Monday, August 11, 2008

Perk-to Bismol

If Sunday's abomination was like pizza at midnight followed by indigestion, then Monday night's glorious showing vs. the Yankees was like Pepto-Bismol quieting a rumbling stomach. Glen Perkins' Herculean effort was exactly what Minnesota needed to get back on track after scuffling through their previous six-game road trip. Perk threw eight shutout innings and gave up only four hits while walking three. He also struck out four. And had his second child yesterday. Big couple of days for Perk. By the way, Joe Nathan worked a scoreless ninth inning to finish off the 4-0 victory.

The Twins' bats offered some decent support last night as well, and were led by... uh... Adam Everett? It's not a joke or a typo - the guy blasted a two-run homer off Yankee starter Sidney Ponson to open the scoring in the second inning. Everett is batting .353 with a homer and five RBI since coming back from Triple-A Rochester off a rehab sting. He's not exactly on fire, but the fact that the man hasn't been a black hole at the no. 8 spot is huge. And to think, we nearly designated him for assignment!

Mauer (1-for-2, BB) and Morneau (1-for-4) drove in the other two runs, and the team moved back into first place as the White Sox dropped a game to the Red Sox 5-2 on the strength of a three-run top-of-the-ninth.

Best of all, it looks like Alexi Casilla will, in fact, return to the lineup as soon as September, according to Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune. Sounds like he could even be back by the time Minnesota leaves on their ridiculous 14-game road trip.

Tonight, Mike Mussina (15-7, 3.27 ERA) will try and put the Yanks' four-game losing streak to a halt vs. Twins starter Nick Blackburn (9-6, 3.60 ERA), who since July has posted a 3-2 record with a 2.76 ERA and 0.987 WHIP. The game is once again at 7:10, and can be seen on FSN North (or you can be like me and listen to it on AM 1500).

Minor League Notes:
  • I'm going to keep leading with this until they stop hitting - Alejandro Machado (2-for-4) and Jason Pridie (2-for-4) laced two more hits apiece for Rochester last night. Machado now has a ridiculous 20-game streak going, while Pridie has a nice little 18-gamer of his own. Pridie (.278 BA) and Machado (.378 BA) have raised their averages 24 and 100 points, respectively during their streaks. Machado stole his fifth base in Triple-A, as well.
  • After going 2-for-12 in his past four games, Fort Myers (Single-A) catcher Wilson Ramos drilled three hits in four ABs Monday evening, including a double. The 21-year-old is battting .280/.337/.432 with 12 homers and 67 RBI this year. Seems as though this catching prospect is overdue for a call up to the double-A level.
  • Shooter Hunt bounced back from a nasty four-hit, five-run, five-walk outing last week to pitch six solid innings last night for the Beloit Snappers. Hunt still managed to walk three men, but gave up just four hits and struck out two for his first win at the Low-A level.
  • The wheels have begun to fall off for solid prospect CF Ben Revere. The breakout Snapper has gone just six for his last 35 at bats (.171). He's still batting .379 this season, but something has gone horribly awry over the past week or so.
  • Elizabethton 1B Jonathan Waltenbury had gone 3-for-22 in his past six games before breaking out with three hits in five at bats last night. Waltenbury drove in two runs in the 7-6 loss.
Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Tuesday!

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