A Bunch of Dogs.

P.M. Update: Carlos Quentin may be done for the year!

On a night when I couldn't have cared less whether the Twins won or lost, they played so poorly that it ruined the NFL's opening night for me. And that's hard to do, considering I have Brandon Jacobs (21 car., 116 yards) and Plaxico Burress (10 rec., 133 yards) on a few fantasy teams, and they played pretty well. What a bunch of quitters. We'll need more fight than this to overtake the White Sox, who are now 1.5 games up on our beloved baseball club.

Quick stats:

1. Minnesota pitchers tossed just 2/3 of an inning that didn't scare me.
2. Twins batters combined for just four hits against Jesse Litsch, who has a season WHIP of nearly 1.300. That means we should of at least gotten 6-8 hits over nine innings, because our hitters are relative underachievers. Four hits? Barf.
   
3. The team scored 4.71 runs per night during the 14-game road trip, but scored zero runs yesterday.
4. After notching runs vs. such prominent pitchers as John Lackey, AJ Burnett and Ervin Santana, the Twins allowed Litsch to baffle them. Unbelievable.
5. Justin Morneau and Alexi Casilla both left a total of three men on base.
   

Here's how it happened: Kevin Slowey gave up 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out three. He only gave up three runs, which - in theory - gives the team a chance to win, especially after Craig Breslow (good 1/3 inning) struck out Toronto's Joe Inglett to end the inning. Thing is, Slowey was ineffective. Ten baserunners in less than six innings? That means he got lucky, folks. But with the way he's been pitching lately, I can't be all that mad. Of course, Jesse Crain came in and gave up a homer - that's 5 ER in his past 3 2/3 IP (uh, oh). Then came the other solid 1/3 of an inning from Dennys Reyes, who got Adam Lind to ground out. From there, Bobby Korecky (3H, 1BB, 4 ER, 1/3 IP) and Phil Humber (3H, 1 ER, 2/3 IP) brought us home with an abysmal five-run eighth inning to give Toronto a comfortable 9-0 lead. Hopefully that wasn't as frustrating to read as it was to write.

Of the Twins' four hits, Denard Span accounted for half of them, including a leadoff single that was completely wasted by Casilla's follow-up double-play ball. The team didn't even manage a baserunner after the fifth inning. That's right, Jesse-freaking-Litsch retired the final 13 batters.

And with that, the 5-9 road trip comes to an end. A bitter, trying end. And the Twins return home with their tails between their legs, beaten to a pulp by a middle-of-the-road team.

But the great thing about baseball is that you move on to the next day, the next team, the next series. The team needs a clean slate and some familiar scenery. Maybe the Metrodome will cure what ails. Minnesota faces Armando Galarraga (12-4, 3.17 ERA) Friday, Justin Verlander (10-15, 4.74 ERA) Saturday and Chris Lambert (0-1, 6.75 ERA) Sunday. For the Twins, Francisco Liriano (4-3, 3.45 ERA), Scott Baker (8-4, 3.66 ERA) and Glen Perkins (12-3, 4.08 ERA) will try and keep the Tigers at bay until the bullpen collapses in eventual Twins losses. Please guys - Joe Nathan, Crain, Reyes, Bonser, Breslow, etc. - prove me wrong.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice weekend! I'll try to write once, but it's no guarantee with the first Sunday of the NFL season + another college football Saturday coming up. I'm pretty much comatose from 11 a.m. Saturday to 10 p.m. Monday every week.

Torii Claus

I give Nick Punto all the credit in the world for the bomb he smoked off Justin Speier in the top of the 12th inning last night, but Torii Hunter catches that ball 99.79 times out of 100, folks. Lemme give you a quick recap: Hunter is a seven-time Gold Glove center fielder. He had p-l-e-n-t-y of time to find the ball, get to the spot and make the grab. Yet he doesn't, and the epitome of our franchise - Nick Punto - ends up with a "triple" with nobody out. Hunter would like to wish you and yours an early, yet equally Merry Christmas. 

