Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Monday Night Update
The Twins and Tigers played game one of their series and it ended up being a very good game, as you would expect from two good teams that are both playing incredibly well right now. Glen Perkins gave up just two runs in 6.1 innings. He gave up seven hits, walked on and struck out seven. Another quality start for a Twins starting pitcher. He actually left the game having given up just one run, but as would be the theme of the night, the bullpen just simply did not come through. I say that and want to highlight that the bullpen has been excellent for the last four to six weeks, so this performance does not alarm me at all. But Jesse Crain, who has been terrific, gave up a walk and a single. Dennys Reyes came in and gave up a hit that scored another run on the first pitch he threw. Matt Guerrier got the final out of the top of the seventh. Then in the top of the eighth inning, Guerrier gave up the game-tying and go-ahead run to the Tigers. The Twins weren't able to score off of Joel Zumaya and lost 5-4.
It was a nice, and important, start for Perkins who had just two quality starts in his past six starts.
The offense actually performed well. The only starter that did not record at least one hit was Jason Kubel. The top four hitters in the lineup each had two hits. Add nine-hitter Denard Span's two hits and that is some quality output. The problem was that the Twins got plenty of hits, they just left 16 runners on base. So, as much as we would love to blame the bullpen, the bats didn't really come through.
By the way, Denard Span is incredibly fast! That catch on the game's first pitch was incredible when you see the highlight of how far he had to go to get that ball.
Did you know Kyle Lohse is 10-2 after his seven shutout inning performance for the Cardinals last night?
Twins Minor League Updates
Monday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Nick Papasan, Elizabethton Twins
Monday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Francisco Liriano, Rochester Red Wings
ROCHESTER REPORT
Monday
–
Rochester
2, Lehigh Valley 1 – Francisco
Liriano was back on the mound and back in form. He improved to 5-2 with a
4.07 ERA. He went seven shutout innings. He gave up just four hits, walked one
and struck out nine. 70 of his 106 pitches were strikes. Tim Lahey
pitched a short, scoreless eighth. Bobby Korecky gave up a run in the
ninth, but he still recorded his 11th save. The Red Wings managed just three
hits. Randy Ruiz and Ryan Jorgenson each doubled. Darnell
McDonald went 0-1 but had three walks.
NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Monday
–
New Britain
8, Reading 13 – Ryan Mullins had a rough one in this game. He
gave up seven runs (6 earned) on nine hits and four walks in just four innings.
He didn't strike out a batter. Two of the hits were home runs. It's too bad
because the Rockcats gave him eight runs in the first two innings to work with.
Brian Dinkelman was 2-5. Toby Gardenhire went 2-4 (and is now
hitting. 305 with the team). Drew Butera went 2-4. Erik Lis hit
his third triple and drove in three runs. Yohan Pino came in and gave up
one run in two innings. Then Armando Gabino took the loss as he gave up
five runs on five hits and a walk in just two innings.
FT MYERS MEMOS
Monday –
Miracle – No Game Scheduled.
BELOIT BITS
Monday
–
Beloit
0, Cedar Rapids 7 – The Snappers lineup has been
devastated by injuries and promotions in the last couple of weeks. In this game,
they managed just six hits. Of course, Ben Revere had three of them and
added his 25th stolen base. Chris Cates and Allen de San Miguel
each hit a double. David Bromberg started and falls to 5-6. He gave up
six runs (5 earned) on eight hits and a walk in just 5.1 innings. Charles
Nolte went 2.2 shutout innings. Chris Anderson then gave up a run in
his inning.
ELIZABETHTON EXTRAS
Monday - Game 1
–
E-Twins
12, Burlington 0
– The E-Town train just
continues to roll, and this day was a perfect illustration of that. In the first
game, Dan Osterbrook threw five shutout innings. He gave up just two hits
and walked one. Lee Martin and Tom Wright each threw a shutout
inning. Nick Papasan led the way. He went 3-4 with his third double,
first home run and three RBI. Evan Bigley went 3-4 with a triple.
Dominic De La Osa went 3-5 with two doubles. Jon Waltenbury was 2-4
with a walk. Michael Harrington was 2-5. Nick Romero went 1-3 with
two walks and his second home run.
Monday - Game 2 – E-Twins 11, Burlington 1 – Robert Lanigan started this game and gave up one run on one hits and one walk in five innings. He struck out two. Danny Rondon and Mark Hamburger each threw a shutout inning. Jon Waltenbury went 2-3 with a walk and his second triple. Alexander Soto went 2-4 with his second double, fifth home run and four RBI. Evan Bigley went 2-4 with his second double. Jeanfred Brito went 2-5 with his second double.
GCL TWINS TALK
Monday
–
GCL Twins
6, GCL Orioles 3
– Martire Garcia gave up
three runs on four hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out five. Jean
Mijares struck out two in two scoreless innings. Kelvin Mota gave up
a hit and two walks in two innings, but no runs, to record the save. Aaron
Hicks went 2-4 with a walk and his first double. Juan Sanchez went
2-3 with a walk and a double. Michael Gonzelez was 2-4. Herbert Lara
went 2-5. Daniel Ortiz was 2-5 with three RBI.
Have a great day!!