.

Weather: Gorgeous

Time of Game: 3 hours 14 minutes

Attendance: 41,195