Wednesday,
April 29, 2009
Playing a Little Extra
Francisco Liriano started and gave up two runs over the first seven
innings. Jose Mijares
pitched a scoreless eighth innings. Joe
Nathan came on to protect the 3-2 lead, and the Twins win… Wait! I guess it
wasn’t quite that simple, was it? Nathan’s first pitch of the ninth inning was
deposited over the baggy in right centerfield by Ben Zobrist to tie the game at three. But
in the bottom of the ninth, Jose Morales singled and advanced to second base on
a Nick Punto
bunt. Denard Span advanced Morales to 3B with an
infield single. Brendan Harris
batted (against lefty JP Howell) for
Alexi Casilla
and after falling behind 0-2 worked a walk to load the bases for Justin Morneau.
The Rays pulled Zobrist into the infield for a
five-infielder set. I honestly have never seen that work at all, but on this
day, it almost did. Morneau drilled a liner to 2B,
who threw to second for the force out, but Morneau
really hustled down the line and beat the return throw to first base. That
scored Morales with the game winning run.
In the bottom of the 1st
inning, Morneau hit a two run home run that gave the
Twins a 2-0 lead.
For more thoughts on the game
itself, I hosted a
Live Chat throughout the game, so you can read my thoughts on the game,
some of the plays and decisions throughout it, and plenty of other topics on
the Twins game and their minor leagues.
The big league club had to work
an extra half-inning to get their win. Check below because two of the three
Twins affiliates that played tonight had to work extra innings in their games.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
ROCHESTER REPORT
Tuesday – Rochester, Buffalo – Rained
Out.
ROCKCAT RECAP
Tuesday – New Britain 6, New Hampshire 4 (10 innings) – With two outs and Danny Valencia on first base, Allan
de San Miguel and Matt Moses
both walked before Juan Portes gave the Rockcats the
lead, and eventually the win, with a two run single. Portes
was 2-4 in the game. Brian Dinkelman had a big game. He went 1-2 with two walks, a
stolen base, a home run and three RBI. Jay
Rainville started and worked six innings. He gave
up three runs on six hits and two walks. Rob
Delaney gave up a run on two hits and a walk in his inning. Anthony Slama
gave up two hits and two walks (and struck out two) in two innings. Frank Mata got the first two outs of
the bottom of the 10th, but gave up a hit and a walk. Jose Lugo came on and got the save by
striking out the final batter.
MIRACLE MEMOS
Tuesday –Ft. Myers 3, Palm Beach 4 (11 innings) – On Monday, the Miracle beat Palm Beach 4-3 in ten
innings. Tonight, the Cardinals’ affiliate returned the favor, this time in 11
innings. Tyler Robertson started and
gave up two runs on two hits in four innings. He walked four and struck out
five. Steve Hirschfeld
then worked two scoreless innings. Blair
Erickson gave up a hit and walked two in 1.1 scoreless innings. Alex Burnett came in and gave up a run
on two hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. Henry
Arias worked a scoreless tenth inning, but he gave up the winning run in
the 11th. Ben Revere went 3-4 with two walks and
stole his 10th base. Rene Leveret went 2-4 with a walk and his
fourth double. Chris Cates went 2-5 with his
third double. Joe Mauer went 1-2
with his second double and a sacrifice fly.
SNAPPERS SNIPPETS
Tuesday – Beloit 4, Kane County 0 – Terrific pitching performances were turned in by Bobby Lanigan and Joe Testa. Lanigan
worked the first five innings. He gave up no runs on seven hits. He walked none
and struck out four. Joe Testa picked up the save by striking out six in four
innings. Dominic de la Osa went 3-4 with a walk and his second stolen base. Ozzie Lewis went 2-4 with his fourth
double. Michael Harrington went 2-4
with his sixth double and first stolen base.
Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave
your questions or comments here.