Monday, April 17, 2006
Weekend Recap
Good Monday morning everyone! I certainly hope that everybody had a very nice Easter weekend. Today, I will post a little bit of a weekend recap for you. It may be a little more brief than normal because I did post a Special Saturday posting that included thoughts on the Twins 5-1 victory over the Yankees on Friday night and the notes from the minor league games that evening. Of course, if you read it, you realize why there was a Saturday post. After being personally attacked and threatened on another blogger's site last week, I felt that I really needed to respond to it, and in a timely manner. So, that is the reason for the Saturday entry. If you have not yet read my 'Rebuttal', please check it out here. I don't want to discuss it more than need be, but I do want to leave it with this. I have no problem whatsoever with people disagreeing with my thoughts or opinions or pointing out factual mistakes that I make. I am sure that we aren't going to agree on everything, and I am not perfect, not even close. As a matter of fact, I enjoy when people with differing opinions come at me either via e-mail, in the comments or on their blog. That's fun, and I can learn and we can get a good dialogue going. What happened late last week was none of those things.
OK, I have got that off my chest. I won't bring it up on this site in an entry again, however, if you would like to comment further on it, I would be happy to respond. I do want to thank all of those out there that have e-mailed me their support in this.
The second note I have to pass along is that I will not be around the rest of this week. I am heading out of town on a business trip. I was hoping the trip would coincide with some big league ball games, but the big league clubs near where we are going are on the road this week. That is alright. The trips are about work! I am mentioning this because I don't know if, or how often I will be able to post throughout the week. I may be able to send an e-mail each night updating readers on how the trip is and things I'm reading about the Twins or baseball in general. I can't promise that though. I do know that I have some exciting articles nearly ready for the following week that I know you will enjoy. So, bear with me for a week. Stop by to see if there is anything new here, and if not and there is a topic of interest, be sure to post some new comments and see if you can generate a discussion there throughout the week. I hope to at least be able to check my e-mails and the comments a couple of times each day or evening.
Finally, I also posted a letter to Twins fans from team President Dave St. Peter regarding a couple of meetings regarding the stadium dealings. Please read it and if you are able to, pick one to attend, or go to both if you can or want. Any thoughts about the stadium, the Twins, the Yankees, the upcoming series or anything baseball, e-mail me.
The Twins came into their home stand with a 1-5 record. Things were bleak in some eyes to say the least. The Twins are now 6-6 after starting this home stand after their sweep of the A's and winning two of three from the Yankees. The fans have much reason for optimism at this point!
Today, the team has an off day today before hosting the Angels for three games starting on Tuesday night.
Click here for more thoughts on it, but Scott Baker was really remarkable on Friday night against the Yankees!
Saturday, I was traveling to my parent's place through much of the Twins game. I got home in the top of the 7th inning, just in time to see Jesse Crain allow Derek Jeter's two run single that tied the game at four a piece. Crain has been quite disappointing thus far, but I am still not quite ready to dismiss him as a bust. I have a hard time believing that the guy was just "lucky" the whole year last year. Yes, I want him to miss more bats too. I want to see that strikeout number jump up too. However, he also broke a lot of bats and got the Twins out of too many tight situations to think that he can't come back strong.
That said, it was another situation that gave Johan Santana a no decision.
I also saw that bottom of the 9th. That was one intense inning. The family members that I watched it with kept telling me to stop shaking my leg and biting my shirt! It was exciting, what can I say!? Joe Mauer's at bat was terrific against Mariano Rivera. He fell behind 1-2 and then took two pitches just off the outside corner for balls to fill the count. He fouled off a pitch or two before slapping a line drive to left field. Luis Castillo's hustle sent him all the way to 3B and the throw allowed Mauer to slide into second.
That brought up Rondell White who has obviously been just horrible this year. I was going to say that he has been 'just horrible with the bat this year', but the fact is that now he is the DH, that is how he has been for the team in its entirety. Anyway, predictably, White struck out on a high fastball out of the zone.
Did anyone really think that Torii Hunter was going to come up with a big hit at that time? His first swing was a home run swing and we just sat there and said, "Hey Two-I's, a single wins the game too!" So, he struck out too, looking at a cutter on the inside corner.
That brought up Justin Morneau with runners on second and third, but now with two outs. On the first pitch, he got jammed really bad on a cutter, but he is so strong. The bat splintered upon contact, but the ball went just out of the reach of 2B Robinson Cano allowing Castillo to score and Mauer to slide in right behind him, easily scoring the winning run.
Something that I think was overlooked was that Juan Rincon relieved Francisco Liriano in the top of the 9th. With two outs and runners on the corners, Rincon had a very extended at bat with Gary Sheffield. Finally, Rincon was able to strike him out on a fastball. That pitch and winning that battle probably went far in giving the Twins optimism for the 9th.
In other predictable occurrence, the Yankees bats were able to drill Brad Radke on Sunday. Now, if this start were in October, I would put my money on Radke coming through big time, but not in an April start. The Bronx Bombers went back to their bombing ways with a 9-3 win. Jason Giambi homered twice while Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano each hit one as well.
For a great recap of the start of the Twins season, check out Aaron's Baseball Blog today for the good, the bad and the ugly!
If you have any thoughts on the
Twins season, or anything Twins related, please
send me an e-mail, or
post some Comments down below.
ROGER'S MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Thoughout the year, our friend "Roger" will be keeping tabs of the Twins minor leaguers again. This year, he will be coming up with a minor league hitter and pitcher each week. This will start today with our announcement of this week's 'winners.' Feel free to comment!
Player of the Week - Denard Span, New Britain Rockcats
Player of the Week…for the nine days ending April 14th is former top Pick Denard Span. Span got off to a tremendous start in New Britain (AA), getting 14 hits in 32 at bats for a .438Ave, .486OBP and .563SLG. He had 1 double, 1 home run and 2 stolen bases in 4 attempts.
