Game 158: Twins fall further in standings
September 30, 2009
Minnesota @ Detroit (Game 3 of 4)
In five starts against the Tigers, Carl Pavano has been stellar on the mound and held a 4-0 record with a 1.69 ERA. That all came to a screeching halt on Wednesday night as Pavano gave up seven runs in route to a 7-2 loss that dropped the Twins down to three game behind the Tigers in the standings with four left to play.
The Twins got off to a fast start when Jason Kubel singled to left with one out to score Orlando Cabrera from third. Delmon Young hit a bases loaded single to knock in Joe Mauer, however, the Jose Morales hit into double play with the bases juiced to end the inning.
Pavano went to the mound with a 2-0 lead and retired the side in order in the bottom of the first but gave up the lead in the bottom of the second. Pavano gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases before Brandon Inge hit a double that tied the game at two. Ramon Santiago would also single to center to knock in two more runs and the Tigers would take a 4-2 lead.
Pavano would calm down on the mound and retire the lineup in order in the third and strike out the side in the fourth, but he would have more trouble in the fifth. Pavano would again load the bases but Magglio Ordonez would hit a two out base clearing double to make it a 7-2 ballgame.
Jesse Crain would come in for relief and end the inning on three pitches but the damage was already done. In the end, the usual steady Pavano gave up seven runs off seven hits with four strike outs and two walks in 4 2/3 innings pitched.
From there, the Tigers would make quick work out of the Twins. The Twins would have a few opportunities but failed to knock in any runs with two on and one out in both the sixth and eighth innings.
Attendance: 34,775 (Comerica Park)
Game 157: Tigers edge Twins in game two of doubleheader
September 29, 2009
Minnesota @ Detroit (Game 2 of 4)
Much like Zack Greinke on Sunday, Justin Verlander made his case for the Cy Young award against the Twins on Tuesday night when he regularly made the Twins batters swing wildly at his pitches that soared just below the 100 MPH mark. Verlander struck out eight while giving up four runs off eight hits in a 6-5 victory over the Twins in game two of a day-night doubleheader.
Twins starter, Brian Duensing, had his worst start on the mound this season and gave up an home run to Miguel Cabrera in the bottom of the second to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the third off a RBI double from Magglio Ordonez that scored both Adam Everett and Placido Polanco.
Duensing loaded the bases in the fifth inning with two outs before being pulled from the game. Bobby Keppel came on in relief and gave up a 2-run single to Brandon Inge to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead before getting Curtis Granderson to pop out and end the inning.
A pair of doubles got the Twins back into the game in the sixth inning when Denard Span hit a double to right and Orlando Cabrera hit a single to left to knock in the first run. Joe Mauer then doubled to right to score Cabrera from first to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
The Twins pulled within one in the eighth as they got more offensive production from Span and Cabrera who both got on with singles. A wild pitch from Justin Verlander allowed the runners to advance and Span scored on a ground out from Mauer. Jason Kubel followed with a RBI double to center to score Cabrera and make it 5-4.
The Tigers got one run back almost immediately as Curtis Granderson hit his 30th home run off Matt Guerrier in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-4. Down by two, the Twins tried to rally in the ninth as Delmon Young got on base after Placido Polanco had troubles fielding the ball.
Young would score two batters later when Granderson misjudged a fly ball to center from Nick Punto to make it a 6-5 game. With the tying run on second, Denard Span would fly out to left to kill the rally and put an end to the doubleheader.
The loss put the Twins two games behind the Tigers in the AL Central standings, which is where they were before the doubleheader started on Tuesday afternoon.
Attendance: 30,240 (Comerica Park)
Twins sign Miguel Sano
September 29, 2009
The Minnesota Twins have come to terms with 6-foot-3, 190-pound shortstop Miguel Sano. The deal is expected to be official tomorrow.
The sixteen year old Sano from the Dominican Republic, has apprently agreed to a 3.15 million deal today. The signing is the second-largest Latin American signing bonus (Dominican right-hander Michael Ynoa signed for $4.25 million last year with the A’s).
Sano is considered the top shortstop this year and most considered him the No. 1 overall available prospect. Sano reportedly is already showing advanced bat speed and power for his age.
Miguel Sano 6-foot-3 short stop
Game 156: Twins take first game of doubleheader
September 29, 2009
Minnesota @ Detroit (Game 1 of 4)
After being rained out on Monday, the Twins won a much needed game on Tuesday afternoon as they defeated the first place Detroit Tigers in the first game of a day-night doubleheader to pull within one game. It was a playoff-like atmosphere at Comerica Park, complete with the thrills of an extra inning game in which the Twins won by a score of 3-2.
Nick Blackburn faced off against Rick Porcello on the mound and the Tigers took an early 1-0 lead after Gerald Laird scored on an RBI single from Ramon Santiago that was nearly caught by first baseman, Michael Cuddyer, in the second inning. The Tigers tried to make it 2-0 in the third but Cuddyer promptly threw to Joe Mauer to throw out Clete Thomas at the plate.
