The Twins beat the Blue Jays. Frank Thomas finally hit HR #500, and the Twins called up Matt Garza. He’ll pitch out of the bullpen for now, until a couple of doubleheaders next week.

 

What do you think of Jacque Jones coming back?  If the Cubs are willing to pay a huge chunk of his salary for the next two years and it only costs a mid level prospect?

 

Thanks to mini_tb for posting the highlights from yesterday's minor league games.  If someone would be willing to do that again, it would be great! 

Thursday Games Minor League Report by mini_tb

Sorry to all of the millions of readers of Seth Speaks, but I am pinch hitting for Seth today with today’s minor league updates. 

In case you haven’t heard yet, Matt Garza was recalled by the Twins.  Also, it has been reported that Matt Moses’ missing bat may have been found.  Stay tuned to Sethspeaks for more updates!!

Sethspeaks mini_tb’s pitcher of the day: Nick Blackburn
Sethspeaks mini_tb’s player of the day: Darnell McDonald

Rochester Red Wings
The Red Wings edged Durham 12-0 on Thursday.  Nick Blackburn and his 1.57 ERA went 7 shutout innings for the win.  He gave up 7H, 0BB, and struck out only 2 on 90 pitches. 

Welcome to the Red Wings, Darnell McDonald!  He was 3-5 yesterday with a HR (6) and 5 RBI.  Alexi Casilla did his job as a table setter by going 2-4 with 2R and 2BB.  He also recorded his 18th steal.

New Britain Rock Cats
The Rock Cats split a double header with New Hampshire, winning game 1 by a score of 7-3 behind Anthony Swarzak’s 5.1IP, 6H, 1BB, 8K, 3R effort and losing game 2 by a score of 3-2 despite Josh Hill throwing 5 shutout innings of 3 hit ball.  Tim Lahey took the loss in game 2 by giving up 2R in 2IP. 

In game 1, Matt Moses led the way offensively by going 2-4 with 2R, 1HR, and 4RBI.  David Winfree, Garrett Guzman, Brock Peterson, and Jeff Christy all added 2 hits.  One of Winfree’s hits was his 5th HR.  My man, Trevor Plouffe, was 1-3 to raise his average to .287.

The Rock Cats only had 5 hits in game 2.  Plouffe raised his average to .288 by going 1-2 with his 20th 2B, and he also drew 2 walks.  Allegra and Geiger each added 2B’s.  Matt Moses was 0-4 with 3Ks. 

Fort Myers Miracle
Fort Myers won 12-3 behind Jeff Manship’s pitching line of 5IP, 7H, 1BB, 6K, 2ER.

Javier Sanchez went 3-4 with 2R and 3RBI.  He is all the way up to .191 on the season.  Steven Tolleson was 2-3 with 2 2B, 3R, 2BB, and 1 RBI.  Juan Portes was only 1-5, but he hit a 3 run HR (5) in the 8th with 2 outs.

Beloit Snappers
The Snappers lost to Cedar Rapids in 10 innings, 5-4.  Matt Fox made another start and went 4.1, giving up 4H and 1R.  He walked 0 and struck out 5.  His ERA is 1.16.  In 23.1 IP, he has given up 19H and 2BB while striking out 24.  I’m sure many of you remember the Twins took him with the 35th pick of the 2004 draft.  You have to wonder if the Twins are going to look to promote him since he is old for the league he is in due to missing a year to injury (he’ll be 25 in December).  Then again, why has he only thrown 23.1 innings???  Leatherman, Vais, and Lugo combined to give up 4R in the final 5 innings.

On offense, Chris Parmalee and Steve Singleton, who also stole a base, were the only Snappers with 2 hits.  Armando Gabino struck out 4 in his 3 shutout innings of 1 hit ball.  Eddie Morlan pitched a scoreless 9th to finish the game.

E-Town Twins
E-Town got crushed by the Danville Braves 13-5.  Loek Van Mil gave up 1ER in 3IP on 2H, 2BB, and 2K.  That’s all the nice things I have to say about the pitching, so we’ll move on.

The U of M Mankato’s Marc Dolenc hit a 3 run HR, his first.  Unfortunately, he struck out  in his other 3 AB’s.

Danville has a pitcher on their roster with the last name Butts.  Sadly, his first name is not Seymour, it’s Brett.  I’m 30 years old, and things like that still amuse me. 

GCL Twins
Finally the GCL Twins shout out the GCL Orioles 6-0.  It was a 1 hitter but not an especially impressive one.  Daniel Berlind started and went the first 5 innings, giving up no hits and striking out 5.  Not so impressive were the 5BB.  Daniel has now thrown 9 innings and given up only 2H to go with the 5BB (and 11K).  Michael McCardell threw the final 4 innings, surrendering the only hit and fanning 5.  He has now thrown 8IP, giving up a mere 2H and 1BB, while striking out 10.  Both pitchers have 0.00 ERAs thus far.

Ben Revere was 2-5 with an RBI.  Jeanfred Brito, who is only 5’8” and 150 pounds, was 2-4 with 2R and a SB.  Remember Bernie Brito?  They’re most likely not related.  Dan Rohlfing was 2-3 with a BB and an RBI.

I hope that was a long enough entry to be considered Seth-esque.

Everyone have a happy and safe weekend leading into the holiday!! 

Be sure to enjoy the pitching matchups this weekend:
Santana vs Verlander
Slowey vs Miller

 

I'll try to check the comments later today and throughout the weekend.

 

Any other thoughts on the Twins? Jeff Manship is pitching tonight for Ft. Myers. Post your thoughts here in the Comments, and have a great night!

 

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Write It For Me

I am out of town today and wasn’t able to write anything. I’ve got a day full of meetings today, so you need to write today’s posting for me. Please use the comments to discuss last night’s Twins loss, maybe someone can update the Minor league affiliates. I’d appreciate your help, and have a great day!