Ayala designated for assignment, Keppel called up
June 22, 2009
Luis Ayala, who has struggled in the Twins bullpen as of late, has been designated for assignment by the organization. Ayala was brought in during the off-season and has had his share of difficulties on the mound, the last of which being a two out solo home run off the bat of Lance Berkman in Saturday’s 6-5 loss to the Houston Astros.
Ayala had an ERA of 4.18 this year with the Twins and pitched 32 1/3 innings in his 28 appearances. Ayala gave up 18 runs, 15 earned, off of 38 hits with 21 strike outs and eight walks. Four of the 38 hits were home runs. The Twins haven’t stated what will be done with Ayala but he has been removed from the 40-man roster and will either be put on waivers, traded or released.
Bobby Keppel has been called up to take Ayala’s place on the roster and will be joining the Twins bullpen in Milwaukee. The right-handed pitcher had been used in the starting rotation in Rochester but was originally used as a reliever. He posted a 2.43 ERA in 23 appearances in Triple-A. Keppel gave up 18 runs, 15 earned, off of 51 hits in 55 2/3 inning pitched. He has 28 strike outs, 13 walks and only gave up one home run.
Keppel made his MLB debut in 2006 with the Kansas City Royals. He was last seen playing for the Colorado Rockies in 2007 before signing a minor league contract with the Twins in 2008. Keppel had a clause in his contract that stated he would become a free agent if he wasn’t added to the Major League roster by July 1st.
Game 71: Astros give up two hits in 4-1 win
June 21, 2009
Houston @ Minnesota (Game 3 of 3)
The Twins couldn’t figure the riddle that was Wandy Rodriguez as he held the Twins to just a pair of hits, one of which was a home run to Michael Cuddyer, to get the win for his team and to take the series against the Twins at the Metrodome.
Glen Perkins got off to a rough start in the first inning when he gave up a bunt single to Michael Bourn who was able to steal second and score on a single from Jeff Keppinger to make it 1-0. Miguel Tejada hit a ground rule double and Hunter Pence hit a two out double to score both runners and make it 3-0 before the Twins even stepped up to the plate.
The Twins were lifeless in the first inning but it took just one pitch in the second for Michael Cuddyer to send a ball into the seats in left field to make it 3-1. The Twins were not able to get any more offense going, however, and the Twins made it on base twice with walks and once with a single.
Miguel Tejada would add the fourth a final run for the Astros in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly. This would be more than enough run support for Rodriguez, who would leave after the seventh inning and giving up a single run off two hits with eight strike outs and three walks to pick up his sixth win of the season.
The Astros bullpen shut down the Twins and retired all six batters they faced with ground outs or fly outs.
Attendance: 39,659
Game 70: Astros edge Twins in come from behind win
June 20, 2009
Houston @ Minnesota (Game 2 of 3)
The Twins were hitting the long ball at the Metrodome but the bullpen had a rough outing giving up four runs in the seventh and a homer in the eighth to give the Astros enough to get the 6-5 win against the Twins.
It took two pitches to get the Twins on the board with a solo home run from Brendan Harris that landed in the home run porch. Delmon Young followed with a solo shot in the second to make it a 2-0 ballgame.
Scott Baker was rolling through the Astros lineup retiring the first nine batters he faced before giving up a double to Michael Bourn in the fourth inning. Baker would retire the next three batters and finally give up a run in the fifth on an RBI double from Ivan Rodriguez.
Joe Mauer would get the run back in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to left field for his 14th of the season which breaks his all-time high. Even with all of the home runs hit in the game, it wouldn’t be enough to stop the Astros in the seventh.
Baker retired the first batter he faced before giving up an RBI single to Ivan Rodriguez to make it 3-2. With one out and a runner on first, Sean Henn was brought in and he immediatly gave up an RBI double to Jason Michaels to tie the game at three. Henn then let Michael Bourn drive a fastball to right field for a two run homer to give the Astros the lead.
Luis Ayala had to finish out the seventh and it took one pitch to get Jeff Keppinger to pop out to Matt Tolbert. Ayala worked the eighth and retired the first two batters he faced before giving up a solo home run to Lance Berkman to extend the lead.
The Twins tried to mount a comeback in the bottom half of the inning with Jason Kubel hitting a 2-run home run with two outs to bring the Twins within one. Jose Morales would hit a pinch-hit double with two out in the ninth but Crede hit a ball to the warning track that was caught by Pence to end the game.