As you probably know, Denard Span went the other way for a single down the left field line that ended up being the game-winning hit. But that wasn't even the story of the night.

Did I mentions that Scott Baker is my freaking hero? I don't use the word "freaking" a lot in my writing (I save it for emphasis in speech), but he was dominant last night. It makes me wonder if he's once again locked in, and ready to bring his "A" game every night the rest of the season. Because in eight innings against the Anaheim Angels (best lineup in baseball), Baker was virtually untouchable. He gave up just one run - a solo shot to Mark Teixiera in the bottom of the first inning - and five hits while walking two and striking out six batters. He went toe-to-toe with a top-five AL pitcher in John Lackey, and while he didn't win the decision, he certainly didn't look out of his league. Impressive, yet somehow, not the story of the night. 

If you stayed up to watch the entire game, you know who I'm talking about. Matt Guerrier stepped onto the mound in the ninth inning, and what followed was something we hadn't seen for weeks... a full inning of scoreless work for our "setup" man. Two, actually, and it came at the perfect time. This, from a guy who had given up 14 runs over his past 6 1/3 innings (nine appearances, 19.90 ERA) and recently received four days off due to absolutely horrid pitching. I savored every pitch he threw last night, and maybe - just maybe - this road trip is what he needed to get back on track.

Of course, if you look at the appalling numbers our bats came up with, you'd probably have a big-time negative spin on last night's event. For me, good pitching was enough... there's no way we go an entire series stranding 18 base runners a game. It was disheartening to see Morneau and Casilla come up empty time and again, but I'm going to forgive and forget - we face Cy Young candidate Joe Saunders tonight, and there's no time for sulking.  

Twins Notes: With another two-hit night last night from Nick Punto, the utility infielder now has a nine-game hitting streak. What's more impressive is that he has eight multi-hit games over that span, and moved his batting average back up to .282 from .256 on August 11... Denard Span's on-base percentage finally creeped over .400 on the year last night - Carlos Gomez' remains quite a bit lower, at .287... Jesse Crain pitched a scoreless 11th inning as the bridge to Joe Nathan, who picked up his 34th save of the year... For all the talking up we did, Delmon Young's bat sure hasn't backed it up lately - he's batting .056 over his past four games (1-for-18)... Last, Matt Tolbert busted out the lumber last night with two hits in four ABs for New Britain. He's now batting .300 for the Rock Cats and will be up in 10 days or so. 

Minor League Notes: 

• Rochester's Luke Hughes lined two singles in five at bats, and Alejandro Machado boosted his batting average up over .350 with a three-hit night last night. Unfortunately, starting pitcher Tommy Shearn got destroyed for six earned runs in just five innings of work. 
• The double-A club had quite a night... four hitters (Ramos-4, Portes-3, Woodard-3, Ovalle-3) totaled 3+ hits and starter Alex Burnett threw six dominant innings, striking out 10 batters while giving up five hits and just one earned run. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day... another late-night game tonight!

KC Masterpiece?

I love barbeque as much as the next guy, but I'm hoping the Twins slow-roast the Royals this weekend. We've got Slowey (7-8, 4.21), Liriano (1-3, 7.16), Baker (7-3, 3.86) going three days in a row, and the Red Sox vs. White Sox (Sox lost last night!) series happening a little further north at U.S. Cellular. Could be an awesome weekend to be a Minnesota fan.

Kansas City is coming off a nasty pair of 8-2 losses at the hands of the Red Sox - this, after winning the series opener 4-3 on Monday. They'll toss Kyle Davies (5-2, 4.41) out there tonight, then counter Liriano with Zack Greinke (9-7, 3.93) and put Gil Meche (10-9, 4.17) on the mound Sunday. Davies hasn't generally gone deep into games, but isn't allowing much of late - the guy hasn't allowed more than three runs in over a month. Meche and Greinke are probably the most underrated one-two punch in baseball, and have combined for a 3.69 ERA and a 9 k/9 IP ratio over their past 12 (combined) starts. Greinke got beat up pretty badly by Detroit and Chicago a couple of weeks ago (12.00 ERA during those two), but Meche has extremely reliable since early June.

