Thursday, July 21, 2005
Good morning! Well, last night I spent about three hours working on t-shirts and tank tops. So, they are ready. Hopefully in the next day or so, I will have a page set up and if anyone is interested, you can e-mail me and "order."
Anyway, just a couple of quick thoughts today and I'll call it good, ok?
First, Timberwolves fans are probably interested in knowing, although not surprised at all, that Flip Saunders was named the new head coach of the Detroit Pistons. It was a matter of how Larry Brown would leave, but once that was done, it was all-but-known that Saunders would take over for him. He will do just fine there!
The Twins won their second straight game in the 9th inning against the Orioles to take the three game series. So, as poorly as the Twins bats performed on this home stand, they won three of seven against two of the better teams in the American League. Jacque Jones knocked an opposite field homer to end the game yesterday.
Tonight, the Twins will open up a five game series against the Detroit Tigers. I'm sure you remember when the two teams were SNOWED out of a couple of games in April. Well, tonight's game is a rescheduled game and there is a double-header on Saturday.
By the way, check out below, but that Game 2 matchup on Saturday night should be fun to watch. Scott Baker will be on the hill against Tigers top prospect Justin Verlander. As highly as we look upon Baker, and even Francisco Liriano, Verlander is a bigger time prospect. The Rice product was the Tigers first round pick just last year, and he has flown through their system, striking out a lot of hitters along the way.
Here are the pitching matchups for the five game series against the Tigers at Comerica Park:
Tonight - 6:05 - Johan Santana (8-5, 3.84, 1.04, .223) vs Jason Johnson (9-5, 4.50, 1.33, .262)
Friday - 6:05 - Joe Mays (5-4, 4.03, 1.34, .285) vs Mike Maroth (7-10, 4.20, 1.35, .282)
Saturday - 12:05 - Carlos Silva (7-3, 3.42, 1.20, .298) vs Sean Douglass (2-0, 2.35, 1.13, .232)
Saturday - 6:05 - Scott Baker (0-1, 3.00, 1.33, .273) vs Justin Verlander (0-1, 6.75, 1.88, .304)
Sunday - 12:05 - Kyle Lohse (7-8, 4.34, 1.45, .308) vs Jeremy Bonderman (12-6, 4.05, 1.22, .247)
OK, I was hoping to do the minor league updates as well, but I am having internet problems tonight. If I have the ability to wake up in the morning early enough, I will try to get those posted, otherwise I'll get caught up on Friday. For now, I'll mention that Scott Baker was named the International League's pitcher of the week. New Britain's Alex Romero was named player of the week in the Eastern League. At Elizabethton, Eli Tintor was named the player of the week in the Appalachian League and Ryan Mullins was the pitcher of the week.
Also, Jason Bartlett hit his third homer in the past two games. Glen Perkins gave up five runs in five innings and again walked five batters! Matt Moses had a couple more hits. Justin Jones is getting the job done at Ft. Myers. Juan Portes had another homer, as did Edward Ovalle. The E-Twins won two more games to improve to 24-4 on the short season. That is pretty good at any level!
For now, please be sure to check out the Sponsor's sites on the left. But also be sure to check out all of the other Twins blogs there too. I know you'll enjoy them!! Also, I will try to get something up on the site to order shirts, if you're interested.
Have a great day, and please feel free to e-mail me. I'd love to hear your thought!
ROCHESTER REDWINGS
Wednesday - REDWINGS 2, Charlotte 3 Jason Bartlett hit his third homer in two games and was 2-5 with 2 RBI. Brent Abernathy was also 2-5. Kevin West was 1-2 with two walks. Boof Bonser took the loss. He gave up all three runs on just three hits and three walks over seven innings. He struck out eight. Brent Schoening got two outs and Jason Miller got the final out.NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS
Wednesday - ROCKCATS 10, Binghamton 8 The control problems of Glen Perkins returned last night. He had five more walks in five innings. He also gave up eight hits that led to five runs. Matt Yeatman went the next three innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits and four walks. Pat Neshek got his 14th save and struck out two in one inning. Denard Span, Matt Moses and Danny Matienzo were each 2-5. Matienzo hit his 27th double. Tommy Watkins went 2-4.FT MYERS MIRACLE
Wednesday MIRACLE 2, Sarasota 0 Justin Jones was the story in this game. Acquired from the Cubs for Doug Mientkiewicz, Jones has been hurt much of his time with the Twins. Last night, he went 7.1 shutout innings. He gave up three hits and three walks and struck out five. He is now 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA. Julio Depaula went the final 1.2 innings, walking one and striking out two for his third save. Scott Whitrock had two doubles in four at bats. Matt Tolbert had a two-run triple to score the games only runs. On a side note, Erik Lohse pitched a scoreless inning for Sarasota. Remember, he was taken in the minor league Rule V draft. On the season, he has pitched in 23 games, with two starts. In 50 innings, he is 6-3 with a 5.47 ERA. He has 15 walks and 38 strikeouts, and he has allowed eight home runs.BELOIT SNAPPERS
Wednesday SNAPPERS No Game Scheduled.ELIZABETHTON TWINS
Wednesday - E-Twins 5, Bristol 3 Brian Duensing, like other top college picks by the Twins this season, struggled in his first start. In 4.2 innings, he gave up three runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out four. Danny Powers went the next 1.1 innings to pick up his third win. He struck out three. Tim Lahey grabbed his 8th save with a perfect inning. Jilmer Arratia was 2-4. Travis Kalin went 2-3 with a double. Juan Portes hit his 6th homer, and Edward Ovalle hit his fourth.Wednesday - E-Twins 9, Bristol 5 Ovalle had another good game in Game 2. He went 2-4 with his seventh double. Sean Richardson went 2-3 with his second double and third home run. Yohan Pino improved to 5-0. He went five innings and gave up two runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked none. Danny Vais then came in and gave up three runs on four hits in two innings.
GULF COAST TWINS
Wednesday - GCL Twins 9, GCL Pirates 6 Patrick Bryant started and gave up three runs in five innings. He struck out eight, but he walked five. Walter Patton got the win. He went 1.2 innings and gave up a run and struck out three. Omar Burgos gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in two innings, but it was good enough to pick up his first save. Richard Sojo had two triples in four at bats. Odannys Valdez went 2-3 with a walk and a double. Paul Kelly went 1-2 with a double and two walks.
That's it for today! As always, please feel free to e-mail me your thoughts on the Twins, the minor leagues, or anything you would like to discuss.