Wednesday Night, June 18,
2008
Wednesday Game Notes
Good morning! Again, I want to encourage everyone to e-mail me
your questions for Jeff Manship as I will be
taking them through tonight. Over the weekend, I will try to put them together
and send them to Jeff. Send a couple.
TWINS 11, NATIONALS 2
- You look at the final score
and it looks like a complete blowout. Then you realize that Kevin Slowey
was taken out of the game in the 7th inning with a runner on
and the tying run coming to the plate. Two eighth inning runs followed by
six eighth inning runs put a good game out of reach.
- I thought Slowey
threw well. In six innings, he gave up seven hits and walked two, so he
wasn’t at the top of his game, but he gave up just the one run. But I saw
him throw more sliders than I think he normally does, which I think is
good. That two seem fastball seems to be getting better.
- Jesse Crain came in and all I kept thinking while watching him
pitch was “WOW!” I dare say that he is back. Fastball at 96. Slider at 92.
Seriously, his slider was consistently 92! He also had his curveball at
77, and he was hitting his spots. It is scary that his ‘stuff’ may be even
better now than it was before his surgery.
- Brian Bass came in and gave up two hits, but then got a double
play and a ground out. Then Boof Bonser came in and threw the ninth inning. Of
course, he did allow one run.
- Brendan Harris had a game that he really needed. He went 2-5
with his tenth double and first triple, and both
of those balls were hit very hard. Both were hit off of the outfield wall,
one in center and one to left. Hopefully this spurs his bats.
- Jason Kubel went 1-3 with a walk in
the game. Since May 12th, Kubel has
gone 28-93 which equates to a .302 average. He also has six of his ten
homers in that time. Remember when I wrote about how he was walking even
less than Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez? Well, in that same time, he has 15 walks and 16
strikeouts. As importantly, he is clearly playing with some confidence. He
is taking some huge swings. He is trying to hit the ball hard all the
time. He is doing that while making better contact and swinging at
strikes.
- With the win, the Twins are
now back to .500 which is again very exciting.
Many were ready to write them off after that unfortunate White Sox series,
and they have played well since.
- Carlos Gomez went 3-5. Two of the hits were bunt singles.
- Justin Morneau is definitely looking
a lot like the Morneau of 2006. He isn’t over-swinging
and just doing what the situation calls for. That, as much as anything, is
pretty exciting for the Twins.
- Brian Buscher had another two hits.
- Delmon Young swung at the first pitch and got out in his first two
at bats. He then walked on four pitches in each of his next two at bats.
That is crazy and unlikely to happen. Then again, none of those eight
pitches was even close to the strike zone. Then with the bases loaded in
the 8th, he had a really good at bat and took an outside
fastball down the right field line for a two run double.
- Delmon Young is obviously a huge, vital important piece to the
future of the Twins. Even those that are really disappointed in what he
has done to this point would have to agree with that. How about this
scenario… What if the Twins traded Mike
Lamb and Craig Monroe to
the Nationals for Dmitri Young?
Last year, Young signed an extension that would pay him about $10 million
over two years. The Twins signed Lamb for two years at $6.5 million and
Monroe is making about $3.7 for this year. Monetarily, it would be
basically a wash for the Twins. Young, who clearly is not what he once was
but still can hit could be a good guy to keep around Delmon.
From all reports, Dmitri is a great guy and great teammate. He would have
to accept his role as pinch hitter, and a $5 million pinch hitter does not
make a lot of sense to the Twins. However, it would be only through 2009. Denard Span could replace Monroe on the
roster and provide better defensive flexibility. Monroe, who is also a
terrific guy, could be a great influence on the likes of Lastings Milledge
and Elijah Dukes, an example. Dmitri
is a switch hitter, so he could provide power from either side of the
plate. It will never happen, but these are the kinds of things that I
think about. 3B could then be manned by the platoon of Brian Buscher
and Matt Macri
for 2008 and into 2009, or whenever Danny
Valencia is deemed ready. Luke
Hughes also fits into that equation. Any thoughts?
- Glen Perkins will pitch for the Twins against Shawn Hill, a righty who is 1-3
with a 4.61 ERA, a 1.57 WHIP and an opponent batting average of .303.