The Twins would get their offense going in the fifth inning as Matt Tolbert hit a leadoff double to right field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Nick Punto. Denard Span followed with a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game at one. With the game tied, Blackburn would settle down and retire twelve batters in a row before being taken out of the game after seven innings.
The Twins had a chance to put the game away in the ninth as Alexi Casilla started the inning with a double to left. Matt Tolbert advanced Casilla to second with a sacrifice bunt, however, Nick Punto tried for a suicide squeeze bunt but popped out to the pitcher for an inning ending double play.
Jon Rauch would start the bottom of the ninth with a walk to Carlos Guillen, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but pitched out of the jam and got a little help from his defense when Denard Span made an inning ending running catch at the warning track to send the game into extra innings.
After making the great catch in the outfield, Span got things started in the tenth with a single to center. Span would advance to third after Brandon Lyon threw two wild pitches and would score on a line drive single from Orlando Cabrera. Lyon walked Joe Mauer and Carlos Gomez advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt before Delmon Young hit a sacrifice fly to center to score an insurance run.
The extra run was needed as Joe Nathan gave up a solo home run to Curtis Granderson to start off the bottom of the tenth. Nathan went on to retire the next three batters he faced to give the Twins the win and earn his career-high 45th save of the season.
Attendance: 35,243 (Comerica Park)
Playoff baseball in September
September 28, 2009
The AL Central race is going down to the wire and a winner could very well be decided within the next four days. The Twins are in Detroit to take on the AL Central leading Tigers in a four game series with first place at stake.
The Tigers can shatter the Twins hopes of reaching the postseason by winning at least three of the four games. This is something that shouldn’t be too hard for the Tigers as they hold one of the better home records in the American League by going 48-26 at Comerica Park.
On the other hand, if the Twins can defy the odds and win three out of four games against the Tigers, the two teams would be even in the standings with three games left to play. A series sweep by the Twins would move them two games ahead of Detroit in the standings with a final home stand against the Kansas City Royals on the horizon.
The Twins have been playing their best baseball as of late, winning 11 of their last 13 games, and have complete critical series sweeps late in the season. The Twins took first place last year after completing a three game sweep of first place Chicago in the final week season.
While the Twins have been winning, the Tigers have been losing more often than not and have lost 11 of their last 19 games. Two of those losses have been against the Twins when the two met recently at the Metrodome. Four of the 11 losses were at Comerica Park.
With most of the pennant races already decided, this is one of the few meaningful games with playoff implications left this season. These four games should be considered as playoff games for the Twins, as their season could come to a screeching halt after Thursday.
Of course, if the Twins can pull it off, it wouldn’t be the first time Minnesota has squeaked by Detroit at the last moment to win the AL Central title. Hopefully the Tigers aren’t too bitter from the events that unfolded in 2006.
Game 155: Greinke too much for Twins
September 27, 2009
Minnesota @ Kansas City (Game 3 of 3)
The Twins have been lucky this year and have yet to go up against Zack Greinke. Their luck ran out on Sunday as Greinke displayed why he is in the running for the Cy Young award by striking out eight while giving up one run off seven hits in a 4-1 win over the Twins.
Francisco Liriano started on the mound for the Twins and made a costly mistake in the second inning by giving up a 3-run homer to Yuniesky Betancourt to give the Royals a quick 3-0 lead.
The Twins tried to come back in the third inning and loaded the bases with no out, however, Greinke retired the following three batters by getting Orlando Cabrera to ground out and getting both Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel to strike out swinging.
Betancourt would score again in the bottom half of the inning after Jeff Manship threw a wild pitch while standing at third. The run would give the Royals a four run lead.
The Twins would finally start to figure Greinke out by connecting with two consecutive hits from Orlando Cabrera and Joe Mauer. Cabrera would get moved over to third on a ground out from Jason Kubel and score on a ground out by Michael Cuddyer.
That would be the only time the Twins would cross the plate during the game. They would leave 11 runners on base and go 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, while Joakim Soria would close out the game in the final two innings to pick up his 29th save of the season.
With the loss, not only did the Twins fail to complete the sweep of the Royals, but they failed to capitalize on a loss by the Detroit Tigers to gain ground in the AL Central.
Attendance: 28,721 (Kauffman Stadium)
Game 154: Span leads Twins over Royals
September 26, 2009
Minnesota @ Kansas City (Game 2 of 3)
Denard Span had a career high six RBIs off four hits on Saturday to lead the Twins over the Royals by a score of 11-6 in Kansas City.
The Royals got to Scott Baker in the early going when he gave up back-to-back solo home runs to Albert Callaspo and Brayan Pena to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. Baker answered back by retiring the next 13 batters before walking Mitch Maier in the sixth inning.
Meanwhile, the Twins took the lead that started with a 5-run fourth inning. The Twins would tie the game at two before Denard Span hit a bases loaded triple to center to give the Twins a 5-2 lead. Span would come back in the sixth and single up the middle to score another two runs and extend the lead to five.
