Cuddyer hits for the cycle
May 23, 2009
On Friday night, Michael Cuddyer hit for the cycle against the Milwaukee Brewers to become the tenth Twin to accomplish the feat since Rod Carew hit for the cycle in 1970. Cuddyer also joins Jason Kubel as the second Twin to hit for the cycle this season. The last time the Twins hit for the cycle twice in one season was in 1976.
The accomplishment has to be bittersweet for Cuddyer who got off to a rocky start this year and had been called out by Twins fans due to a lack of offensive production when compared to his contract salary and playing time.
Cuddyer played in all but two games in the month of April and went 17-for-76 for a .224 batting average with seven runs, seven RBIs, one home run and a team high 15 strike outs. Thankfully Cuddyer’s April slump ended with the month and he has gradually increased his offense throughout May.
Thus far, Cuddyer has played in every game this month and has raised his batting average to .291 going 29-for-82 in 21 games. Of those 29 hits, six have been home runs, three have been triples and five have been doubles. Cuddyer has also scored 21 runs, drove in 23, stolen two bases and raised his slugging percentage from a .316 to a .519. Numbers that could put him on pace to match or break his career numbers set in 2006.
Cuddyer also put the Twins in a position to match or break another record – most cycles hit by a club in one season. The current record for the American League and all of baseball is three cycles which was achieved by the Philadelphia A’s in 1933. The Twins have another 119 games to go to reach that record.
Twins Hitting for the Cycle
1970-05-20: Rod Carew
1972-09-19: Cesar Tovar
1976-06-04: Larry Hisle (10 inning game)*
1976-07-24: Lyman Bostock
1978-07-27: Mike Cubbage
1980-09-18: Gary Ward
1986-08-01: Kirby Puckett
2008-05-07: Carlos Gomez
2009-04-17: Jason Kubel
2009-05-22: Michael Cuddyer
* Hisle hit a home run in the 10th inning
Game 43: Cuddyer hits cycle in 11-3 win over Brewers
May 22, 2009
Milwaukee @ Minnesota (Game 1 of 3)
The Twins have made the National League teams look easy as they have gone 41-13 in interleague play over the past three years. After Friday night’s game, the Twins are now 42-13 thanks in part to Michael Cuddyer who hit for the cycle for the first time in his career.
Minnesota was fresh off a 20-1 victory over the White Sox and their offense showed no signs of slowing down. In the first inning, Michael Cuddyer got his cycle started with a 3-run bomb to left field to give the Twins a quick 3-0 lead.
Joe Mauer would hit a sacrifice fly in the second to make it a 4-0 ballgame after two innings. In the third inning, Cuddyer hit a lead off ground-rule double and would come around to score on a single from Brendan Harris to up the score to 5-0. The Twins weren’t done just yet, though.
In the fourth inning an error for the Brewers cost them a run in the early part of the inning. With two on and one out, Justin Morneau would clear the bases with a triple and extend lead to 8. Morneau would be knocked in off a single from Cuddyer to make it a 9-0 game.
The Brewers would finally put a run on the board in the top of the fifth off a sacrifice fly from Casey McGehee that would score Corey Hart. The Twins would come back in the bottom half of the sixth, though, and double their run production with a solo home run from Denard Span and an RBI triple from Cuddyer that score Morneau and gave Cuddyer the cycle.
The Brewers would score two more times, once on a Casey McGehee double that score Jody Gerut in the seventh and off a Ryan Braun single that scored Bill Hall in the eighth before starting pitcher Kevin Slowey was taken out of the game. Slowey pitched 7 1/3 innings and gave up three runs off of eight hits and recorded four strike outs.
Sean Henn came in to relieve Slowey and pitched a solid 1 2/3 innings giving up one hit and a walk while striking out one to close out the 11-3 victory in a game where Michael Cuddyer became the second Twin this season and tenth overall to hit for the cycle. Joe Mauer also went 0-2 with a pair of walks to break his 14 game hitting streak.
Attendance: 30,297
Game 42: Twins destroy Sox in 20-1 win to snap losing streak
May 21, 2009
Minnesota @ Chicago (Game 3 of 3)
After a lackluster road trip, the Twins seemed to have taken out their aggressions on the Chicago White Sox to snap a six game losing streak in a 20-1 victory at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Twins started out small in the first inning and put up a single run on an RBI single from Jason Kubel that scored Joe Mauer. The team blew the gates open in the second, though, and put up seven to take an 8-0 lead before the White Sox even had a chance to bat around their lineup.
