Game 16: Boston sweeps Minnesota in doubleheader
April 22, 2009
Minnesota @ Boston (Game 2 of 2)
The rain in Boston subsided long enough for the Red Sox and Twins to take the field for game two of their day/night doubleheader. Much like the first game, the Red Sox had no troubles taking control of this one by scoring seven runs off of Francisco Liriano over the first four innings and beating the Twins 7-3.
Jeff Bailey got the ball rolling for Boston by hitting a 3-run home run with two out in the bottom of the second. David Ortiz knocked in two runs with a double in the third and the Red Sox would tack two more runs on the board in the fourth. Liriano pitched four complete innings and gave up seven earned runs off of four hits and striking out six while walking four.
The Twins offense looked better in the nightcap and actually out hit the Sox but were unable to capitalize by going 0-5 with runners in scoring position and hitting into three double plays. Justin Morneau put the Twins on the board with a solo home run and Jason Kubel was able to score on a throwing error to first base on a ball hit by Brian Buscher in fourth inning. Morneau was able to score another run in the sixth on a ground out hit by Michael Cuddyer.
Boston’s victories in the doubleheader gave the Red Sox a two game sweep over the Twins. Boston outscored Minnesota 17-4 in the two games, 13 of the runs came off of the Twins starting pitchers. The road trip for Minnesota continues in Cleveland on Friday for a three game series against the Indians.
Game 15: Red Sox sink Twins in seven
April 22, 2009
Minnesota @ Boston (Game 1 of 2)
The Twin and Red Sox took to the field this afternoon to take part in the first game of a day/night doubleheader to make up for last night’s rain out. Scott Baker was on the mound for his second start of the season and picked up where his last one left off – giving up home runs. Baker gave up three two-run home runs each in the first three innings to allow Boston take a commanding 6-0 lead. Baker would give up six runs off of 10 hits and two strike outs before being taken out of the game after 4 2/3 innings.
The Twins scored their lone run in the fifth as Carlos Gomez reached home off of a bases loaded single from Justin Morneau. Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer would both pop out to first baseman, Kevin Youkilis, to kill the potential bases loaded rally. Overall, the entire team had a hard time hitting Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball, who pitched in his second complete game of the year.
Newcomer, Juan Morillo, took over pitching duties in the seventh and gave up a double and walked three consecutive batters to plate another Red Sox run. R.A. Dickey replaced Morillo and gave up three more runs off of a single, a sacrifice fly and a ground rule double. The grounds crew then laid the tarp over the infield and the game was called in seven after an 85 minute rain delay with a final score of 10-1.
With the rain still falling and more rain coming in the forecast, it is unknown if the second game of the doubleheader will be played tonight or on tomorrow’s off day.
Attendance: 37,608 (Fenway Park)
Humber clears waivers
April 22, 2009
Philip Humber, who was designated for assignment on April 17th, has cleared waivers and has been sent down to Triple-A Rochester. Humber will move back into a starting pitching role with the Rochester Red Wings to get his game back on track.
It is a surprise to many that Humber cleared waivers as he was a top prospect and a first round draft pick in 2004. His high ERA of 12.46 in 4 1/3 innings of relief, however, may have dissuaded even the most desperate of teams to pick him up.
Humber is scheduled to make his first start for the Red Wings on Monday night against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.
Possible May 1st return for Mauer
April 21, 2009
May 1st has been circled as a possible return date for last year’s AL Batting Champion, Joe Mauer, according to Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. Mauer has been on the 15-day DL with inflammation in his lower back and was not able to participate with the Twins during spring training.
The club’s plan is to have Mauer take part in some games with the Gulf Coast League rookie team before joining the Twins’ Class A team, the Fort Myers Miracle. The Twins have stated that they want their catcher to play in about 10 games and get about 50 at bats before returning to the team.
Once his rehab schedule has ended the Twins plan on evaluating his health situation and possibly bring him back up at the start of a three-game home series against the Kansas City Royals on May 1st.
The Week That Was: April 13th – April 19th
April 20, 2009
The baseball season is long. It is hard to judge just how a team will do during a season in the first couple of weeks in. The Twins are making that extremely hard with the ups and downs it has had during the second week of the season.
The Twins had a week-long home stand that started on Monday with a four game series against the hot Toronto Blue Jays. At times during the series it almost appeared as the pitching staff was serving up batting practice to the Jays as they were able to 19 hits in the first game alone. Even the return of their ace pitcher, Scott Baker, was short-lived as he quickly gave up four home runs before being pulled from the game.
Overall, the Twins gave up 31 runs and 56 hits to the Blue Jays while salvaging a single win in the series. That win came in an 11-inning game where Joe Crede hit the game winning double to score Justin Morneau. After the series, Ron Gardenhire, who was visibly agitated, addressed the media saying that a lot of fans have probably jumped off the bandwagon but they were more than welcome to come back as the team plays on.
Nobody knew how fast that was going to happen.
It took one inning to get the team on the right track after it looked like they were headed for yet another blow out at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels. The Twins, however, erased a five run deficit by scoring seven runs in the eighth inning, all of which was capped by a grand slam from Jason Kubel. From there the Twins would go on to sweep the visiting Los Angeles by a total score of 23-12.
Welcome back to the bandwagon, Twins fans. This is quite the turnaround for a team that many thought were already in shambles and counted out. We can only hope that the pendulum is still swinging upward as the team goes on a five game road stretch next week to take on the Red Sox and Indians.
Anyway you look at it, there is a lot more optimism in the air than there was at the beginning of the week.