The Royals tried to comeback in the seventh by scoring a pair of runs but the Twins sent nine batters to the plate in the top half of the eighth to knock in four more runs. Span would knock in his sixth RBI of the night with a single to left and Orlando Cabrera followed with an RBI single of his own. Joe Mauer knocked in two more with a double to center.
The Royals scored two more runs in the final two innings but it wouldn’t matter much as the game was well in hand for the Twins.
Attendance: 30,690 (Kauffman Stadium)
Ozzie Guillen a class act
September 26, 2009
White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen, has had a love/hate relationship with the Minnesota Twins for quite some time. The usually outspoken, hot blooded, manager has constantly praised the way the Twins play baseball, even to the point of handing out more compliments to the Twins than his own White Sox. He even coined the famous “Piranhas” term back in 2006.
Guillen stated in a post game interview that although his team isn’t in the pennant race, he knows the importance of the games his team plays against the Detroit Tigers. He said that he would give his young talent time to play against the Cleveland Indians, but out of respect to Minnesota and to baseball, he would put his best players on the field against the Tigers.
On Friday night, it worked in the favor of the Twins as the White Sox shut out the Tigers 2-0.
One can say that it is unusual for an opposing manager, especially one in the same division, to praise and respect an opposing team this much. You have to hand to Guillen, though, and give him credit for not packing it up just because his team is out of the race. The Twins organization and the fans everywhere should applaud Guillen for displaying this type of attitude.
Here is a link to the post game interview video: http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=6818793
Game 153: Twins gain ground in 9-4 win over KC
September 25, 2009
Minnesota @ Kansas City (Game 1 of 3)
Billy Butler went 4-for-5 with two home runs but the Royals pitching had control problems while the defense committed two errors to allow the Twins to gain ground in the AL Central with a 9-4 win.
Nick Punto broke the scoreless tie in the third by stealing second base and then scoring on a wild pitch from Robinson Tejeda. The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Billy Butler would connect for a solo home run to center field to tie the game at one.
Michael Cuddyer hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth, his 30th home run of the season, to put the Twins ahead 2-1. They would add four on the board in the fifth when Tejeda gave up two walks and the defense had a fielding error to load the bases.
Orlando Cabrera hit a single to right to knock in Jose Morales and Tejeda would give up back-to-back walks to allow two more runs to score. Juan Cruz was sent to the mound to replace Tejeda and would also give up a bases loaded walk before getting the next two outs. By then, though, Minnesota had a 6-1 lead.
Billy Butler would put the Royals back into the game with a 3-run home run, his second home run of the game off Carl Pavano, to make it a 6-4 ballgame. The Twins, though, would seal the game off in the seventh after Delmon Young hit an RBI triple to center and would score on a single from Matt Tolbert.
Delmon Young would add another run in the ninth with a solo home run and Matt Guerrier would finish off the game by ending Butler’s great hitting performance by striking him out for the final out.
In Chicago, the Detroit Tigers would be shut out by Jake Peavy and the White Sox to let the Twins gain one game in the standings. Minnesota is now two games out with nine games to left in the season. Four of the nine games will be head-to-head against the Tigers.
Attendance: 23,307 (Kauffman Stadium)
Game 152: Twins complete sweep of Sox
September 23, 2009
Minnesota @ Chicago (Game 3 of 3)
The Twins made quick work out of Mark Buehrle as they scored five runs off him in route to a 8-6 victory to complete the three game road sweep at U.S. Cellular Field.
Brendan Harris put the Twins on the board in the second inning with a two out RBI double that scored Michael Cuddyer to get the Twins off to a 1-0 lead. The Twins would go on to put a pair of runs on the board in the third with an RBI singles from Orlando Cabrera and Cuddyer.
The Twins would keep the ball rolling in the fourth when Harris would hit a lead off double and score on a double from Nick Punto. This would knock Buehrle out of the game but he would be charged with another run as Punto would score on a RBI double from Carlos Gomez.
The White Sox would finally get on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Alexei Ramirez would score on a line drive single from Carlos Quentin. The Sox would try to claw their way back into the game by scoring in the fifth on a single from Jayson Nix and twice in the sixth on a 2-run home run from Jermaine Dye to make it a 5-4 game.
Punto would extend the lead in the seventh by hitting a bases loaded single with two outs to score two runs. Punto would follow by stealing second base and Alexei Ramirez would miss the throw to allow Jose Morales to score and make it a 8-4 ballgame.
Even though they were down by four runs, Jermaine Dye wouldn’t quit and hit another 2-run home run, this time off of Bobby Keppel, to pull the Sox within two. Jesse Crain and Jose Mijares were both needed to get the Twins out of the eighth inning with the lead.
Joe Nathan took to the mound in the ninth and retired the first batter before hitting Gordon Beckham with a pitch. Nathan would then throw a wild pitch to allow Beckham to reach second base. A.J. Pierzynski would strike out before walking Paul Konerko to put the tying run on base. Nathan, however, would get Alexei Ramirez to pop out to end the game and earn his 44th save of the season.
Attendance: 26,097 (U.S. Cellular Field)
