Thursday, September 18, 2008
Lost Opportunity
(send me your questions…
I hope to post a Mailbag Issue here tomorrow with your questions, so e-mail me
a question at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com.
Topics can cover almost anything that isn’t overly personal.)
The Twins actually did not lose to Cliff Lee last night. Lee went 6.1 innings, but he gave up four runs (3 earned) on ten hits and three walks. The Twins did well against him. But Scott Baker threw 103 pitches in just 4.2 innings and gave up four runs. Jesse Crain came in and got four outs. Jose Mijares was thrown into the 7th inning in a tie game, which was great. He gave up and infield single to Grady Sizemore, then got a fielder’s choice and a strikeout before he was replaced by Matt Guerrier, who promptly allow two more runs to score, one of his own and one of Mijares’s. Thus, Mijares takes the loss despite another impressive performance. The Twins lost, which is most unfortunate because the Yankees beat the White Sox 5-1. They could have been back at 1 ½ games behind, but instead remain 2 ½ games back with just ten more games to go. Here are some other thoughts on the game/Twins and more:
·
Some will question
that Baker came back on just three days rest. I really don’t have a problem
with that. He had an easy 94 pitches last Saturday. I think he was fine to do
it. He didn’t pitch well, but I truly don’t believe that it was because of the
short rest.
·
Justin Morneau went 3-4 with two RBI. He was able to get a game at DH,
which I think is important.
·
Joe Mauer also had three hits including his 28th
double. Alexi Casilla
added two hits. Carlos Gomez was
1-3, but his hit was a home run.
·
As much as the
Elizabethton Twins dominate the Appalachian League and have hitters put up
monster numbers, and this year was no exception. Baseball America posted
its Top
20 Appalachian League prospects and just ONE E-Twin made the list. Here
is some conversation
on the list at John Sickels Minor League Ball.
·
The Twins Geek
gives a perfect verbal visual of the
current state of the Twins season and their bullpen.
·
Nick Nelson asks
if the Twins are simply Out of Gas.
PODCAST UPDATE - It’s going to be short tonight. Last night’s podcast,
I thought, was excellent. Josh Taylor
of Taylor’s Twins Talk started out
on the show, and we talked about several topics on the Twins from the pitchers,
to Michael Cuddyer’s
return, and much, much more. Then Joe
Benson, Twins OF prospect, joined the show for about 20 minutes. With Joe,
we discussed his back injury, offseason plans, football, what he wants to work
on and more. Unfortunately, the software again created a small issue.
Fortunately this time it didn’t take as long, and I didn’t panic. So, there is
a quiet minute or two, but we came back for another minute with Joe (Happens at the 36:45 mark, and returns at the 39:30 mark). Finally, the last twenty minutes were spent with Twins
Infield Prospect Steve Singleton who
had a very good 2008 season between Beloit and Ft. Myers. We talked about his
defense, but also the tremendous improvement he made at the plate. I can’t help
but notice how well he did at Ft. Myers and how his numbers were even better
than at Beloit. We talked about the organization and more. Of course, all three
guests are in our NFL “Expert” Picks panel…
Congrats to Dan Slowey and Vic
Quick, the Week 2 Winners at 11-4. Threw two weeks, The Baseball Savant, David
Bergner, leads the way with a 22-9 record.
Know that I do intend to update or create a more formal
standings list to be updated each week. It’s just taking me some time.
With that, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com, or go to
the WordPress site and comment.