Kevin Mulvey added to roster
July 15, 2009
Kevin Mulvey, who was acquired by the Twins from the Mets in the Johan Santana trade, has been called up to the Majors to take a spot in the bullpen. To make room for his arrival, the Twins have sent catcher Jose Morales back to Triple-A Rochester.
This will be Mulvey’s first time in the big leagues and was currently being used as a starter as part of the Rochester Red Wings rotation. Mulvey went 3-6 with a 3.93 ERA in 17 starts with Rochester, which includes two complete games and a shutout. Mulvey also leads the Red Wings with 81 strike outs. The next closest to that amount is Philip Humber with 59.
Morales rejoined the club in mid-June and had been used sparingly, mostly as a pinch hitter, and recorded a total of 14 at bats. Morales posted a .343 batting average in 32 games with the Twins this season with 4 extra base hits and four RBIs.
Mauer knocked out of Home Run Derby in first round
July 14, 2009
With last year’s champion and teammate, Justin Morneau, watching on, Joe Mauer was one of the four American League participants to take place in the Home Run Derby at Busch Stadium. Mauer, who developed a power swing this season, hit five home runs in the first round to tie with National League slugger, Albert Pujols, and American League home run leader, Carlos Pena.
The tie brought on a five swing swing-off to determine who would advance to the next round. Mauer failed to hit any of the pitches tossed in by his former baseball coach, Jim O’Neill, out of the park in his five swings, while Pujols hit one over the fence to go on to the second round. Even with the home field advantage, though, Pujols wasn’t able to advance past the second round. Milwaukee’s Price Fielder won the competition to be crowned the 2009 Home Run Derby Champion.
After the home run derby was over, Mauer stated in an interview that he hit a few homers, had a great time and was glad to experience it. He also stated without hesitation that he would come back and do it all over again if he is invited.
Casilla called up, Tolbert sent down
July 13, 2009
Alexi Casilla has been called back up to the Twins roster and Matt Tolbert has been sent back down to Triple-A Rochester.
This will mark the third time Alexi Casilla has been with the club this season. He was part of the opening roster but struggled and was sent down to Rochester to work out his troubles. Casilla was brought back to the Twins after Nick Punto suffered a groin injury that landed him on the 15-day DL and was sent back down to the Minors once Punto returned.
With the club, Casilla is batting .180 with four extra base hits and five RBIs. His stats in the Majors are a huge contrast to those in the Minors where he is batting .340 with nine extra base hits, including two home runs, and 17 RBIs. Hopefully the third time is the charm for Casilla as the Twins are in dire need of quality infield help both offensively and defensively.
Matt Tolbert, who was originally called up to replace the struggling Casilla, has been sent back to Rochester to make room for Casilla. Tolbert struggled throughout the year as a part of the Twins and hit .178 over the course of 48 games. Tolbert had a total of 12 RBIs and 5 stolen bases in those games and hit his first ever career home run against the Chicago White Sox on May 21st.
Game 89: Gomez lights up Sox in 13-7 win
July 12, 2009
Chicago @ Minnesota (Game 3 of 3)
Carlos Gomez lit up the White Sox and had a career high five RBI’s and Denard Span and Brendan Harris had three RBI’s each as the Twins went on to cruise past the Sox in a 13-7 victory.
Denard Span got things started in the first with a solo home run off Mark Buehrle to make it 1-0. The offense would keep things going in the second with Carlos Gomez going long for a 3-run home run. Brendan Harris would also knock in Denard Span with a double to center to make it a 5-0 ballgame.
Dewayne Wise would put the Sox on the board in the top of the third with a double that score Chris Getz, however, the Twins would answer back with a 3-spot in the bottom of the fourth on a RBI single from Denard Span and a 2-run home run from Brendan Harris.
Jim Thome would bring the Sox back into the game with a 3-run home run off Scott Baker in the top of the sixth to cut their deficit in half. Chicago would tack on another run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Scott Podsednik to make it a 8-5 game.
The Twins would strike hard, though, in the bottom half of the seventh that was started with a double from Justin Morneau. The bases would get loaded behind him and Carlos Gomez would knock in two runs with a single to left. The Twins would score three more runs in the inning of a ground out from Denard Span, a fielding error and a passed ball to make it 13-5.
