Good morning! Well, today will
again be short. Last night I played softball again. It was fun. I
like playing 3B because you have to be in the game or you could get
hurt, bad! Elsewhere, I just get too bored. But I hurt because I'm
old and way too out of shape. Oh well! I also am in another week of
training at work. You remember that training from about a month ago
that I whined about for a week? Well, this is part 2 of it! Yay!
More reading homework!
Anyway, the All-Star break is
done and things should really start picking up in the baseball
world. I hope you understand, and keep stopping by the site so that
hopefully you can find something of interest to you!
So anyway, keep the e-mails
coming. I enjoy your input!
Have a great day!
TWINS THOUGHTS
OK, so, everyone seems to be
disappointed in the Twins performance so far in the 2005 season.
Sure, they have about the same record as they did at the break last
year. Sure, they're getting quality pitching most of the time. But
it's just not enough. Why? Most likely because of the first-half
start of the Chicago White Sox. Here are the standings in the AL
Central as we restart play today:
White Sox 57-29
Twins
48-38
Indians
47-41
Tigers
42-40
Royals
30-57
The Twins do have a one game
lead in the Wild Card fight right now ahead of the likes of the
Orioles, the Indians, the Yankees, the A's and more teams within
striking distance.
The Twins made a move to
acquire Bret Boone and have about two weeks to decide if they will
make any further moves. The A's made a couple of deals yesterday.
First they acquired Jay Payton from the Red Sox (he had also been
designated for assignment) for reliever Chad Bradford. Then they
traded OF Eric Byrnes (And AA SS Omar Quintanilla, who I drafted in
the minor league portion of a fantasy baseball league, so I'm happy
to see him go to the Rockies!) to the Colorado Rockies for pitchers
Joe Kennedy and Jay Witasik. The Rockies traded Preston Wilson to
the Washington Nationals in exchange for Zach Day, JJ Davis and a
player to be named later.
So as you can see, teams in
the playoff hunt are starting to deal. That makes the last part of
July very exciting! Will the Twins make another move? Will they find
a third baseman? Will they make a big splash and acquire a big name
like Adam Dunn, or Mike Sweeney? Maybe they will go with pitching?
You know I've been pushing for them to acquire Jason Schmidt. The
Twins have the prospects to acquire anyone that is available if they
feel they can contend. I think that they have a lot of big decisions
to make in the next two weeks, and it will be fun to watch!
Here are the pitching matchups
for this
series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:
Thursday - 7:10 - Kyle Lohse (7-7,
4.42, 1.41, .268) vs Jarrod Washburn (5-3, 3.23, 1.44, .256)
Friday - 7:10 - Johan Santana (7-5,
3.98, 1.05, .226) vs Bartolo Colon (11-5, 3.42, 1.14, .244)
Saturday - 6:10 - Brad Radke (6-8,
4.15, 1.26, .290) vs Paul Byrd (8-5, 3.73, 1.14, .261)
Sunday - 1:10 - Joe Mays (5-3, 4.13,
1.40, .297) vs John Lackey (6-4, 4.22, 1.45, .276)
ROCHESTER REDWINGS
The Redwings had another day
off last night, their third in a row, because of the AAA All-Star
game which was played last night in Sacramento. The AAA game matches
the All Stars from the International League against those from the
Pacific Coast League. Two Redwings were on the International League
roster, pitchers Travis Bowyer and Willie Eyre. Now, the IL got
crushed 11-5, and it was 11-2 after seven innings. But that is when
Chris Coste was brought in to pinch hit and enter the game in the
field. In that first at bat, he got ahead 3-0 before taking a
strike. He hit the 3-1 pitch deep into right field for an easy
sacrifice fly. In the 9th, he struck out. Back to the Redwings,
Willie Eyre pitched the third inning and got the PCLers 1-2-3.
Bowyer started the 9th inning and got the two batters he faced out,
one on a strike out. Today the team starts their second half.
NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS
The Eastern League has its own
All-Star game pitting the North against the South. New Britain is
obviously in the North. Three Rockcats participated in the game,
Danny Matienzo, Doug Deeds and Jason Miller. Matienzo was great in
the North's 9-6 win. He went 3-3 and was hit by a pitch. He had a
double and an RBI as the team's DH. Deeds played the whole game in
left field and went 1-4. Miller pitched the 7th inning. Despite
giving up a hit and a walk, he struck out two and didn't allow a
run. The team starts its second half tonight as well.
FT MYERS MIRACLE
Wednesday
- MIRACLE 0, Palm Beach 7 - The Miracle are really struggling
with the bats. Kyle Phillips had two doubles in four at bats, and
Trent Oeltjen went 2-4, but it wasn't enough to muster one run.
Scott Tyler's up-and-down season continues. He started and went
three innings. He gave up three runs on two hits and four walks, and
struck out just one. Jannio Gutierrez came in and gave up two
unearned runs in his three innings. He allowed four hits, but he
didn't walk any. Josh Gray gave up a run in two innings, and Jay
Sawatski's struggles continue as he gave up a run in his inning.
BELOIT SNAPPERS
Twins 2005 first-round pick
Matt Garza was promoted to Beloit to take Anthony Swarzak's
spot in the rotation.
Wednesday - SNAPPERS 8,
Kane County 3 - The Jay Rainville Express just continues to roll
along. The burly young right-hander posted yet another win to
improve to 8-2. Last night, he went six innings and gave up three
runs on six hits. He walked none and struck out six. Kevin Culpepper
and John Williams combined for three shutout relief innings. Jeremy
Pickrel led the offense with a 3-5 day, including a triple. Landon
Burt was 2-4 with two walks. Luke Hughes went 2-5 with a walk and
three RBI. Deacon Burns went 2-5 with his 30th double of the year.
Johnny Woodard went 2-5.
ELIZABETHTON TWINS
Twins third round pick
Brian Duensing of Nebraska is now moving into the rotation after
Garza's promotion.
Wednesday - E-Twins
2, Pulaski 1 - The E-Twins continue to get some quality
pitching. Edward Morlan may not be known now, but is making a name
for himself. Lst night, he went seven innings without allowing a
hit. He did give up an earned run and walked two, but he struck out
nine. He is now 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA this year. In 22 innings
pitched, he has allowed six hits, six walks and has 30 strikeouts.
Pretty Impressive. Alexander Smit picked up his second E-Town win by
pitching two scoreless innings. He did give up a hit though, but
also struck out four more batters. He now has an incredible 37:1
strikeout-to-walk ratio in his 18 innings with Elizabethton. Juan
Portes continues to lead the offense. The 2B went 3-4 with a walk
and his fourth homer. Edward Ovalle went 2-3.
GULF COAST TWINS
Monday - GCL Twins
8, GCL Pirates 4 - LF Wesley Connor led the way with a 4-4 day
that included his first double. Josh Dean went 3-4. Kyle Edlich
improved to 2-0 (with a 2.25 ERA) with six quality innings. He
spread out nine hits and a walk for three runs. Nathan Crawford
(another Aussie and the brother of Tristan) gave up a run on two
hits in his inning.
