No support for Perkins

I’m disappointed today. Disappointed that the Twins could squander a Glen Perkins gem. Disappointed that Delmon Young has only seven at bats in four games, and – even worse – zero hits. Disappointed that our supposed eighth-inning guy Luis Ayala has already given up two runs in three outings. And I’m disappointed that, after absolutely crushing the competition with runners on base in 2008, we left FOURTEEN (14, yup) guys on the basepaths to end an inning. Worst of all, we did it against Jarrod Washed-Up (Washburn). Makes me cry bitter tears.

I’ll tell you what – writing about this stuff really does help though. I get frustrated listening to/watching games, and this is how I blow off the steam. So thanks for making it a worthwhile venture by reading my opinions every once in awhile. ☺

Anyway, there’s more to be ticked-off about, namely that our no. 1 (Span), no. 2 (Casilla) and no. 3 hitters (Cuddyer) combined to hit 0-for-11, but thankfully Cuddyer drew a walk to save the crew from getting skunked. Against Washburn, a guy who sported a 4.70 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and went 5-14 in 2008. I don’t get it. Except for the fact that Washburn, that bum, has a career 2.76 ERA at the Dome. Maybe we should have tried to sign him.

The news wasn’t all bad yesterday, no matter how much I try to spin it that way. Glen Perkins really did a masterful job against everyone but Adrian Beltre, who ended up hitting 6-for-13 this series with two walks in the win. Perkins gave up just one early run and managed to keep the baserunners to a minimum after an excruciatingly eventful first frame. Gotta respect the guy’s will to battle back after a rough start. Maybe it’s Perkins, not Kevin Slowey, who finds a little extra mojo this season and becomes our reliable no. 3 arm in the rotation.

Now it’s off to Chicago, the site of Twins despair (2-8) last season. We’ll run R.A. Dickey out to the mound tonight against Jose Contreres, then watch Francisco Liriano do battle versus Bartolo Colón Saturday. On Sunday, Nick Blackburn matches up against Mark Buehrle in the third game of the series. I’m glad to miss Danks and Floyd, but we’ll get a couple doses of them later this year.

Notes:

• The Rochester Red Wings got underway Thursday and saw Luke Hughes, Dustin Martin, Trevor Plouffe and David Winfree smack homers in the opener. Nothin’ like a few fireworks!
• Left-fielder Matt Moses bashed a bomb for the Double-A Rock Cats Thursday in the team’s second game of the season, and it’s good to see him get rolling right away. In addition, Anthony Slama (one of my favorites) struck out three batters in a relief appearance yesterday, and remains one of the top bullpen arms in the minor leagues. Hopefully he’ll get more pub this season.
  

Twins play tonight at 7:11 p.m. vs. Chicago… beat those pale hose down!

Everything is Terrible, Thanks

There are some losses that you can get over, and then some you just can't. The Twins' loss last night falls under category #2, if only because they're completely unreliable lately. It's obvious that Toronto is a good team in one of baseball's better divisions, but blowing a 5-1 lead after four innings is pretty awful. Our pitching is good enough to put away middling teams, and they didn't deliver last night. Glen Perkins didn't help himself at all, giving up four runs in five innings and demanding that the bullpen pitch the rest of the game, but still... you've got to keep it together for 5-6 innings to have a chance. Boof Bonser and Matt Guerrier took steps backward, Bonser giving up the go-ahead two-run shot in the sixth inning, while Guerrier let in an insurance run later in the game. The worst part is that the White Sox lost to the Indians again and are doing the best they can to hand us the division lead. Minnesota continues in its stern refusal. (If you're getting this blog in your email, it's going to cut off here... simply click this link and read the rest!)

The hitting was pretty decent... I mean, they put up five runs, which is generally enough to win. No fault there - everyone except Randy Ruiz and the struggling 3B platoon got a hit, and you can't really ask for much more. Clamoring for increased scoring is just greed and grasping for straws.

The most alarming thing about this outing is that Perkins, who has a season BAA vs. righties of .272 vs a .349 mark vs. righties, allowed a righty-dominated lineup to tune him up. Perkins gave up 10 hits and a walk in just five innings. What's worse, he allowed SEVEN line drive hits, which ties his highest mark of the year. People were smoking the ball last night, and Perkins didn't have a chance. Good news though - Perkins' season stats don't support this horrible trip to the mound, so hopefully it's just a bad game, not fatigue.

Tonight, Toronto's A.J. Burnett will try to dazzle Minnesota hitters while Nick Blackburn tries to hold off a hot Toronto lineup. I'll trudge my way over to the television yet again, and I'm hoping for better things...

Other Stuff: Alex Rios broke out of a slump by pounding a home run as part of a two-hit night for Toronto... Twins slugger Justin Morneau is quickly closing on Texas OF Josh Hamilton for the RBI lead. Hamilton has 121 while Morneauzie has 109 - Hamilton led by over 30 at the all-star break. Is the MVP a possibility?... After throwing a scoreless inning in his first game with the Twins, reliever Eddie Guardado has given up four earned runs in 1 1/3 innings since. Yikes.

Thanks for reading... Go TWINS!!!