Attendance: 34,710
Game 69: Slowey earns 10th win as Twins defeat Astros
June 19, 2009
Houston @ Minnesota (Game 1 of 3)
The Twins continue to roll of their National League opponents as they defeated the Houston Astros by a score of 5-2 in the Metrodome.
Kevin Slowey has been the recipient of run support from the Twins offense and the team delivered in the first inning when Brendan Harris scored on a sacrifice fly from Justin Morneau. The Astros answered back in the third with a sacrifice fly of their own from Michael Bourn that scored Kazuo Matsui to tie the game at one.
The Twins took the lead in the fourth on a sacrifice bunt from Nick Punto to score Delmon Young and extended the lead in the fifth on an RBI double from Michael Cuddyer that scored Justin Morneau. Kevin Slowey would turn the game over to the bullpen after the sixth with a 3-1 lead after giving up three hits, four walks and six strike outs.
Matt Guerrier pitched in the seventh and gave up a hit and picked up a strike out to hold the lead. Jose Mijares came into the game in the eighth inning and retired the first two batters before giving up a solo home run to Jeff Keppinger to bring the Astros to within one run. With Miguel Tejada at the plate, the Twins sent in Joe Nathan who got Tejada to strike out on three pitches.
The Twins extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth with a two out rally that was started with a single from Michael Cuddyer. Joe Crede was then walked and Delmon Young cleared the bases with a line drive double to left field to make it a 5-2 game. Joe Nathan then closed out the game by retiring the next three batters off 10 pitches to pick up his 16th save of the season.
The win brought the Twins interleague record to 8-2.
Attendance: 32,218
Game 68: Blackburn pitches complete game against Pirates
June 18, 2009
Pittsburgh @ Minnesota (Game 3 of 3)
Nick Blackburn earned his first career complete game and earned his sixth win of the season in a 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates to take the series.
The Twins put out an unusual lineup to face the Pirates but that didn’t stop them from scoring runs. It only took a total of seven pitches from Zach Duke to put a run on the board with an RBI double from Justin Morneau that scored Brendan Harris in the bottom of the first. Nick Punto scored in the third and Michael Cuddyer hit a solo shot in the sixth for his tenth home run of the year. Brian Buscher extended the lead in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-0.
Nick Blackburn would take the shutout into the ninth inning and retire the first batter before giving up a double to Eric Hinske. Adam LaRoche would then hit a line drive single to right to knock in Hinske and break up the shut out. Blackburn would then get Andy LaRoche to ground out and finish the complete game. Blackburn gave up only one run off six hits with two strike outs and a walk in a game that lasted a tad over two hours.
It was the first complete game on the season for the Twins. The Twins are now 7-2 in interleague play and brought the club back up to .500.
Attendance: 30,670
Game 67: Brothers LaRouche sink Twins with home runs
June 17, 2009
Pittsburgh @ Minnesota (Game 2 of 3)
Andy and Adam LaRouche both hit home runs to lead the Pirates past the Twins in an 8-2 game to even the series at one game each.
Francisco Liriano was on the mound for the Twins and looking for his third win of the season but gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead with a 2-run home run from Andrew McCutchen in the third inning. The Twins would get those two runs back in the bottom half of the inning with a 2-run double from Joe Crede to tie the game at two.
Andy LaRouche would break the tie in the top of the fourth, however, after sending a fastball into the home run porch in left field for a 2-run home run. Aside from the two home runs that Liriano gave up, he would pitch seven complete innings and surrender four runs off of eight hits with six strike outs and a single walk.
Sean Henn would come in to pitch in the eighth inning and would get the leadoff batter out before giving up a solo home run to Adam LaRouche and proceeding to walk the next two batters. Luis Ayala would finish out the rest of the eighth inning and give up a 2-run double to Robinzon Diaz to make it a 7-2 ballgame. Ayala pitched in the top of the ninth and gave up a final run on a sacrifice fly from Adam LaRoche.
The loss was Liriano’s eighth loss of the year and is now sitting with a 2-8 record. Although he gave up four runs off of two home runs, the Twins couldn’t give their pitcher the much needed run support. The Twins were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left a total of 10 runners on base, including having the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh with only one out and failing to score a run.
Attendance: 30,057
Span put on 15-day DL
June 17, 2009
Denard Span has been put on the 15-day disabled list due to an inner ear infection. Jason Pridie will take the empty spot on the roster in Span’s absence.
