Good Monday Morning everyone! Those of you who stopped by this site throughout the weekend noticed that I did update it periodically. I was in my friend Tyler's wedding on Saturday, so since Thursday night, I have been updating the site when I had spare time. I updated Twins games, their minor league affiliates and a few other things. Sunday involved a few updates here, but also a lot of cleaning and bill paying and napping! So, the trick to making sense of today's posting is to start near the bottom. When I posted new information, I posted it at the top. In other words, the most recent posting is directly below here.
Don't worry. Tomorrow I will be back with a more typical format. But I would love to hear your thoughts on anything you read below, the Twins, the Minors, TV, movies, football, Sam Cassell's trade. You name it, let's chat. Feel free to e-mail me, and have a great week!
Seth
Sunday - 10:07 p.m. - Yeah, Six Feet Under is great, and just one more episode remaining. And Entourage is terrific! The Comeback is alright too.
In Game 2 of the Fort Myers/Lakeland doubleheader, Lakeland won 4-2. Scott Tyler started for the Miracle and gave up four runs in 3.1 innings. He allowed five hits and three walks. Julio DePaula and Josh Gray combined for 2.2 shutout innings. Scott Whitrock went 2-3 and stole his 21st base. Brock Peterson hit his 10th homer.
Down 8-3, Elizabethton rallied for three runs in the 6th and three in the 7th to win 9-8 in Game 1 against Johnson City. Ryan Mullins gave up three runs in five innings. Danny Powers then gave up three runs in just one inning. Joe Gault gets the win by pitching a scoreless seventh inning. Sean Richardson went 3-3 with his fifth home run. Larry Jones went 2-3. Finally, Erik Lis hit a pinch-hit, 3 run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the 7th for the win.
In Game 2, E-Town was held to just three hits in a 10-0 loss. Oswaldo Sosa gave up four runs in three innings. Armando Gabino gave up five runs and got just one out. Not a good game.
Sunday - 7:57 p.m. - Three minutes to the second to last episode of Six Feet Under on HBO. I must prepare!
Sunday - 7:25 p.m. - Fort Myers just finished game one. They scored two runs in the top of the 7th and held on for a 3-1 win. Adam Harben started and gave up a run in five innings. He gave up three hits, but walked four. Chris Schutt got the win by pitching 1.2 innings. Jan Granado got the final out to record his second save. Scott Whitrock got the team's first run in the 5th inning with his 13th home run. Ron Perodin went 2-3.
Sunday - 6:49 p.m. - I think it is safe to say that Tyler was having fun last night!
Hey, we all had fun. I even did a little singing! (Yes, it does take a wider picture to show me! Ha!)
Sunday - 6:19 p.m. - Monday night, the Twins start a three game home series against the hated White Sox. The Sox have a 15 game lead over the Twins, which is unfortunate because I know when the schedule came out, we were so excited about the Twins and White Sox having so many games against each other late in the season. At the point, these games are really anti-climatic.
There is one thing I need to point out though. In the past two or three years, a number of White Sox did a lot of trash talking about the Twins, and the Twins managed to continue winning. It was entertaining as Twins fans for us to read quotes by some Sox players, primarily Mark Buehrle, about how they were a better team than the Twins. I have not heard the White Sox talk this year. Maybe it is because they have the lead. Maybe there is some new leadership. Maybe Mark Buehrle finally realized that he is an incredible pitcher and doesn't need to spout off to get his name recognized. He is letting his pitching do that for him. I think that he and the team deserve credit for that.
Anyway, here are the pitching matchups for the series (and there are some really good ones!):
Monday - 7:05 p.m. - Kyle Lohse (7-11, 4.21, 1.47, .305) vs Jose Contreras (7-6, 4.18, 1.31, .230)
Tuesday - 7:05 p.m. - Brad Radke (7-10, 3.71, 1.16, .271) vs Freddy Garcia (11-5, 3.64, 1.26, .259)
Wednesday - 7:05 p.m. - Johan Santana (11-6, 3.48, 1.04, .226) vs Mark Buehrle (13-5, 2.99, 1.17, .259)
Anyway, here are the pitching matchups for the series (and there are some really good ones!)
Sunday - 5:51 p.m. - Carlos Silva and Rich Harden locked up in yet another pitcher's dual this afternoon. Silva threw 86 pitches in 7 innings. He allowed seven hits and just one run. Harden threw eight runs and gave up just one hit, a solo homer to Michael Ryan. He walked four leading to 115 pitches in those eight innings. Juan Rincon threw the eight inning for the Twins to record his fifth win. Justin Duchscherer threw the ninth for the A's, and the Twins have had some success against him. Joe Mauer led off the ninth with a double. Justin Morneau ripped a shot to first which was an out, but Mauer moved up to 3rd. Then Dick Bremer told us that Matthew LeCroy was coming to the plate, and I said, "Oh Crap!" LeCroy proceeded to hit the next pitch into centerfield, past a drawn in infield for the eventual game-winning run. Joe Nathan came in and got his 29th save with a perfect 9th inning.