Nick Punto put in the first run of the second inning with a sacrifice bunt that scored Jose Morales but a throwing error would lead to all runners being safe. Joe Mauer would knock in a run with a sacrifice fly for the second run and second out of the inning, but the Twins were just getting started. After an intentional walk to Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel singled to knock in the third run which was followed by back-to-back home runs from Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede to finish the seven run inning.
Joe Mauer and Jose Morales knocked in a run in the third and fourth innings to give the Twins a double digit lead over the White Sox. The bats would fall silent in the fifth but come back with a boom in the sixth as the Twins put another six runs on the board. Matt Tolbert singled in Kubel for the first run and Nick Punto followed with a grounder that scored Cuddyer. With two out, Jimmy Gobel would load the bases by hitting Denard Span with a pitch and then serving up a grand slam to Joe Mauer to extend the Twins’ lead to 16-0, but the Twins were not done scoring yet.
Carlos Gomez scored in the seventh inning on a ground out by Crede. Later in the inning with two on and one out, Tolbert hit his first career home run to put a 20 on the board for the Twins.
Although the Twins had a shutout going into the eighth inning, Nick Blackburn was removed from the game after throwing only 82 pitches. Blackburn gave up only four hits over seven complete innings and struck out two while walking three. Joe Mijares replaced Blackburn in the eighth and gave up the lone run to the White Sox on a Carlos Quentin single that scored Brian Anderson with two out.
Joe Nathan pitched in the ninth to close out the lopsided game in the non-save situation.
Attendance: 23,048 (U.S. Cellular Field)
Game 41: Dye’s grand slam caps seven run fourth
May 20, 2009
Minnesota @ Chicago (Game 2 of 3)
The White Sox scored seven runs in the fourth inning and that’s all that was needed as Chicago handed the Twins its sixth consecutive loss of the season in a 7-4 victory.
Francisco Liriano worked on the mound for the Twins and held the White Sox to only one hit, a strike out and two walks in the first three innings. Liriano would then get some run support in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from Jason Kubel and a sacrifice fly by Joe Crede. Unfortunately the 2-0 lead wouldn’t last long.
The White Sox came back hard against Liriano, who labored through the bottom half of the fourth inning by giving up six hits and a walk as he threw 37 pitches and faced 10 batters. Paul Konerko put the Sox on the board when he took a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left for a 2-run home run. Alexei Ramirez followed that with a double and scored on a Josh Fields single to take a 3-2 lead.
Corky Miller doubled to left and Jayson Nix walked to load the bases with two out. Jermaine Dye then hit a grand slam to left field to give the White Sox a 7-2 lead. Liriano managed to get the next batter out and left the game after four complete innings and giving up seven runs off seven hits with a three walks and a strike out.
The Twins tried to get back in the game in the sixth with a 2-run home run from Michael Cuddyer but they were unable to get a runner in scoring position afterwards.
The bullpen for the Twins managed to prevent Chicago from doing any more damage after the fourth. Luis Ayala pitched a total of three innings and only allowed two base runners in the form of a walk and a hit batter. Jesse Crain pitched the bottom of the eighth and only needed 10 pitches to record three fly outs.
Attendance: 29,044 (U.S. Cellular Field)
Breslow claimed off waivers, Swarzak called up
May 20, 2009
Relief pitcher, Craig Breslow, was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics today and the Twins have promoted Anthony Swarzak from Triple-A to take his place. Breslow stated that he is grateful for the opportunity the Twins have given him.
Breslow was claimed off of waivers by the Twins last season and had a 1.63 ERA in 42 appearances in 38 2/3 innings. Breslow only gave up nine runs, seven earned, and picked up 32 strike outs and 14 walks with the Twins in 2008.
The left handed pitcher struggled this year, however, and racked up a 6.28 ERA with 10 earned runs over 14 1/3 innings. Breslow pitched in 17 games and struck out and walked 11 batters apiece and gave up three home runs.
Anthony Swarzak has been called up from Triple-A Rochester who is 3-4 with a 2.25 ERA. He has pitched in 44 innings in his seven starts and has struck out 32 while only walking 11. The right handed pitcher has been slated to take Glen Perkins start on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Delmon Young’s mother passes away
May 20, 2009
Bonnie Young, Delmon Young’s mother, lost her battle with cancer and passed away on Monday night. She is also the mother of Nationals first baseman, Dmitri Young.
Delmon Young left the Twins to be with his mother on Friday and was placed on the Family Medical Emergency List. Young isn’t expected to rejoin the team until Sunday, which means the Twins will go with a 24-man roster until he returns.
Our thoughts are with Delmon and the rest of the Young family during this tough time.