Doctors have diagnosed Span with vestibular neuritis, which has been causing him to have dizzy spells over the past few weeks. Vestibular neuritis is a viral infection that affects the vestibular nerve, which is the nerve that sends signals, such as balance, from the inner ear to the brain.
Span’s move to the disabled list was made retroactive to June 10th and will be able to come back to the team on June 25th. Ron Gardenhire stated that he may send Span on a rehabilitation assignment prior to coming back to the club.
In his place will be Jason Pridie, who made his Major League debut with the Twins as a September call up last season. Pridie is 0-for-4 in the big leagues but currently has an batting average of .255 in Rochester with 11 doubles, two triples, two home runs and 19 RBIs.
Pridie came to the organization as part of the trade with the Rays that sent Delmon Young and Brendan Harris to the Twins for Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and Eduardo Morlan.
Game 66: Twins crush Pirates 8-2
June 16, 2009
Pittsburgh @ Minnesota (Game 1 of 3)
Glen Perkins returned to the pitching rotation and got the Twins back to their interleague winning ways with an 8-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Metrodome. Joe Mauer had a helping hand with the outcome by going 4-for-4 and raised his batting average from .414 to 4.29 in the process.
Perkins, whose last start lasted less than a full inning, looked good on the mound and held the Pirates to a pair of runs in the third inning off of a home run from Nyjer Morgan, his first of the year, to tie the game at two.
The game wouldn’t be tied for long, though, as the Twins would put two more runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning to make it 4-2. The Twins would extend their lead in the fifth with an RBI double from Joe Crede and put three more on the board in the sixth on an RBI single from Carlos Gomez, a sacrifice fly from Nick Punto and an RBI double from Joe Mauer to make it 8-2.
The extended bottom half of the sixth where the Twins batted eight led to Perkins being taken out of the game after pitching six complete innings. Perkins would give up seven hits and two runs with four strike outs and a walk.
R.A. Dickey would come in and pitch the next two innings and would give up a pair of hits while striking out three. Jose Mijares pitched in the top of the ninth and gave up two singles to start the inning but quickly retired the next three batters to finish the game and get the Twins back up to .500 in the standings.
The Twins had a total of 16 hits during the game, 14 of them came off of Pirates starting pitcher, Paul Maholm. The win gave Perkins his second win of the season and is now 2-3.
Attendance: 25,351
Crain moved to Rochester to make room for Perkins
June 16, 2009
Glen Perkins is scheduled for tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Twins have sent struggling reliever, Jesse Crain, to Triple-A Rochester to make room from Perkins’ return to the roster from the disabled list.
Perkins had his last start against the New York Yankees on May 18th and was placed on the disabled list after giving up 6 runs in 2/3 of an inning. Perkins stated that there was a tingling feeling in his fingers when he straightened out his arm and the Twins took the side of caution and called up reliever Sean Henn to take his spot.
Anthony Swarzak was moved up from Triple-A and took Perkins’ spot in the rotation but was sent back down to Rochester following his seven inning shut out of the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Jose Morales was brought back up to the club in place of Swarzak to fill in for the team that has been bitten by the injury bug.
Instead of sending Morales back down to the minors, the Twins opted to send down Jesse Crain and go with an 11-man pitching staff. The staff consists of starters Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins, with R.A. Dickey, Luis Ayala, Jose Mijares, Matt Guerrier, Sean Henn and Joe Nathan in the bullpen.
Crain has had an unfortunate run on the mound and has seen his ERA inflate to 8.15 in 17 2/3 innings pitched. His latest breakdown happened on Sunday when he entered the game with a 2-2 tie against the Chicago Cubs. Crain would load the bases with one out and give up the walk off home run to Ryan Theroit to pick up the loss. After the game Ron Gardenhire stated “You try to find the right situation to put him in ballgames, but when you get to this point, there’s no right situation.”
Crain Wreck
June 15, 2009
The bullpen for the Twins got a lot of heat last season due to their ability to give up games in a seemingly regular basis. Both Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier had subpar seasons and hopes were high that they would rebound this year to help bridge the gap to Joe Nathan in the ninth inning.
Matt Guerrier has shown signs of improvement with a 3.03 ERA from a total of 10 earned runs over 29 2/3 innings. Jesse Crain, however, is going in the opposite direction with an ERA of 8.15 from 17 runs in 17 2/3 innings.
Crain started out the season on a strong note and had his ERA sitting at 1.59 after giving up a single run in 5 2/3 innings of work. Crain’s ERA then shot up to 7.50 after giving up four runs in 1/3 inning to the Los Angeles Angels at the Metrodome. He was then placed on the disabled list shortly after the outing due to inflammation in his right shoulder.
