Thursday, June
24, 2010
Five Minute
Notes
If you are able, I will be on the radio with Paul Allen this
morning at 9:20 on KFAN (am 1130 in the Twin Cities, affiliates around the
state/region) or listen live in on KFAN.com.
Or, be sure to listen to the podcast (Fan
on Demand) an hour later.
Time is of the essence today,
so here are some quick thoughts on the Twins game last night and highlights
from the affiliates:
·
The Twins lost to
the Brewers. The decision to go with a lefty-laden lineup worked well for Ron Gardenhire.
Joe Mauer
and Justin Morneau
each had two hits while Jason Kubel had two hits off of a lefty. Of course, pinch
hitting Jim Thome
against a lefty in the top of the 6th really hurt.
·
Also, Danny Valencia needs to be playing 3B
on this team… not Michael Cuddyer. I’m as big of a Michael Cuddyer fan as there is, but he
is not a 3B. I get that it is nice to have that ability and get his bat in
there along with Young and Kubel, but he’s not a 3B.
There were two plays last night that most 3B make that he didn’t come close to,
and those plays led to three Brewers runs. Oh yeah, the Brewers won, by three.
This isn’t at all a knock on Cuddyer. He’ll do
anything he’s asked to for the time, and I admire that. I can’t even really
blame Gardy for playing him there since in his two
games at 3B in Philadelphia, he only had one play to make. You can’t hide a guy
at 3B for very long. I think this is a great cautionary tale for all of the
Twins fans who seem to think that Joe Mauer can easily move to 3B. Seriously, it’s not that
easy.
·
Glen Perkins
got crushed again last night in Rochester. He gave up six runs on eight hits
and four walks in just 3.2 innings. Fortunately Tim Lahey threw 3.1 hitless innings in
relief. Then Pat Neshek
came in and gave up five runs on six hits and got just one out. Of the 23
pitches he threw, 18 were strikes. Kyle
Waldrop came in and gave up a hit but got the final two outs. Rob Delaney struck out the side in the
9th. The Red Wings lost 11-2 and had just six hits including four
doubles (Trevor Plouffe,
D’Angelo Jimenez, Jose Morales, Jacque Jones).
·
New Britain beat
Binghamton 10-2. Chris Parmelee was 3-4 with a walk. Mark Dolenc went 3-5 with his seventh
double and four RBI. Erik Lis was 3-5. Jair Fernandez
went 2-3. Joe Benson was 2-5 with a
walk and his seventh double. Carlos
Gutierrez started and gave up one run on six hits and a walk in six
innings. Chris Province gave up a
run on three hits in two innings, and Cole
DeVries threw a perfect inning.
·
Ft. Myers beat
Palm Beach 9-6. Brian Dozier went
4-6. Estarlin de Los Santos went 3-5 with a walk. Evan Bigley
went 3-5 and drove in three runs. Nate
Hanson went 2-4 with a walk. Angel Morales went 2-4 with his first
FSL double. Santos Arias gave up three runs on six hits in four innings. Andrey Lobanov gave
up one run on three hits in 2.2 innings. Billy
Bullock notched his 13th save with two strikeouts in a perfect
ninth inning.
·
Beloit did not
play. They are still on their all-star break and start playing games again
tonight. Tom Stuifbergen
told me that he expects to be back on the mound around the 4th of
July.
·
Elizabethton lost
to Bristol 8-4. Blayne Weller got knocked around a bit. He gave
up five runs (4 earned) on nine hits in four innings. Sam Spangler gave up one run on two hits in two innings. David Gutierrez debuted and struck out
two in a perfect innings. Kyle Necke gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in an
inning. Oswaldo Arcia hit
his first triple and his second home run (in 2 games). Brandon Henderson went 2-2 with a walk and his second stolen base.
·
The GCL Rays
topped the GCL Twins 7-4. Eddie Rosario
went 3-4 with his first homer and his first stolen base. Candid Pimental went 3-4 with a walk and
two stolen bases. Nick Lockwood hit
two doubles in five at bats. Kennys Vargas
went 2-3 with a walk and his second double. Clay Condrey started for the team and
pitched the first inning. He gave up two hits and a walk in an inning but no
runs. Ricardo Arevalo
went the next 4.1 innings and gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits. He
didn’t walk any hitters and struck out four. Bart Carter struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings. Brett Carroll gave up three runs on
five hits in an inning. Matt Trau struck out two in a scoreless inning.
Any thoughts of the Twins or the minor league system? Feel free to leave
your questions and comments here.