Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Site Update
Hi everyone, I just got a message from my provider that said they restarted a server, or something like that, so I thought I'd try it... but it's very early in the morning, so all I am going to do right now is re-post what I wrote in the Comments last night. But, the good news is that it appears to be working, so there should be a return to normalcy!!
I'm still having some sort of major problems with FrontPage and being
able to publish anywhere, and I don't know why. I've sent a few e-mails
to try to figure it out, but this is ridiculous. Maybe I should have
paid my web hosting bill!?Anyway, a couple of quick Tuesday Night notes: Parmelee plays hero! Chris Parmelee hit a two run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Snappers a win. Parmelee went 3-5 in the game with his 4th double, 4th homer and seven RBI. Joe Benson and Steve Singleton were also 3-5. Danny Lehman went 2-4 with a double. In the ninth, Garrett Olson, who was 1-2 with a walk, was ejected, as were catcher Greg Yersich and manager Nelson Prada. Mike McCardell started and gave up three earned runs on seven hits (2 HR). He walked none and struck out nine in seven innings. Loek Van Mil gave up a run in his inning. Matt Williams got a blown save, but also got a Win by going three innigns. Ft. Myers lost to Clearwater 8-5. Edward Ovalle went 3-4 with a walk and two stolen bases. Johnny Woodard went 2-5 with his third homer and two RBI. Brian Dinkelman went 1-2 with two walks, two RBI, his seventh double, he was hit by a pitch and stole his first base. Rene Tosoni went 1-3 with two walks. Jeff Manship started and lasted just four innings. He gave up five runs (2 earned) on six hits and two walks. He struck out five. Danny Vais got the win by throwing three shutout innings. Anthony Slama got his second save with two perfect innings in which he struck out three. New Britain lost to New Hampshire 4-2. The Rockcats managed just six hits. #3 hitter, Luke Hughes, hit his first homer. #4 hitter, Brock Peterson, hit his second homer. Trevor Plouffe, who raised his average to .308 this weekend, went 0-4 with three Ks, and is back down to .235. Ryan Mullins falls to 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA. The tall lefty went six innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out two. Kyle Aselton pitched a scoreless relief inning. Ben Julianel gave up two unearned runs in his inning. Rochester had a double header against Richmond. They won game one 4-3 when Howie Clark hit a bases loaded single in the 8th. Clark was 2-4 with his first double as well. Jason Pridie went 2-4 with his second triple. Philip Humber started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits. He walked four and struck out four. Long-time reader Jason Bain was at the game and said he was impressive for two innings, then was about done. Couple that with several reports of Humber being all-effort and the reliever discussion certainly comes into play. Mariano Gomez came in and went 3.1 innings. He was perfect and struck out three. He threw just 37 pitches, and 28 of them were strikes. Bobby Korecky got the win with a scoreless inning. Of course, he gave up two hits and walked one. The Red Wings were the visiting team, at home, in game two. It was a make up from a rained out game in Richmond last week. Casey Daigle made the spot start and |
OK, I am now realizing that there must be a word limit in Comments because I wrote a bunch more than that. The rest was apparently lost, so let me briefly continue, but understand that it is early and an inability to sleep is why I am even up...
Casey Daigle went 2.2 innings in his spot start and gave up two earned runs on five hits. Ricky Barrett gave up a run in his inning. Heath Totten went 1.1 innings and gave up an unearned run before Carmen Cali went a scoreless inning. The Red Wings tried a comeback, but it fell short in the seventh and they lost 4-3. Darnell McDonald hit a homer in the game, his first day back from injury. Brian Buscher and Howie Clark each had two hits. Matt Macri had a two run double.