Crain was recalled from the disabled list on May 4th and has significantly regressed on the mound. Since returning from the DL, Crain’s ERA is 9.16 with 11 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings which equates to about a run each inning, and that is if he even records an inning of work.
Crain hasn’t retired a single batter on three occasions this season. He had back-to-back appearances where he came in just to give up runs before being pulled out of the game. On May 12th, Crain came into the eighth inning and gave up two singles and a double to give the Seattle Mariners the lead and the win. Crain would be given the loss in the game for his first loss of the season.
His next appearance came two days later against the Detroit Tigers. Crain would deliver a 3-2 fastball to Ramon Santiago who would send it over the wall in right center field. Crain would follow that with a five pitch walk to walk Curtis Granderson before being pulled out of the game. The Twins had a secure 6-1 lead when Crain came in so although the run raised his ERA, it didn’t affect the outcome of the game.
The last appearance when Crain failed to record an inning of work was against the 10-5 blow out of the Oakland Athletics. The game looked to be well within hand with the Twins cruising to a 10-0 lead until Scott Baker ran into some troubles and loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth.
Crain was sent in to replace Baker and it would take a single pitch to allow the A’s to put two runs on the board. Crain then loaded the bases with a walk and a fielding error allowed another run to score before he was taken out of the game. Due to the error, Crain would only be charged with one earned run.
That outing was Crain’s last appearance before being put into a 2-2 tie game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. Although the Twins bullpen had gotten a bit of a rest during the three game series against the Cubs, Ron Gardenhire decided to put Crain in to pitch the ninth innings even with his penchant to give up runs.
Crain would get one quick one-pitch out to start out the inning, but followed with a pair of singles and an intentional walk to load the bases. Ryan Theroit then hit a single past second to score a run, a familiar sight with Crain, and the Cubs took the walk off win. It was his second walk off loss of the season.
To add to the frustration is the fact that the Twins had to send down a pitcher like Anthony Swarzak, who pitched seven shut out innings on Saturday against Chicago, to Triple-A while Crain and his high ERA are still sitting in the bullpen.
It can be said that the entire Twins bullpen has had their issues this season, however, Crain is the only one who hasn’t shown at least the slightest signs of improvement over the course of the season. Even Luis Ayala has had his good outings.
The problem is, though, what can be done to remedy the situation. Here are a few options the team could consider.
Many Twins fans would have liked to see Swarzak remain a starter with Francisco Liriano or Glen Perkins being put into a role in the bullpen. This would be a viable option especially since Liriano has had a rough start to the season, but I don’t foresee the Twins giving up a left handed starter to give Swarzak a spot in the rotation.
A different option would be to give Swarzak a spot in the bullpen to give him more major league experience. Ron Gardenhire stated earlier that if he had to kick someone out to put “Swarzy” in, they would. Jesse Crain is giving the Twins a good case to kick someone out.
Another option would be to look at Armando Gabino who is a right handed reliever and is part of the 40-man roster. Gabino has been working in Triple-A Rochester and has a 3-1 record with an ERA of 3.03 in 38 2/3 innings pitched. His strike out to walk ratio is a tad high, however, with 25 strike outs and 14 walks, which could keep the Twins from calling him up before September.
One final option would be to look at some other teams for a possible trade. One name that has been mentioned by the St. Paul Pioneer Press is LaTroy Hawkins, who played with the Twins from 1995-2003. There was talk of bringing Hawkins back last season, however, the team opted to go with Eddie Guardado instead.
This year, Hawkins is sitting at an 2.60 ERA in 27 2/3 innings, which is one of the lower ERAs of the Houston Astros pitching staff. The drawback to Hawkins, however, is his age, which is at 36. Plus, everyone saw how well Guardado helped last season when he was brought back to the Twins from the Texas Rangers. Hawkins could give the Twins an opportunity for history to repeat itself and Twins fans know all to well how aging players mesh with their young team.
Whatever the Twins decide to do, it is safe to say that something needs to be done with Crain and it needs to be done soon if the Twins want to be legitimate contenders in the AL Central. Since returning from the disabled list his pitching hasn’t improved in the slightest, even with huge leads, and can only be counted on to give up runs.
The Twins need a decent, reliable, set up man for Joe Nathan. Jesse Crain is not the answer. With the way he is pitching, I don’t think he can even be trusted with 10 run leads, let alone as an eighth inning reliever.
