Game 37: A-Rod’s walk off HR in 11th sinks Twins
May 16, 2009
Minnesota @ New York (Game 2 of 4)
Alex Rodriguez hit a 2-run home run to left field off of Craig Breslow to break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 11th for a 6-4 walk off victory against the Twins.
After a disappointing loss to the Yankees on Friday night, the Twins got off to an early 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly from Brian Buscher that scored Justin Morneau. The play sparked an unusual double play as Michael Cuddyer slid into second base before the fly ball was caught, however, Cuddyer’s foot came off the bag and he never retagged second base before running back to first. The out recorded an 8-8-2-6 double play and put an end to the top of the second inning.
The Yankees came back and put three runs on the board in the third inning after Nick Blackburn walked two batters with two outs and gave up a 3-run home run to Mark Teixeira. Joe Mauer would tack on a run in the top of the fourth with a solo home run off of Joba Chamberlain to make it a 3-2 ball game.
The Twins would retake the lead in the eighth inning off of a solo home run from Morneau, his 12th of the season, and an RBI double from Brian Buscher that scored Cuddyer. The Yankees would come back in the bottom half of the inning and score a run to tie it at four with an RBI line drive single from Teixeria that scored Ramiro Pena. That would be the final batter for Blackburn who pitched 7 2/3 innings and gave up four runs off six hits while striking out four and walking three.
In the bottom of the 11th, Craig Breslow would give up a lead-off walk to Teixeira before Alex Rodriguez hit a slider to left field for the walk-off home run. Breslow only recorded 1/3 of an inning pitched and picked up the loss. It is Breslow’s second loss of the season and the second game in a row the Twins lost in walk-off fashion against the Yankees.
Attendance: 45,455 (Yankee Stadium)
Game 36: Yankees edge Twins in ninth
May 15, 2009
Minnesota @ New York (Game 1 of 4)
The Twins arrived in New York fresh off a three game sweep of the Detroit Tigers. It appeared that the Twins were on their way of winning their fourth game in a row, however, the Yankees pulled out a late rally in the ninth and defeated the Twins 5-4.
Last season, Justin Morneau won the home run derby at Yankee Stadium. This year the Yankees are playing at a new Yankee Stadium, however, that didn’t seem to matter for Morneau who hit two solo home runs off of Phil Hughes in the second and fifth innings.
Nick Punto would tack on another run in between Morneau’s home runs in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly that would score Jason Kubel. Joe Mauer also hit a solo shot on the seventh off of Phil Coke to extend their lead to 4-1.
Francisco Liriano was on the mound for the Twins and struck out and walked six each but only gave up one run over six innings with the surprisingly high amount of walks, which came off a solo home run from Derek Jeter in the bottom of the fifth.
Jesse Crain pitched 2/3 of an inning and also gave up a inside-the-park home run to a speedy Brett Gardner on a ball that was misplayed by Denard Span in left field to make it 4-2. With the lead going into the ninth, the Twins sent close Joe Nathan to the mound where the game collapsed for the Twins.
Nathan gave up a lead-off triple to Gardner and Mark Teixeira knocked him in on a ball that deflected off of Matt Tolbert. Nathan then walked Alex Rodriguez before striking out Hideki Matsui. Nick Swisher then moved the base runners on a ground out to first base and Nathan intentionally walked Robinson Cano to load the bases. Melky Cabrera then singled to left for a walk off single to end the game.
Attendance: 43,856
Delmon Young leaves team to be with mother
May 15, 2009
Delmon Young will be missing from the upcoming Twins road trip as he is off to be with his ailing mother in California. Young hasn’t played with the Twins since the first game of the series against the Detroit Tigers on May 12th.
Young is expected to be placed on the family medical emergency list, which will cause him to miss at least three games and up to seven. Due to this, Young wouldn’t be eligible to return until the fourth game against the New York Yankees or up to the start of the next home series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Twins are expected to call Jose Morales back up to the roster to take Young’s place during his absence. Morales was recently sent down to Triple-A Rochester after playing in 19 games with a .340 batting average. Morales was sent down to Triple-A to make room for Jesse Crain who returned from the 15-day disabled list.