Caleb Moore was a close second with 11 hits in 27 at bats including 4 doubles and a triple for 5 rbi‘s. The best hitting catcher in the system, Moore started the season for Beloit (Low A) with a .407Ave, .429OBP and .630SLG.
Pitcher of the Week - Matt Garza, Ft. Myers Miracle
Pitcher of the Week…is last year’s number one pick, Matt Garza. Garza had two wins (2-0) in two starts at Ft. Myers. In 10.0 innings he gave up 4 hits, 2 runs (1 earned) with 14K/0BB for a 0.90 era and 0.40 WHIP. His closest competition was last year’s second round pick and Ft. Myers teammate, Kevin Slowey, who had a perfect game through 5 innings of the Miracle’s home opener last Saturday. Slowey also started two games (0-0), pitching 12.0 innings allowing 7 hits, 6 runs (2 earned) with 16K/1BB for a 1.50 era and 0.67 WHIP.
Saturday SethSpeaks Player of the Day - Felix Molina, New Britain Rockcats
Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day - Shawn Wooten, Rochester Red Wings
Saturday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day - Adam Harben, New Britain Rockcats
Sunday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day - Boof Bonser, Rochester Red Wings
Because there was a Saturday posting, Friday's updates are included there. Here are the updates from Saturday, and only Rochester played on Easter Sunday. If you have any thoughts on the Twins system, please e-mail me.
ROCHESTER REPORT
Saturday - Red Wings 6, Richmond 5 (10 innings) – Jason Tyner hit a bases loaded single to score the winning run in the 10th inning. JD Durbin gave up five first innings runs so put the team in a hole. He went three innings and gave up the five runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out five. Henry Bonilla threw the next three innings and did not allow a run. Beau Kemp pitched a scoreless inning. Then Pat Neshek came in and struck out five in his two innings. Kevin Cameron got the Win by pitching a scoreless tenth inning. Aside from Tyner, whose only hit was the single, Josh Rabe was the offensive hero of the game. He was 4-5 with an RBI. Terry Tiffee went 3-4 with a walk. Jason Bartlett went 2-5 with a double, homer and two RBI.
Sunday - Red Wings 12, Richmond 0 – Boof Bonser was the recipient of the run support, but he also pitched very well on the way to his second win of the year. He went six scoreless innings and gave up just three hits and two walks. He struck out six. Jason Miller threw the next two innings and struck out three. Mike Smith pitched the final inning. Shawn Wooten hit his first homer of the season. He was 2-3 with a walk and three RBI. Glenn Williams went 2-3 with three runs, two doubles and a walk. Jason Bartlett went 2-5 with two runs, a double and two RBI. Terry Tiffee was 2-3 with a double and three RBI. Josh Rabe was 2-5 with a double. Garrett Jones' only hit of the day was his second homer of the year, a three-run shot.
NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Saturday - Game 1 - Rockcats 14, New Hampshire 5 – The Rockcats' bats were rolling in Game One of their double header on Saturday. Remember in the minor leagues, double headers are seven inning games. Errol Simonitsch got the run support in this game. In five innings, he gave up ten hits and three runs. However, he walked none! Tristan Crawford went the final two innings and gave up a run (1 earned) on two hits and a walk. The offense was the story. Denard Span went 3-5 with two runs and an RBI. Danny Matienzo went 3-4 with three runs, a double, his first homer and three RBI. Felix Molina went 3-4 with three runs and two home runs. He now has three on the season. Matt Moses was 2-4 with two runs, his second homer and two RBI. He did have two errors to give him five on the year.
Saturday - Game 2 - Rockcats 0, New Hampshire 1 – It would appear that all of the offense was used up in game one as neither team scored until Levale Speigner allowed a run in the bottom of the 7th. Adam Harben started and went five shutout innings. He allowed two hits and two walks. He also struck out two. Speigner went 1.1 innings and gave up the run on a hit. He struck out two. Matt Moses went 2-3 with his third double.
Sunday - Rockcats - No Game –
FT MYERS MEMOS
Saturday - Miracle 8, Clearwater 5 – Five Miracle players had two hits. Trevor Plouffe went 2-3 with a double, two walks, two runs and an RBI. Ruben Sierra played in left field and went 2-4 with a walk, a run and an RBI. Brock Peterson was 2-4. So was Jeremy Pickrel, who had a triple. Korey Feiner was 2-3 with a walk and an RBI. On the mound, John Thomas went the first five innings. He allowed a run on three hits and a walk, while he struck out five. Angel Garcia went the next two innings and gave up just a hit. He struck out three. Josh Hall got just two outs before he allowed a hit, two walks and four earned runs. Tim Lahey came into the game and ended that threat, and he pitched one more inning.
Sunday - Miracle - No Game –
BELOIT BITS
Saturday - Snappers 0, Burlington 8 – Oswaldo Sosa is off to a bit of a slow start. Here he went 3.1 innings and gave up five runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out three. Yohan Pino came in and struck out five in 2.2 scoreless innings. Danny Vais walked three in his inning but no runs scored. Alexander Smit got just two outs. He gave up just one hit but he walked five batters! Three scored. David Shinskie got out of the inning. On offense, the only bright spot was Tarrence Patterson who went 4-4.
Sunday - Snappers - No Game –
Do you have any further thoughts on any Twins prospects, minor leaguers, or these summaries? I would love any input, or ideas to make it better. Thanks! E-mail me, or also feel free to leave comments below.
Welp, that is it for today. If you have any thoughts, opinions, comments, critiques, or ideas on anything, please e-mail me, or let's get a discussion going in the Comments.
|