By the way, I wish I would have analyzed the performance of Rich Harden. He was clocked at 102 mph once and 100 mph a few times. Unbelievable!
Juan Castro was put on the Disabled List, and Brent Abernathy was recalled. It appears that Jacque Jones will be able to avoid a trip to the DL.
Sunday - 5:07 p.m. - Our good friend "Roger" updated his Weekly Minor League Update over at Twins Territory. In it, he discusses the organization's transactions, what New Britain did to honor former Twins farmhand Tony Stevens (had to make sure I spelled his last name right!), and a Featured player and highlights from each of the six affiliates. Roger is very thorough and has so much good information.
Sunday - 4:48 p.m. - While checking Saturday's minor league box scores, I noticed that a few of the Sunday games had already gone final, so I figured I might as well update those now too.
Francisco Liriano was supposed to start this afternoon against Pawtucket, but he will Monday in a doubleheader because their game this afternoon was rained out.
New Britain picked up another win this afternoon over Harrisburg 6-5. Errol Simonitsch improved to 5-4. He went 7.1 innings and gave up five runs on nine hits and a walk. Pat Neshek got Save #20 by getting the final four outs, two via the strikeout. Denard Span went 3-5 and scored twice. Doug Deeds went 2-3 with a walk. Luis Jimenez had a big two out, two-run double and and third RBI. Tommy Watkins knocked his third homer of the year.
Game 1 of the Ft. Myers doubleheader just got started. Adam Harben pitched a scoreless first frame. The Miracle didn't score, but Trent Oeltjen had a single and stole his second base. Like Jason Kubel two years ago and Alex Romero last year, I think that Oeltjen is the next big outfield prospect to come through Fort Myers. He has done well in the season's second half and I would expect him to break out at New Britain next year.
Beloit just finished off a 4-2 win over Lansing. Matt Garza started and gave up two runs in six innings. Josh Hill got the win with a scoreless seventh. Kevin Culpepper pitched a scoreless eighth, and JP Martinez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 18th save. Trevor Plouffe went 1-2 with two walks. (He also picked up his 30th error!) Paul Rutgers went 2-4, and Jeremy Pickrel was 2-5.
Elizabethton has a doubleheader that is yet to start, and there are no Gulf Coast League games on Sundays.
Sunday - 4:15 p.m. - Here are the updates from Saturday's minor league games:
Rochester beat Pawtucket 10-6. Jason Tyner went 3-4 with a walk, an excellent day for a leadoff hitter. Luis Maza jumped over .300 with a 2-3 day. He had a walk, hit his 8th home run of the year and drove in three runs. Kevin West was 2-3 with his 15th homer. Luis Rivas and Brian Buchanan each had two hits. The team fit together the pitching situation. Brent Schoening started and gave up three runs in four innings. Jason Miller came in and got the win. He went the next two innings, giving up two runs. Then JD Durbin pitched for the first time in a long time. He gave up a run in one innings of work, a solo home run to Red Sox catching prospect Kelly Shoppach. The positive, besides getting Durbin back on the mound, is that he did not walk any. Willie Eyre and Travis Bowyer each pitched a scoreless inning.
Remember in March, I wrote an article called Rockcats with Bats, in which I discussed Kevin West, Luis Maza and Garrett Jones. All three are now contributing to the Red Wings lineup.
New Britain recorded a 7-4 win over Harrisburg yesterday. Levale Speigner gave up four runs on nine hits over 5.1 innings. Jannio Gutierrez got the win by throwing 1.2 innings in which he struck out three. Kevin Cameron then picked up his fourth save of the season with two shutout innings. The offense was led by Alex Romero again. He went 2-3 with two doubles. He is now hitting .307. Kyle Phillips hit his second AA homer. Tommy Watkins, Luis Jimenez and Doug Deeds all had two hits.
Fort Myers' game was rained out and they will be playing a doubleheader today.
Beloit dropped a 2-1 game to Lansing. However, a lot of good can be taken from the game. It was great to see Kyle Waldrop throw such a good game again, even if he got the loss. He threw the complete games and gave up the two runs and just one was earned. He gave up just three hits and two walks. Jeremy Pickrel went 2-4 with a double and the team's lone RBI. David Winfree went 2-4 as well. Paul Rutgers was 2-3.
