Wednesday,
April 28, 2010
Oh My Goodness!
The Twins beat
the Tigers 2-0 on Tuesday night. That was a great baseball game. I know
everyone likes to see a lot of runs scored, but I love a good pitching duel. Francisco Liriano
was incredible again. Justin Verlander was dominant, as usual. But the patience that
the Twins lineup has clearly made a focus this season paid off. Even though Verlander is allowed to throw 120 pitches most times out,
those 120 pitches last night came in just 5.1 innings. That allowed the Twins
to get to the Tigers bullpen. Now, they added just one more run off of their
bullpen, but the bigger picture tells us that the earlier they can get a
starter out of the game matters. Several relievers had to pitch last night, and
they may tire earlier tomorrow night. In the long run, this patient approach is
going to pay off. Denard Span led off one inning with
a stand-up triple. Orlando Hudson popped up. Joe Mauer grounded weakly to shortstop. Justin Morneau
struck out (again). Another situation of a runner left on base? Of course it
was. That said, with Verlander throwing like he was,
it’s not like the batter has terribly much control. Verlander
was still in control.
The other thing
to remember is that when there are runners in scoring position and two outs…
there are still two outs. It means that a hit is likely required to extend the
inning and score some runs. Remember that the league average is less than .270.
So no, you’re not going to score very often, even with a runner on 3B with two
outs.
But the story of
the game was Francisco Liriano, again. The lefty extended his scoreless streak
to 23 innings with eight more shutout frames. He gave up just four hits. He
walked just one (and that runner was eliminated when the next batter grounded
into a double play) and struck out ten. He got nine groundball outs to four fly
outs. He was throwing 94-96 with the fastball. His slider and changeups were
both anywhere from 84-88 mph. He had great control. Here is what I tweeted and put on my facebook page: “”
It’s at this
point that it starts becoming fair to ask that question. As some have said, it
will take more than four starts, for sure. But as others have said, his stuff
and velocity are back, but now he probably understands the art of pitching
better, so maybe he can be even better. That is a scary thought!
Jon Rauch came
in for the 9th inning, and another save opportunity. This would be
his most difficult opportunity, facing the Tigers 2-3-4 hitters. Johnny Damon got a hit, but he was
forced out at second by a nice play by JJ
Hardy. He then got Miguel Cabrera
and Magglio Ordonez for the final outs. He
recorded his 7th save of the year. And as I told several people, it’s
just another three outs. And Rauch is proving that. As long as he can maintain
that attitude, he will be just fine.
What were your thoughts of the game and the Liriano performance?
Last night, I
was the host of this
week’s edition of Twins Minor League Weekly. Co-host Travis Aune had some other priorities, college-related, which take
priority. I was joined by Justin Murphy
who writes at Seamheads.com and at Auburnpub.com. He goes to school at
Syracuse, so he took in a couple of the Rochester Red Wings games in Syracuse
over the weekend. Then Joe Testa of the New Britain Rockcats
called in and talked about things with that team. Later, Chris Herrmann of the Ft. Myers Miracle called in to talk about
several topics with that team. It was a fun show. I shared Travis’s choice for
Who’s Hot and Who’s Not for each of the affiliates.
Hopefully you have a chance to listen.
SethSpeaks Monday Minor League
Hitter of the Day – Evan Bigley – Ft. Myers Miracle
SethSpeaks Monday Minor League
Pitcher of the Day – Mike McCardell – New Britain Rockcats
Red Wings Report
Monday – Rochester 3, Lehigh Valley 6 – Yoslan Herrera made another start for
the Red Wings. The Cuban righty went the first five innings. He gave up three
runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out three. Tim Lahey gave up three runs on four hits
and a walk in an inning. Matt Fox
walked two and struck out three in two scoreless innings. The offense managed
just five hits. Erik Lis
hit his second home run, and Trevor Plouffe hit his third triple.
New Britain Notes
Monday – Game 1 – New Britain 1, Richmond 3 – The Rockcats managed just three hits in the first game. Steve Singleton and Rene Tosoni
each hit a double. Tosoni drove in the lone run with
his. Ben Revere singles and stole
his fourth base. Joe Benson walked
twice. Tyler Robertson gave up two
runs on seven hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. Chris Province gave up a run on three hits and recorded the final
five outs.
Monday – Game 2 – New Britain 0, Richmond 2 – The Rockcats managed just three hits in the second game. No,
that is not just copying the first sentence from the first game. They really
did have just three hits, again. Ben
Revere hit a double. Mike McCardell went the distance for New Britain. The
right-handed gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings. He walked two and
struck out five.
Miracle Matters
Monday – Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 6 – Brad Tippett struck out nine batters and walked none in six innings.
But he gets the loss because he gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits. Michael Allen came in and, in two
innings, he gave up two runs on four hits. Yangervis Solarte went 2-4 with a walk and double.
He also committed three throwing errors at 2B. Evan Bigley was 2-4 with an RBI double. Deibinson Romero and Chris Cates were each 2-4 as well.
Snappers Snippets
Monday – Beloit 3, Burlington 13 – This game just got out of
control in a hurry. Starter Brad Stillings gave up eight runs (6 earned) on eight hits
and a walk in just two innings. Ben
Tootle then gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. Peter Kennelly gave up two runs on
three hits and a walk in his two innings. Edgar
Ibarra pitched a perfect inning. Brian
Dozier went 2-5. Aaron Hicks went 1-3 with two walks. Angel Morales was 1-3 with a walk and his
eighth stolen base. Danny Rams
walked twice.
Do you have any
thoughts on Francisco Liriano, the Twins, or their minor league system? Leave your
comments here.