"like butterflies with hiccups"
Goodness there are a lot of familiar faces wearing the wrong colors tonight.. it’s going to be fun to see how this series goes!
| Minnesota | @ | Colorado |
| Dozier, 2B | Blackmon, LF | |
| Suzuki, K, C | Stubbs, CF | |
| Morales, K, 1B | Gonzalez, C, RF | |
| Plouffe, 3B | Tulowitzki, SS | |
| Arcia, O, RF | Morneau, 1B | |
| Nunez, LF | Arenado, 3B | |
| Escobar, E, SS | Rosario, W, C | |
| Fuld, CF | LeMahieu, 2B | |
| Johnson, K, P | De La Rosa, J, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Minnesota | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Colorado | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 6 | 11 | 0 |
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Tonight could be interesting for the Mariners – their pitching is going to have to pull a pretty heavy load tonight. Let’s see if our boys can do their job and get the hits we need to give the new kid some support. He did a great job the last time – let’s see if he can’t pull it off again!
| Minnesota | @ | Seattle |
| Dozier, 2B | Chavez, En, LF | |
| Suzuki, K, C | Jones, J, CF | |
| Parmelee, 1B | Cano, 2B | |
| Morales, K, DH | Seager, 3B | |
| Willingham, LF | Hart, DH | |
| Arcia, O, RF | Morrison, 1B | |
| Plouffe, 3B | Saunders, M, RF | |
| Escobar, E, SS | Zunino, C | |
| Fuld, CF | Bloomquist, SS | |
| Pino, P | Wilhelmsen, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| Seattle | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1 |
No, I didn’t make it the end of the game. I’m getting old; I am a wuss; I get up too early; whatever excuse works for you, the fact is that I decided sleep was more important than this game.
However, we WON and I think I saw all the important stuff because not much changed after the 7th inning. Pino continues to do a good job if not eye-broadeningly spectacular (pretty sure I just made up that term). Could the team use that spark if he was? yes. Do I need it to have confidence in his ability? no. I like that he is continuing to build on previous experience and do well when he’s out there. He’ll go deeper into games as he becomes more efficient with his pitches in each at bat. But he’s doing well in my book.
Last night’s win seems to fall on the shoulders of Kendrys Morales who is stepping up his game the way we had hoped he would be able to! It’s still in the early stages of the performance ability he likely expects of himself in this return to baseball but that boy can sure hit the ball and I hope to see a LOT more like it. For that, he is the BOD!
I think I like the idea of a win streak.. but yeah, gotta admit that staying up late for the end of these games when my mornings are earlier than ever? yeah, that’s rough. But I like seeing a winning boxscore regardless. Make it happen boys!
| Minnesota | @ | Seattle |
| Dozier, 2B | Chavez, En, LF | |
| Nunez, SS | Jones, J, CF | |
| Plouffe, 3B | Cano, 2B | |
| Morales, K, DH | Seager, 3B | |
| Willingham, LF | Morrison, 1B | |
| Arcia, O, RF | Hart, DH | |
| Suzuki, K, C | Saunders, M, RF | |
| Colabello, 1B | Zunino, C | |
| Fuld, CF | Miller, B, SS | |
| Gibson, P | Elias, P |
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Nice win for our guys. Jumped on the M’s right from the beginning and didn’t let up.
Good to see Morales do some damage in front of a crowd that apparently isn’t shy about booing the former Mariner.
Kyle Gibson perhaps wasn’t as dominant as it may have appeared, but you can’t do a lot better than not allowing opponents to score. For that, he’s our BOD.
The merry-go-round that is a minor league team’s roster continued to spin over the weekend in Cedar Rapids as the Kernels saw two pitchers promoted to high-A Fort Myers, one infielder put on the 7-Day Disabled list and two new pitchers arrive from Elizabethton.
The new pitchers, right handed starting pitcher Chih-Wei Hu and righty bullpen arm Jake Reed, were in uniform for Tuesday night’s series opener with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, won by the Kernels, 15-5.
The two will replace starter Ethan Mildren and co-closer Todd Van Steensel on the Kernels’ pitching staff.
Mildren has been dominant through his most recent pair of starts, throwing seven shutout innings against Clinton on June 29 and duplicating that feat on Independence Day against Beloit. He allowed just seven hits and three walks over that 14-inning stretch.
Van Steensel had not been charged with allowing a run, earned or otherwise, in his last seven appearances for Cedar Rapids. Overall, he put up a 1.30 ERA covering 34.2 innings of work in 23 appearances in a Kernels uniform.
If early impressions mean anything, Reed will be a capable replacement for Van Steensel in the Kernels bullpen.
The 21-year old righty, drafted in the 5th round out of the University of Oregon last month, threw nothing but shutout innings for the E-Twins in his first six innings of work this season. He struck out eight batters and held opponents to a .053 batting average.against him.
That scoreless streak, however, came to an end in Reed’s first appearance in a Cedar Rapids uniform on Tuesday night. Reed gave up one unearned run in an inning of work on Tuesday night when the first batter he faced reached on a two-base error and came around to score on a subsequent single.
Reed recorded his first strikeout as a Kernel to finish the eighth inning.
The man with the biggest shoes to fill with the Kernels, perhaps, will be Hu.
Cedar Rapids has struggled to find consistency from their rotation and Mildren was just beginning to provide much needed leadership in that area.
Hu will get Mildren’s spot in the rotation and should get his first start for the Kernels on Thursday against the Rattlers, in front of the home crowd.
Like Reed, Hu was off to a strong start for Elizabethton.
The Taichung, Taiwan, native had time to make just three starts for the E-Twins before being promoted. He was 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA. He threw six shutout innings of two-hit baseball in his last start, striking out nine batters in the process.
After watching Hu throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga pronounced the 20-year old Hu, “ready to go.”
