CapitalBabs – Page 21

GameChat – Twins @ White Sox #2, 7:10pm

Posted on 9 August, 2013 by CapitalBabs

I’m still waiting for them to put up the rosters for the second game of today’s double header so hopefully by the time I’m done writing my pregame comments – however limited they may be – they will be available to post. If not, I will add them shortly.

So this afternoon’s game was entertaining and more importantly, we won! Or perhaps that is why it was entertaining – I can be somewhat superficial like that sometimes.

Since I was at work and my attention was extremely limited however, I would love if they kept this evenings outing equally as entertaining. We have brought up Liam Hendriks to start tonight – he’s been doing pretty well in AAA so I hope he’s able to keep that up.

Minnesota	@	Chi White Sox
Dozier, 2B		De Aza, LF
Carroll, 3B		Beckham, G, 2B
Morneau, 1B		Ramirez, Al, SS
Willingham, DH		Dunn, A, 1B
Arcia, LF		Viciedo, DH
Colabello, RF		Gillaspie, 3B
Herrmann, C, C		Danks, Jd, RF
Thomas, C, CF		Phegley, C
Bernier, SS		Tekotte, CF
Hendriks, P		Leesman, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	9	0
Chi White Sox	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	8	0

It always feels good to sweep the Bitch Sox, no matter how bad the season is going and no matter how bad the South Siders are.

It’s hard to pick a Boyfriend of the Day though. The only Twins hitter with more than one hit was Jamey Carroll, who went an impressive 3 for 5. But Carroll didn’t figure at all in any of the Twins’ scoring.

Chris Herrmann had a solo home run, as did Josh Willingham. Then Oswaldo Arcia added a solo dinger of his own in the 10th inning. Certainly all of those guys deserve baked goods of some sort.

Brian Duensing earned his second win in one day. How often does THAT happen?

But Liam Hendriks, who was called up from Rochester specifically just to pitch this game, gave the Twins 6 1/3 innings of pretty good pitching. He gave up 2 runs on 7 hits and that ain’t bad for an emergency start.

For that effort, Hendriks is our BOD. And it just seems appropriate somehow to use a “throwback” picture of Liam, since he’s likely to be thrown back to the minors after the game. Thus, here’s Hendriks from a few years back as a member of the Beloit Snappers. – JC

GameChat – Twins @ White Sox, 1:10pm

Posted on 9 August, 2013 by CapitalBabs

So we have a makeup game this afternoon before the regularly scheduled evening game – Surprise! Honestly, I wish that the Twins could figure out how to update (or just do it) their iCal schedule for those of us who watch it – changes are never updated so let’s hope I’m paying attention… never a good bet.

At any rate, a little injury rotation notation – it’s Friday and I’m in a goofy mood:

Doumit is on the 7-day concussion DL. Not terribly good news but at least we have Chris and things are good there. Honestly, I always had the impression that Doumit’s noggin was especially armored the way he shrugs off most knocks to the helmet. I’m sure this is yet another occasion where he told himself, “wow, that rung my bell” and just kept going – until he got dizzy. He doesn’t strike me as a “get dizzy” kind of guy at all.

BACK from the DL is Josh Willingham. Convenient. Let’s see what he can do with that surgically repaired knee. It’s hard to believe he’s out there after only 5 weeks but they can do remarkable things with surgery and rehab these days. Let’s hope that his bat comes back as well…

I’ve lost track on Gibson’s schedule whether this is supposed to be a good start or a hittable start.. LOL Just joking but I sure hope that it’s a good day. We aren’t in any danger (at this point) of trading places with the White Sox who are just not playing good baseball as a rule this season BUT that never seems to stop this particular rivalry from throwing odd wrenches into the gears. I’ll maintain my general mode of “beat the Sox, whenever & wherever you can” and go from there.

