Monday, April
20, 2009
Quick Update
Good Monday Morning to everyone. What a great weekend for the Twins. The
team started last week by facing the Toronto Blue Jays at just the wrong time,
and this weekend, I think they caught the Angels at just the right time.
·
Starting pitching was one of the big stories of the
weekend. Nick Blackburn gave up three runs through six innings on Friday
night (before a fourth scores in the 7th and then the bullpen debacle
continued). Kevin Slowey gave up a two run
homer to Torii Hunter in the 2nd inning on Saturday, but that
was it over seven innings. And for the third straight
start, Glen Perkins threw eight innings and finally got a win. Why is
that so important? Because Slowey and Perkins allowed
the likes of Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier
and Luis Ayala to get two straight days off, which they certainly
needed.
·
The other key story of the weekend had to be the
offense of Jason Kubel. He didn’t have a hit
on Sunday, but on Friday night, he hit for the cycle, including that amazing 8th
inning grand slam that gave the Twins their come-from-behind win. On Saturday,
he ‘settled’ for ‘just’ a four hit game! He highlighted an offense that finally
provided the pitching staff with some run support.
·
Carlos
Gomez had three infield hits on Sunday, one on a bunt. That was good to see
because that is and should be a big part of his game. And if it helps him get
on base some, it may get opponent’s defenses thinking and he may be able to get
more hits.
·
I had a busy weekend, and very little time, but I
would ask for you to check out the Twins page at
BaseballDigest.com where I posted a couple of Game Recaps as well as
posting a This
Week in Twins History article by guest writer Justin Murphy who
writes for seamheads.com and lives in Rochester, NY. We are hoping to make it a
weekly feature. Parker posted this
morning’s Twins Doinks, so I encourage you to
check out those articles and leave your comments there.
·
Finally, be sure to check out last night’s MNGameNight
podcast. John Bonnes and I
co-hosted with Judd Spicer of CityPages.com
as the guest. It is a good look at the Angels’ series, the AL Central and
looking ahead to the Red Sox series.
·
After a much
needed day off today, the Twins will play two games in Boston against the Red
Sox. The Twins will send Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano to the mound against Tim Wakefield and
Brad Penny. They will then get another day off on Thursday. I cannot
remember a time when the Twins started the season by playing 14 days without a
day off.
·
I may also be writing a little less (for me,
admittedly) this week. But I do hope to post Saturday and Sunday’s minor league
game reports early this evening and then go from there.
But for now, that’s all I’ve got. Be sure to check out the rest of the
Twins blogs, and as always, if you have
any comments, leave them here.