And now on to the Twins. They lost again last night after leading 4-1 in the 8th thanks to a Justin Morneau homer, his fourth. Joe Mauer was 2-4 with his third double and two RBI. Craig Monroe, in his return to Detroit went 2-4 with an RBI single to cut the score to 6-5 in the 9th inning. Just a few thoughts on the Twins:
- Kevin Slowey threw with no pain. That is great news. he hasn't pitched since his first start with the biceps injury and the team can use him. BUT, where does he fit into the rotation? Livan Hernandez, Scott Baker and Boof Bonser are set. Francisco Liriano is back and will get a few more starts to improve. Nick Blackburn has had three good starts. I think that Slowey can 'rehab' at Rochester for 2-3 starts to regain that arm strength and maybe at that time, it will be more clear whose rotation spot he'll take.
- Adam Everett is going to see a doctor to check out his right shoulder today in Minneapolis. I think Matt Tolbert should play SS until Everett is able to throw the ball to 1B. Tolbert takes high quality at bats too.
- Some are worried about Pat Neshek. I'm not willing to be yet. He was too dominant in 2006 and 2007, except late in the season, to be too worried yet.
- Carlos Gomez is one for his last 18 and six for his last 37. Some seem to think he should go to the minor leagues now whereas a week ago, he was the second coming. There are slumps and adjustments all the time in baseball. Gomez is in a slump and the only way to work out of it is to play through it. However, I do think that he needs a day off. I think that a lot can be learned from observing and Gomez can use a day off. Denard Span can adequately step in to CF and the leadoff spot for a game. Michael Cuddyer is set to return on Sunday, and Gomez will be left without a backup, so getting a day off would just be smart.
- Delmon Young is starting to kill the ball. With the Rays coming into town, it will be fun to see how he responds.
- Blame Gardy! Gardy can't make a right decision, can he? Bad lineup construction, poor in-game strategy and decision making. He just doesn't do anything right if you read some commenters. I've done enough coaching in my time that you can't always just go by the book. There is a personal side to coaching and to some decisions, and if we were to analyze every decision, we'll go crazy. My assumption is that every manager can be scrutinized several times a game. In the end, baseball is a game of failures and a manager's decision is only as right as the player's execution. So, from time to time, I will question certain decisions, but to question them all is a bit ridiculous, I think.
- I've been as frustrated by the last couple of games as anyone, but they are two out of 162 games. Judging by comments here and on the Strib blogs and other places, things are horrible. But let's remember that this is a young team, a team that coming into the season, most of us saw as a 3rd or 4th place team in the division. There are going to be a lot of ups and a lot of downs this season. I think a little perspective needs to be had. Hitters and pitchers go in slumps. There are good wins and there are bad losses. This team is 6-8 and they have been competitive in all but one game so far. That means they could probably be 10-4 or 4-10. It's a long season. We need to try to enjoy it or it will really be a long season.
- Reading the comments and some of the overreactions of fans, those are the times when I really feel the need to step back from the site and take a few days off to put things back into perspective. I'm a fan, a fan of this great game of baseball. If I am taking it too seriously, then shame on me.
- I am going to my first Twins game tonight. I'm going with the great Howard Sinker, the former Twins beat writer turned Strib blogger (and many, many, many other qualifications, believe me!). It should be fun to sit and talk baseball with him and enjoy a good game against the Rays. I really am excited to see the likes of BJ Upton, one of the game's still underappreciated stars. Carl Crawford is loved by fantasy owners, but probably a bit unknown by most fans. And Evan Longoria has made his debut. He is 4-12 with four walks in four games. He's already hit his first homer. He's going to be a star. I'm also interested in seeing Justin Ruggiano, who could have been selected in the Rule V draft by anyone, but he wasn't. I hope getting to a game reminds me of just how great baseball is. As fans, we need to remember that and stop whining about every detail of every game, about every mistake players or managers make. There are times when it is appropriate, and then we have to remember, we're just fans and need to enjoy the game of baseball.
OK, I'm going back to bed, but wanted to give you something today. Have a great day, and hopefully all my computer problems are solved and there will be a new update tonight!