Our thoughts are with Delmon Young and his family at this time.
Game 35: Twins comeback to sweep Tigers
May 14, 2009
Detroit @ Minnesota (Game 3 of 3)
The starting aces for both Detroit and Minnesota were on the mound today as Justin Verlander faced off against Scott Baker. As expected, the fans were treated to a pitching duel as both pitchers made quick work of the other teams line up. Baker pitched effectively giving up only one hit and picking up two strike outs in the first five innings.
In typical Baker fashion, though, he would have one inning where it all fell apart. Baker would give up a pair of singles to start the sixth inning before retiring the next two batters. With two outs, Ramon Santiago hit a ground-rule double to score the first run of the game.
Magglio Ordonez would follow that with a 2-run single and Miguel Cabrera would also hit a ground-rule double. Jeff Larish followed with a walk to load the bases and two more runs would come in from a Clete Thomas single to center before Baker ended the inning with a strike out.
Baker was taken out of the game after six innings after giving up five runs off of seven hits with four strike outs and a walk.
The Twins would answer back in the seventh as they quickly loaded the bases for Matt Tolbert, who took a five-pitch walk to put up the first run for the Twins. Joe Mauer then grounded into a force out that score another run and Justin Morneau put in the third run of the inning by hitting a single to right.
The Tigers weren’t the only ones hitting ground-rule doubles, either, as Jason Kubel hit his second one of the day in the seventh with two out and put in another run. Michael Cuddyer would take a walk to load the bases again for Joe Crede, who hit a 2-run single to left to give the Twins a 6-5 lead.
From there the Twins bullpen would take over as Craig Breslow, Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan held the Tigers to no hits and picked up three strike outs. Craig Breslow was awarded the win and Joe Nathan picked up his sixth save of the year by pitching a flawless ninth inning and getting two strike outs.
Attendance: 26,046
Game 34: Crede’s grand slam in 13th lifts Twins over Tigers
May 14, 2009
Detroit @ Minnesota (Game 2 of 3)
It was a long night of highs, lows, and inconsistent strike zones as the Twins outlasted the Tigers in an extra innings marathon that lasted nearly five hours by a score of 14-10.
Glen Perkins took to the mound Wednesday and appeared to be making quick work of the Detroit line up while getting some early run support. Perkins got a 3-0 lead by the third inning on a 2-run home run by Justin Morneau in the first and an RBI single from Joe Mauer in the third, while pitching three shutout innings in only 24 pitches.
The fourth inning proved to be a tough one for Perkins, though, as he walked the bases loaded before giving up a 2-run single to former Twin, Adam Everett, with two outs. The Twins were able to get a run back in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Gomez that scored Brendan Harris.
Perkins would allow another run to be scored off of a wild pitch in the top of the fifth and Brandon Inge would hit a 2-run homer to left field in the top of the sixth before Perkins was removed from the game. After giving up the lead, Perkins would leave the game pitching 5 1/3 innings and giving up five runs off of five hits with four strike outs and four walks.
Luis Ayala relived Perkins in the sixth and managed to get out of the inning as the Twins took back the lead with a 2-run triple from Denard Span. Matt Tolbert would add on to the lead by hitting Span in as the Twins took a 7-5 lead. It wouldn’t last long, though.
Ayala would give up a walk and a double to start the seventh inning before he was replaced by Matt Guerrier. It took Guerrier just one pitch to Miguel Cabrera to send the ball over the fence for a 3-run home run and the lead. Before the inning was through, Guerrier would give up one more solo home run to Jeff Larish to extend the Tigers lead to two runs.
Mike Redmond singled in the eighth inning to spark a Twins rally and Jason Kubel was brought in from the bench to pinch hit for Gomez. Kubel took the first fastball from Joel Zumaya and sent it over the baggie in right for his fifth home run of the season and to tie the game at nine a piece.