The Royals' bats have come alive too - they're hitting an incredible .310/.357/.457 as a team over the past six games. On the year, Kansas City's line is .263/.317/.392, so yeah, they're hot. DH Billy Butler and 3B Alex Gordon have led the charge, so watch out for them this weekend. 

KC has a pretty young team, but they're good enough at times to knock unsuspecting opposition from their high horse. Luckily, the Twins lost two of three in Seattle, which probably knocked the pride out of them.

Other Twins tidbits to note: Denard Span is batting .400 with a homer and five RBI in his past five games... since being dropped to the no. 9 spot in the batting order, Carlos Gomez has been quite productive, batting .371 to raise his AVG and OBP nine points apiece... conversely, the speedy Gomez hasn't stolen a base since June 30, a span of 28 games... Michael Cuddyer pounded two hits, both doubles, for Class AAA Rochester last night in the third game of his rehab stint... During the Cleveland series on July 25-27, Brian Buscher played just one game, going 3-for-5 with a homer. Since that game, he's gone 3-for-20 with three RBI in six games... Adam Everett may possibly be the worst offensive player in baseball.

Minor League Notes: 

• It was a HUGE night for Rochester's offense on Thursday, and Garrett Jones (2-for-5, homer, 4 RBI)/Luke Hughes (3-for-4, homer, 2 RBI) take top honors. It marked Hughes' first Triple-A dinger in eight games with the team.
• Well... maybe SS/2B Alejandro Machado had the best game of the night for Rochester - he went 4-for-4 to raise his batting average to .366 on the year (31 games). As a matter of fact, Machado has been scorching hot (.426) during his current 16-game hitting streak. What's even more impressive is that Machado has finally battled back from a torn rotator cuff injury that cost him all of 2007. He could definitely be a call up in September if he continues his stellar play at the dish and in the field. I think we all know how bad the bats are in our middle infield. There's no real power here, but the guy can get on base.
• SP Cole Devries pitched five scoreless innings to earn his second win in a row for Fort Myers. 
• 1B Rene Leveret bashed his second home run as a Beloit Snapper last night, and is hitting .424 in his past nine games. He's still striking out way too much though - he's got a 30:10 K/BB ratio. Ugly.
• There's no doubt in my mind that Mike McCardell is ready for the next level. He struck out seven batters in eight innings of work last night to bump his record to 8-3 on the year. McCardell gave up two runs on five hits and a walk. 
• SP Bobby Lanigan registered his second straight strong outing for Elizabethton last night, going eight innings and allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out five and won his third straight decision. 

Thanks for reading! Have an amazing Friday!

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! 

"Livan" the rotation?

So I sat in the "Family Section" last night at the Twins game and watched as Livan Hernandez threw nearly 80 pitches in four innings, essentially blowing one of the biggest games of the season so far. He didn't even give them a chance to win. From my lofty perch in section 216, I could see that both he and the fans have had just about enough of this nonsense. The question is whether the management feels the same way. I never dreamed I'd be pining for Kyle Lohse over this guy. 

Anyway, the Twins dropped last night's game 8-3 in front of a crowd of over 42,000 paying customers. The White Sox fans got their money's worth, but we got hosed. Denard Span looked good leading off again with a couple of hits, and both Morneau and Delmon Young were good for RBI doubles. Thing is, when Livan is pitching, you need more. And that's a problem. Oh, and the White Sox were close to locking up Ken Griffey Jr. last night too, so that's great.

Speaking of problems, I decided to rank them last night because I was so frustrated. 

1. Livan Hernandez - Everything about him makes me want to punch a wall.
2. Third Base - Buscher is cool and all, but we think we can contend for a division with the guy? Really? We need a real hitter in this spot.
3. Bullpen - I'm not sold on our relief situation, but it's not shockingly terrible, so it gets ranked #3.
4. Second base/Shortstop - When Brendan Harris and Nick Punto take the field, my stomach turns. Defensively, they're fine, but looking at Punto in the no. 2 slot is maddening. 

