Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Twins Daily Update
Good morning everyone! Here is the daily update on how the Twins teams did last night.
Since I'm not even in town today, let's get right to it. I will be able to check e-mails and Comments from time to time, so please feel free to e-mail me or leave Comments below.
TWINS REPORT
Tuesday - Twins 3, Indians 5 – Another tough outing and outcome for the Twins and their fans. Johan Santana lost at home again, although he didn’t pitch horribly. Travis Hafner did touch him for a LONG first inning home run. In the fourth, with runners on second and third and one out, Trot Nixon grounded to Alexi Casilla at 2B. He hesitated just a little bit and that allowed Victor Martinez to to slide in safely. The next batter drove in a second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. First, Casilla made the right decision to go home. That is, until he hesitated. Once the did that, he needed to get the sure out. You see, when the next batter flew out, it would have been with two outs and the second run would not have scored. Of course, had their been two outs and just a runner on third, it is also possible that the batter would not have flied out. Maybe with a different mind set, he would have singled or doubled or homered or struck out. So, we just don’t know. So, for the night, Santana went seven innings and gave up four runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out seven. Matt Guerrier gave up one run in the final two innings.
Aside from Jason Kubel, the Twins bats did very little against Fausto Carmona. Kubel went 3-4. No other Twin batter had more than one hit, and worse, it seemed as though they could not put any hits together. Justin Morneau “ended an 0-14 streak”… and now he is on a 1-17 streak.
There really isn’t a lot to say about this game. Just two more quick comments:
1.) Johan Santana hit Victor Martinez and in the top of the 7th, he hit Travis Hafner. Don’t think that those were unintentional. I was pretty much sure that if Justin Morneau got out to lead off the bottom of the 7th (which he did), that Fausto Carmona would drill Torii Hunter with a pitch (which he didn’t) and it would set off a benches clearing situation. Carmona possibly did the right thing by not doing it.
2.) Listening to John Gordon during the game last night, at one point he was talking about the Yankees Alex Rodriguez. He said, “Alex Rodriguez hit his 13th and 14th home runs last night. That ties him with Luis Pujols for the most home runs EVER in April.” Are you serious? Luis Pujols? That’s right up there with last year when he frequently would refer to Francisco Liriano as Nelson Liriano.
Tonight, the Twins start another short two-game series at the Dome, this time with the Kansas City Royals.
ROCHESTER REPORT
Tuesday - Red Wings 5, Syracuse 2 – Another excellent start for Kevin Slowey, possibly making Sidney Ponson’s start tonight even more important. Slowey gave up two runs on three hits in seven innings. He walked just one and again struck out nine for his third win. Julio DePaula struck out two in the 8th inning. Mike Venafro struck out two on his way to his second save. Matthew Lecroy and Jose Morales each went 2-3. Morales had a double. Matt Moses also doubled in a run.
NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Tuesday - Rockcats 5, Portland 4 – Brian Duensing gave up three runs in just 4.1 innings, but the rest of the bullpen threw 5.2 shutout innings to help the Rockcats to a 10 inning win. In the bottom of the 10th, Rashad Eldridge led off with a triple, and Gil Velazquez hit a sacrifice fly for the game-winning run. Trevor Plouffe led the offense with a 2-5 game. Six other Rockcats had one hit. Brock Peterson had a double and Korey Feiner drove in three runs. JP Martinez went 2.2 shutout innings. Jose Mijares gave up a run in two innings. Then Tristan Crawford, who was sent down from Rochester, got the win with a scoreless 10th inning.
Again, David Winfree did not play.
FT MYERS MEMOS
Tuesday - Miracle 4, Clearwater 6– Eli Tintor went 2-4 with a three run homer and four RBI on this day. Dwayne White went 2-5 with a double. But it wasn’t enough on this night as the Miracle fell. Oswaldo Sosa had another rough outing. In just 2.2 innings, he gave up four earned runs on nine hits. He walked none and struck out three. David Shinskie then came in and gave up two more runs in two innings. Zach Ward then provided 3.1 shutout innings of relief. Kyle Aselton walked three and struck out two in his inning of work.
BELOIT BITS
Tuesday - Snappers 3, Lansing 5 – The Snappers took two of three games from the red-hot Lansing Lugnuts this week. Last night, they won a 1-0 decision behind another excellent pitching performance by Jeff Manship. The righty went six shutout innings, giving up just three hits. He walked two and struck out five. Danny Vais went two shutout innings. Adam Revelette gave up a hit to the only batter he faced. Robert Delaney recorded the final three outs for his second Save. The win was Manship’s first of the year despite pitching well in each of his starts. The Snappers managed just five hits. Johnny Woodard had three of them, including a double. Chris Parmalee also had a double and a walk.
Tuesday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Eli Tintor, Ft. Myers Miracle
Tuesday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Jeff Manship, Beloit Snappers
Do you have any further thoughts on any Twins prospects, minor leaguers, or these summaries? E-mail me, or also feel free to leave comments below
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