Game Results
April 13: Toronto 8, Minnesota 6
April 14: Minnesota 3, Toronto 2
April 15: Toronto 12, Minnesota 2
April 16: Toronto 9, Minnesota 1
April 17: Minnesota 11, Los Angeles 9
April 18: Minnesota 9, Los Angeles 2
April 19: Minnesota 3, Los Angeles 1
Crain on DL, Mijares called up
April 20, 2009
The Twins placed relief pitcher Jesse Crain on the 15-day disabled list today due to inflammation in his right shoulder. Pitching coach Rick Anderson says that it shouldn’t be anything serious and hopes that rest will take care of the problem.
Crain has been brought in for relief in seven of the 14 games played this season and had been solid in his performance before being roughed up in his last outing. Prior to giving up four runs to the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night, Crain was 1-0 with an ERA of 1.59. After said outing, his ERA shot up to 7.50.
Jose Mijares is being called up from Triple-A to take over Crain’s spot in the bullpen. Mijares was an early favorite to land a spot on the opening day roster after having tremendous outings with the club as a late September call-up from Double-A. Mijares, though, came in to spring training over weight and out of shape while having problems with his pitching mechanics.
Instead of breaking camp with the Twins, Mijares has been pitching in Rochester where he as given up no runs in 6 1/3 innings and has four strike outs. The addition of Mijares also gives the Twins another left-handed bullpen option which was cut down to one after Brian Duensing was sent down to Triple-A to make room for Scott Baker.
Game 14: Twins sweep Angels with 3-1 win
April 19, 2009
Los Angeles @ Minnesota (Game 3 of 3)
Glen Perkins finally got the run support needed to earn win. Perkins pitched another solid 8 innings giving up one run off of four hits and four strike outs as the Twins defeated the Angels 3-1 to sweep the series. It took Perkins a total of 84 pitches to get through the first 8 innings before handing the ball over to Joe Nathan, who picked up his third save of the year.
Perkins didn’t get a lot of run support but the bats came through when they were needed the most. Jose Morales knocked in his first career RBI in the second when Delmon Young crossed the plate to tie the score at one each. Morales would also score a run off of a Carlos Gomez single to third base and Denard Span would pick up an RBI in the seventh to seal the game for the Twins.
Manager Ron Gardenhire stated after the game that he would have allowed Perkins to pitch all nine innings had it not been for the fact that he was drilled by a line drive from Bobby Abreu in the top of the seventh. The ball hit Perkins above his left knee and he was fortunate enough to pitch through the pain. Ironically, Abreu also nailed Perkins’ teammate, Nick Blackburn, in the face with a line drive last season.
Attendance: 28,302
Game 13: Bats heat up in 9-2 victory over Angels
April 18, 2009
Los Angeles @ Minnesota (Game 2 of 3)
Torii Hunter hit a 2-run blast into the left field home run porch to get the Angels out to an early lead, but that was the extent of their scoring. The Twins took control of the game with a five run fifth inning and went on to win 9-2 and defeated the Angels for the second time in a row.
Jason Kubel lit up the ball for the second night in a row with four hits and drove in a pair of runs, Delmon Young knocked in three runs and Justin Morneau also got an RBI when the offense opened up in the middle innings. Kevin Slowey also had a solid outing pitching seven innings, striking out five, and holding the Angels to a pair of runs to pick up his second win of the season.
The Twins also got a look at their newest bullpen addition, Juan Morillo, who pitched the top of the ninth. Morillo threw 10 of his 13 pitches for strikes with many in the 95-97 mph range. He picked up a hit and a strike out in one full inning of work.
Attendance: 34,286
Hitting for the Cycle
April 18, 2009
As every Twins fan should know by now, Jason Kubel hit for the cycle on Friday night, which includes a game winning grand slam in the eighth inning. While hitting the cycle is a rare occurrence, Kubel is the third player (Orlando Hudson and Ian Kinsler are the others) to hit for the cycle this season.
Coincidently hitting the cycle has been a topic recently between Eric Karabell and Peter Pascarelli on ESPN’s Baseball Today Podcast. Their discussion compared hitting for the cycle and throwing a no hitter and which one is more meaningful. Their consensus was that a no hitter means more as a player can hit for the cycle and his team can still lose the game.
I can’t really argue that fact but it really is like comparing apples to oranges. Karabell and Pascarelli also mentioned that while hitting the cycle is a more statistically rare occurrence than a no hitter, even with three happening so far in this short season, that it is more of a fluke and it isn’t as majestic as a no hitter.
After seeing Kubel’s dramatic grand slam on Friday night, I wonder if their tune will change on how majestic hitting for the cycle can be.
Twins designate Humber and claim Morillo
April 18, 2009
The Twins have designated struggling relief pitcher, Philip Humber, for assignment and picked up Juan Morillo off of waivers from the Colorado Rockies. Humber was sent to the Twins as part of the Johan Santana trade to the New York Mets last season. Out of options, Humber was given a roster spot in the Twins bullpen and was having troubles on the mound posting a 12.46 ERA in 4 1/3 innings over four appearances.
Taking his roster spot will be Juan Morillo, a hard throwing pitcher that has a tendency to be a bit wild and lack command. Morillo’s fast ball has been clocked in the upper 90s and the Twins are hopeful that some work with pitching coach Rick Anderson will help Morillo with his control problems. Although Morillo may be rough around the edges, it was a risk the team was willing to take to add more depth to their bullpen.
As for Humber, the Twins are hopeful that he is able to clear waivers so he can be sent down to Triple-A Rochester to give him more time to work on his pitching.