If I keep talking about this stuff, I'm going to go berserk, so let's talk trade... as of 9:35 a.m. CST. Stay up-to-date on all rumors here. 

• The Twins are in the market for a second baseman, and have been talking to KC and Baltimore about Mark Grudzielanek and Brian Roberts, respectively. Word is that Roberts is basically untouchable. 
• The Mariners want Denard Span or one of our "Radke Clones" - Perkins, Baker, Slowey or Blackburn - for Beltre. Sounds like the Twins don't wanna bite. I'm a little miffed about their whiny attitude about moving pitchers in light of our terrible 3B situation, but maybe they'll budge before the end of the day.
• Boof Bonser is being "dangled" (and I use that term VERY loosely) along with Craig Monroe. We'll see if the Rangers or Tampa Bay Rays try to acquire one of them today. 
• Best of all, it looks like Liriano could be coming up in a matter of days.

Minor League Notes: 

• The Rochester Red Wings pounded Pawtucket 8-3 last night, and RF Garrett Jones was a big part of the scoring surge as he bombed his 14th homer of the year. Jones is riding an eight game hitting streak right now, and has batted .419 during that stretch with two bombs and 10 RBI. 
• Rock Cats Luke Hughes, Daniel Valencia and Steven Tolleson each had multi-hit games last night in New Britain's win. Hughes has now hit safely in seven straight games, and looks locked once again after some injury problems earlier in the year. Valencia smashed his second home run in seven days, and is starting to look very comfortable in double-A ball. 
• Fort Myers RF Eli Tintor just keeps on hitting... he went 2-for-5 with two singles, and his streak is now at 13 games. 
• Daniel Osterbrock now has two ridiculous starts in a row for Elizabethton (Twins Rookie team), as he once again struck out 12 Greeneville batters last night. This time, he gave up three runs on six hits instead of shutting them out, but still managed to pick up his fourth win of the season. 

Thanks so much for reading, and enjoy your (hopefully) trade-filled day!

Bruised Pride, Backsides

Denard Span and Carlos Gomez are equally aggressive outfielders, and last night their zealous play netted them some minor, yet impactful injuries. For all the hoopla surrounding Gomez's "carting" off the field on a stretcher, he was released from the hospital last night with a sore lower back. He figures to miss a few games, then possibly come back during the White Sox series. Even better, Span's injury didn't even cause him to miss playing time.


Leading off last night, Span went 3-for-4 vs. Cliff Lee, which is no easy task. It's becoming more and more apparent that this should have been the move all along. He has a better feel for the strike zone and generally takes better at-bats as a result. Being that Span in CF is basically a lateral move, don't be surprised to watch Gomez lose tons of playing time when Michael Cuddyer gets back. He's earned it.

Livan Hernandez looked horrible to start the game, giving up five runs and six hits in just two innings. Then a funny thing happened: he settled down for six more scoreless innings as the team's rally fell short in the ninth. In fact, Hernandez allowed only six more hits and zero runs during the complete-game, 119-pitch start. While the loss hurt, it was nice to see the bullpen get another day off - that's two in a row now with the Thursday day off. I suppose this is why they brought Livan in... eat innings.

Tonight it's Scott Baker vs. Fausto Carmona at 6:05 this evening, and it's the team's best chance to win since Texas made the trip up to Minneapolis last weekend. Hopefully Baker is up to the task.

In addition, news came out that Francisco Liriano will make his scheduled Triple-A start on Sunday. Maybe the call-up is coming Monday...

Notes:

• 3B Daniel Valencia continues to hit well for New Britian (AA), as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI. He's batting .393 over his past seven games and looks to be hitting his stride after a promotion to Double-A earlier this year.
• SP Brian Duensing isn't doing anything to hasten his big league call-up from Rochester - the 25-year-old lefty gave up 10 hits (for the second game in a row) and five earned runs in 61/3 innings last night. Not a pretty outing.
  

Thanks for reading!