Sunday

Here we are again... Again, normally I don't write on the weekends, but now I have twice. I wasn't going to tonight, but it was a Slowey/Manship night, so I had to write.

I'll recruit loyal readers anywhere I can. And, there is nothing like starting them off young, right?! Check this out!

TWINS REPORT

Twins 3, Red Sox 4

Joe Mauer had an MRI on his quadriceps and after the game, he was put on the Disabled List and Chris Heintz was brought back up. This is definitely not a good thing for the Twins. Mike Redmond will be fine, and Chris Heintz probably won't hurt the team, but it is not the same. I am guessing that it won't take too long before people start talking about a position change for Mauer again. I still believe that is premature. However, I also think it is ridiculous that Mauer has played in 28 of 29 games for the Twins and caught all but a handful of them. I know earlier in the year when Heintz was on the roster, I was asking why Heintz wouldn't catch an inning or two at the end of games that had already been decided. Someone as valuable to a team as Mauer needs to be protected, not over-used. Finding that very fine line can be difficult.
Sidney Ponson again made a start for the Twins on Sunday. Due to his quality start on Tuesday against the Devil Rays, the Ponson start wasn't quite the story it has been the last few starts. This was another game where he didn't pitch poorly enough to be demoted (or released), yet he didn't do enough to give the Twins a real chance. In 5.1 innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned thanks to an error by himself). He walked four and struck out five.
Glen Perkins is starting to pitch better in his bullpen role. On Sunday, he gave up a hit and a walk in two shutout innings of relief. He clearly is showing that he is a capable big league pitcher. The question increasingly becomes what the best thing to do is for Perkins' development (hopefully as a future starter) versus what is the best thing for the Twins short and long term goals. Any thoughts?
Juan Rincon, Dennys Reyes and Jesse Crain combined to get the last five hitters out.
Torii Hunter extended his hitting streak to 21 games with another infield single. He later added an RBI single off of Hideki Okajima. He really is playing well. As much as he can be frustrating to watch when he is on one of his patented bad streaks, he can be a joy to watch when he is on one of his hot streaks. What is very much exciting is how long he has been on this hot streak! Since last September, at least. Sure, it's a contract year. Sure, as of right now he is pricing himself out of the Twins future. But for this year, it is great for Twins fans. And, big picture, imagine where the Twins would be without him right now!
My favorite at bat of the game... well, it was the at bat when Jason Tyner hit a two run single off of Curt Schilling to break the shutout. Now, you may assume that it is because of the result of the at bat, but nope! It was on the previous pitch, a 1-0 fastball. Tyner swung out of his shoes and just missed it. He swung so hard that he went down to a knee after the swing. Now, you don't typically want that from a slap-hitter such as Tyner, but I would really like to see Jason Kubel take a swing like that!
Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel each took called third strikes that appeared to be right down the middle in the game. First it was something that Nick Punto perfected, but of late Kubel and Morneau have been taking a lot of called third strikes.

Any other Twins Thoughts? E-mail me or leave Comments below.

ROCHESTER REPORT
Sunday - Red Wings 2, Ottawa 4 – Lew Ford is fairly close to being back in the Twins clubhouse. He has now been playing with Rochester for about a week and will likely only be able to play a few more games with them before being brought up. In this game, he was 1-3 with a double and two walks. Alexi Casilla went 2-5. He also stole his sixth base of the game. Denard Span also stole his sixth base. Then remember that Casilla had five more with the Twins. Matt Moses went 2-4. Jeremy Cummings gave up the four runs, but just three were earned. In 5.2 innings, he gave up four hits, walked two and struck out two. Ricky Barrett got on the mound for the first time this season. He got the next four outs, with a hit in the middle. Mike Venafro threw two perfect innings.

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Sunday - Rockcats 0, Trenton 5 – The Rockcats managed just five hits in this game. More surprising, Felix Molina had just one hit! But he did extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Brian Buscher had the lone extra base hit, his 10th double. Nick Blackburn fell to 2-1, but he was not bad. In seven innings, he gave up three runs on six hits. He walked none and struck out four. Tim Lahey gave up a run on two hits, but struckout two, in his inning. JP Martinez came in to start the 8th, but his first pitch was up and in to catcher Jason Brown and there was a bench clearing brawl. Martinez, Brown and Trevor Plouffe were ejected. Danny Powers gave up a run on three hits in his inning.

FT MYERS MEMOS
Sunday - Miracle 5, St. Lucie 6 – The Miracle finally scored some runs, just not quite enough. Dwayne White went 3-4. Juan Portes and Erik Lis each went 2-5. Steven Tolleson hit his first homer. Jay Rainville got the start and gave up one run on four hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out two. He went just three innings because they had a rain delay. Kyle Aselton went the next 1.1 innings, but he gave up four runs (3 earned) on two hits. He walked three and struck out two. Zach Ward then went the next 2.2 innings. He gave up an unearned run on three hits and a walk. He struck out four. Josh Hill struck out two in a scoreless inning.

BELOIT BITS
Sunday - Snappers 7, Great Lakes 6 – The Snappers bats were on on Sunday afternoon. Johnny Woodard was 2-5 with a double. Steve Singleton and William Luque also went 2-5. Allan de San Miguel went 1-3 with two walks. Alex Burnett got the start and went just four innings. He gave up three runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out three. Danny Vais got the win despite allowing two runs on four hits in two innings. Dan Leatherman gave up an unearned run in 1.2 innings. Robert Delaney got his seventh save by getting the final four outs.

Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Kyle Geiger, New Britain Rockcats
Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Jeff Manship, Beloit Snappers

Do you have any further thoughts on any Twins prospects, minor leaguers, or these summaries? E-mail me, or also feel free to leave comments below.

That is it for today. If you have any ideas for the site, people to try to get Q&As from, article concepts or more, please leave some Comments or send me an e-mail. I would appreciate your help. Have a terrific day!