Game 40: Sox hand Twins fifth straight loss
May 19, 2009
Minnesota @ Chicago (Game 1 of 3)
The White Sox broke a five game losing streak and gave the Twins their fifth straight loss in a 6-2 win at U.S. Cellular Field.
Scott Baker was on the mound and looking for his second win of the season, however, he stumbled in the second inning and threw a total of 44 pitches and gave up three runs. The runs came in the form of a 2-run home run from Paul Konerko and an RBI double from Alexei Ramirez. Baker would give up a solo home run in the fifth to Jermaine Dye to give Chicago a 4-0 lead before leaving the game after pitching five innings and striking out and walking four apiece.
The Twins didn’t get a run on the board until the sixth with a solo home run from Joe Mauer. Nick Punto added to the run in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Michael Cuddyer. The White Sox, though, would put a pair of runs on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the seventh with an RBI double from Jim Thome off of newcomer Sean Henn that scored Scott Podsednik and Jermaine Dye. Henn, who was just called up from Triple-A, pitched 1 1/3 inning and gave up two runs on two hits with a walk.
Attendance: 26,696 (U.S. Cellular Field)
Perkins to the DL
May 19, 2009
After an outing where he gave up six runs in 2/3 innings, Glen Perkins has been placed on the 15-day disabled list. Perkins had an inflammation in his left elbow and will have an MRI exam done for precautionary measures. He stated that he felt a tingle in his fingers when he straightened his arm out.
To take his place on the roster, the Twins have called up Sean Henn from Triple-A Rochester. Henn is a left handed pitcher who has an ERA of 1.13 in 15 appearances with Rochester. Henn will be used as a reliever in the bull pen.
Ron Gardenhire said that the team is going to wait to decide which pitcher will take the starting spot in Perkins absence. R.A. Dickey, who relieved Perkins in Monday’s game, is a likely candidate for the role who is 1-0 in his only start of the year.
Perkins next scheduled start was set for Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Game 39: Yankees complete four game sweep
May 18, 2009
Minnesota @ New York (Game 4 of 4)
Glen Perkins took to the mound with a 2-0 lead off of RBI singles from Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Perkins would give up back-to-back home runs to Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez and give the Yankees a 4-2 lead. The bleeding wouldn’t stop as Perkins pitched to all nine batters in the first inning and gave up six runs off seven hits over 2/3 innings.
R.A. Dickey was brought out and put an end to the inning and held the Yankees to only three hits over the next four innings to give the Twins a chance to catch up. Michael Cuddyer hit a lead-off home run to left field to start the fourth inning and bring the Twins within three of tying the game. The Twins scored again in the sixth on an RBI single from Denard Span that brought in Carlos Gomez.
Luis Ayala was brought in to relieve Dickey in the sixth and picked up two strike outs, however, Teixeira would go deep for the second time of the night in the bottom of the seventh to extend their lead to 7-4. The Twins would score a run in the eighth and ninth innings off of a home run by Denard Span and grounder from Cuddyer that scored Matt Tolbert, but would come up short and fall to the Yankees 7-6.
The win for the Yankees gave them the clean sweep of the series and only outscored the Twins by five runs over the four games.
Attendance: 43,244
Game 38: Yankees get another extra innings walk-off victory over Twins
May 17, 2009
Minnesota @ New York (Game 3 of 4)
The Twins just can’t catch a break in Yankee Stadium as they fall to the Yankees for the third straight time in walk-off fashion.
The Twins were able to get some hits and walks off of AJ Burnett, however, those base runners had a hard time scoring runs for the team. All in all the Twins would strand 13 base runners and go 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. They would put up a pair of runs in the seventh inning on an RBI single from Matt Tolbert that scored Carlos Gomez and a wild pitch by Burnett would allow Nick Punto to come home.
Kevin Slowey looked sharp on the mound against the Yankees as he went through and retired the first nine batters he faced, three of them on strike outs. Slowey wouldn’t allow a run to score until the seventh when he gave up a solo home run to Alex Rodriguez. Another run would score that inning on a sacrifice fly from Melky Cabrera before Slowey was taken out of the game. Slowey pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up two runs off of seven hits and striking out eight.
The game would head into extra innings, the second game to do so this series, with the score tied a two each. The Yankees pitcher, Alfredo Aceves, retired the three batters he faced in the tenth inning and Jesse Crain was brought out to face the top of the Yankees batting order. Derek Jeter grounded out for the first out but Johnny Damon would follow and hit a home run to right field for the game ending walk-off home run.
Crain would pick up the loss after pitching only 1/3 inning. It is Crain’s second loss of the season and the run upped already high ERA to 9.00.
Attendance: 44,804 (Yankee Stadium)