Finally, a fresh post.

Sorry for the delay... being that this isn't an official blog, and I'm a regular guy sort of messing around, I'm prone to writer's block and apathy. And inactivity due to disgust at my favorite team's performance.

So I'm relieved. The Twins, after blowing four straight games they easily could have one, finally pulled a victory out of thin air Wednesday. It was a good win, a tough win. Starter Glen Perkins wasn't all 

that great on the mound, but then again, he didn't have to be spectacular vs. a very vulnerable Ryan Feierabend/Mariners bullpen. The Minnesota bats teed off for six runs on 14 hits, and kept the pressure on until scratching for three eighth-inning runs, and eventually the win. On the heels of an ugly stretch of games, the Twins bounced back, and that's all you can ask for. The team got lucky that Chicago faltered a bit against Baltimore, and now goes head-to-head vs. the Red Sox this weekend. Now let's see if Minnesota can make up ground against another beatable team in Oakland. 

Mariner Series Notes: DH Randy Ruiz hit 4-for-11 with his first MLB homer during the series, and is batting .340 in 47 at bats since his call up... Despite going 5-for-14 (and a current four-game hit streak) in the Seattle series, Justin Morneau failed to notch an RBI, leaving five men on base... Minnesota is 5-4 against the Mariners this season, a team that has the worst record in the American League...  Twins starters threw 19 2/3 innings during the series and had a decent 3.66 ERA, 1.47 WHIP. The problem is, they only struck out 4.11 batters per nine innings, which leads to a ton of trouble when  you allow that many baserunners... After scuffling through the entire month of August, reliever Matt Guerrier now has 4 1/3 scoreless inning streak over his past four appearances. Hooooorrrray Matt!

Oakland Series Preview: Let me just start by saying I hate Oakland. Really. Maybe it's because they have a similar mindset to the Twins, but they just seem like a bunch of A-holes. Led by Frank Thomas, of course. And I hate that they're using all left-handed pitchers, too. That's bush league.

The first game of the series is tonight at 9:05, and the Twins will run Nick Blackburn (9-8, 3.78 ERA) out there to face Dana Eveland (8-8, 4.30 ERA). Friday night, Kevin Slowey (10-8, 3.74) will try to continue his four-game "two runs or less" streak against a very hittable Dan L. Meyer (0-2, 5.95 ERA). The Saturday night 8:05 p.m. "prime time match up" will feature Francisco Liriano (4-3, 3.83 ERA) and Dallas Braden (4-3, 4.13 ERA), who squared off in the Metrodome last week. Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m., Scott Baker (7-4, 3.75) will try to get back into the win column, but he'll have to do it against Greg Smith (6-13, 3.90 ERA). Here's hoping for the first road sweep since interleague play! 

Minor League Notes: 

• Rochester (AAA) starter Phil Humber put up another excellent start, going seven innings and allowing just two runs last night. Aside from one meltdown on August 7, Humber has pitched like a completely different person since mid-July, and looks ready for major-league competition. We'll see if he's asked up next week. 
  
• Last, Matt Tolbert hasn't looked great in his minor league rehab assignment, going just 1-for his past -11 at bats and batting .265 over his past ten games. However, he's still scheduled to return to the big leagues in September. 

Thanks for reading, and I'll be sure to post something after the game tonight! 

Perk's Peak

In just seven percent of their games this year before the Angels series - or nine out of 126 contests - Twins starters have lasted eight or more innings. Now, in the most important series of the year to date (vs. the team with the best record in baseball, no less), Scott Baker and Glen Perkins go eight innings apiece in back-to-back wins. If that's not good timing for 8+ inning starts 10 and 11, I don't know what is. Perkins, as he always does, started batters of with first-pitch strikes, then simply let them put the ball in play in the manner he deemed fit. Soft grounders, lazy flies and pop ups were king. Conversely, Friday's opposing starter Joe Saunders (who is very similar to Perkins) has shut teams down time and time again en route to a team-high 14 wins. It's just that the batted balls fell in for the Twins.

One of those "batted balls" was Delmon Young's ninth home run - a two-run job - of the season that gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Later, Denard Span would tack on a three-run shot - his third of the season - to push the lead to an insurmountable 9-0 advantage in the eighth inning.

I've noticed that the Twins are hitting the longball a little more frequently than earlier in the year... lo' and behold, it wasn't a figment of my imagination.

Duration	HRs per game	Runs per game
August	0.85	5.63
Pre All-Star Break	0.68	4.86

As you can see, they've cranked up the juice a bit lately. It's funny though - the Twins are scratching tooth & nail for every homer they get, while the White Sox have 41 homers in 20 August games. Incredible. Oh, and speaking of the White Sox, they got ripped by Tampa Bay last night 9-4, and the Twins' win pushed them a 1/2-game ahead in the standings.

Tonight, we'll face a guy we should pummel in Jon Garland... he'll take the mound vs. Minnesota's Nick Blackburn, who tossed eight excellent innings vs. Oakland in a loss Monday. Hopefully he can keep the good times rollin', but I'm not convinced we can keep this powerful Angels lineup in check for much longer. Check it out at 8:05 tonight!

