Sunday, May 25, 2008

Weekend Update

It’s Memorial Day weekend, so I’m not going to take too much time on here, but I did want to do a little something to give people a new place to comment. Please don’t judge this based on any style points. This is just so that things aren’t completely missed. If you want a little more indepth information on any Twins related stuff, be sure to head over to Travis Talks (link at the left). Have a great day!

Twins/Tigers

• I’ve talked to a lot of people about the Twins 19-3 loss at Detroit on Saturday night, and it’s really a bit much. For one, note that Boof Bonser pitched, followed by Brian Bass and Juan Rincon. In other words, it was a bad game, but none of the top guys had to throw. Also, big picture, that was one game… it was a loss, just like a 1-0, 2-1 or 8-6 game. And, even bigger picture, the Twins won Friday and Sunday meaning despite the one ugly game, they still won the series.
• Bonser was bad again. Kevin Slowey went six shutout innings for his first win of the year. Dennys Reyes gave up three hits in three batters, but they were able to hold on for the win.
• Glen Perkins went into the 8^th inning on Sunday afternoon and really looked good. It’s amazing to me how well he is pitching for the Twins considering how bad he was at Rochester. But good for him.
• It is starting to look like the Twins will have a group of young pitcher who could be around or awhile. Slowey, Perkins, Nick Blackburn, Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker is a pretty good starting point. With others following behind, it is exciting!
• It was nice to see Matt Macri get his first big league hit in his first big league at bat… and his second in his second, and a walk later… The more I think about it, the more his promotion makes sense, and I think he could still a little longer than we initially thought. But again, let’s not let one game get us too excited.
• Just like so many people got so negatively excited about the slow start of Mike Lamb. He’s a veteran, a professional. He’ll be fine. It was nice to see him get that first home run out of the way on Friday night. He also tripled. Then when he returned to the lineup Sunday, he added the double and single for the two-day cycle.
• Alexi Casilla must have been learning a lot at Rochester. He wasn’t playing well, but he was seeing a lot of pitches. He has a natural swing from both sides of the plate, but let’s not make too much of the home runs. If he can play solid defense and get on base and steal some bases, he can be a very positive in the Twins lineup.
• Morneau’s hot streak just continues. He is playing very well.
• How big was Jason Kubel’s grand slam on Sunday. Well, pretty obviously it gave the Twins a 5-1 lead in the 8^th inning of a close game. But with two outs, it could have been a big negative had they not been able to score in that inning.
• Good series for the Twins. They get a well deserved day off on Memorial Day before heading to Kansas City to start a series on Tuesday.

Any Twins thoughts?

Twins Minor League Updates

Friday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Sergio Santos, Rochester Red Wings
Friday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Zach Ward, Ft. Myers Miracle

Saturday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Ben Revere, Beloit Snappers
Saturday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Michael Tarsi, Beloit Snappers

Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Luke Hughes, New Britain Rockcats
Sunday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Jay Rainville, New Britain Rockcats

ROCHESTER REPORT
The Red Wings beat Pawtucket 6-4 on Friday before losing the final two weekend games by a combined score of 20-2. Danny Graves stretched it out to six innings on Friday night for his first win. He threw 69 pitches in those innings. Tim Lahey recorded his sixth save. Sergio Santos had a bit of a breakout game on Friday with three hits and two doubles, getting his average just over .200. Brian Buscher went 1-2 with two walks and his seventh homer. On Saturday, Kevin Mulvey had a solid start. Five innings with one run on six hits and two walks. Garrett Jones increased his average to .188 by going 1-2 with two walks and his tenth double. On Sunday, Clay Buchholz pitched four innings for Pawtucket. Brian Duensing started for the Red Wings and gave up eight runs on nine hits and two walks in 4.2 innings.

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
New Britain lost two out of three this weekend to Portland. Ryan Mullins gave up six runs on seven hits (four home runs) and two walks in four innings. Zach Ward went two more shutout innings to drop his ERA to 0.30. Steve Tolleson went 2-4 with a walk a double and two RBI. Matt Moses hit his third homer. On Saturday they managed just two hits. Anthony Swarzak gave up four runs in six innings. On Sunday, Jay Rainville had a very good start, six shutout innings. Ben Julianel recorded his eighth save. Luke Hughes went 3-4 with a walk and three RBI. Steve Tolleson went 2-4 with a walk. Erik Lis was 2-4 with yet another double.

FT MYERS MEMOS
The Miracle beat Palm Beach two out of three games. Friday night Deolis Guerra improved to 5-1. He gave up two runs despite seven walks. Rob Delaney picked up his 11^th save. Danny Valencia went 3-3. Brian Dinkelman was 2-3 with a walk, double and three runs scored. Wilson Ramos went 2-4 with a double. Alex Burnett gave up three runs in seven innings, but Jose Lugo gave up three runs in two innings for the loss. Juan Portes went 2-4. Tyler Robertson won again on Sunday. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in six innings. Brian Dinkelman, Edward Ovalle and Danny Valencia each had two hits while Wilson Ramos hit a grand slam, his seventh homer of the year.

BELOIT BITS
Beloit has been playing incredibly well of late and this weekend they swept four games from Burlington. On Friday, Ben Revere went 2-4 with his first homer. Ozzie Lewis has been hitting well again and went 2-4 with his third homer. Garrett Olson was also 2-4. David Bromberg improved to 3-2 with three runs in 5.2 innings. Spencer Steedley got his fourth save. On Saturday, the Snappers won both games of a doubleheader. Michael Tarsi threw six shutout innings (with 8 strikeouts) in six innings. Ben Revere went 3-4 with a double and three RBI. Ozzie Lewis and Ramon Santana each had two hits. In the second game, Revere went 2-4 with his fourth triple and two stolen bases. He was hitting .425 at game’s end. Garrett Olson went 1-1 with three walks. Matt Dolenc and Greg Yersich each walked twice. Mike McCardell made his second start and gave up a run in 3.2 innings. Steve Hirschfeld improved to 4-0 with 3.1 shutout innings.

That's it for today! Have a great Memorial Day!

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