Slowey Goes the Distance, Twins Sweep

What a performance by Kevin Slowey. A complete game is just what the Twins needed going into the weekend. What an end to a very successful 6 game road trip in which the Twins went 5-1. I also commend Ron Gardenhire for finally sitting Delmon Young on the bench last night. The time had definitely come for this. Young seemed to take the benching well and hopefully he will bounce back and hit some balls over the fence sometime this year. Carlos Gomez had another great game at the plate, despite being caught stealing twice and I am really starting to like the play of Alexi Cassilla at 2nd. It appears the Twins have found a good short/second combo in Harris and Cassilla. Everything appears to be coming together, lets see if the Twins can keep it going against the Yankees, this weekend at the dome.

It's good that Slowey pitched to all of the Royals hitters last night, because the Twins will definitely need their bullpen against the Yankees line up. I know the Yankees are under .500 and in last place but they are still the Yankees. They still have Jeter, Matsui, Posada and others. The Twins will definitely need to keep their offensive production going. Glen Perkins goes against Mussina tonight for the opener. I think Glen will do well, he seems to remain calm out there and seems to like the big stage. Mussina has a strong track record against the Twins, although he did take the loss in game 1 of the 2004 divisional playoffs.

For now I am happy, the Twins are 28-25 only 2 games behind the White Sox who continue to keep on winning. The good news is that Cleveland and Detroit don't seem like they are ever are going to get it together. Have a good weekend people.

The Comeback Crew

Last night the Twins trailed 8-3 in the ninth inning with 2 men out. Everyone in KC was up and cheering for the final out which would end the Royals 9 game losing streak. The celebration never happened. The Twins produced a rally that I have never seen from them before. It was capped by Craig Monroe's 3 run pinch hit shot to tie it at 8. Justin Morneau capped it off in the 10th with a lead off solo shot. The Royals were forced to use the "B" bullpen because of overuse of Soria and Gobble the night before. I feel for the Royals but the Twins needed this after the near collapse on Tuesday night. 27-25 and a chance to sweep the Royals tonight before a big home series with the Yankees.

Delmon Young once again put up a pitiful performance going 0-3 and making two costly errors in the field. A day after going 0-6 and causing an inside the park home run it is a wonder why he continues to be in the lineup everyday. I know he is the future of the team and could possibly be one of the best hitters in the game someday but right now he needs a wake up call. His consecutive game streak is not important to anyone but him. Monroe and Kubel continue to produce better power and one base numbers and should jump into a rotation in left field. Young will never learn if he keeps getting to play every night. In 2006 Justin Morneau was slumping early in the season. Gardy benched him for a couple games that were played in Seattle (where his family was in the stands). This appeared to motivate Morneau as he jumped out of the slump and went on to an MVP season and led his team to an AL Central crown. I think the same type of benching could help Young get back on track.

Livan had a tough night but the defense didn't do much to help him out. Fortunately they bailed him out at the end giving him a no decision. Joe Nathan was able to bounce back and get the save after his blown save of the season on Tuesday. Kevin Slowey takes the mound tonight as Twins try for the sweep.

Perkins, Kubel Shine as Twins Bounce Back to Take Series

Sunday's game was one for the ages. It was the ultimate pitcher's duel up until the 8th inning. Justin Verlander of the Tigers had one of his best performances of the season only allowing 1 run through 7. Perkins had done the same for the Twins. Int the 8th the Twins managed to load the bases with one out. Cuddyer struck out which brought Jason Kubel to the plate on his 26th birthday. He got what he wanted from Tigers releiver Fransisco Crucetta a 3-1 fastball that he drove over the right field fence for a grand slam. Twins win it 6-1.

Perkins is now 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA. I keep saying this but he has to stay in the rotation. In his 4 starts he has given the Twins a chance to win in every one.
Kubel is still not consistent but has become one of the better power threats in the Twins lineup with 6 home runsa and RBIs.
Gomez continues to have good at bats, getting on base twice today, getting a stolen base and 2 runs.

Twins get a much needed day of rest today before starting another 20 game stretch. Kansas City has lost 7 in a row, but they should never be taken lightly. Twins went 9-11 in the first half of the 40 games in 41 days marathon. Lets hope they get off to a good start with a win or sweep agaisnt the Royals.

Boof, pitching staff crumbles as Twins suffer worst loss of season.

