Friday, May 30, 2008

Friday Night Game Notes

I thought it would be best to post some game thoughts tonight so that Monday's posting doesn't get too long and overwhelming. I also needed a vehicle whereby I could encourage people to take a look over at Chris Coste's stats on the left side of this screen. Last night, he hit a big three run homer off of former NBA forward Mark Hendrickson of the Marlins.

Also, it's been awhile since I posted links to other things, so here you go:

• Check out the Q&A with Torii Hunter over at Yahoo! Sports. It's actually entertaining. You can learn about the fender bender he had in SoCal in his $250,000 car. You can learn his thoughts on Minnesota. Oh, and you can learn about his plans for running for public office!

• I am participating in a blogger mock draft this weekend. I will be picking for the Twins, so I have the #14 and #27 picks in the first round. On Friday, I made that #14 pick and took a 2B from Miami, Jemile Weeks. Yes, he is the younger brother of Brewers 2B Rickie Weeks. Jemile comes to the draft with a better resume than his brother did, but he apparently might not have quite as high a ceiling. But he is said to be a sure thing. A switch hitting 2B with some power who can hit for average, play solid defense and run. Sounds like a good pick to me. I can't see the Twins taking him, but I think it would be a great pick if they did. I will provide more about this mock draft when it is complete.

• If you're in the Metro area on Satuday morning, Pat Neshek will be signing autographs at Morrie's Nissan in Brooklyn Park from 10-11:30. If you're able to go, be sure to wish him well for me!!

Twins 5, Yankees 6

• The Twins pieced together hit after hit against Mike Mussina in the first inning when they scored four runs and really made Mussina work. However, they were not able to come up with a big hit. And really, Derek Jeter should get a lot of credit for that. His diving play that led to a fielder's choice really stopped the bleeding. Mussina then somehow went five more innings and ended up as the winning pitcher.
• Justin Morneau hit a long home run in the bottom of the 8th to cut the Twins deficit to one. Kyle Farnsworth served up the pitch on an 0-2 count! It was his 10th homer of the year.
• Glen Perkins gave up five earned runs on ten hits and two walks in four innings. Pitching to the Yankees is like pitching to the A's, with one exception. With the A's, they are trained throughout the system to take good at bats and swing at only strikes. The Yankees do the same thing, however, they have bigger names, so they also get a lot of calls that others would not get. That means they only have to swing at pitches that they can hammer. Perkins fell behind in the count frequently and it just hurts.
• The bullpen deserves a lot of credit. Combined, Brian Bass, Dennys Reyes and Matt Guerrier went five innings and gave up just one run.
• Alexi Casilla is now hitting .340 after a 2-4 game.
• Delmon Young had a single in his first at bat tonight that drove in a run. It was a solid line drive up the middle. It was certainly a positive. I 100% agree that he needed the night off the night before, but I also 100% believe that it was important for him to get right back in there. Now he needs to play a week or so and see where he is at. With him, I really believe that confidence is his biggest deterrent. His mannerisms on the field are not at all confident. It reminds me of the old Scott Baker. I remember he would come off the mound looking sheepishly toward the manager, probably trying to figure out if he would (or could) be taken out of the game. The new Scott Baker just walks off the field, knowing he belongs there and will go back out there. With Young, you see him in the outfield after plays, playing with his glove, looking around. Looks like a little leaguer. His swing is aggressive in that it is early in the count, but he does not attack the ball the way he needs to. That is why he really is just late on pitches. I don't know that he's trying to hit the ball the other way as much as he has just been late. Hopefully the day off will be just what he needs.

Any Twins thoughts?

Twins Minor League Updates

Friday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Ben Revere, Beloit Snappers
Friday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Jay Rainville, New Britain Rockcats / Alex Burnett, Ft. Myers Miracle

ROCHESTER REPORT
Friday – Rochester 3, Charlotte 6 – Brian Buscher led an offense that got plenty of hits, but not enough runs. Buscher went 3-4 with two doubles. He has ten on the year. Jose Morales went 2-4 with his fifth double. Chris Basak was 2-3 with his seventh double. Randy Ruiz was 2-4. Darnell McDonald hit his sixth home run. Brian Duensing started for the Red Wings and gave up two runs on seven hits in five innings. He didn't walk any, and he struck out five. Casey Daigle took the loss. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk in two innings. Tim Lahey then gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in one inning. Carmen Cali came in and walked a batter but got the final three outs. 

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Friday – New Britain 2, Trenton 1 – Jay Rainville put together his third straight excellent start. In 6.1 innings, he gave up one run on six hits and two walks. He struck out three. Zach Ward then went 1.2 shutout innings. Ben Julianel picked up his 10th save with a perfect inning. Brock Peterson hit his 15th and 16th double in his 3-4 effort. David Winfree went 3-4. Dustin Martin was 1-3 with a walk and a two run triple. Erik Lis hit his 19th double.

FT MYERS MEMOS
Friday – Ft. Myers 7, Tampa 1 –  Alex Burnett had one of his better starts of the year. In 6.1 innings, he gave up one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out none. Frank Mata got the final two outs of the seventh inning. Matt Fox struck out three in two scoreless relief innings. Juan Portes led the offense by going 2-4 with a walk, his third homer and two RBI. Yancarlos Ortiz went 3-5 with his fourth stolen base. Edward Ovalle went 2-5 with his seventh double. Brian Dinkelman and Wilson Ramos each went 2-5. Whit Robbins continued his incredible walking ways with three more walks.

BELOIT BITS
Friday – Game 1 - Beloit 2, Clinton 5 – Have a day, Ben Revere! The Snappers had a doubleheader because of Thursday's rain out. In Game one, Revere went 3-3 with his eighth and ninth doubles and his fifth triple. Steve Singleton went 1-3 with his third home run. David Bromberg has line in the box score that doesn't look so good, but he actually performed quite well to start the game. Through the first three innings, the only hit he allowed was a solo home run. But the top of the fourth started with an error, followed by five straight hits off of Bromberg before David Hernandez came in to end that inning. In all, Bromberg gave up five runs (4 earned) on six hits. He walked none and struck out two. Hernandez threw two perfect innings. Charles Nolte struck out two in his inning.

Friday – Game 2 - Beloit 6, Clinton 1 – Ben Revere, in his final at bat of the day, got out for the first time. He finished this game 3-4 with another double. Ramon Santana had both his seventh double and fourth home run in this game. Michael Tarsi earned his third win of the year with six strong innings of one-run ball. He gave up six hits and a walk while striking out seven. Matt Williams gave up one more run in the seventh inning. 

Be sure to check back on Saturday afternoon for Part 3 of the 2008 midseason Top 50 Twins Prospects list.

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