Month: July 2012

The last game before the All Star break is finally here. Let’s see if Cole DeVries can keep the game close and whether our guys can score some runs off of Roy Oswalt and the Rangers’ defense.

extra inning losses are ALWAYS painful.. but this was especially torturous because Cole DeVries had pitched a BEAUTIFUL game and left the field in the 7th with a shutout lead against a seriously powerful lineup. Even with a 45 minute rain delay in the middle! and then, it didn’t go well for Perkins at all.. so we had to play 4 more innings until things really didn’t go well for Swarzak.. yeah, it wasn’t a lot of fun to watch for the most part. At least now there is a little bit of vacation time for players – oh yeah AND fans! It’s a good time to let your mind wander to the better memories or thoughts you have of baseball for awhile.

However, lest you think Twins fans are insane for watching this team play all the way through marathon games.. I thought I would link you to a little video of the start of the rain delay – trust me, it’s worth at least 3 innings of baseball! LOL

See you after the All-Star Break!

I find myself having a SLIGHT advantage over most Twins fans tonight since we have a pitcher making his Twins debut tonight. I actually saw Deduno pitch at a B game in ST while on my honeymoon. However, that advantage is extremely slight because I can remember almost NOTHING about his outing. He didn’t suck but he wasn’t really out there a very long time – I think they went through something like 7 pitchers in that game…  At any rate, I’m kind of looking forward to seeing if I remember him when he’s out there.

Of course, I won’t get to see much of today’s game since I’ll most likely be either swimming with a 1 yo or fishing with a 3 yo.. fun times. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to listen to parts of the game on the radio.. *cross your fingers* Another win would be FANTASTIC.

Another game, another boatload of missed opportunities. From the first inning through the 10th, our guys had runners in position to score but found a number of different ways to avoid doing so. The result is another big fat loss. – JC

Obligatory weather announcement: once again, it rained in Detroit this morning but I think it kept the temperature in a reasonable range. Unfortunately, it’s warming up fast. It could make a pretty uncomfortable day for the boys though. They’ve lucked out the last couple days temp wise just waiting for the rain delays. They should have a couple hours of clear weather but the chance of more pop-up thunderstorms is definitely high. Temps are supposed to max out in the low 90’s which is still better than here at TF.

But since it looks like everything is going to start on time.. here’s what we have for the afternoon. I’m hoping for more Twins offense than last night because, even though we have a pitcher that I trust pretty well, that does seem to be the thing that wins games.. As Brian Duensing announced on Twitter this morning, it would be great to take this series. Interestingly enough, I think we are doing this a little backwards with Detroit this year – they won all three games in Minnesota & one in Detroit and we’ve taken four so far in MI (if my math is right which is questionable). I would really love to keep the Detroit balance in our favor!

[edit] and of course I’m wrong again and we start THIS game with a rain delay. Again, let’s hope it keeps the temps under control and they have clear sailing once the game starts up.

[edit#2] if you’re keeping an eye on things, our favorite Twins unofficial forecaster, @Bennyc50, thinks the game will be ready to go about 2:30 or so Central time… let’s see how close he gets!

[edit#3] and the official announcement from the Detroit weather people is for 1:25 central. I think that is doable.

After yet another long rain delay, we finally got the game underway about 1:30. It was another really great outing from Scott Diamond. It’s really a shame we just couldn’t get the offense together to back him up. And I’ll give the Twins credit for at least giving it a lot of effort. There was a lot of energy and attempts on the base paths that simply didn’t go our way and some that did. In the end, it was the HRs that got to us again – one against Robertson in the 8th & one against Swarzak. For all the circus defense that we are able to take advantage of on a regular basis, this is still a ridiculously potent offense.

We just got beat today in the final innings.. Sorry Scotty, you worked hard.

Today’s big news is that Zach Parise and Ryan Suter have signed with the MN Wild in a huge shocker to the NHL Hockey world!!

oh wait… baseball blog.. right. summer = baseball season. right.

Today’s big news is that the Twins have optioned Nick Blackburn down to AAA and selected the contract of Casey Fien to come up and join the bullpen. I’m not sure what that means the starting rotation will be but that tells me that, even after tonight, Duensing is likely to stay a starter for now. Any other theories?

Raise your hand if you thought we’d be on game three of this series with two wins under our belt. Yeah, me neither.

I don’t know how we got here but I will say that offense has been huge (which makes a lot of sense) and the bullpen has been ridiculously good. Thank god because the starting pitching has still not been great. Let’s hope Duensing can really do something tonight against this lineup because I would really like to see what a lefty with good stuff can do – which means he needs to have good stuff.

Just so everyone knows but I’m sure the announcers will talk about this to death: it’s 103 degrees in Detroit right now.. and more possible storms on the way which I’m sure all of Detroit will appreciate if it brings down the temps at all. The boys wouldn’t have any relief if they were playing at Target Field either – hit 101 here at my house today so .. yeah, it’s just hot on America’s birthday this year. Good luck to ALL the players and fans and I hope they stay hydrated and healthy out there!

[edit] There is a delay to the start of the game because the previously mentioned storms have just hit.. the good news is that it means that the boys will have lower temps to play in.. the better news is that at least this isn’t a west coast game…

Let’s be honest, we didn’t really EXPECT to beat Justin Verlander, did we? So the fact that the Twins lost tonight hardly comes as a surprise. Weather caused the start of the game to be postponed, but not nearly long enough.

The GameChat was looking for silver linings toward the end of this contest. There weren’t many. Chris Parmelee did take a Verlander pitch for a major ride, so that was nice to see. Brian Duensing was hit in the leg by a batted ball, but the X-rays were negative, so I suppose that’s good news, too. Unfortunately Saturday’s scheduled starting pitcher, Cole DeVries had to make a relief appearance, so now both Saturday’s and Sunday’s starting pitcher slots are, as they say, “TBA”.

Fun times.

– JC