Sunday, April 13, 2008
Saturday Night Update
Ah, the beauty of early season stats. They mean essentially nothing. Did you know? Terry Tiffee is hitting .613 so far for Las Vegas, the AAA affiliate of the Dodgers? With that note, here are some highlights from Saturday's games of the Twins and their affiliates.
Twins Thoughts (Twins 2,
Royals 0)
The Twins got another great pitching performance on their way to a second straight shutout win over the Kansas City Royals.
Boof Bonser got his first win of the year. The righty went the first six innings and gave up only three hits. He walked two and struck out four.
The plan of Matt Guerrier in the 7th, Pat Neshek in the 8th and Joe Nathan in the 9th worked to perfection as each pitched a scoreless inning.
The 6-9 hitters in the Twins lineup combined to go 8-15 with a walk. Jason Kubel was 2-4 with a homer and scored both runs. Brendan Harris was 2-4. Denard Span was 2-4 and drove in Kubel with the second run. Nick Punto is hitting .500 after going 2-3 with a walk.
The 1-4 hitters combined to go 0-17 with 14 runners left on base.
This afternoon, the Twins will send The Franchise to the mound against the Royals Brian Bannister who is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA so far this year.
Red Wings Report (Rochester 0, Syracuse 2)
The Red Wings bats just didn't come through in this game despite a solid start by Kevin Mulvey. The righty took the loss despite allowing just one run on four hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out six.
Julio DePaula threw two scoreless innings, walking and striking out one. Carmen Cali gave up a run on two hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out two.
Brian Buscher had both of the Red Wings hits. He went 2-3 with a walk. Alexi Casilla went 0-2 but walked twice.
It appears that Heath Totten will get the start on Sunday in place of Francisco Liriano. Scary!
The bats were obviously the story in this game, and it started right at the top of the order. Trevor Plouffe took the leadoff position and went 4-6 with his first double, first home run and four RBI. His average was .167 two days ago. It is now .304.
Batting second was Dustin Martin, the team's hottest hitter. He went 4-5 with his fifth double and three RBI. He also stole two bases. He is now hitting a robust .619 on the young season.
Drew Butera was 3-5. Steven Tolleson went 2-4 with his second double. David Winfree hit his first home run and had two RBI. Brock Peterson drove in three runs. Matt Moses knocked in two.
Jay Rainville was the beneficiary of the run support. The righty got the win by going the first five innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits. He walked none and struck out two.
Jason Miller then gave up two runs on four hits in an inning. David Shinskie gave up a run in his three relief innings.
Miracle Matters (Ft. Myers 4, Dunedin 5)
Robert Delaney won't blow too many saves this year, but tonight was one of those nights. Delaney came in with a two run lead in the eighth inning. Jose Lugo had left a couple of runners on base, and Delaney allowed them to score to tie the game. Then in the 9th, he gave up a run for the loss.
Alex Burnett had a nice second start. The righty went the first 5.1 innings. He gave up two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out four. Jose Lugo gave up two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings.
The offense got to hit against big leaguer Gustavo Chacin, and did well. The lefty gave up four runs on nine hits, one walk and two hit batters in just 4.2 innings.
Brian Dinkelman went 2-5 with his sixth double. Danny Valencia was 2-5. Johnny Woodard was 2-4 with his second homer and a stolen base. Rene Tosoni is now hitting .370 after going 2-4.
Snappers Snapshot (Beloit, Ft. Wayne)
Game Postponed by Rain/Snow. The team is scheduled to play a doubleheader today.
Other Notes/Links
The key link of the day is Roger's Weekly Minor League Update which you can find each week at Twinkie Town!
Have a great Sunday!