Valencia Vaults Twins to Win
Michael Cuddyer was
4-4 with a walk. Luke Hughes had two hits and drove in two big runs. Jason Kubel had two hits. The offense put together 13 hits in this
game. But it was Danny Valencia who got to play hero on Tuesday night. With one
out in the bottom of the 10th, Valencia singled to right, driving in
Jason Repko with the game-winning run. Valencia had
been seeing the ball better in the game as shown by two walks. Finally, he
started using the whole field, hitting the ball to right.
Brian Duensing
started and gave up three runs (2 earned thanks to an error of his own) on
eight hits and two walks in six innings. Jose Mijares
came on with runners on in the 7th and got a big strikeout. Matt Capps than got the final two outs of the 7th
inning. He also pitched a perfect 8th inning. Joe Nathan came
in and pitched well in the 9th. And Dusty Hughes got the win against
the team that let him go this winter with a 1-2-3 10th inning.
The pitching was terrific, but to me the best
thing has been Gardy’s usage of the bullpen. I love
that he is using his best bullpen arm (Capps) in the role that he used Jesse
Crain in last year. It’s not the comfortable 9th inning save. It’s
the two-runners on, one out, keep them from scoring situations.
LAST
NIGHT’S PODCAST – The Twins game
ended with about a minute left in the SethSpeaks.net
Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. It was great to catch up with New
Britain starter David Bromberg for a
fun 15 minute discussion. Check out the podcast. The next will be Twins Minor
League Weekly on Thursday night at 10.
SethSpeaks.net Minor League Hitter of the Day – Steve
Singleton, New Britain Rock Cats
Seth Speaks.net Minor League Pitcher of the Day – David
Bromberg, New Britain Rock Cats
Red Wings Ramblings
Tuesday
– Red Wings 3, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 5 – Anthony Swarzak started
and gave up three runs on six hits and three walks in four innings. He struck
out two. Jim Hoey then struck out two in two innings.
Kyle Waldrop took the loss. He was charged with two runs on four hits and a
walk in his two innings. Phil Dumatrait threw one scoreless
frame. Ben Revere went 3-4 with a walk.
Rock Cats Report
Tuesday
– Game 1 – Rock Cats 3, Harrisburg 1
– This game actually started on Monday night. Liam Hendriks
struck out two in a scoreless inning. The Rock Cats already had a run as Steve
Singleton led off the game with a double, stole third base and scored. And then
the rains came. The game was suspended until Tuesday. David Bromberg was on the
mound for the Rock Cats and he threw six shutout innings. He allowed six hits,
walked none and struckout none. Cole DeVries gave up and unearned run in 1.1 innings, but Jake
Stevens came on to strike out the last two batters to end the game and record
his first save. Singleton went 3-5 with that double and stolen base. Evan Bigley went 3-4. Danny Lehmann was 2-4. Ray Chang was 2-5
with his fifth double and two RBI.
Tuesday
– Game 2 – Rock Cats 8, Harrisburg 2
– Steve Singleton was again the story in the regularly scheduled game. He went
2-4 with a walk, his second double and his first home run. Chris Parmelee had two doubles in four at bats. He drove in three
runs. Joe Benson and Mark Dolenc were each 1-3 with a
walk. Santos Arias made the start for the Rock Cats. He went 3.2 scoreless
innings, giving up just one hit and one walk. Brett Jacobson gave up two runs
on two hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out three. Mike Tarsi got the
final four outs, three of them on strikeout.
Miracle Matters
Tuesday
– Miracle 1, St. Lucie 3 – Matt
Harvey, the Mets top pick last year out of North Carolina, was the story in
this game. He went six innings, striking out eight. Kane Holbrooks
matched zeroes with him for the first five innings, but he gave up one run in
the 6th. He gave up that one run on five hits and two walks in 5.2
innings. Jhon Garcia came in and gave up two runs on
two hits and a walk in two innings. Bruce Pugh got the final four outs. Chris
Herrmann’s hot start remains intact. He was the team’s catcher for the first
time this year. He also went 2-3 with a walk, his first double and an RBI. He
is now hitting .529 on the early season. Brian Dozier notched his first
double.
Dan Osterbrock will
make his first start of the season, hoping to go two innings. Alex Wimmers was put on the Disabled List with “flu-like
symptoms.” Miguel Munoz and Paul Kelly were also put on the DL. Matt Schuld and Andrew Albers were promoted.
Snappers Bites
Tuesday
– Snappers 1, Clinton 0 – In a
pitcher’s duel, the Snappers needed just one hit to record a win. Clinton
starter Forrest Snow gave up no hits through the game’s first six innings. But
he was replaced, and in the 7th inning, Oswaldo
Arcia got on with a walk. Michael Gonzales singled on
a line drive to right to break up the no-no. Danny Ortiz came up and hit a
sacrifice fly to give the team a 1-0 lead. That was it for the offense. It was
enough on this night for the Snappers pitchers. Manuel Soliman
made his first start and gave up just one hit and a walk in four innings. He struckout six. Ryan O’Rourke
gave up two hits in his two scoreless frames. He recorded four strikeouts. Martire Garcia got the win. He struckout three in two perfect innings. Matt Hauser
gave up two hits, but no runs, in the ninth to record his first save of the
year. He struck out two.
Feel free to leave
your thoughts, questions or comments.
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