Thursday, September 24, 2009

Thursday Morning Notes

 

 

Back to Archives           Home Good morning! Another nice Twins win. A sweep of the White Sox… in Chicago. Another Tigers win. Ten games to go. Twins have won nine of their last ten. If they can do that the rest of the season, they will win the division… probably. Here are some more thoughts, which will hopefully create some discussion.

 

SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins podcast

·         On last night’s podcast, I was joined by Bill Ferris. Bill has been blogging on The Detroit Tigers at The Detroit Tigers Weblog since 2001! We spent the first part of the show talking about Wednesday night’s Tigers destruction of the Cleveland Indians, 11-3.We talked about the pennant race, last weekend’s Twins/Tigers series, and much more including his thoughts on Tigers legendary announcer Ernie Harwell who, despite his recent news, is still an inspiration to everyone around him. Again, you can download the podcast online or to your i-Pod.

·         Tonight at 10:00 central time, there will be a new show, and I already have a couple of confirmed guests. One of the guests will be one of the Twins better prospects, so be sure to tune in for that. The Twins have an off day, but we will have a lot to talk about. The Tigers and Indians series finale. The upcoming Twins/Royals series, and the Tigers/White Sox series, and much more. 

 

Twins 8, White Sox 6

·         For the second straight night, the Twins were able to hold on for an 8-6 win over the Chicago White Sox. Again, the Twins jumped out to a quick lead. Going into the bottom of the 4th, the Twins held a 5-0 lead. The White Sox cut the lead to 5-4, then added to their lead, then let the lead be cut in half late, but then held on.

·         Brian Duensing went until there were two outs in the bottom of the fourth before allowing a run. It was the first run he had allowed in 17 innings. He went 5.2 innings and gave up four runs (3 earned) on nine hits and improved to 5-1.

·         Bloggers speak so frequently of the term “Small Sample Size.” When talking about what the Twins needed to do over the last few weeks to succeed, I have said the same thing. You know basically what you are going to get from Mauer, Kubel, Cuddyer and Span (when he is able to get back in the lineup). But any production from the likes of Orlando Cabrera, Nick Punto, Matt Tolbert and Delmon Young, is a bonus that the team needs to take a step forward.

1.      Orlando Cabrera had an excellent series against his former teammates. He was 5-12 with a triple, a homer, six runs scored and five RBI.

2.      Matt Tolbert had two hits on Monday and the solo home run on Tuesday.

3.      Nick Punto went 4-10 with two walks, a double, four runs scored, four RBI and three stolen bases.

4.      Delmon Young went 5-8 over the last two games.

·         Jesse Crain got one out and did not allow a run. He has now not allowed a run in his last 14 games which covers 14 innings.

·         Joe Mauer went 1-4 to end the game hitting .371. Ichiro went 2-4 and is hitting .355.

·         The Twins now get to enjoy an off day.

·         The Twins remain 2.5 games behind the Tigers, who beat Cleveland 11-3 last night. Carlos Guillen had a big game. He was 3-4 with a walk, his eighth double, his 10th and 11th home runs and four RBI. Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with a walk, his 31st home runs and three RBI. Rick Porcello got his 14th win, giving up one run in five innings. The Tigers play today, throwing Justin Verlander.

 

World Cup Update

·         Canada beat Venezuela 9-2. Rene Tosoni was 2-4 with his fifth double, third triple, two runs scored and two RBI.

·         Australia beat The Netherlands 5-2. Tom Stuifbergen started for the Netherlands team. He threw five shutout innings. He gave up two hits and walked two. Liam Hendriks started for Australia. He threw six shutout innings, allowing two hits, walking none and striking out four. Matt Williams got the final four outs to record the win. Luke Hughes was the offensive hero for Australia. He went 2-4 with his third and fourth home runs and four RBI. James Beresford was 1-4.

·         Team USA beat Puerto Rico 3-0. Trevor Plouffe went 0-5.

·         Cuba beat Chinese Taipei 8-0.

·         On Thursday, USA plays against Cuba, Taipei takes on Puerto Rico, Canada plays The Netherlands and Venezuela plays Australia.

·         On Friday, Cuba plays Canada, Venezuela plays Taipei, Australia plays Puerto Rico, and The Netherlands plays Team USA.

·         Then on Saturday the fourth place teams in the two pools play (for 7th place), the third place teams in each pool play (for 5th place), and the second place team in each pool play (for third place).

·         Finally on Sunday, the first place teams in each pool will play for the World Cup championship.

 

If you have any opinions, comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments section.