Last night the pitching staff put up their most awful performance of the season. Losing 19-3 to those hated Tigers. Boof Bonser seems to be in way over his head. I know he has been up and down throughout his short Major League career but I think it's now time for a change of scenery for him. No, I am not talking about sending him down to Rochester. I am talking about the bull pen. Think about it, the Twins bull pen has struggled this year outside of Nathan and with Nehshek gone they need help out there. Scott Baker will be back in the rotation soon so it means somebody has to go. Instead of sending someone down to Rochester put Boof in the pen and keep Perkins and Slowey in the rotation. Boof has shown that he can have nasty stuff at times and can shut down teams for long stretches at a time, but he always has that big inning. I think Boof may be able to come in as a mop up guy or late innings and get 3-6 outs. It's up to Gardy to decide what should happen but I have no faith in Bonser anymore as a starter.

There we're a few positives in the game. Alexi Casilla hit another home run. Gives him 2 more than Delmon Young or Joe Mauer. He has 9 RBIs in his short time with the team. Half as many as Young has in a whole season. Matt Marci made his MLB debut at 3rd and went 2 for 3. He maybe we found a 3rd baseman. Yea.

Tonight Glen Perkins has to stop the bleeding in the rubber match. Important for the Twins so they can avoid falling 2 games under .500. Verlander who is 2-7 goes for the Grrrs. Day game after night game so expect to see some kind of "B" lineup from Gardy. Monday is a much needed day off for the Twins though. Finally.

Twins look to stick it Tigers this weekend

All we heard about this off season was how good the Tigers were going to be. How great the lineup would be and how many runs they would score. Well the Tigers are sitting dead last in the struggling AL Central despite just scoring 30 runs in a 3 game sweep of the Mariners. Friday night the Twins bats jumped all over the Grrrs with a 9 run performance. Mike Lamb even got a home run, his first in almost a year. Hooray! Last time the Tigers looked to be turning things around the Twins swept 'em in Minnesota. I know the Twins aren;t anything to brag about but it's nice to see a team that spent a lot and is built to win struggle like this. Meanwhile while the Tigers continue to blow and the Twins play around .500. The White Sox are red hot. The currently own a 2.5 game lead over Minnesota. Tonight look for the Grrrs to jump on Boof Bonser as he likes to allow at least 4 runs in the first inning. Look for the Twins lefties like Morneau and Mauer to struggle against left handed starter Robertson. I have a feeling this one could be ugly, but theres always hope.

Hits keep coming as Twins rout Rangers

Perkins pitched solid and I think may keep a spot in the rotation even when Baker comes back. I believe Slowey will be the odd man out or maybe even Boof. No home runs in this one just alot of hits. The Twins did a much better job of getting guys in as the were able to get 11 runs on 13 hits. So thats 18 runs in 2 games for the Twins. Cuddyer was even able to get a double in this one and Delmong Young had another triple. They have taken the first 2 of this 4 game set with Texas and still have 2 more to go. Tonite former Twin Sidney Ponson comes in with the Rangers to face Blackburn. Lets hope this offensive trend continues. Ponson is actually 2-0 in 5 starts this season with a 3.52 ERA.

Wolves to pick 3rd in NBA draft.

We should have known, that if the draft included 2 can't miss NBA ready players at the top that the Wolves would end up picking 3rd. Well I guess it's there own fault for winning too many games last year and not giving themselves a better chance. This is the reason why I hate the draft lottery. Chicago ends up with the number one pick despite having the 9th worst record in the league. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I guess if you just did the draft by record only, there would be a lot more tanking games at the end of seasons, but I have a new idea. How about you take the 5 worst teams and only give them a shot at the number 1 pick. That would be more fair. You could come up with a system where depending on how you finished the season and where you had a chance to pick. Lets say a team finished with the 8th worst record, they could pick no higher than 3rd and now lower than 10. The number 1 worst team would be guaranteed in the top 3 and still have the best chance at 1. That way you wouldn't have a team from the middle jumping up like Chicago. Either way you can't complain about the Wolves because they are picking where they are supposed to be, Brook Lopez seems like a logical choice, can't go wrong with a 7 footer, right?

Timberwolves Post: Wolves have 13.8 percent chance at number 1 pick.

