TWINS REPORT

Sunday - Twins 1, Royals 3  – When a lefty is throwing like Jorge De La Rosa threw against the Twins on Sunday, it doesn't matter who is in your lineup. I know, De La Rosa isn't a big name and over his brief career, he has not been good. However, he worked three big league pitches today and deserves a lot of credit. He was throwing a very good fastball. He showed a big curveball, and he had another off-speed pitch, a change up or something. And, he had great control with all three pitches. After making great pitches to get out of a bases loaded, one-out situation in the 1st inning, De La Rosa was pretty much unhittable today. So instead of complaining about the Twins hitting, to me, this is another case of really giving credit where credit is due, and that is with Jorge De La Rosa. And Joakim Soria, the Royals Rule V draft pick, pitched the 9th inning for the Save.

 

Ramon Ortiz took his first loss as a Twins pitcher. Although early things looked a little shaky, Ortiz really pitched well. The righty went seven innings and gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out four. Of those seven hits, I would say that at least three of them were bloopers that fell in front of Torii Hunter. The one mistake that he made was the two run homer to Ross Gload. That said, the pitch was down in the strike zone, so even that isn't something that I can really complain about. 64 of his 93 pitches were for strikes (68.8%) so that is good. Another quality start for Ortiz.

 

Mike Sweeney wasn't even supposed to be in the lineup today, but David DeJesus decided he couldn't play. Sweeney responded with three hits, none of them hit very hard. Mark Teahen, who ended up playing CF, had two hits.

 

Joe Mauer went 2-4 and quietly, his batting average is sitting at .393. It's way too soon, but you have to like that Mauer continues to hit for such high average. We are still all waiting for the power, but with the type of at bats he puts together, who really cares if it does?

ROCHESTER REPORT

Sunday - Red Wings 4, Syracuse 1 – Glenn Williams came up big in this game. The veteran went 2-3 with a walk, a triple, his second homer and two RBI in the game. Garrett Jones added his second homer of the year. Dave Gassner started. The soft-tossing lefty gave up just one run on three hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out three. The only run came on a Sal Fasano home run. Tristan Crawford and Julio DePaula each walked one in a scoreless relief inning. Mike Venafro picked up the win after a scoreless eighth inning. Bobby Korecky pitched a perfect 9th for his second Save.

NEW BRITAIN NEWS

Sunday - Rockcats 9, Connecticut 8 – The Rockcats fell behind early and every time they tried to catch up, Connecticut would add a couple more runs. It is a good thing that New Britain got the last at bats and were able to pick the perfect time to take their first lead of the game. Down 8-6 heading into the bottom of the 9th, Korey Feiner walked. With one out, Trevor Plouffe singled Rashad Eldridge (who had pinch run) to 3B. Garrett Guzman hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to one. Then Brian Buscher hit a run-scoring double to tie the game. Matt Allegra then came through with a single to score Buscher to end the game and give the Rockcats a win! What a great game!

 

Trevor Plouffe got the offense going with a three run homer, his second of the year. Plouffe ended the game 2-4 with a walk. Brian Buscher had a double and a tripe and a walk in four at bats. He drove in two runs. Connecticut must have been intimidated by Korey Feiner's .474 batting average because he went 0-0 with four walks. As for the pitching, it was a bullpen only game. JP Martinez started and gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in two innings. Jay Sawatski went the next 2.1 innings and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks. Danny Powers got the next 2.1 innings and gave up a run on five hits and two walks. Finally, Jose Mijares went the final 2.1 innings and gave up a run on one hit. But, he picked up the win, his first of the year.

FT MYERS MEMOS

Sunday - Miracle - No Game Scheduled

BELOIT BITS

Sunday - Snappers 13, Lansing 5 – This was the offensive explosion that I am sure that the Beloit Snappers have been looking for. They scored three in the first, four in the third and three more in the fifth inning. They then added single runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. The top seven hitters in the lineup had at least two hits. The top two had three. Leadoff man Brian Dinkelman went 3-5 with a walk, a single, a double, a triple and two RBI. Second hitter Garrett Olson went 3-6 with an RBI. Three hitter Danny Valencia went 2-4 with two walks and a double. Chris Parmalee went 3-6 with his second homer and three RBI. Danny Berg went 2-5 with his first homer and two RBI. Johnny Woodard went 2-5 with a walk, a double and an RBI. Danny Santiesteban went 2-5 with his first homer of the year and an RBI. Former Gopher Cole DeVries was the beneficiary of the run support. The righty went the first five innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He walked one and struck out six. Robert Delaney went the next two innings. He gave up a run on three hits and a walk. Dan Leatherman went the final two innings and gave up three runs on three hits and a walk.

 

Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day - Bobby Korecky, Rochester Red Wings

Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day - Glenn Williams, Rochester Red Wings