Saturday, August 16, 2008
Saturday Afternoon Notes
(The Word Press page for this article can be found here)
Hey everyone! I had my first fantasy football league draft this morning and perhaps later I will post something on it. Got home and the Twins are on the television, just started. So, I figured I would update the sites with some game notes and links to several articles I have read that are very interesting. So, let's start with some links and then get to the Twins notes:
Twinkie Town also had a posting on arguably my favorite Twins prospect right now (or at least the one I am most intrigued by) Angel Morales.
Stick & Ball Guy Audio - SBGs first attempt at an audio blog. He discusses Friday night's game as well as Saturday's. I know that I would love to be able to provide more audio posts. I think it would be fun, and could maybe even get some Q&As with people.
SBG also posted an article written by Ubelmann, a Comparison of Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker that appears in the current issue of Gameday Magazine which you can purchase for just $2 outside the Metrodome.
In case you missed it yesterday, a good friend of mine, mini_tb, wrote an article called The Prid(i)e of the Red Wings. As you likely figured out already, it is an article on Twins prospect Jason Pridie, talking about the type of player he is and if the Twins should call him up, or at least if Twins fans should expect anything from him. I have given mini_tb Administrator privileges, so he will be able to write articles on there any time. The goal would be for him to become the ubelmann of this site!
The Bleacher Bums has an excellent, very candid Q&A with former Twin Dustan Mohr. It's actually a very interesting look at a guy who clearly has a lot on his mind, a lot of frustration and just wants to keep playing.
Please remember to check out the live Twins Weekly Roundtable Podcast tomorrow night (Sunday) at 8:00 central time. You can interact with the show and ask questions in a couple of different ways, so if you have the chance, be sure to check it out.
TWINS 9, MARINERS 3
The Twins bats certainly welcomed Carlos Silva back to the Metrodome last night. The former Twin lasted just 3.1 innings and gave up nine earned runs on nine hits and a walk.
Jason Kubel did his best early in the game to make sure that Silva remembered him. He hit a single in the first inning. Then he came up in the fourth innings and with a runner on base and took a Silva pitch well over the CF wall for a home run, his 17th of the year. Later in the same inning, he singled to score Nick Punto with the team's seventh runs of the inning.
Denard Span and Nick Punto, the top two hitters in the lineup, each had two hits, one of which was a double.
I could have gone to this game. My sister had four tickets and I could have had one of them. Instead, I told my mom that she could take the last ticket and I would stay home since I went on Monday night and I will be at the games on Sunday and Monday as well. So, after the first three innings, when Francisco Liriano was dominating and had gone through the order without allowing a hit, I received a phone call. From my mom. What did she have to say? You do realize that because you're not here, Liriano is going to throw a no-hitter, right? I said, "Believe me, mom, I was already thinking it." Liriano was excellent. In seven innings, he gave up just two hits and walked two. The only bad inning he had was the top of the fourth when he loaded the bases. Two runs scored on an error by Brian Buscher. Liriano looked good.
I know that people wanted the fastball velocity and slider to come back right away, but I recall writing when he was struggling with the Twins in April that this could be the best thing for him. He simply dominated hitters before. Now, he has to actually learn how to pitch to get hitters out. He got back to the big leagues as a pitcher now. How scary could he be if and when his velocity comes back AND he's a much smarter hitter?
Boof Bonser had a decent eighth inning. Brian Bass gave up three hits and a run in the ninth, but his amazing sinkerball got him a double play ball that helped limit the damage.
Most importantly, Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain, Dennys Reyes, Craig Breslow and Joe Nathan did not even need to warm up!
Any other thoughts on the Twins?
Twins Minor League Updates
Friday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Angel Morales, Elizabethton Twins
Friday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Yohan Pino, New Britain Rockcats
ROCHESTER REPORT
Friday
– Rochester 7, Buffalo 14 – Another
non-good game for a Red Wings bullpen game. Danny Graves started and in
2.2 innings gave up four runs on four hits and two walks. Casey Daigle
then came in and gave up five runs on four hits and two walks in 1.2 innings.
Mariano Gomez then gave up five runs on seven hits in just 1.2 innings.
Tim Lahey did throw two shutout innings in relief. Matt Macri went
2-4 with his 22nd double. Alejandro Machado went 2-5 with his 13th
double. Garrett Jones hit his 19th homer. Bobby Kielty went 0-3
with two walks.
NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Friday
– New
Britain 6, Akron 0 – Yohan Pino must be feeling
closer to 100% He has really been pitching pretty well of late. In this game, he
gave up just one hit in eight innings. He did walk three and struck out two in
the shutout. He improved to 6-5. Rob Delaney gave up two hits but no runs
in an inning. Rodolfo Palacios went 3-4 with his third double. David
Winfree was 2-4 with his 16th home run.
FT MYERS MEMOS
Friday –
Miracle 0, Lakeland 9 – The saga of the 2008 Deolis Guerra season
continues. In this game, he lasted just two innings. He gave up eight runs on
three hits and seven more walks. He struck out just two. Matt Williams
then threw four shutout innings. Oswaldo Sosa had a two strikeout perfect
inning for the second straight game. Blair Erickson gave up a hit and two
walks in an inning, but no runs scored. Danny Santiesteban came in for
the ninth and gave up a run on a hit and three walks. Danny Lehman had
two of the Miracle's four hits.
BELOIT BITS
Friday
–
Beloit 4, Quad Cities 11 – Henry Reyes had a rough start in this
one. In just four innings, he gave up five runs (4 earned) on eight hits and two
walks. He struck out five. Michael Allen threw two shutout innings.
Danny Hernandez gave up five runs and got just two outs. He allowed three
hits, walked two more and hit two batters. Michael Tarsi gave up a run on
four hits in 2.1 innings. Greg Yersich went 3-4. Estarlin de Los
Santos went 2-4.
ELIZABETHTON EXTRAS
Friday – E-Twins 6, Danville 2 – Curtis Leavitt gave the E-Twins a Quality Start to improve to 6-1 on the season. In 6.1 innings, he gave up two runs on eight hits and a walk (and two hit batters). He struck out eight. Dan Berlind threw 2.2 shutout innings. Angel Morales went 2-3 with a walk, his 12th double and 13th homer. Evan Bigley then went 2-4 with a walk, his 12th double, 12th homer and three RBI.
GCL TWINS TALK
Friday
–
GCL Twins 5, GCL Reds 1 –
Tyler Ladendorf finally had a game that shows what he could be. He went
2-3 with his eighth double and first home run. Andres Diaz went 2-4.
Aaron Hicks drove in two runs and hit his seventh double. Jakub Hajtmar
hit his third double. Martire Garcia pitched very well again. He gave up
just one run on three hits and a walk. He struck out six for his second win.
Mauro Schiavoni recorded his second save with three shutout innings.
Have a great remainder of the weekend!