Sick to My Stomach

Aren't you just ill today? I know I am. Last Monday too. These Matt Guerrier-fueled losses are doing real damage to my psyche and ability to function as a normal human being. Last night, I couldn't even eat dinner, and that's a problem. Over his past seven outings, Matty-G has a 17.38 ERA. Folks, that's absolutely untenable. There's no way he should be in that eighth inning slot the way he's going, and really, we have the same problem we had before Liriano came up - a gap in the bridge to Nathan. 

Now, I'm not going to say Crain or Reyes or others might do much better - I have VERY little faith in Jesse Crain - but how could they do worse? Guerrier was pitching decent, then he lost it. Against Seattle and Kansas City, no less! Possible solutions could be to bring up Bobby Korecky from the Rochester, but they'll probably do that in September anyway. They could also juggle the bullpen or pitch Nathan more in the eighth inning (last night would have been a perfect opportunity to do so). Chances are that they were saving Nathan for the Yankee series unless it was a one-inning save situation, but you've gotta make hay against poor teams. The Twins couldn't do that this week, and find themselves inexplicably behind the White Sox in the standings. 

Saturday and Sunday went pretty well for our starters - Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker combined to throw 12 2/3 innings, and gave up a total of five runs (3.55 ERA) and 13 hits (16 baserunners - 1.263 WHIP) in their outings. Baker struck out seven batters and Liriano got five men out on strikes... two solid performances from guys we'll need high-quality production from the rest of the year. 

The bats got the job done for the most part as well, putting up 11 runs in the final two games of the series in support of their starters. Delmon Young blasted his fifth homer of the year, and is batting .309 with five home runs, 31 RBI and three steals since June. He had zero homers and 15 RBI in April/May. We expected more power, but his bat has given Jason Kubel and Justin Morneau a bit of relief.  

Today, the Twins get New York in a pivotal three-game series where they'll face Sidney Ponson (2.55 career ERA vs. Minnesota) tonight, 16-game winner Mike Mussina Tuesday and young gun Dan Giese in Wednesday's noon game. Minnesota will counter with Glen Perkins tonight, Nick Blackburn Tuesday and Kevin Slowey Wednesday. Should be an enjoyable series, and I'll be there on Wednesday... maybe I'll ya'll there. 

Minor League Notes:  

• The major offensive threats for Rochester have kept at it, as Luke Hughes (2-for-4) bombed his second home run in four games last night for the Red Wings. Alejandro Machado singled in four at bats and now has a 19-game hit steak, while Jason Pridie continues to streak in August - he's batting .462 this month.
• In two games over the weekend, New Britain 2B Brian Dinkelman scorched five hits in eight at bats to raise his average to .288 in 32 games as a Rock Cat. He batted .293 in 63 games at Fort Myers earlier this season, so it's an encouraging sign that he's handling the next level just as well. 
• Elizabethton CF Evan Bigley went 4-for-5 yesterday with two RBI, and raised his average to .316 on the year. Teammate SP Curtis Leavitt struck out 10 batters over six innings, but did not factor into the decision.  

Thanks for reading, and have a great day! Enjoy the Yankees vs. Twins tonight! 

Salvage in Seattle

If anything, the Twins have to be given credit for not being fully embarrassed by the Mariners during the first half of their six-game road trip. A comforting 7-3 win yesterday can be added to Denard Span's resume, however... the guy absolutely saved the team yesterday afternoon with a three-hit game (career-high 4 RBI) along with a sweet (game-saving?) catch to rob Adrian Beltre of a seventh-inning homer. I believe the Twins would have lost the game if not for that snag. They let Seattle come back on them twice in a row - and as we know, bad things come in threes. Turns out the "threes" were Twins' runs in the eighth inning, Span's hit total and amount of runs Blackburn (9-6) allowed. 

Speaking of Nick Blackburn... another shaky start by one of our young guys vs. Seattle. He gave up nine hits and walked one man in six innings. Lucky for him, the defense put together a couple of nice double plays to get out of self-inflicted jams. We'll take this start over the first two from Perkins and Baker, but can we please get into the seventh inning without giving up six runs? It's tough to win a series when your starters allow a 7.13 ERA. We complain about the bullpen, but when we hand them this mess, there's a lot less room for error. Good lord. 

Don't look now, but Brendan Harris has a hot bat! He's 11-for-25 over his past seven games, and during that stretch has belted six doubles, one homer and driven in five RBI batting in the no. 8 spot. Best of all, he's playing a very good shortstop/third base for the Twins, and that's what he's in the lineup for. You really can't ask for anymore than Harris is giving at this point.

I have to say I was livid when I saw Joe Mauer sitting on the bench. There's no Thursday game, yet he's unable to even DH? I understand that Randy Ruiz (2-for-5) needs his at bats, but we're trying to win games here. I suppose the Twins could have been looking at Mauer's lifetime .182/.471/.273 line vs. Jerrod Washburn, but still. Get that man in the lineup.

Michael Cuddyer went 1-for-6 vs. Triple-A competition last night as he played right field and batted cleanup for the Red Wings. His rehab stint is supposed to get him around 25 at bats, so it looks as though he'll be back with the big club in the middle of next week.

Anyway, the Twins have Thursday off, which means the bullpen gets a rest after being overworked of late. Seems like the starters rarely go seven innings these days. That's never a good sign, but a series vs. Kansas City generally cures what ails. You can see them at 7:10 p.m. on FSN North... pregame starts at 7:00. Let's hope for some Blyleven expletives! 

Minor League Notes: 

• Tommy Shearn was absolutely unstoppable last night for Rochester as he threw seven scoreless innings vs. Lehigh Valley. Shearn - recently acquired from the Reds - struck out eight batters and allowed just two hits during the outing. The game only went seven innings.
• Rochester's CF Jason Pridie stole his team-leading 22nd base last night, and went 3-for-6 in the doubleheader. 
• Second baseman Brian Dinkleman led a New Britian hit parade last night, going 3-for-5 with his second homer of the season. He's swinging a hot stick of late too - batting .444 over his past seven games with two homers and five multi-hit outings.
• The Fort Myers Miracle had their game suspended due to a power outage, and they'll play it today at noon.
• CF Ben Revere has just two hits in his last 15 ABs for Beloit, dropping his average to a still-lofty .390 on the year. He did, however, steal his team-leading 35th base of the year. He ranks third in the Midwest league in base thefts in 2008. 
• The Elizabethton Twins got pounded 13-5 by Bristol last night, but OF Evan Bigley continues to make a name for himself on the team. He's hit safely in seven of the past eight games and is hitting .394 with five home runs and 13 RBI during that span. Even better is his awesome 4:4 ratio over those eight games, which flies in the face of his 28:8 ratio on the year. He's on a hot streak, and could certainly play his way to Beloit this year or next.
• Remember, if you have nothing better to do with the Twins' off day, you can always listen to a Minor League broadcast for free here! 

And just for fun, and Michael Cuddyer card trick, courtesy of YouTube.com: 

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!