Sunday, July 19,
2009
In-Weekend
Updates
I thought a mid-weekend update
would make a lot of sense. As the next couple of weeks will be consumed with
trade rumors, determining whether teams are buyers or sellers and then finally
the deadline, I thought it appropriate not to get too far behind. So, here is a
quick Notes and Game Recap edition, be sure to leave your comments below. Again,
as the Trade Deadline is now less than two weeks away, please consider picking
up a copy of the TwinsCentric 2009
Trade Deadline Primer for just $9.95.
TWINS WIN TWO IN TEXAS
The Twins won the first two
games of their series in Arlington against the Rangers. They completed the
Texas two step and on Friday will go for the sweep.
On Friday night, the Twins won
5-3. Glen Perkins went five innings for
the win. Bobby Keppel again pitched
well for two innings. Jose Mijares and Matt
Guerrier completed the eighth inning before Joe Nathan recorded his 24th
save. Jason Kubel
knocked his 15th home run of the season in the game. It was a three
run homer that scored Joe Mauer and Justin
Morneau. Carlos
Gomez went 2-3 and drove in the two other runs with a triple. Joe Crede
joined Gomez, Morneau and Kubel
with two hits in the game.
On Saturday night, the Twins
won 4-1. It was all about Scott Baker
and Michael Cuddyer.
Baker went eight strong innings. He gave up a just one run on six hits and two
walks. He struck out eight for his 8th win of the year. Joe Nathan struck out two in the ninth for his 25th save. Cuddyer hit a run-scoring double in the 2nd
inning, and later came around to score on a Carlos Gomez single. In the 5th inning, Cuddyer hit his 15th home run of the season. Cuddyer, Morneau and Gomez each
had two hits.
TWINS NOTES
·
Over the Baggy
asks, Do the
Twins Need Julio Lugo?
·
First of all,
congratulations to Stick & Ball Guy
whose terrific site (so terrific, in fact, that it is The Worlds Greatest Online Magazine!) recently celebrated
its 5th Birthday!
·
Another exciting
note from Stick & Ball Guy. He
will be hosting the 3rd
Annual SBG Convention on August 1st. It will again be at
Minnehaha Falls, in the park. I went last year and it was a great time. I
currently plan to be there again this year, so if youre able to make it, its
always fun, so check
here for details.
·
Jesse from Twinkie
Town participated in an AL
Central Roundtable with other SB Nation bloggers in the division.
·
It seems like the
Twins have turned and hit into a lot of double plays this season. But Coffeyville
Whirlwind reminds us of a game in 1990 when the Twins and Red Sox
combined for the most double plays in a single game.
·
Apparently Miguel Angel Sano passed
a pretty important test. MLB had been investigating if he was actually
16 years old, and their report indicates that he is 16 years old. With that
announcement, Sano is free to sign. Now, the Twins were rumored to have offered
him a deal pending this investigation, but in recent weeks, the rumor became
that the Twins were kind of taking themselves out of the running. However, now
it is suggested that Twins Director of Player Personnel, Mike Radcliff, traveled to the Dominican Republic himself to check
on Sano. So, will they re-enter the negotiations, or will they stay out of it.
Well, we shall see.
Any other Twins thoughts or
stories? If you see a Twins-related story that you think readers would be
interested in, please e-mail me the link. Let us
know what you think.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
Friday -
SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day Steve Singleton, New Britain Rockcats
Friday -
SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day Edgar Ibarra, Elizabethton Twins
Saturday -
SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day Brandon Roberts, New Britain Rockcats
Saturday -
SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day Blayne Weller, GCL
Twins
MINOR LEAGUE NOTES AND
TRANSACTIONS
·
LaVelle informed us yesterday that Yohan Pino had
been promoted to AAA Rochester. Also some interesting stuff on Max Kepler
coming to America from Germany with his mom to scout out high schools in Ft.
Myers.
·
I learned later
in the day that Michael McCardell has been promoted to AA New Britain to take Pinos spot.
·
Heard a little
later that Jeff Christy has been
sent back to New Britain, but I have not heard if there have been any further
catcher transactions. Currently in New Britain include Danny Lehmann and Allan de
San Miguel.
·
On Friday, Josh Johnson posted another excellent
interview. Be sure to check out his Q&A
with David Bromberg.
·
Be sure to check
out Rogers
Minor League Update from yesterday. Who was his player of the week?
·
Jesse also asked
the question, Who is Joe Testa?
ROCHESTER REPORT
Friday Rochester, Lehigh Valley Game postponed by Rain.
Saturday Game 1 Rochester 5, Lehigh Valley 7 Philip Humber started this game and gave up six runs on seven hits
and two walks in 3.2 innings. All six runs scored against him in the fourth
inning. Jesse Crain struck out two
and got four outs. Juan Morillo gave up a run on two hits in his inning. He
walked none and struck out two. Matt Macri went 2-3. Danny Valencia hit his fourth home run.
