As you already are undoubtedly aware, Francisco Liriano has been traded to the Chicago White Sox for a handful of magic beans, and Jeff Manship has been recalled from Rochester to take his place on the 25-man roster, while Brian Duensing will replace Liriano in the starting rotation this afternoon. The Twins have a chance to sweep the Cleveland Indians, and they’ve outscored the Tribe 23-5 the past two days. Let’s hope the bats stay hot.
Note of former Twin activity: Lew Ford has finally made it back to the big leagues!! He hasn’t played Major League ball since 2007; doing stints in Japan, Mexico and Independent Atlantic League baseball. He signed a minor league contract with the Orioles this year – the final destination for all former Twins it seems. He very excitedly tweeted that he arrived with the Orioles to play today since they are having injury issues and really need a versatile player on the bench to cover some holes. We all know that that particular roles suits Lew pretty well and I know I’m not along amongst Twins fans wishing him all the best. – CB
| Cleveland Indians |
@ |
Minnesota Twins |
| Choo, RF | Span, CF | |
| Cabrera, A, SS | Revere, RF | |
| Santana, C, DH | Mauer, DH | |
| Lopez, Jo, 3B | Willingham, LF | |
| Brantley, CF | Morneau, 1B | |
| Duncan, LF | Doumit, C | |
| Marson, C | Valencia, 3B | |
| Kotchman, 1B | Dozier, SS | |
| Lillibridge, 2B | Casilla, A, 2B | |
| _Jimenez, P | _Duensing, P |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | 5 | 8 | 0 |
That’s what it feels like to sweep a series, folks! I know it hasn’t been a frequent occurrence, but it certainly is a good feeling. It’s even sweeter when you do it to a Division rival.
The Twins’ offense “only” scored five runs today, which is less than half of what they put on the board in each of the first two games of the series. Fortunately, a few of the bats were awake enough to do the job. Brian Dozier and Ben Revere each had a pair of hits and Justin Morneau had the big offensive day with three hits, including a monster home run. Revere had the only other extra-base hit, but the Twins stole five bases and scored a run on a wild pitch.
The bullpen was back to being the “good” version today, with Alex Burnett, Jared Burton and Glen Perkins each throwing one shutout inning. But the star of the day… and our Boyfriend of the Day award winner… is Brian Duensing. Pressed in to a spot start following the overnight trade of scheduled starter Francisco Liriano, Duensing gave the Twins six excellent innings. He was efficient (throwing only 70 pitches) and gave up just five hits, striking out a pair and walking nobody. Well done, Brian! – JC
