Thursday Night,
August 6, 2009
Thursday Game
Notes
A couple of my favorite Twins
prospects of years past were quite involved in last night’s Arizona 11-6 win
over Pittsburgh. As recently as June of 2007, I ranked Trent Oeltjen as my #10 Twins prospect.
The Australian was all about speed and could hit. He has experienced tremendous
success helping Australia in international competitions over the years. He left
the Twins organization after the 2007 season as a six year minor league free
agent and signed with the Diamondbacks. After two good years at AAA, last
night, he made his major league debut. He went 2-6 including his first home
run. He also stole two bases.
After the 2006 season, Oeltjen was my choice for
the Twins #9 prospect. At #10 was another OF, Alex Romero. Following the 2005 season,
I had ranked Romero 6th on my Twins prospect list. He peaked at #6
in June of 2006. The Twins
decided to keep a third catcher in 2007 (was it Chris Heintz
or Corky Miller?) and tried to take Romero off of the 40 man roster. The
Diamondbacks quickly claimed the OF and added him to their roster. Romero was
4-7 in last night’s game with a double and a stolen base.
Why am I writing about a couple
of former Twins prospects, you may ask?
The alternative would be to spend
a lot of time writing about the Twins 2-1 loss to Cleveland. It also meant a
series loss. Nick Blackburn gave up
two runs in 6.1 innings. He had quick innings in the 5th and 6th,
but gave up another run in the 7th that proved to be the winning
run. The Twins lone run came on a wild pitch. Michael Cuddyer scored that run. He was
2-3 with a walk and his 22nd double. Orlando Cabrera went 2-3 and is not 10-20 in five games with the Twins.
Things are definitely starting
to get ugly in and around the Twins clubhouse. The evidence comes from some of
the blunt quotes uttered by several Twins players in Joe
Christensen’s very interesting article. Justin Morneau
pinning the loss on one player. Mike Redmond basically admitting that he should not have been
player.
Check back later for another
blog entry.
MINOR
LEAGUE REPORT
Thursday -
SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Luke Hughes, New Britain Rockcats
Thursday -
SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Cole DeVries, New
Britain Rockcats – Edgar Ibarra, Elizabethton Twins
ROCHESTER REPORT
Thursday –Rochester 2, Louisville 5 – Kevin Mulvey didn’t get the help me needed from his defense. Just
one of the five runs he allowed was earned. He gave up four hits and three
walks in seven innings. Rob Delaney
struck out three in two one-hit innings. Matt
Tolbert played LF and went 2-5. Trevor
Plouffe was 1-3 with his fourth triple. Danny Valencia hit his 13th
double. Brian Buscher
was 0-2 with two walks while playing 1B.
ROCKCAT RECAP
Thursday – New Britain 10, Erie 0 – Luke Hughes had a big game. He went 4-4 with a walk and two
doubles. Rene Tosoni
went 3-5 with his 11th home run. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4 with a walk, his
32nd double and seventh homer. Erik
Lis went 2-4 with a walk. Mark Grudzielanek went 0-4 with a walk. Cole DeVries
went the first 7.1 shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked three and
struck out eight. Spencer Steedley struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings.
MIRACLE MEMOS
Thursday – Ft. Myers 5, Charlotte 4 – Chris Cates singled in Mark Dolenc
with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. Estarlin de Los Santos went 4-4 with his fifth triple. Evan Bigley hit two doubles in his five
at bats. Dolenc went 2-4. Allen de San Miguel went 1-3 with two walks and his first home run.
Michael Tarsi threw the first seven
innings. He gave up four runs on ten hits. He walked one and struck out six. Matt Williams struck out four over the
final two innings.
SNAPPERS SNIPPETS
Thursday – Beloit 2, Peoria 7 –Liam Hendriks
gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out
seven. Blake Martin gave up two runs
on two hits in two innings. Thomas Wright gave up a run on three hits in
his inning. Danny Rams was 2-4 with his seventh double. Nate Hanson went 2-4.
E-TWINS EXTRAS
Thursday – Game 1 – Elizabethton 6, Johnson City 7 – Four games in two days is harsh, but that is exactly
what was in store for the E-Twins. Brad Stillings started the first game but went just 1.2
innings. He gave up six runs (5 earned) on eight hits. Peter Kennelly came in and gave up just an unearned run over the
final 4.1 innings. Tobias Streich went 3-4 with his eighth home run. Chris Herrmann was 2-4 with his second stolen base. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his 10th double.
Thursday – Game 2 – Elizabethton 7, Johnson City 0 – Edgar Ibarra
gave the team exactly what it needed in the second game, a complete game. He
threw seven shutout innings and allowed three hits. He walked none and struck
out nine. Reggie Williams went 2-4
with his sixth homer, a solo shot. He had four RBI in the game. Chris Herrmann went 2-4 with his first
triple. Michael Gonzalez went 1-2
with two walks.
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