“His fastball moves a lot and his slider’s got good rotation,” Arteaga added. “He really competes, according to the reports we got.”
The Kernels played Tuesday a man short on their roster as shortstop Engelb Vielma has been placed on the 7-day DL with concussion symptoms and no corresponding roster move was immediately announced.
Manager Jake Mauer indicated to media after the game that infielder Logan Wade would be re-activated from the DL on Wednesday to replace Vielma. – JC
ah, West Coast baseball… the bane of the working mid-westerner’s existence. Oh well. I guess there is still something to look forward to…
Maybe the Twins can figure out how to win a game for you since they seem to be lacking in other motivation.
Congrats to Brian Dozier on getting into the Homerun Derby… I’m sure I’m not the only one giggling but I’m sure he’ll have a fantastic time regardless and have a whole heck of lot less pressure on him due to lower expectations. Have FUN Bull Dozer!
| Minnesota | @ | Seattle |
| Dozier, 2B | Saunders, M, RF | |
| Nunez, 3B | Jones, J, CF | |
| Suzuki, K, C | Cano, 2B | |
| Morales, K, DH | Seager, 3B | |
| Willingham, LF | Morrison, 1B | |
| Arcia, O, RF | Hart, DH | |
| Colabello, 1B | Ackley, LF | |
| Escobar, E, SS | Zunino, C | |
| Fuld, CF | Miller, B, SS | |
| Hughes, P, P | Young, Cr, P |
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Well the Twins did, indeed, come through with one heck of a performance for my birthday!
Sam Fuld was 3 for 3, including his first home run in a Twins uniform, and Casey Fien & Glen Perkins combined for 1.2 innings of shutout relief work.
But 7.1 innings of 8-hit, 8-K work from a starting pitcher is something to really celebrate and that earns Phil Hughes our BOD award.
Hopefully, our guys won’t wait all the way until my next birthday before doing this kind of thing again. – JC
Another late night series, as the Twins visit the Mariners.
Twins have had almost no luck vs Iwakuma in the past, but hey, you never know, right?
A bit late getting the chat up. Sorry about that.
| Minnesota | Seattle | |
| Dozier, 2B | Saunders, M, RF | |
| Escobar, E, SS | Jones, J, CF | |
| Plouffe, 3B | Cano, 2B | |
| Morales, K, 1B | Hart, DH | |
| Willingham, LF | Seager, 3B | |
| Arcia, O, RF | Morrison, 1B | |
| Colabello, DH | Zunino, C | |
| Fuld, CF | Ackley, LF | |
| Fryer, C | Miller, B, SS | |
| Correia, P | Iwakuma, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Seattle | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 2 | 5 | 1 |
When Kevin Correia gives you a start like that, you really need to take advantage of it and the Twins did not do that. Not sure what it is about Iwakuma that makes him totally unhittable by anyone in a Twins uniform.
Today isn’t quite hot yet but it’s soooo humid and the heat is coming. Going to be tropical at Target Field today so let’s hope Nolasco can get his butt in gear today and keep things held down.. too much running around that field is going to add up for everyone.
| NY Yankees | @ | Minnesota |
| Gardner, B, LF | Dozier, 2B | |
| Jeter, SS | Nunez, SS | |
| Ellsbury, CF | Parmelee, 1B | |
| Teixeira, 1B | Willingham, LF | |
| McCann, C | Arcia, O, RF | |
| Beltran, DH | Suzuki, K, C | |
| Roberts, B, 2B | Plouffe, 3B | |
| Suzuki, I, RF | Colabello, DH | |
| Johnson, K, 3B | Fuld, CF | |
| Kuroda, P | Nolasco, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| NY Yankees | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 2 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 0 |
I really hate losing to the Yankees.
Not the kind of performance we’ve hoped for and needed out of Nolasco. Good to see the hitters not giving up, though, I suppose. – JC
So not precisely comic as much as comical… Yes, a walk-off, strike-out, home run. The mind boggles..
Today is a bit warmer.. if you’re one of the folk sitting in the sunshine, be prepared for frequent trips to restore your hydration – and be glad you’re there today rather than tomorrow. But the sun and summer is hard to argue with and is obviously a moment to enjoy to the fullest.
Let’s hope that the new kid is able to improve on his previous outing. (I always think that)
| NY Yankees | @ | Minnesota |
| Jeter, SS | Dozier, 2B | |
| Roberts, B, 2B | Suzuki, K, C | |
| Ellsbury, CF | Parmelee, 1B | |
| Teixeira, 1B | Morales, K, DH | |
| Beltran, DH | Willingham, LF | |
| Suzuki, I, RF | Arcia, O, RF | |
| Soriano, A, LF | Plouffe, 3B | |
| Cervelli, C | Escobar, E, SS | |
| Wheeler, 3B | Fuld, CF | |
| Phelps, D, P | Pino, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |
| NY Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
woohoo!!! Ladies & Gentlemen, we have a WIN! That sure feels good. Pino did an EXCELLENT job in his 6 innings and while he does not yet have his first official MLB win, he deserved it. As it was we ended up with a LOT of extra baseball and he only pitched about half the game but I can’t imagine having to go the extended innings we did today if he had only gone the two innings that Gibson did yesterday. Still a good performance out of the bullpen again today. Especially since the strike zone was RIDICULOUS and resulted in Gardy getting booted early in the game.
Chris Colabello is also making a good show in his return to the big league lineup. He ALMOST got one out in the exact same place that he sent one long yesterday. If he had gotten that extra foot, he would have won the game in the 11th with a walkoff home run. As it was, that inning put a lot of people on base for the eventual win.
However, for making the extended game even possible and crossing the plate with the winning Run, Josh Willingham is today’s BOD! Thanks Hammer!