The T-wolves rarely made any news this past season. The post Kevin Garnett era brought them their worst season in 10 years. Young talent is all we have been told about this team. The wolves will have another chance to add a piece in this years NBA draft. They hold the third highest chance at that number one pick. A slot in the top 2 would guarantee them a chance at Micheal Beasley or Derek Rose. After that there is a significant drop off. The Wolves have never held the number one pick, in fact the highest pick they have had was 3. Chritian Laetner in 1992. They had the worst record that year and missed out on Shaq, even though they had the best chance to get him. Last year the lottery was weird the Blazers won it despite having the 7th best chance so anything is possible. The Heat have the best chance at 25% followed by the Sonics at 19% and the Wolves at 13.8%. Luck has not been on the Wolves side in the lottery ever, so lets hope that changes tonite.

Twins use all they've got to beat Rangers in 12

There weren't many people there to see it, but is was quite the crazy night. It took every available player the Twins had to knock off the hot of late Rangers and get the Twins back to .500.

Lets start from the top. Alexi Cassilla hit his first major league home run to give the Twins a 4-2 lead. That's right Casilla. Things were looking good in the 7th for Boof when with one out he threw away a potential double play to end it by throwing the ball into center. 2 runs would later score until Guerrier had to come in to bail him out. Dennis Reyes tried to hold off the Rangers in the 8th but couldn't do it giving up the lead after a couple straight hits. That set the tone for the Twins to trail 6-5 entering the 9th. The Twins put together a little rally and Joe Mauer managed a bloop single to tie the game. Onto the 11th were veteran bull pen pitcher Rincon walked 2 to load the bases. Fans booed as he left and in came Bobby Korecky. He forced Bradley to pop out and faced Micheal Young with the bases loaded. Korecky struck out Young to get them out. If that wasn't crazy enough Korecky had to bat the next inning because of a double switch pulled earlier and he even got a hit. The Twins had a great chance to win it in the 11th, bases loaded 1 out, Morneau stikes out, Cuddyer grounds out. But in the 12th another unlikely hero came through as Howie Clark hit a double over Hamilton's head to drive in Gomez to win the game. Whew!

Thoughts

Cuddyer is really slumping right now, he left 9 runners on base in this one. Maybe its time to give Kubel or Monroe some time out there. Rincon has really lost it, he and Crain have become very unreliable. This win should help moral in the clubhouse but there is still a lot of holes in the Twins lineup, rotation and bullpen that need to be addressed before this team competes for real.

Twins lose 2 of 3 in first ever series at Coors Field

I really thought the sweep of the Twins by the Blue Jays would be a wake up call to this team. They came out Friday night and played a pretty solid game to snap the losing streak and lost in extras on Saturday. Sunday's game was a complete and utter disaster. The Twins played like a team with no heart. Dropping pop ups, committing errors all over the field, failing to get runners over, this is not Twins baseball. The Twins have always built there success over the past 6 years around decent pitching, excellent defense, aggressive base running and timely hitting. Right now the Twins are doing none of that. Something will have to change for the Twins and soon. Losing 5 of 6 like this can quickly put you out of the race in what will be a competitive American League Central. I don't have much else to say today. Another bad team coming into the Metrodome tonite as the Rangers come into town. Twins are in desperate need of a win here tonite. Boof will be on the hill tonite so lets hope he can get through the first inning with out allowing 4 or more runs.

Makes my Stomach Turn!

Theres no better way to start a home stand than taking 3 of 4 from the World champs. There is no better way to end one by losing 3 in a row to the Blue Jays. Meanwhile division rival Cleveland was completed a sweep of the A's to strengthen their lead on the AL central. The Jays somehow brought out all of the Twin's flaws in this series and exposed them for what they are.

Lets face it, the Twins are a mediocre team as far as talent wise. Most people picked them to finish 4th in the division or even last. So we should be happy that they made to the 1st quarter mark at .500 and in second place. But I think a lot of Twins fans keep thinking what could have been.

But since the Twins have hit the 1st quarter mark, I will go through my 1st quarter review.

1st quarter review

3 good things.

1. Livan Hernandez
This is turning out to be a great signing for the Twins so far. He has put up a 6-1 record with one complete game. The Twins have also one 8 of his starts. So he has come in and been a rotation ace and hopefully a losing streak stopper.
2. Carlos Gomez
I know he isn't putting up stellar numbers or anything, but I really like this kid. His speed alone makes him such a weapon. If only he could raise that OBP and get on base more to do more damage. His fielding needs some work too, but I think he could be a star in a couple years. Plus he has given the Twins something to feel good about after losing Santana.
3. Nathan
I can't say enough good things about Joe Nathan. Re-signing him was the best move by Bill Smith so far. He is very important to the teams success. In 12 save opportunities he has 12 saves and no losses. If for some reason the season falls apart, he is valuable trade bait as well.

