Zack Greinke
vs
Sonny Gray
This is Greinke's fourth start against the Twins this year. He's 0-3 so far, although one was a 0-1 loss. He's otherwise having a perfectly average season.
Just like the Twins exactly average 70-70 season. At this point, I'm simply hoping to finish with at least 82 wins. There are 11 games remaining against teams below .500 with the other 11 against Cleveland or Chicago.
Today's cuppa rightfully calls out the ass-battery the local nine have been displaying pretty much since the season opener. We've seen a few flashes of high-octane offense here and there, but that certainly has not been the trend. Miguel Sano is batting for a paltry .091 average, and I'm tired of waiting for him to turn into the David Ortiz we didn't throw away. Today's starting lineup features four players batting below .200, and only one batting above .300, and he doesn't have quite enough at-bats to qualify for the leader boards. So yeah, it's been cold here all spring and the bats are still in hibernation, but they will wake up one of these days. I'm hoping the return of Buxton to the lineup (DH today) will provide a much-needed offensive spark.
On the mound, young Joe Ryan will take the ball for his third start this year. He's got a split win-loss record with one apiece, sports a 2.70 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and has 11 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. Not bad for a rookie. I can recall many seasons past when we collectively bemoaned the team's reluctance to rely on young starting pitchers, but this is a different FO and manager. If the Twins are to go anywhere this year, it will be on the arms of a rotation that averages just 28 years old. Here's a tip for the rookie today from an old observer of the game who turned a year older today -- don't throw a single pitch to Salvador Perez, just point to first base. Every. Fucking. Time.
At the other end of the career spectrum today, KC sends to the mound an old, familiar nemesis in Zack Greinke, who at the ripe age of 38 is pitching in his 19th major league season this year. I simply have to tip my cap and applaud a guy who has spent half his life as a major league pitcher. Zack has had no decisions in his first two starts of this campaign but brings an impressive 2.45 ERA and 1.09 WHIP to the hill with him. He's recorded just one K in 11 innings and strikeouts aren't as much of his game as they used to be, but his VSI (veteran savvy index) is off the damn charts.
Play ball!
Date: Tuesday, June 8.
Batting stars: Danny Valencia was 3-for-4 with two runs. Jason Kubel was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventh) and a double. Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-4. Denard Span was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Pitching star: Kevin Slowey pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks and striking out three.
Opposition stars: Jose Guillen was 2-for-4 with a double. Mike Aviles was 2-for-4.
The game: The Twins jumped out for three runs in the first inning. With one out, Matt Tolbert walked and Joe Mauer singled. With two out, Cuddyer delivered an RBI single and Kubel hit a two-run double, putting the Twins up 3-0. They added two more in the fourth. Delmon Young and Valencia singled, they were bunted to second and third, and Span came through with a two-run single to make it 5-0.
It went to 6-0 in the fifth when Kubel homered. In the sixth Valencia singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Tolbert single.
The Royals scored some late runs to make the final score look better. In the eighth singles by Mitch Maier and Yuniesky Betancourt and a sacrifice fly brought home their first run. In the ninth, Billy Butler reached on an error and scored on Guillen's double. Aviles singled him home to make the final score 7-3.
WP: Slowey (7-3). LP: Zack Greinke (1-8). S: Matt Guerrier (1),.
Notes: As we've discussed before, this was the year Justin Morneau had his season end just before the all-star break, which caused Cuddyer to go to first and Kubel to right field. At this point, though, Morneau was still at first, Cuddyer in right, and Kubel at DH. The main DH this season was Jim Thome.
Tolbert was at second base in place of Orlando Hudson, who was out due to injury. Nick Punto was at shortstop in place of J. J. Hardy, who was out due to injury.
Morneau was leading the team in batting at .362. He was batting .345 with an OPS of 1.055 when his season ended. Valencia was batting .333. He would finish the season at .311. We thought we really had something.
Mauer was batting .312. He would finish at .327.
Tolbert, who was in the number two spot in the order, was batting .160 with an OPS of .345. He would finish at .230, which was also his career batting average.
According to game scores, this was only the fourth-best game for Slowey in 2010. His best was July 31, when he pitched eight shutout innings against Seattle. His second best was seven no-hit innings against Oakland on August 15. He was also higher on April 20, when he gave up one run in eight innings and struck out nine against Cleveland.
This was the year after Zack Greinke's Cy Young year. He did not have a good year, but it was not as bad as I remembered it, and I think it's not as bad as it was claimed to be at the time. He went 10-14, 4.17, 1.25 WHIP. That's not great by any means--it's certainly not Cy Young caliber--but it's not awful, either. It's an average to slightly-above-average season.
Record: The Twins were 34-24, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Detroit. They would finish 94-68, in first place, six games ahead of Chicago.
The Royals were 24-35, in fourth place in the American League Central, 10.5 games behind Minnesota. They would finish 67-95, in fifth (last) place, twenty-seven games behind Minnesota.
Okay, so.... This has the potential to be a really good game. The Twins are in playoff positioning again. They're facing off against a legitimate ace in Greinke, but they've got a potential future ace going for them in Berrios.
We finish our set with the Brewers today after a couple of rough games (I think; I typed this in the middle of yesterday's game and just assumed we weren't coming back. I'm cynical like that).
Alright, let's get excited about...
Greinke versus Blackburn?! Okay, so let's get excited about something that's not baseball-related. Suggestions: Beer, the NBA Finals, Turbo Survivor at CdL, stamp collecting, classic episodes of "Mama's Family," Sid and Marty Krofft puppets, smokeless tobacco and Christmas.
I'll actually get to see one of my Sunday games since I'm closing today, but I'll keep my optimism in check on this one. Still, there's always the threat of Trevor Plouffe hanging over opposing pitchers.
Go Twins.
