Saturday, July
25, 2009
Saturday Morning
Cartoons
Alright, help me out. It’s
Saturday morning, and I am flipping channels. After watching SportsCenter twice, I need to find something else to
watch. I am trying to remember some of the cartoons that I used to be all
excited about waking up for on Saturday mornings 25 years ago. I can think of Bugs Bunny and all of his friends. I
used to love the Smurfs. I remember He-Man and She-Ra, Transformers
and Gobots. I remember PacMan. But what other cartoons were there at that time?
What else would I have been watching? Are Saturday morning cartoons a thing of
the past now that Cartoon Network
and Nickelodean
have their shows? What happened??
Anyway, to
baseball… and our Minnesota Twins.
Last night, Joe Mauer
hit two long home runs (his 16th and 17th of the year),
but Francisco Liriano
gave up three of them and the Twins lost 6-3 in Anaheim to the Angels. In 5.1
innings, Liriano gave up six runs on eight hits and
two walks. The start help continue his consistent inconsistency! Jesse Crain came in, and in my humble
opinion, looked really good. He got five outs and gave up no hits and no walks.
Sure, he hit a batter, but that’s not necessarily bad. He struck out two. His
pitches looked good. I was glad that Gardy took him
out when he did so he could end on a very good note. Brian Duensing pitched a scoreless
inning. Mauer had the two home runs, but the rest of
the team managed just four more hits.
The bad news of the day was
that Kevin Slowey was unable to throw pain-free in
the bullpen and will not be starting tonight for the Rochester Red Wings. He
will likely have bone chips removed and miss a few more weeks. That makes it
more unlikely that the Twins will trade one of their starting pitchers by next
Friday’s trade deadline.
Name the Needs:
I alluded to this in my Your
Voices blog this week, but wanted to summarize it here and ask for you to agree
or disagree or add to the list. Here are my thoughts on what the Twins needs
are if they want to contend:
1.
A 2B.
2.
The release of Nick Punto.
Why? Because even if they add a 2B, it is clear that Gardy
will continue to play Nick Punto most days. I have no idea what Brendan Harris did to lose playing time
again, but it has happened, and that is too bad.
3.
So along with
needing a 2B, they also need a SS since Gardy won’t
play Brendan Harris there.
4.
The Twins could
use a top of the rotation starter, meaning a #1 or #2
starter. We can dream about Roy Halladay and Dan
Haren, but even a nice, consistent #2 would be beneficial.
5.
At least one
bullpen arm that can be counted on, and maybe two.
6.
Bench help. (one
or two better options)
And yet somehow this team is
still technically in the race for the AL Central title. That’s a lot of holes
though! I’m almost starting to wonder if this team should turns its attention
to 2010 already and be a Seller at the trade deadline. If there are players
that do not factor into the 2010 plans, they should be dealt for whatever they
can get. Are we at that point, or do you still believe? Let
us know what you think.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
Friday - SethSpeaks.net
Hitter of the Day – Evan Bigley, Ft. Myers Miracle
Friday -
SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Reid Santos, Rochester Red Wings
ROCHESTER REPORT
Friday – Rochester 1, Charlotte 2 (10 innings) – Reid Santos started and had a great game. The lefty threw the
first innings and did not allow a run. He gave up six hits, walked one and
struck out six. Rob Delaney came in
for the 9th and got the first two outs, but recently demoted White
Sox OF Brian Anderson hit a
game-tying solo home run to send the game to extra innings. Tim Lahey
came in for the 10th and gave up an unearned run on one hit and two
walks in just 0.2 innings. Brock
Peterson went 2-4 with his 12th double. Matt Macri hit his ninth homer, but the
Red Wings managed just six hits in the game.
ROCKCAT RECAP
Friday – New Britain 2, Connecticut 4 – Matt Fox gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits and a walk
in 6.1 innings. He struck out nine. Jose
Lugo got the final two outs in the 7th inning. Alex Burnett worked a scoreless inning. The Rockcats managed just seven hits. Brian Dinkelman was 2-3 with his 25th
double.
MIRACLE MEMOS
Friday – Ft. Myers 6, Tampa 3 –
Evan Bigley
led the Miracle on this day with a 3-5 effort. He hit his 13th
double and second triple. Deibinson Romero
went 2-4 with a walk, his 18th double, second triple and three RBI. Rene Leveret and Estarlin de Los Santos each had
two hits. Santos Arias made another
start. He threw five shutout innings, allowing only two hits and a walk while
striking out three. Joe Testa went the next 2.2 innings and gave up a run on
two hits. He walked three and struck out five. Henry Arias went the final 1.1 innings and gave up two runs on two
hits and a walk.
SNAPPERS SNIPPETS
Friday – Beloit, Cedar Rapids –
Postponed by Rain.
E-TWINS EXTRAS
Friday – Elizabethton 7, Kingsport 6 – Michael Gonzalez continued
his home run barrage. He went 2-3 with a walk and homered for the third
straight game and fourth time in his last six games. Herbert Lara went 2-4. Jonathan
Goncalves hit his third home run. Angelo Sanchez started and gave up six
runs (5 earned) on six hits and a walk in just three innings. Winston Marquez came in and struck out
four in three scoreless innings. Peter
Kennelly pitched a scoreless inning. Kyle
Carr recorded his fifth save by striking out five in 1.2 innings.
GCL TWINS THOUGHTS
Friday –GCL Twins 5, GCL Orioles 3 – BJ Hermsen
improved to 4-1 with five shutout innings. He gave up four hits but did not
walk a batter. Zach See struck out
two in the sixth inning. Then Shooter
Hunt came in for the seventh. He faced four batters and walked them all.
Three of them scored. Kelvin Mota pitched two innings and gave up one hit. Andrei Lobanov
struck out two in a scoreless inning for his third save. Oswaldo Arcia was 2-4 with his fourth double and
fourth stolen base. Kennys Vargas went 2-4 with his fifth double.
Rory Rhodes went 2-4 with his fourth
double. Matej Hejma went
2-3 with a walk and two stolen bases.
Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave
your questions or comments here.