Twins Notes: SS Matt Tolbert went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in his fourth rehab start at Triple-A Rochester. He's been decidedly unimpressive ... Dennys Reyes pitched the ninth inning in relief of Perkins last night, and the non-closer bullpen arms now have 10 straight scoreless innings (three games) after posting an awful 4.64 ERA over the past 30 days.

Minor League Notes:

• Looks like Phil Humber is right as rain after struggling through the first half of the season. Against one of the best-hitting Triple-A teams around - the Pawtucket Red Sox - Humber pitched a complete-game, one run masterpiece. Humber gave up just one run on five hits while striking out eight batters. In addition, Humber is now 5-1 with a 2.61 ERA, 0.828 WHIP and 8.75 k/9 IP since coming back into the rotation on July 23.
• New Britain right fielder David Winfree blasted his 19th homer (T-4, Eastern League) of the season last night, and now has 87 RBI (no. 3, Eastern League) on the season.
  

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day!

Fooled by Raul

First of all, I was physically sick the past couple of days - Monday it was my stomach, and Tuesday it was my entire body going into shock after the late-night collapse the Twins dropped on us. Then again last night... and I can't stay quiet any longer.

Raul Ibanez is absolutely killing the Twins so far in this three-game series. He's gone 6-for-10 with two home runs and 11 RBI. That's right, ELEVEN RBI, my friends. And Matt Guerrier, who is simply not cut out for the set up role, has now given up eight runs in his past five outings. That's a sparkling 19.64 ERA over that stretch (3 2/3 IP). And it's not like the starting pitching has been any good either - Scott Baker(what happened?) and Glen Perkins combined to pitch 11 2/3 innings, giving up 11 runs on 21 hits and three walks. What the hell happened to our pitching on the trip out West? Add to it the fact that our bullpen has a four-run differential in its home/road ERA splits, and this seemingly powder-puff road trip to Seattle and KC could turn out disastrous. 

The good news/silver lining in all of this is that the Twins' bats have actually been pretty good, providing 13 combined runs of support in the two losses. On Monday, J-Mo and Mauer each collected two hits, and Mike Lamb (3-for-6 in the series) even drove in a run. Tuesday was Kubel day, as Jason bashed his 15th and 16th homers of the season. Too bad it wasn't enough... it's like Guerrier is trying to keep it close or something. Unbelievable.

Nick Blackburn (8-6, 3.56 ERA) will try to salvage the Seattle series at 3:40 CST today... it's nice to have a day game after two late finishes. Blackburn has been the best starter of late, with a 2.21 ERA and sub 1.000 WHIP over his past six starts (including the NYY debacle!). He's probably our best chance outside of Liriano to stop the bleeding, and he'll face Jerrod Washburn (5-10, 4.77 ERA), who's been excellent in his own right lately before getting absolutely bombed for six runs and 13 combined base runners on August 1. I'll be listening at work... hope you all enjoy the game!

Last, it looks like Michael Cuddyer is going to be back next week (August 10 is likely) after a quick rehab stint in Rochester! Good news all around.

Let's talk Minor Leagues... it's been too long!

• Daniel Valencia has kept hitting for AA New Britain, stroking three multi-hit games in his past four appearances - 7-for-18 (.388) over that period.
• Also in New Britain, David Winfree has turned up the heat of late, batting .389 over his past 10 games, bucking the trend of his .239 season average. He's got eight RBI, a homer and four multi-hit games during this productive streak.
• Looks like Jeff Manship is going to be chilling in Double-A for the rest of this season. He gave up another four runs on 10 hits with just two strikeouts last night for the Rock Cats. This, coming off a solid performance (6 IP, ER) in his last start.
• It's nice to see a catcher with power, and Wilson Ramos (A-Fort Myers) flashed the bat again Monday night, hammering his 12th home run of the season.
• Luke Hughes is batting .300 in 20 Triple-A at bats so far, and seems to be holding his own with two multi-hit games over his past four starts.
• Jason Pridie is officially on fire in Rochester as he now has an 11-game hit streak where he's batted .396 and driven in nine runs as the leadoff man. He stole his 20th and 21st bases over that stretch as well, and is looking like a sure-bet to be called up Sept. 1. 
• Another recent call up to Triple-A, Anthony Swarzak, had himself a GREAT time Monday night, pitching seven solid innings to earn his second win with Rochester. Swarzak gave up just two runs and scattered eight hits and a walk while striking out five. That's now a 2.25 ERA over his first two starts... and the Twins keep pumping out pitching prospects...
• With five homers over his past 10 games and a current .326/.387.582 hitting line for Elizabethton so far this season (44 games), it's pretty obvious that Jonathan Waltenbury is going to get a promotion at some point. He's been tearing up the league and pounded out two home runs last night, his seventh and eighth on the season.
• Last, Cole Devries bounced back in a big way for Fort Myers this past Saturday, going six innings and striking out nine batters for his eighth win of the year. Devries allowed eight base runners and gave up two runs, but it was a far cry from his previous outing where he let five men cross the plate.

Thanks for reading - have a great day!

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