3 disappointments

1. Liriano
This has to be the most disappointing thin for the Twins season by far. Such high hopes for this guy and it appears his confidence is gone. Just think 2 years ago we were looking at 2 plus years with Liriano and Santana topping the rotation. Liriano gets hurt and everything changes. I really feel for the guy and I hope he can bounce back sometime down the road, but the rotation will not be the same without him.
2. The Delmon Young Trade
Well I have to say this trade is a failure so far. Delmon Young may turn out to be a hall of famer some day but for now the Rays seem to have gotten the better deal. Bartlett is still a below average hitter but I think Garza is going to be a big part of their rotation. and will be missed by the Twins. The worst thing is that young has no HRs and only 4 extra base hits. He was supposed to provide some power and replace Hunters production. The Twins took a gamble and lost a good young starter and haven't seen any rewards yet.
3. Fundamentals
It seems the Twins aren't playing like the Twins of old. Poor fielding, slow double play turns, misjudging fly balls, throwing errors and horrible base running. These mistakes have been going on all year and were especially present in the Jays series. This is not Twins baseball, the Twins used to be the highlight of web gems every night now they are a laughing stock.

Bottom Line
OK so I am not satisfied with .500 at this point because I know it could have been better. I would like to see a few things happen in the next quarter.
1. Young's production go way up.
2. Tolbert becomes an everyday second baseman.
3. Gomez draws more walks.

Those are just a few things that could help the team but they need a lot of work. Next up is the Rockies in Colorado. The defending N.L. champs have struggled this year to a 15-26 record and have lost 5 in a row. Lets hope the Twins streak is the one that ends tonight as Blackburn 3-2 (3.93) takes on Jimenez 1-4 (5.53).

Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes Twins lost second in a row to Jays.

After getting all Twins fans excited by taking 3 of 4 from the Red Sox, the Twins have now disappointed us by losing the first two to the last place Toronto Blue Jays. Uncharacteristically fielding blunders have been a big part of the losses. I won't go into detail, but slow double play turns, misjudged balls off the wall have led to extra base runners and extra runs. Last night Crain had caught Rolen trying to steal 3rd in the 8th, in stead of running at him, he fired the ball to 3rd where Mike Lamb couldn't get it and the ball sailed into right and Rolen scored an important insurance run. If that play doesn't happen Kubel's double in the 8th ties it. By the way Kubel is a guy I would like to see get more at bats. He has about 30 less at bats than Delmon Young and has produced 5 more home runs and 9 more RBI, young has 4 extra base hits and Kubel has 10. I know Young is a fighter and wants to play every day, but I just think you need to send a message to him. He was brought her for power and offensive production, his average is going up but his power is not. Singles are great but when you have Lamb and Everett hitting behind you they wont do much good.

Boof Bonser once again struggled in the first giving up a grand slam to Matt Stairs (who has been very hot lately). The Twins found themselves in a 4-0 hole early. Boof managed to only give up one more run during the next 5 innings but he has got to settle down in the first so the Twins aren't in such a hole.

Well the bad news is the loss dropped the Twins out of first place, so the week and half run is over for the time being. Perkins will be on the mound today for his second career start against Dustin MocGowan as the Jays go for the sweep. Hopefully the Twins can get a fire in them and get a big win today to avoid this sweep. The Twins need momentum for the weekend series in Colorado against the Rockies.

What? Yes that's right the Twins play the Rockies this weekend? I don't get it either, why are they not playing the Brewers? Why are the St. Louis Cardinals playing Tampa Bay? Why are the White Sox playing the Giants? The Yankees are playing the Mets, so why not all the other rivalry series at the same time? I don't get it at all. Either way, I think it will be the first time for the Twins in Coors field. Preview of this series to come.

