Monday, August 4, 2008

Weekend Wrap Up

Good Monday Morning everyone! Again, this posting will be simul-posted over at the Word Press site. I will continue to do that until I get this all figured out. Since it's Monday and the last couple of weeks have been crazy busy, I thought that it would be best to just have a Weekend Update. After getting back late on Friday night, I headed to the cabin on Saturday and Sunday. Got back last night just in time to appear on a live Twins podcast with Marty Andrade. If you have a chance, it is about a half hour long discussion, so check it out here. This is a weekly Twins Roundtable that I hope to participate in each week. So, mark it on your calendars and check it out live and call in.

It is exciting to be talking about the first place Twins. Let me repeat, the first place Twins. I was asked on Sunday afternoon to remind them of what my prediction before the season started on the number of Twins wins this season... I gulped and said, "Yeah, 75 was my pick." I, and most people, were a bit off on that. This is a good team that will only get better. Hopefully they can keep it up! 

So, let's get right to it, and then tomorrow, we'll be back with something a little more creative.

TWINS 4, CLEVELAND 1

• Friday night, it was Nick Blackburn taking the mound and he came through big time. He gave up just one run on six hits in his seven innings. He walked just one and struck out just two to improve to 8-6 with a 3.56 ERA.
• With the game tied at two in the bottom of the 7th inning, Joe Mauer came up with a runner on and drilled his seventh home run of the season.
• Brendan Harris broke up Jeremy Sowers' perfect game with a double to lead off the 6th inning. He added a second double and has 21 on the season.
• Congratulations to Randy Ruiz on his first big league hit.   

TWINS 1, CLEVELAND 5

• The home run ball haunted Kevin Slowey again in this one. One two run homer in the fifth and another in the sixth really was the difference in the game. Slowey gave up the five runs on six hits in six innings. He of course walked none and struck out seven. He falls to 7-8 with a 4.21 ERA.
• Brian Bass threw two scoreless innings. He has to be feeling much better after the passing of the trade deadline. Dennys Reyes struck out two in his inning.
• Denard Span continues to impress and amaze and whatever term you choose to use that is very much positive. He went 2-3 with a walk and his seventh double.
• Delmon Young was 2-4.         

TWINS 6, CLEVELAND 2

• The Return of The Franchise was clearly the story in this one. The time had come and the transaction had been made and processed, and Francisco Liriano came through. The lefty threw six shutout innings. He gave up just three hits. He did walk three, but he also struck out five batters. It was a very encouraging first outing. Sure, he needs to continue to improve his control, but I really think that will come. The fastball wasn't 95-97, but sitting at 91-93 is very good too, particularly for a left-hander, and even more so with a left-hander with a mid-80s slider and a changeup. This was definitely a positive first step.
• Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier each gave up a run on two hits in their inning. Dennys Reyes threw a perfect ninth inning.
• Denard Span was again the offensive story. He went 2-4 with his second homer. The homer was in the bottom of the 8th and made the lead four runs. It came against former Twins reliever Juan Rincon.
• Brendan Harris hit his sixth home run of the year. It gave the Twins a 1-0 lead.
• Mike Lamb and Nick Punto each had an RBI triple.
• Good to see the Twins get a win with Joe Mauer on the bench with Justin Morneau, who was the team's DH.

Twins Minor League Updates

Friday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Erik Lis, New Britain Rockcats
Friday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Mike McCardell, Beloit Snappers

Saturday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Evan Bigley, Elizabethton Twins
Saturday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Philip Humber, Rochester Red Wings

Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Aaron Hicks, GCL Twins
Sunday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Alex Burnett, Ft. Myers Miracle

Be sure to check out Roger's Weekly Minor League Update for this week. Also, LaVelle wrote several updates in his weekly Minor League report.   

ROCHESTER REPORT
Friday – Rochester 7, Pawtucket 8 – Tom Shearn made his first start for the Red Wings and went five innings. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits and two walks. He struck out five. Ricky Barrett struck out two in his scoreless inning. Julio DePaula gave up four runs (3 earned) on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Two of the hits were homers. Tim Lahey gave up a homer and a walk, two runs (1 earned) without recording an out. Casey Daigle gave up a run (on a homer, of course) on two hits in 1.1 innings. Alejandro Machado went 2-4 with his seventh double, second homer and two RBI. Luke Hughes was 2-4 with his first AAA double and stolen base. Jason Pridie went 2-4 with a walk. Matt Macri hit his fifth homer while Howie Clark hit his fourth.     