The game would go into extra innings with neither team getting much offense going as both bullpens started to become depleted. Curtis Granderson finally got things going for the Tigers in the 13th with a one out triple. Placido Polanco would fly out for the second out, however, Granderson faked a steal attempt that caused Jesse Crain to balk, thus allowing Granderson to come home and the Tiger to take the lead.
The Twins weren’t out just yet, however, as Kubel singled to right to start the bottom half of the inning. Nick Punto was brought in to pinch run for Kubel and Span laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Punto to second. Tolbert then hit a fly ball to left field that scored Punto to tie the game once more.
With the game tied at 10 all with two out, Brandon Lyon intentionally walked Justin Morneau to get to Michael Cuddyer, who also walked, to load the bases. Joe Crede then stepped up to the plate and cleared the bases by hitting a curveball into the left field seats for a walk-off grand slam that drove the crowd in attendance in a frenzy and capped off a game that nearly took five hours to complete.
Attendance: 22,178
Mighty Joe Mauer
May 13, 2009
Joe Mauer may have gotten a late start to the season but you could hardly tell that as he has appears to be in mid-season form with only a total of 10 games under his belt.
Mauer endured a off season where he had surgery for a kidney obstruction and missed all of spring training due to an inflammation in the sacroiliac joint. This put Mauer on the DL for the first month of the season and brought out the worst in many Twins fans who cried out against “baby Jesus,” a nickname affectionately given to him by KFAN radio host Dan Barreriro, calling him soft, injury prone, fragile and overrated.
Only in Minnesota would fans call out one of the greatest players in baseball today.
Mauer stepped up to the plate for the first time against the Kansas City Royals on May 1st and silenced the critics and naysayers on his first swing sending the ball into the left field seats at the Metrodome.
Since that day he has only sat for out game and has managed to tally 18 hits, four home runs and 12 RBIs with a batting average of .500 and a slugging percentage of .917. Sure, those four home runs have basically been hit to the same first few rows of seats in left field of the Metrodome, but Mauer isn’t known to be a home run hitter. His career high is 13 in 2006 and last year he hit only nine. Right now Mauer is hitting one in every nine at bats.
Even with the surge in home runs this year Mauer is still showing patience at the plate. Of the 36 at bats on the season, he has only struck out four times and has six walks to his credit. Mauer’s patience and ability to find his pitches also raised his average over the past few games from a season low .412 average to .500.
It might be a little early in the season as he has some catching up to do to be eligible (a player needs 502 at bats on the season), but he may want to make room on his mantle for a third batting title to go along with his Gold Glove and two Silver Slugger awards.
Now wouldn’t that just get the naysayers all worked up again?
Game 33: Crede, Mauer lead Twins over Tigers
May 12, 2009
Detroit @ Minnesota (Game 1 of 3)
The visiting Detroit Tigers outhit the home team, however, it was the Twins that put runs on the board as the Twins defeated the Tigers 6-2.
The Twins got out to an early 2-0 lead after Joe Crede took a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left field for a 2-run home run, Crede’s fourth of the season. Joe Mauer added another 2-run home run to his usual spot in left field in the third inning to make the score 4-0. Mauer had his first shot at a home run robbed by a leaping Clete Thomas in the first inning.
Delmon Young also had an RBI ground out to score Jason Kubel in the bottom of the sixth and Denard Span hit a single to drive in Carlos Gomez in the bottom of the eighth to add to the lead.
Kevin Slowey was on the mound for the Twins and gave up a total of eight hits but was able to pitch out of jams and keep the Tigers from scoring. Slowey would only allow one run which came off a solo home run from Jeff Larish in the top of the sixth. All in all, Slowey pitched six innings, gave up one run off of eight hits while picking up a pair of strike outs and walks.
The Twins bullpen, which had imploded in their previous game, got off to a rocky start as Jesse Crain left a 3-2 fastball up high for Ramon Santiago to send sailing over the fence in right center field. Crain would walk the next batter before being replaced and failed to record any innings of work for the second straight outing in a row.
From there on out, the relief squad of Jose Mijares, Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan recorded the following nine outs in succession and picked up a strike out each to finish out the game.