Elizabethton and Johnson City were also rained out and have a doubleheader scheduled for today.
Finally, the GCL Twins beat the Pirates squad 6-3. Alex Burnett picked up his third win of the year. He allowed three runs on six hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out seven. Matthew Williams then struck out three over the final two innings for his second save. Richard Sojo went 3-5 to increase his average to .324. Josh Dean went 2-4 and is now hitting .351. Odannys Valdez went 2-4 with a walk.
And there you have the update on Saturday's Twins minor league games!
Sunday - 2:51 p.m. - Well, I survived. And no, I didn't just wake up! Tyler's wedding was great! But don't you just love the whole picture-taking process before weddings. 3+ hours of smiling. Fortunately, I didn't have to do too much, just a couple of series of pictures, so it wasn't too bad. Poor Tyler had to smile the whole time! But he did well. The wedding went off very well. I tried not to lock my knees and pass out up there. The dance was a lot of fun too. Tyler is quite the music aficionado and chose to play his own songs. He burned a number of CDs of great songs. I think that it is safe to say that Tyler and Cynthia enjoyed the entire day, so that's good.
So now, I'm sitting here at my computer trying to get caught up on the goings on in the baseball world. I'm listening to WCCO radio online. Terry Ryan is on the Twins pre-game show taking questions. Someone just asked about Jason Kubel's rehab progress. Ryan says he is in Florida and everything is going well. He will go back to California to see the doctor who performed his knee surgery to make sure everything is ok. They hope he can play some instructional league ball, but they will not push him.
Anyway, the Twins lost 5-2 to Oakland yesterday. The game was scoreless through five innings. Then Joe Mauer singled and Justin Morneau homered and the Twins held a 2-0 lead. But Joe Mays gave up four runs in the bottom of the inning, the big shot being a three-run homer by Jay Payton. Mike Redmond caught and had three hits in the game. Jason Bartlett went 2-3.
The final question that Terry Ryan was asked was how his trip to New Britain went, and what he found out. He said that he saw Glen Perkins pitch and that he struggled. AA hitters were not swinging at his high fastball. He commented that Matt Moses put on a display for him a couple of games. He said that Denard Span is showing everything that the club had hoped he would. He said that Alex Romero has shown great improvement and is really showing that he can hit. He said Errol Simonitsch had a rough outing. And finally he said the Pat Neshek had a couple of excellent outings while he was there.
I'll post this and then be back soon with the results and highlights of Saturday's minor league games.
Saturday - 10:30 a.m. - Oh yeah, I almost forgot! The Vikings won their practice game 27-16 over the Kansas City Chiefs. My man, Nate Burleson, who I think will be an All-Pro this season, had a touchdown reception from Daunte Culpepper. I watched about 8 plays during the game, so I can't really say much about how it went. And well, it really doesn't matter, does it?
Saturday - 9:52 a.m. - OK, the Minor League Prospect statistics at the left are finally updated! Check them out to see who is doing well (Jay Rainville, Francisco Liriano, Denard Span, Pat Neshek), and maybe who isn't.
Saturday - 9:32 a.m. - I saw this last night and forgot to post it. The Timberwolves finally were able to part ways with PG Sam Cassell yesterday. They sent him (and a conditional 1st round pick) to the LA Clippers in exchange for Marko Jaric and Lionel Chalmers. Cassell and Sprewell certainly did their thing two seasons ago to help KG and the Wolves get to the Western Conference Finals, but last year at a disaster. I mean, 44-38 is not a terrible season, but when it means that you don't make the playoffs when expectations were a NBA title, things aren't good. I am personally a big fan of Marko Jaric. The 26 year old Serbian is 6-7 and has the ability to play at least three positions in the NBA, including point guard. He had just signed a six year, $40 million deal with the Clippers earlier, allowing the sign-and-trade deal.
Saturday - 12:44 a.m. - Got home from the groom's dinner a while ago, which was great fun and I am so full that I may not need to eat until Monday. Of course, today is the wedding, so I'll just have to eat a couple more times! Just a couple of quick notes before I go to bed.
First things first, we finally saw the Johan Santana we witnessed the second half of 2004 last night as he pitched a complete game shutout against the hottest team in baseball (and one of the better young starters in Dan Haren). Nine innings, just three hits and nine strikeouts. That's what the Twins need! If you don't give up any runs, even the Twins can usually score one run to get the win. And that's exactly what happened as the Twins scored just one run on just three hits. In the fifth inning, Lew Ford walked, stole second and scored on a Michael Cuddyer single for the game's lone run. Santana improves to 11-6 with a 3.48 ERA.