Saturday – Rochester 4, Lehigh Valley 1 – Philip Humber continues to impress of late with his third straight well pitched game. In this one, he gave up a run on six hits in eight innings. He walked two and struck out nine. 75 of his 108 pitches were strikes. Bobby Korecky went the final inning. Alejandro Machado went 2-4 with his eighth double. Trevor Plouffe and Sergio Santos each went 1-3 with a walk.

Sunday – Rochester 3, Lehigh Valley 5 – Kevin Mulvey started and gave up two runs on nine hits and three walks in six innings. Mariano Gomez gave up an unearned run in his inning. Carmen Cali then gave up two runs on two hits and three walks in just one inning. Howie Clark was 3-5. Jason Pridie went 2-4 with a walk. Luke Hughes had a triple.

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Friday – New Britain 3, Binghampton 4 – Erik Lis led the offense in this one by going 2-3 with a walk and his 11th home run. Brock Peterson went 2-4 with his 14th homer. Dustin Martin went 2-4 with his 24th double, but it wasn't enough for the Rockcats in this one. Kyle Aselton started and took the loss. He gave up four runs on five hits and three walks in five innings. Frank Mata gave up two hits, two walks and struck out one in 2.1 scoreless innings. Robert Delaney struck out two in 1.2 shutout frames.

Saturday – New Britain 8, Binghampton 5 – Jay Rainville's improvement really started about three starts before he was sent back to Ft. Myers. This was a really good game for the righty. In six innings, he gave up one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out six. Zach Ward got the three-inning save despite giving up four runs on four hits and two walks in three innings. He struck out four. Dustin Martin went 3-5 with his 25th double. Danny Valencia went 2-4 with his 12th double and first triple. Felix Molina went 2-4 with his 16th double.

Sunday – New Britain 6, Binghampton 5 – Apparently reports that Brian Dinkelman would be out for the remainder of the year were not quite right. He does have bone chips in his elbow, but they will be cleaned out after the season. In this game, he went 2-3 with two doubles. Erik Lis went 2-4 with his 36th double. Steve Tolleson went 2-4 with a walk and his 11th stolen base. Ryan Mullins started and went the first six innings. He gave up four runs on nine hits and three walks. Jason Miller gave up a run on two hits and a walk in two innings. Ben Julianel got the win with a perfect ninth inning.

FT MYERS MEMOS
Friday – Miracle 0, Clearwater 4 (11 innings) – This was quite a pitcher's dual threw ten innings. Matt Fox scattered eight hits and a walk through six scoreless innings. Jose Mijares struck out two in two shutout innings. Anthony Slama then was then perfect during the 9th and 10th innings. And then in the 11th, Spencer Steedley started and gave up three unearned runs on a hit and two walks. Matt Williams came in and gave up another unearned run on a hit to close out the inning. Wilson Ramos and Juan Portes each went 2-5, but the rest of the team managed just two more hits. 

Saturday – Miracle 5, Clearwater 4 – Cole DeVries' excellent season continued in this one. He improved to 8-8 and dropped his ERA to 2.97. In six innings, he gave up two runs on seven hits. He walked just one and struck out nine. Jose Lugo gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk in just 2/3 of an inning. Blair Erickson then struck out three of the four batters he faced. Anthony Slama got his 22nd save by striking out two (and walking two) in his inning. Danny Berg went 3-4. Brandon Roberts, continuing his rehab stint, went 2-4 with a walk and a stolen base. Danny Santiesteban went 2-4. Yancarlos Ortiz went 2-4 with his seventh steal. Wilson Ramos hit his 20th double.

Sunday – Miracle 0, Sarasota 3 – The Miracle managed just five hits in this game. Danny Santiesteban had two of them, and Danny Berg hit his seventh double. Alex Burnett fell to 7-5 in this game. He gave up one run on six hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out three. Jose Mijares gave up two runs on two hits in two innings.