The Sox would score a run in each of the final two innings on singles from Gordon Beckham and Ramon Castro but it wasn’t enough as the Twins bullpen consisting of Jose Mijares, Matt Guerrier and Bobby Keppel kept the Sox to two runs off five hits. Keppel gave up his first earned run of the season in the ninth which brought his ERA to 0.73 after pitching 12 1/3 innings.
Attendance: 36,254
Game 88: Twins lose a close one to the Sox
July 11, 2009
Chicago @ Minnesota (Game 2 of 3)
Joe Crede took on his former team and sent two balls out to the seats but even that wasn’t enough for the Twins as they were defeated by the White Sox 8-7 at the Metrodome.
Glen Perkins, who was juggled in the rotation due to a fever, had his share of troubles in the early going by giving the White Sox an early 1-0 lead before the Twins got a chance to swing the bats. The Sox would score another pair of runs in the second off a double from Brian Anderson and a ground out from Scott Podsednik that allowed Gordon Beckham to score.
Brian Anderson would again further the Sox lead in the fourth by hitting a single to center that scored Gordon Beckham. Paul Konerko would make it 5-0 on a single to left before Glen Perkins was taken out of the game. Perkins only lasted 4 1/3 innings and gave up five runs off eight hits with two walks and a strike out.
The Twins would fire up their offense in the bottom half of the inning when Joe Crede would hit a 3-run shot to left field to make it 5-3. The White Sox would answer back, though, with a three run inning of their own as R.A. Dickey walked the bases loaded with two outs and Jim Thome cleared the bases with a double to left.
With a five run deficit, the Twins would try to claw their way back into the game with a solo home run from Crede in the seventh and another run in the eighth on a ground out from Joe Mauer that scored Denard Span. The Twins would make it interesting in the ninth by loading the bases and scoring two runs off a single from Jose Morales. With two on and one out, Denard Span would ground into a game ending double play to give the White Sox the win.
Attendance: 41,146
Game 87: Twins walk over White Sox
July 10, 2009
Chicago @ Minnesota (Game 1 of 3)
The Twins picked themselves up from a tough three game series against the Yankees and walked their way to a q6-4 victory against the division rival Chicago White Sox at the Metrodome.
The Twins got off to a quick 4-0 lead off four consecutive walks from the first four batters in the line up. Jason Kubel then knocked in a pair of runs with a ground rule double and Michael Cuddyer put in the fourth run with a single to left.
The White Sox would claw their way back into the game by scoring a run in the second, third and fourth innings to make it a 4-3 ballgame. The Sox would finally tie the game in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Chris Getz that scored Paul Konerko. Nick Blackburn would then retire the next five batters he face before being pulled out of the game after pitching seven innings and giving up four runs off of nine hits with three strike outs and a walk.
The Twins would take the lead in the bottom half of the inning to give Blackburn the decision with a two-out RBI single from Joe Mauer that scored Brendan Harris. Carlos Gomez would knock in another run in the eighth with a single that scored Matt Tolbert.
Twins relievers, Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan, both retired all three batters they faced as the duo closed out the game for their team and Nathan picked up his 23rd save of the season.
Attendance: 29,628
Game 86: Yankees sweep Twins in 6-4 win
July 9, 2009
New York @ Minnesota (Game 3 of 3)
The New York Yankees completed a seven game season sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 6-4 win at the Metrodome on Thursday afternoon.
Francisco Liriano would mow down the top of the order in the first inning before stumbling in a long second inning where he would face eight batters. Liriano gave up a lead off walk to Alex Rodriguez before hitting Jorge Posada with a pitch to put runners on first and second. Robinson Cano would load the bases on a fielding error from Matt Tolbert before Liriano walked Cody Ransom to put the Yankees on the board. Two more runs would score before the inning ended with Brett Gardner being caught trying to steal home.
The Twins would get a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning that was started with a lead off solo home run from Jason Kubel. A throwing error would allow Michael Cuddyer to score to make it a 3-2 game with one out. Mike Redmond would advance to third on a ground out from Nick Punto but would miss their chance to tie the game when Alfredo Aceves struck out Denard Span to end the inning.
