Saturday, July 12, 2008

Friday Game Notes

It was a 5-2 night for the Twins organization. The Twins got another nice, close win with some excellent pitching. There was a minor leaguer who got on base five times and another who had four hits and neither was named my player of the day. Maybe I should have done what I did with the Pitcher of the day? I couldn't decide, so I split it between three guys who were all excellent. It was a good night for baseball. If you lived in most of Minnesota, you probably experienced some crazy weather. I know I watched quite the storm go overhead, and although the big storm went through here, this area was not bad at all compared to others. So, hopefully everyone is safe when you read this.

• Check out Call to the 'Pen, another Twins blog.

• One more - the Dome Dog Blog.

• The Hardball Times' Alex Eisenberg analyses this year's draft choices 27-35. You will want to check it out to learn a lot more about both Carlos Gutierrez and Shooter Hunt. 

• I had seen this video previously, but as I was checking out Alright Hamilton! tonight, I felt the need to embed it on my site. It is absolutely incredible how good this guy is, especially with Torii Hunter, Dan Gladden and the various Kent Hrbek stances. Truly remarkable!)

TWINS 3, TIGERS 2

Another very good game. Plenty of intrigue, big plays, big pitches and timely team play. Here are some thoughts:

• Yesterday I made the comment that with Francisco Liriano ready to come back, maybe Glen Perkins would need to head to the bullpen to make room. I thought that for a couple of reasons. First, because he had such few innings last year. Second, because of the non-Livan starters, he has done the least (which is still good). Well, tonight, Perkins did his job well and showed that he too should remain in the rotation. The lefty went the first 6.2 innings and gave up just two runs on six hits. He walked two, hit one, and struck out six.

• The bullpen was again dominant. Jesse Crain came in with the game-tying run in scoring position and Carlos Guillen at bat. He threw him two fastballs right on the outside corner at 96 mph for strikes. But on 0-2, he got too much of the plate and Guillen drilled a ball 400+ feet to dead center, where Carlos Gomez made an acrobatic catch to end the seventh inning. Matt Guerrier staked his claim as being able to be the 8th inning guy. Joe Nathan picked up his 26th save with a 1-2-3 inning.

• Alexi Casilla went 3-5 and is now hitting .314.

• Justin Morneau was intentionally walked twice to get to Jason Kubel. Kubel was 0-3, but he walked twice, including against lefty Bobby Seay.

• Brian Buscher went 2-3 before being pinch hit for late against Seay. He is still hitting .320.

• Denard Span was on base 50% of the time again after his 1-3 with a walk.

• Nick Punto had another good game. He was 1-2 with a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly.

• Carlos Gomez is really the only Twins regular that is struggling. He went 0-5 and struckout three times. He just has so little confidence right now. Gardy really needs to make the move and put Span in the leadoff spot and Gomez ninth. That's as far as I would take it right now. Gomez's defense in CF is so valuable, and benching him might actually affect his psyche, so I think a move in the lineup is smart, but I would not take him out of the lineup.

• How desperate are the Yankees? Well, after signing Sidney Ponson a couple of weeks ago, they signed former Twins lefty Eric Milton to a minor league deal. He's actually still recovering from surgery a year ago, and will now rehab in the Yankees spring facility in Tampa.

• And Kyle Lohse improved to 11-2 last night with seven shutout innings of work. Scary!     

Friday GAME NOTES

Twins Minor League Updates

Friday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Rene Leveret, Beloit Snappers
Friday SethSpeaks Pitcher(s) of the Day – Shooter Hunt, Elizabethton Twins - David Bromberg, Beloit Snappers - Deolis Guerra, Ft. Myers Miracle

ROCHESTER REPORT
Friday – Rochester 1, Durham 2 – It was bullpen by committee throughout this game for the Red Wings and the bats didn't help them at all. They managed just five hits. Randy Ruiz's 13th home run of the year gave them their lone run. Julio DePaula started and gave up two runs on four hits and four walks in 3.2 innings. He struck out three in the loss. Mariano Gomez then got four outs and gave up three hits. Then Casey Daigle got the next four outs. Ricky Barrett struck out two in his 0.2 innings (with a walk). Bobby Korecky threw a perfect ninth.

NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Friday – New Britain 4, Portland 3 – Anthony Swarzak was much improved in this start (not to confuse with 'pitched well'). In 5.2 innings, he gave up three runs on eight hits and two walks. Ryan Mullins came in and struck out three over the next two innings. Armando Gabino came in and got the final out of the 8th inning, and for it, he is the Winning pitcher. Ben Julianel got his 19th save despite a hit and a walk allowed in the ninth. Danny Valencia and Erik Lis each went 2-4. Lis hit his 31st double. That is incredible, but did you know that Brock Peterson now has 26th double? That's very good too. David Winfree was 1-3 with a triple and two RBI.

FT MYERS MEMOS
Friday – Miracle 1, Jupiter 0 – Deolis Guerra seems to have turned a corner, to some extent. In this game, he threw 6.1 shutout innings. He allowed five hits and two walks, but he struck out just three. Jose Lugo was perfect for 1.1 innings. Then Anthony Slama got his 19th save by getting the final four outs, two via the strikeout. The Miracle got a first inning home run by Steve Singleton, his second of the season, and that was their lone run. Singleton also walked once. Dan Lehmann went 1-2 with a walk.

BELOIT BITS
Friday – Beloit 13, Ft. Wayne 2 – David Bromberg got plenty of run support, but he also pitched great. He threw seven shutout innings. He gave up just three hits. He walked just one and struck out nine. Loek Van Mil came in and gave up two unearned runs on one hit and three walks. Danny Hernandez came in and struck out two in a perfect ninth. Ben Revere is back over .400 with his 3-5 game. He also walked. Rene Leveret was also 3-5. He hit his third double and drove in four runs. Mark Dolenc went 2-4.  

ELIZABETHTON EXTRAS
Friday - E-Twins 2, Johnson City 3 (15 innings) – That's a long game. It's a really long game if you lose! But there were a few great performances. Shooter Hunt starred. He went five no-hit innings. He walked two and struck out ten. In his two starts now, he has thrown eight no-hit innings. He has the two walks to go with 16 strikeouts. Tom Wright came in and gave up a run on three hits in two innings. Danny Rondon then threw four shutout innings. Mark Hamburger gave up only an unearned run  in three innings. He walked two and struck out four. Lee Martin got the loss. He came in for the 15th inning and got one out. But he gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. Juan Richardson was the start with the bat in this game. The 3B prospect went 4-7. Angel Morales went 2-5 with a walk and his fifth double. Michael Harrington went 2-5. Jon Waltenbury went 2-6. The "OUCH!" of the game goes to Evan Bigley who went 0-7. 

GCL TWINS TALK
Friday – GCL Twins 8, GCL Reds 2 – Miguel Munoz improved to 3-1 with five solid innings. He gave up one run on six hits. He walked none and struck out six. Andrei Lobanov went two shutout innings. Nick Lobanov threw one perfect inning. Michael Mopas gave up a run on two hits and a walk in his inning. Herbert Lara went 3-4 with two walks. Daniel Ortiz went 2-4 with two walks and his third double. Tyler Ladendorf went 2-4 with one walk and his fourth double. Aaron Hicks was 2-6. Anderson Hidalgo went 1-3 with two walks and a double.      

Have a good weekend!

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