BELOIT BITS
Friday – Beloit 1, Lansing 3 – Mike McCardell continued to impress, but got just three hits from his offense and took the loss in this game. McCardell went the first six innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out ten. Chris Anderon gave up a run on four hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Charles Nolte and Danny Hernandez got the final five outs without another run scoring. Of the Snappers three hits, Allen de San Miguel and Erstarlin de Los Santos each hit a double.

Saturday – Beloit 0, Lansing 11 – The Snappers' offense improved in this game to four hits! It may have been the fact that Ben Revere was the team's DH and had one of hits. Rene Leveret went 2-4 with his seventh double. David Bromberg got crushed. In 3.1 innings, he gave up eight runs (7 earned) on ten hits and a walk. Mike Tarsi then gave up two more runs in his 2.2 innings. Danny Hernandez gave up a run (and struck out two) in his two innings. Santos Arias threw a scoreless ninth.           

Sunday – Beloit 8, Lansing 11 – Steve Hirschfeld has been so good of late, but this game was definitely an exception. In just four innings, he gave up nine runs (8 earned) on ten hits and two walks. Chris Anderson then gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in 2.2 innings. Michael Allen then got the final seven outs without allowing a runner. The Snappers offense showed up in this one. Rene Leveret went 3-5. Jeanfred Brito went 2-4 with a walk. Mark Dolenc went 2-4 with his fourth triple. Speaking of showing up, Paul Kelly was back in the lineup, batting third and DHing, and he had two doubles in his five at bats.    

ELIZABETHTON EXTRAS
Friday – E-Twins 0, Greeneville 7 – Alex Curry started this game. In three innings (and five fourth inning batters without recording an out), he gave up seven runs (6 earned) on seven hits and two walks. Tom Wright then threw two shutout innings before Nathan Fritz pitched a flawless inning. The E-Twins managed just five hits. Danny Rams and Nathan Hanson each hit a double.

Saturday – E-Twins 5, Kingsport 3 – Bobby Lanigan picked up his fourth win. He gave up three runs on eight hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out four. Steve Blevins threw a scoreless inning. Mark Hamburger came in and got his seventh save with a scoreless ninth. Evan Bigley went 2-2 with two walks, his ninth homer and three RBI. James Beresford went 2-3 with a walk and his third double. He drove in the other two runs. Nick Romero went 2-5. 

Sunday – E-Twins 14, Kingsport 9 – Brad Tippett gave up six unearned runs on four hits and two walks in his four innings. Kyle Carr then gave up three runs on a hit and two walks (with two strikeouts) in 1.2 innings. Dan Berlind got the win two 1.1 scoreless innings. He struck out two. Tom Wright and Danny Rondon each pitched a scoreless inning. Nick Romero went 3-4 with his sixth double. Adan Severino went 3-4 with his fourth double, first triple and fourth stolen base. Jon Waltenbury went 3-5 with a walk. Jeff Lanning went 3-6 with his sixth double. Dominic de La Osa went 2-5.    

GCL TWINS TALK
Friday – GCL Twins 4, GCLRed Sox 10 – In this game Aaron Hicks went 2-4 with his third triple. Michael Gonzalez went 4-5 with his sixth double. Angelo Sanchez started and gave up eight runs (6 earned) on ten hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out nine. Nick Lobanov gave up two runs on three hits in two innings. (This was a game that started last week)

Friday – GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 1 – Martire Garcia started and gave up an unearned run on four hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out five. Khol Nanney threw two shutout innings. Mike Gonzalez went 2-3 with his eighth double. Josmil Pinto hit his second triple. 

Sunday – GCL Twins 3, GCL Pirates 2 – This game was all about Aaron Hicks. The Twins top pick this June went 2-2 with two walks, his fourth triple, third homer and two RBI. He has hit .429 (15-35) with three doubles, three triples, two homers, seven walks and just five strikeouts in his past ten games. He has at least one hit in each game. Jean Mijares started and threw four shutout innings. He struck out three. Michael Tonkin walked one and gave up one hits in his inning. Joe Testa got the win with three innings of work. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits. He walked none and struck out four. Kelvin Mota got his ninth save with a scoreless inning.   

Have a great week!

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