David Winfree
hit his 11th homer.
Saturday Game 2 Rochester 3, Lehigh Valley 6 The second game was almost a copy cat of the first
game. Jason Jones started and threw
three shutout innings before he gave up six runs in the fourth inning. Tim Lahey and
Sean Henn
each pitched a scoreless inning. The offense came from the same two people as
well. Danny Valencia hit a two run
homer, his fifth of the season. David Winfree came to the plate next and hit his 12th
homer.
ROCKCAT RECAP
Friday New Britain 6, Reading 4 Steve Singleton was strong again in his second AA game. The 2B went
3-4 with his third double and first triple. Matt Moses went 2-4 with his 10th double and first triple. Erik Lis hit his 11th home run. Cole Devries picked up his sixth win.
In five innings, he gave up three runs on six hits. He walked two and struck
out five. Frank Mata gave up two
hits and a walk in an inning, but no runs scored. Carlos Gutierrez gave up two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings, but no
runs scored. Jose Lugo gave up a run
in 2/3 of an inning. Alex Burnett
came in for the ninth and recorded his second save.
Saturday New Britain 11, Reading 3 Deolis
Guerra improved to 2-0 with a win in
this game. In 6.1 innings, he gave up three runs on four hits. He walked two
and struck out three. Kyle Waldrop
threw 2.2 scoreless innings. Brandon
Roberts went 4-6 with his 14th double. Steve Singleton went 3-5 (so his batting average dropped!) with his
fourth double and first stolen base. Toby
Gardenhire went 2-4 with a walk and his seventh
double. Juan Portes
went 1-3 with three walks and his fifth home run. Erik Lis was 1-2 with two walks and his
12th home run.
MIRACLE MEMOS
Friday Ft. Myers 2, Sarasota 3 David Bromberg took a loss
for the first time this season. He is now 7-1 (with a 2.97 ERA) after giving up
three runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out six. Santos Arias and Henry Arias each pitched a scoreless inning. Mark Dolenc went 2-3 with a walk, his 13th
double and third home run. Rene Leveret
went 2-4 with a triple.
Saturday Ft. Myers 2, Dunedin 4 Chris Parmelee
went 2-4 with his 13th home run, but it wasnt enough. Tyler Robertson took the loss. He gave
up four runs on four hits and four walks over seven innings. He struck out
five. Joe Testa
struck out three in two scoreless frames. Evan
Bigley went 3-4 on the night. Ben Revere went 2-5.
SNAPPERS SNIPPETS
Friday Beloit 9, Burlington 3
Dan Berlind
improved to 3-9 with five innings in this game. He gave up three runs on four
hits and three walks while striking out three. Michael Allen and Steve Blevins each two scoreless innings. Tyler Ladendorf
went 3-5. Drew Thompson went 2-4
with a walk and his 11th double. Ramon Santana went 2-5 with his second triple.
Saturday Beloit 4, Dayton 6
Aaron Hicks hit his first home run
of the season. Drew Thompson went
2-4 with his third stolen base. Ramon
Santana was 2-3 with a walk and his seventh home run. Dan Osterbrock gave up five runs (4
earned) on seven hits and two walks in 6.1 innings. He struck out six. Bruce Pugh gave up a run on two hits
and a walk in 1.2 innings.
E-TWINS EXTRAS
Friday Elizabethton 4, Danville 5 As is tradition, Danville brings a team that matches up well with the
E-Twins. In this game, Miguel Munoz made
the start. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on eight hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out five. Edgar Ibarra came in and threw three
shutout innings. Dan Rohlfing
went 2-3 with a walk. Brian Dozier was
2-4 with his third double. Josmil Pinto went 1-2 with three walks. Derek McCallum went 1-3 with two
walks.
Saturday Elizabethton 4, Burlington 3 Martire Garcia made
his best start of the season. The young lefty gave up two runs on four hits in
five innings. He walked one and struck out four. Matt Bashore came in and gave up three
hits, but no runs, in two innings. He struck out two. Kyle Carr gave up an unearned run on one hit in two innings. He
struck out two. Derek McCallum went
2-3 with a walk and his seventh double. Jonathan
Goncalves hit his second home run and stole his
fourth and fifth bases. Tobias Streich hit his fifth home run.
GCL TWINS THOUGHTS
Saturday GCL Twins 6, GCL Rays 1 Blayne Weller had another very strong start.
He threw seven shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck
out five. Jean Mijares
gave up an unearned run on a hit and a walk in his inning. Kelvin Mota gave up two hits, but no
runs, in his inning. Jhonatan Arias went 2-4 with his second and
third doubles. Daniel Santana went
2-5 with his third double.
Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave
your questions or comments here.