Liriano would give up two more runs in the fourth off of back-to-back singles from Cody Ransom and Brett Gardner to extend the lead. The Twins would match that in the bottom half of the inning when they would get two bases loaded walks to make it 5-4. Joe Mauer would ground out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Liriano gave up the final run of the game in the fifth with a solo home run to Mark Texeira. The Twins bullpen would take over shortly after and hold the Yankees to a single hit and four strike outs. The Twins offense, however, would not be able to muster anything together as Mariano Rivera would once again close the door on the Twins and give his team a perfect 7-0 record against Minnesota this season.
Attendance: 40,142
Game 85: Twins lose another 1-run game to NY
July 8, 2009
New York @ Minnesota (Game 2 of 3)
Glen Perkins was scratched from the game at the last minute due to a fever and Anthony Swarzak was put in to face the New York Yankees. Swarzak, though, fared just as well as the other Twins pitchers before him and was pegged with the loss in a 4-3 game at the Metrodome.
Swarzak retired the first four batters he faced before giving up four singles in a row to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Their lead down to one after A.J. Burnett threw a wild pitch that allowed Denard Span to score and a Joe Mauer double that knocked in Brendan Harris.
The Yankees would get one run back in the fifth with an RBI single from Alex Rodriguez. Bobby Keppel would come in to relieve Swarzak and hold the Yankees to a pair of hits and keep his ERA at 0.00 after 11 1/3 innings pitched.
Joe Mauer hit his 15th home run of the season in the seventh to bring his team to within a run but the Yankees would bring closer Mariano Rivera to pitch in the eighth inning to close the door on the Twins. The loss made the Twins 0-6 against the Yankees this year.
Attendance: 38,115
Game 84: Yankees roll past Twins
July 7, 2009
New York @ Minnesota (Game 1 of 3)
The Twins were able to keep the games close in New York earlier this season but the team couldn’t muster any offense of C.C. Sabathia in a 10-2 rout at the Metrodome against the Yankees in game one of a three game series.
Scott Baker pitched three innings and gave up a quick 3-0 lead to the Yankees after two innings. Michael Cuddyer put the Twins on the board on the bottom half of the second with a solo home run to make it a 3-1 ballgame. Baker loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with no out before being replaced by Brian Duensing.
With the bases full Alex Rodriguez would send a ball to deep center field but the grand slam would be robbed by a leaping Carlos Gomez. A run would score on the play and Duensing would walk in another run to give the Yankees a 5-1 lead. Baker was charged with both runs up his ERA to 5.31 with five runs scoring off nine hits with four strike outs and two walks.
The Yankees would take a firm lead in the sixth with a big two-out five run inning that was started with a bases loaded single from Robinson Cano that scored two runs. R.A. Dickey would be put in to replace Duensing and immediately gave up an RBI triple to Brett Gardner followed by an RBI double to Francisco Cervelli before getting Derek Jeter to strike out to end the inning.
The Twins were able to scrape together a run in the bottom of the eighth off a single from Brendan Harris that scored Nick Punto from second. All in all, the Twins had a total of four hits on the night which paled in comparison to the 16 the Yankees had.
Attendance: 29,540
Three Twins All Stars named
July 6, 2009
Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan have all been named to the 2009 American League All Star team for the second straight year in a row. The trio of Twins will be returning to Busch Stadium in St. Louis on July 14th to take part of the Midsummer Classic.
Joe Mauer was the second highest vote getter in the American League with 4,335,739 votes and trailed Derek Jeter by a total of 516,150 votes. Mauer will get the start at catcher after having a career season with 14 home runs, 45 RBIs and a batting average of .389, even after missing the first month of the season due to a lower back injury.
Justin Morneau has been selected by the players as an alternate and is also having a career season. With just half of the season in the books, Morneau has hit 21 home runs and knocked in 69 RBIs. Morneau is on pace to hit 40 homers this year, a feat that hasn’t been done in the Twins organization since Harmon Killebrew hit 41 in 1970. Morneau also ranks first in slugging percentage, second in home runs and RBIs, fourth in hits among the American League.
Joe Nathan is generally thought of as one of the best closers in the game and has racked up 22 saves with 43 strike outs and a 1.35 ERA in 33 1/3 innings pitched. Nathan ranks second in saves and is on pace to put up a career number of saves for a single season. This will be Nathan’s fourth All Star appearance over the past six seasons.
Last year, Justin Morneau gave the American League the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning to give the AL the home field advantage for the World Series. Let’s hope the three Twins selected represent their team once again this year and extend the American League winning streak to 13 games.