Attendance: 24,807
Game 32: Bullpen costs Twins series sweep
May 10, 2009
Seattle @ Minnesota (Game 3 of 3)
Nick Blackburn pitched seven shutout innings and struck out six but a bullpen meltdown gave the Mariners the lead late in the game as Seattle would go on to a 5-3 victory to salvage a single game of the three game series.
The Twins took the early lead by putting a run on the board in the third and fifth innings off of hits from Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer. Seattle would answer back in the eighth, however, and score four runs to break the shutout and take the lead. Jose Mijares came in for relief to start the eighth and walked one batter before giving up a home run to Ken Griffey Jr, his third of the year and 26th career home run in the Metrodome, that went into the $25,000 hole in the Subway sign above the baggy in right.
Jesse Crain would come in to relieve Mijares and gave up two singles before throwing a wild pitch that scored the third run of the inning. Wladimir Balentien then doubled to right field to score another run and Crain was removed from the game after facing three batters, allowing two runs and getting no outs. Matt Guerrier was the next reliever to pitch in the eighth and retired the next two batters.
Craig Breslow pitched in the ninth and gave up one more run to the Mariners off of a solo home run from Jose Lopez. The Twins tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth as a line drive single from Joe Mauer scored Nick Punto from second base. The Twins then loaded the bases with two outs but Brendan Harris hit a soft grounder to Adrian Beltre to record the final out of the game.
Attendance: 25,555
Game 31: Bats still alive as Twins beat M’s 9-6
May 9, 2009
Seattle @ Minnesota (Game 2 of 3)
Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau hit back-to-back home runs for the second night in a row as the Twins beat the Mariners 9-6 and take a 2-0 lead in the three game series. The M&M Boys were not the only ones to hit the ball into the seats either as Michael Cuddyer connected with a 3-run shot to deep left field in the fifth inning for his third home run of the season.
Francisco Liriano looked great in the first three innings of the game by retiring the first nine batters he faced. He hit Ichiro with a pitch to start the fourth inning and gave up a 2-run home run to Mike Sweeney two batters later to put Seattle on the board. The Mariners would put in one more run in the fourth and a pair of runs in the fifth off of a couple of doubles before Liriano was taken out of the game after pitching five innings and giving up five runs off of six hits and got his second win of the season.
The Twins bullpen took over from there and managed to only give up four hits off of four innings between Luis Ayala, Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan. Guerrier made the only costly mistake of the night by giving up a solo home run to Adrian Beltre, his first home run of the season, in the eighth inning. The extra run opened up a save situation as Joe Nathan picked up his fifth save of the season.
Attendance: 29,552
Game 30: Twins blank M’s in series opener
May 8, 2009
Seattle @ Minnesota (Game 1 of 3)
The Twins have been shutout a total of three times throughout the first 29 games of the season, one of which came from the Seattle Mariners in the first series of the year. After the 30th game, the Twins returned the favor and took Seattle to a 11-0 shutout in a night where the pitching was spot on and the bats came alive.
The Mariners couldn’t get any offense going off of Scott Baker, who had his first quality start of the season and gave up five hits and picked up five strike outs in seven complete innings. Seattle was also hitless against Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan in the eighth and ninth innings and Nathan picked up two strike outs.
The pitching wasn’t the only aspect that was solid as the offense got things going by hitting four home runs and scoring more runs than they have in the past three games combined. The Twins got things rolling in the first as Denard Span and Matt Tolbert would score off of a ground out by Joe Mauer and a sacrifice fly from Justin Morneau.
Chris Jakubauskas walked two batters in a row in the second inning before Brendan Harris hit a ball over the baggie in right field to pick up his second home run of the season. Mauer and Morneau hit back-to-back solo home runs off of Jakubauskas in the fifth and Brian Buscher connected with a 3-run shot over the right field baggie off of Miguel Batista to spark a five run fifth inning and gave the Twins a 10-0 lead.
Matt Tolbert scored off a Jason Kubel sacrifice fly to make the score 11-0 in the sixth as every Twins starter scored a run with both Tolbert and Buscher scoring twice.
Attendance: 29,714
