Tuesday Night, June 11, 2008

Tuesday Game Notes

here are some quick notes on the Twins game tonight and the games of their affiliates. It was interesting to see the Danny Valencia and Brian Dinkelman were not in the Ft. Myers starting lineup. Steve Tolleson wasn't in the New Britain lineup. So, were they promoted? No, not yet. Just a day off for each. In fact, Dinkelman pinch hit in the 9th inning for Ft. Myers. HOwever, I would expect several moves in the next two weeks. Maybe a couple in the next couple of days, and then more after the league All Star games.

Tuesday Night - Twins 0, Cleveland 1

• The Twins lost for the sixth straight game and for the 7th time in their last 8 games.
• People can say whatever they want, but regardless of how poor the Twins offense can be, tonight all of the credit has to go to CC Sabathia, who threw the complete game shutout. He hasn't been good this year, but he isn't far from those dominant days of... just last year. So again, this is a game where you really just give credit where credit is due.
• Scott Baker was very good. He gave up a first inning run, but after that, he threw six shutout innings and looked very strong.
• Carlos Gomez made a 'rookie mistake' in the first inning. I'm not really sure what he was thinking there, but those things do happen.
• Even with this losing stretch, the Twins are still in second place in the AL Central. However, they are 6.5 games behind the White Sox.      

Any other Twins thoughts?

Twins Minor League Updates

Tuesday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Tommy Watkins, Rochester Red Wings
Tuesday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Mike McCardell, Beloit Snappers

ROCHESTER REPORT
Tuesday – Rochester 14, Durham 2 – It was sure a big night for the Red Wings offense. Tommy Watkins led the way. He went 3-5 with two doubles and three RBI. Darnell McDonald went 3-4 with a walk, his ninth homer and two RBI. Ryan Jorgensen went 2-4 with his second double. Garrett Jones went 2-5. Three other Red Wings hit homers. Brian Buscher and Randy Ruiz each hit their eighth long ball. Jose Morales hit his fourth. All that offense, but far more important was the performance of Francisco Liriano. He gave up one run on six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out seven. This is the type of stat line I would like to see more from Liriano in the next month in Rochester. Then I will advocate him moving up. Casey Daigle struck out two in two shutout innings. Carmen Cali gave up a solo homer in the 9th.

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Tuesday – New Britain 2, Altoona 10 – Errol Simonitsch had another rough start. In five innings, he gave up seven runs on 12 hits. He walked none and struck out four. Zach Ward then came in and gave up three runs on four hits and a walk in two innings. Armando Gabino then threw two shutout innings. The Rockcats managed just four hits. Brock Peterson had two of them, including his 20th double. Erik Lis hit his fifth home run.

FT MYERS MEMOS
Tuesday – Ft. Myers 6, Vero Beach 2 – Juan Portes came up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th inning with the game tied. The Dodgers pitcher had hit two Miracle batters and issued an intentional walk. Portes ended the game in style, knocking a grand slam, his fifth homer of the year. Alex Burnett started and gave up two runs on six hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out two. Jose Lugo struck out four in two perfect innings. Blair Erickson then struck out four in the next two innings to pick up the win.

BELOIT BITS
Tuesday – Beloit 4, Cedar Rapids 2 - This is the type of start we thought we would see a lot of from Mike McCardell this year. Unfortunately, he missed almost a month with his elbow injury. But he appears to be back at 100% now. In this game, he went eight shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked just one and struck out nine. Up 4-0, the Snappers bullpen tried to give it away. Danny Hernandez came in and gave up two walks. Spencer Steedley came in and got one out, but he gave up a hit and a walk. But then Matt Williams, who was just added to the Midwest League All Star roster earlier in the day, came in and struck out the next two batters to get his seventh save. Jair Fernandez led the offense by going 2-4 with two RBI. Chris Cates was 1-2 with two walks.

Have a great week!

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