Timely hitting leads to series win over Sox

Timely hitting. Its such an important factor in baseball. Getting those big hits with runners on base. This is what the Twins will have to do this season in order to compete and this is what they did last night. Monreau, Monroe and Young all had big hits with runners on to provide the Twins with seven runs in the game. The Twins have now averages 6.4 runs per game in May compared to 3 or so in April. The win gives the Twins win number 20 and Livan Hernandez win number 6 on the season.
The adventure continues tonite as the Twins start a 3 game set against the Blue Jays. The Jays have had good pitching as of late so lets hope the Twins can keep up their offensive momentum and get another series win.

Offense comes alive, Nathan barely holds off Sox in ninth for the win

What a game, what a finish! In yesterdays post I mentioned that the offense would have to come alive to get wins against this Red Sox team and sunday night it did. Monroe hit 2 bombs and even Adam Everett hit one. The Twins had scored enough runs to be ahead of the Sox 9-6 entering the ninth. Then came the drama. J.D. Drew had just doubled in a run and the Sox had 2nd and 3rd with one out. Crisp hit one off Nathan onto the turf, Nathan alertly got Drew trying for third and only one run scored and now there was two outs. Manny pinch hit for the Sox and grounded out to Everett to finally put this one in the books. Whew! Nathan had his 12th save of the season.

The win kept the Twins in first for at least one more day and clinchedy at least a split in the 4 game series with the Red Sox. I was very happy with the Twins ability to score runs early and finally get some home runs on the board as well. What worries me is the bullpen. With Nehshek out the road to Nathan is not looking very good. Nick Blackburn put up a decent showing allowing 4 runs in 6.

Tonite 6:10 Clay Bucholz 2-2 at Livan Hernandez 5-1

Livan is coming off his perfect game last week. The Red Sox have very good hitters so hopefully Livan can change speeds and get them to produce lot of ground outs. Once again the Twins will need a lot of offense to win. Lineup changes inlcude Redmond at catcher Mauer at DH, Monroe in left, Harris at 2nd and Casilla at short. Twins loooking for win number 20 and a series win over the Sox.

Solo shots spoil Perkins Debut

Glen Perkins shined for 6 innings in his major league starting debut, giving up just one solo home run to Kevin Youkilus in the 2nd inning. The Twins held a 2 run lead heading into the 7th. Perkins came out to start the 7th and gave up back to back jacks to the Red Sox number 8 and 9 hitters, Crisp and Lowrie. The Twins would not score again for the rest of the game and end up losing 5-2. Tough loss as it would have been nice to see Perkins get a win in his first start.

Perkins was pitching well but it may have been a mistake to send him out there to start inning number seven. Six innings and only 1 run is great for a first start and seven may have been pushing it. Sending out Rincon/Reyes to get to Nathan might have been a better idea. Either way the Twins still did not provide the offense to beat the powerful Sox. The left the bases loaded in second and only got one run. Carlos Gomez did a great job by drawing a walk. Cuddyer also hit into a double play in the 5th to kill a Twins rally. The Twins will have to find a way to get their offense going if the hope to take one of the two remaining games in the series.

Tonite 7:05 ESPN Red Sox vs. Twins

Tim Wakefield 3-1 vs Nick Blackburn 2-2.

Old Veteran vs the young rookie in Blackburn. Twins will need to get into a groove offensively and score more than 2 runs to win this one. Should be interesting to watch how the Twins perform on the national stage in another battle of first place teams.

Lamb's big hit gives Twins big win

After losing 2 of 3 to the White Sox, the Twins now seemed in trouble as they faced 3 games against a very good Red Sox team. After giving up two separte leads in the game, the Twins had a big chance in the 8th inning as Everett doubled off the wall and Delmon Young attempted to score from first. If safe he would have tied the game but a great throw by Pedroia got him and the Red Sox held on to a 6-5 lead. Then came the bottom of the 9th. The twins looked over matched as their 7,8,9 hitters were comming to the plate against on of the game's best closers. Delmon Young singled and was sacraficed to third by Tolbert. Everett popped out and Young stole thrid as Gomez walked and proceeded to steal second on the first pitch. Lamb was caught in an 1-2 hole before he hit a beauty to left scoring Young and Gomez for the win.

This was a big win for the Twins. They beat one of the better teams in baseball and remain in first place and over .500 for at least on more day. Who knows how they will fare in the next 3 games of the series but at least there wont be a sweep.

Tonite's game will feature Matsuzaka against Glen Perkins. Perkins will be making his first start of the season. Matsuzaka ia 5-0 with a 2.43 era. Good luck Twins!