- Just a couple of other notes
for the upcoming weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks:
- Friday night is Dan Gladden bobblehead
game. The game will pit Scott
Baker against future Hall of Famer, Randy Johnson.
- Saturday is the annual
Twins autograph party out on the plaza. That is always a fun event. They
are sold out of autograph cards, but there is still plenty to do at the
event.
- Saturday afternoon, I
will be attending the SBG
Convention. I’m a big fan of the World’s Greatest Online Magazine,
so I am really looking forward to the event. Following the picnic, we
will be attending the game. Nick
Blackburn will go against Micah
Owings, and I would assume that he will hit for himself. I believe
that last year when the D-Backs played in AL cities, Owings was their DH
a couple of times. It would be great if Alex Romero can get some playing time too.
- At that Saturday night
game, the Twins will induct Rick
Aguilera into the Twins Hall of Fame. He is definitely deserving of
the honor.
- I will also be at the
Twins/Diamondbacks game on Sunday. Looks like I will get to see Brandon Webb, although, I will
also have to see Livan Hernandez again. Oh well.
- And, if you will be
attending any of the Twins home games in June, be sure to pick up your
copy of Gameday magazine, sold outside the Metrodome by the folks in the red vests. I have an
article in this month’s edition again.
Any other Twins thoughts?
Twins Minor League Updates
Wednesday SethSpeaks Player
of the Day – Drew Butera, New Britain Rockcats
Wednesday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Brad Tippett, Elizabethton Twins
ROCHESTER REPORT
Wednesday
– Rochester – There were no International League Games scheduled on Wednesday.
NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Wednesday
– New
Britain 9, Portland (11 Innings) – After getting rained out on the day they were going
to make their AA debuts, Danny Valencia,
Brian Dinkelman
and Rob Delaney each made their
first appearances on Wednesday. So, they played a little extra in this one. The
Rockcats scored three runs in the top of the 11th
with a lot of help. The first two batters got on via error. Then Drew Butera
got an bunt hit on what you have to assume was a sacrifice
attempt. Brian Dinkelman
hit a sacrifice fly. Dustin Martin
singled in another. Finally Danny
Valencia walked in the final run. Butera led the
offense (you won’t read that terribly often) by going 4-5 with a walk and two
doubles. Brock Peterson was 3-6 with
his seventh homer. Erik Lis went 3-7 with his sixth homer. Valencia went 2-5
with two walks. Kyle Aselton
had been doing so well since moving to the rotation two starts ago. In this
one, he managed to go just 2.2 innings. He gave up five runs on four hits and
seven walks. Jay Sawatski
came in and threw 2.1 shutout innings of relief. Yohan Pino came in and gave up a run in two
innings. Rob Delaney then came in
and pitched the eighth and ninth innings without allowing a base runner. Ben Julianel
did the same thing in the 10th and 11th innings to record
the win.
FT MYERS MEMOS
Wednesday – Miracle
5, Dunedin 9 – Speaking of debuts in new places, Matt Williams
made his relief debut in this one. But first, Steve Singleton notched
his first two hits for the Miracle. Edward Ovalle
went 2-5 with his sixth walk. Deolis Guerra
started and went 5.2 innings. He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks.
He struck out six. And then Williams made his appearance. He gave up three runs
on four hits and two walks, and he did not get a single batter out. He was
replaced by Blair Erickson who got the final four outs. Erickson gave up
three runs on a hit and a walk.
BELOIT BITS
Wednesday
– Beloit – There were no games scheduled in the
Midwest League on Wednesday, the day after the All-Star game.
ELIZABETHTON EXTRAS
Wednesday
– E-Twins
5, Bluefield 2 – Brad Tippett showed through at least this one start that
starting might be something he can do! The Australian righty went the first
five innings. He gave up only two hits and a walk while striking out five for
the win. Curtis Leavitt then gave up a run in his two innings. Omar
Alcala gave up a run on two hits and got just one out. Lee Martin
got the final two outs of that inning. Danny Rondon
gave up a hit and walked two but did not allow a run to record the save. Jonathan
Waltenbury led the offense by going 2-3 with a
walk and his second double. Alexander Soto hit his first home of the
year. Nick Papasan added a double.
Have a great Thursday!
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