This afternoon Joe Mays will go against another of the A's surprisingly successful starters, Kirk Saarloos at 3:05.
Before getting to the minor league league reports, I have to encourage everyone to head to The Baseball Analysts site. Rich Lederer posted an interview he had with Bert Blyleven. It has to do with Felix Hernandez, Johan Santana, Blyleven's 19 year old season and much much more!
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT (for Friday night games)
Scott Baker falls to 5-7 with a 2.98 ERA after allowing four runs over six innings last night. Beau Kemp and Ricky Barrett combined for two shutout innings. Brian Buchanan went 3-4 with a double. Jason Tyner went 2-4. Kevin West hit his 14th homer, and Corky Miller hit his ninth.
The bats were definitely in full effect for New Britain as they pounded out a 9-7 win over Harrisburg. Matt Moses busted out in big style. He went 3-5 with two homers and six RBI. Tommy Watkins was also 3-5. Danny Matienzo and Alex Romero each had two hits. Doug Deeds knocked his 15th homer for the Rockcats. Justin Olson picked up his ninth win despite allowing four runs over five innings. Daylon Childress came in and gave up three runs in 2.1 innings. But Pat Neshek came in and picked up Save #19 by getting the final five outs, three on strikeouts.
Fort Myers lost 4-2 to Lakeland. They managed just four hits. Justin Arneson hit his second homer in the ninth inning, but it wasn't enough. Anthony Swarzak took the loss giving up three runs in just 4.2 innings. Tristan Crawford gave up a run in 2.1 innings. Jay Sawatski then struckout two in his shutout inning.
Kevin Slowey won again to improve to 3-0 for Beloit as the Snappers beat Lansing 5-2. Slowey gave up two runs in six innings. He walked one and struck out five. Dave Shinskie logged two shutout frames before JP Martinez came in to pick up his 17th Save with a shutout ninth with two Ks. Chris Brown went 3-4 with his 9th homer. Landon Burt was also 3-4. David Winfree hit his 14th homer.
Yohan Pino is now 8-1 after Elizabethton won a 5-2 game over Johnson City. Pino allowed two runs in 6.1 innings and struck out six. Alexander Smit struck out three over the next 1.2 innings. Then Tim Lahey picked up Save #14 with a perfect 9th frame. Juan Portes led the offense going 2-3 with a walk and his 10th homer. Erik Lis hit his sixth and Dustin Bensko hit his fifth.
Finally, the GCL Twins beat the GCL Reds 5-4. Eight Twins had one hit including Jake Mauer who is on rehab, along with Kaulana Kuhaulua. Kyle Edlich started and pitched five shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, but walked four, and struck out seven. Pat Bryant gave up four runs on five hits in his inning of work. But then Matt Williams pitched a scoreless inning. So did Walter Patton who got the win. Aaron Craig pitched a scoreless ninth for his 8th save.
Friday - 5:27 p.m. - I've got about 2 minutes before I head out for rehearsal, but I thought I'd say hi. The Blogger Minute for Saturday has been recorded. I hope you can hear it and enjoy it. A couple of great articles really caught my eye today.
First, cmatthewson over at Twins Territory wrote a great article today called Gordo and Gardy. In it, he places a lot of (very justified) blame on Ron Gardenhire, particularly on his handling of the young players. But he also takes a shot at the media that covers them and basically allows Gardy to spout off with no real basis. The article, along with some very insightful comments, is really worth the read! Seriously, it is one of the best blog entries I have read lately.
How is this British guy doing? He has triple bypass surgery and ALL THREE OF HIS WIVES showed up. Too funny!
Thanks again for stopping by! I will try to update the Twins minor league affiliates and the Twins themselves (with Johan Santana facing Dan Haren!!) later tonight. I also will try to update the prospect statistics at the left of the screen.
Friday - 1:56 p.m. - From the Department of Redundancy Department ... Jeff Angus writes the Management of Baseball website that linked to me about a year ago. Apparently he enjoyed the Felix Hernandez, Analysis of a Phenom article from Wednesday and decided to say a lot of kind things about me! He also uses baseball and this analysis to discuss business practices in practical terms, which is really interesting as well. Please check out Jeff's thoughts here.
Friday - 1:51 p.m. - NEW BLOGGER MINUTE - By the way, today, I will be recording the Blogger's Minute for the Twins Magazine show that will air before the Twins/A's game tomorrow (Saturday). Game time is 3:05 central time, so the Magazine Show will probably be on air about 1:00 on WCCO and many of it's Twins affiliates. If you are out of the market, you can listen to the show on the WCCO site by clicking here.