Minnesota	@	Chi White Sox
Dozier, 2B		De Aza, LF
Mauer, C		Beckham, G, 2B
Willingham, DH		Ramirez, Al, SS
Morneau, 1B		Dunn, A, DH
Colabello, RF		Konerko, 1B
Arcia, LF		Gillaspie, 3B
Plouffe, 3B		Danks, Jd, RF
Thomas, C, CF		Flowers, C
Florimon, SS		Tekotte, CF
Gibson, P		Danks, Jh, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	1	1	7	7	0
Chi White Sox	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	5	7	0

Well that was certainly an enjoyable afternoon! It would be really easy to say today was all about the homerun.. Which is probably true but to be honest, those homeruns were so costly because of all the WALKS. We actually got runs with RISP!

But yeah, in a return to the Justin we remember, a very timely Grand Slam makes him the BOD for this afternoon…

GameChat – Twins @ Royals #2, 7:10pm

Posted on 6 August, 2013 by CapitalBabs

It’s Tuesday so I am not here tonight but I thought I would still throw this out there for any of you fans who want to see if the Twins can do anything interesting in Kauffman besides have a bench player pitch an inning…

Btw, Carroll is back at his traditional place on the corner.. I’m ok with that.

The other interesting thing tonight is Albers MLB debut! Honestly, no matter what happens tonight, my guess is that he won’t be out-pitched by a 39-yo utility infielder.. just saying.

Minnesota	@	Kansas City
Dozier, 2B		Cain, L, CF
Carroll, 3B		Hosmer, 1B
Mauer, 1B		Butler, B, DH
Morneau, DH		Gordon, A, LF
Arcia, LF		Maxwell, RF
Colabello, RF		Moustakas, 3B
Herrmann, C, C		Tejada, M, 2B
Thomas, C, CF		Kottaras, C
Bernier, SS		Escobar, A, SS
Albers, P		Shields, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	3	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	7	8	0
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1

boy, howdy was THAT a game!!

I really can’t fault Twins fans if they didn’t tune in after last night’s drubbing but it’s awfully nice when they come back with a drubbing of their own. Considering the Royals really haven’t made losing a habit since the All-Star break – especially against the Twins – this was a nice surprise. We actually HIT THE BALL! WE HIT IT A LOT!! AND THEY HIT IT REALLY FAR! They actually had three homeruns in tonight’s game – Dozier, Mornea and Colabello – which brings the Twins season total to 100. (which is more than the Yankees, I might add). Considering two of them were in the first inning – Doziers in the first AB of the game – it was a great way to come back and start and a huge surprise.

OMG though TALK ABOUT SURPRISES! I had high hopes for the kid coming up and making a good showing for himself since yeah, he couldn’t really be worse than the starters we have been running out there already.. but HOLY COW! He not only made a good show of getting Royals hitter after hitter out but he did it for what was temptingly close to a complete game shutout for an MLB DEBUT!!!! good gravy. Yes, he “only” went 8 1/3 innings but that is apparently four games for Correia so that’s well above my expectations. It was just a great game for any starting pitcher much less a kid in his first shot. Good on ya Alby! You have more than earned today’s BOD!

Andrew Albers #95 of the Minnesota Twins poses for a portrait on February 19, 2013 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. (February 18, 2013 - Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America) — Andrew Albers #95 of the Minnesota Twins poses for a portrait on February 19, 2013 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida.
(February 18, 2013 – Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America)

GameChat – Twins @ Royals, 7:10pm

Posted on 5 August, 2013 by CapitalBabs

A-Rod.. blah blah blah… can’t be rid of him soon enough I say and I’m pretty sure that anyone in Kauffman Stadium will likely be able to hear the boos coming from Chicago..

At any rate, after just barely beating the worst team in MLB three games in a row, we’re back to what has already proven to be a REAL challenge for us – the Royals.

God, I hope Correia is better this time than last..

Minnesota	@	Kansas City
Dozier, 2B		Cain, L, RF
Mauer, C		Hosmer, 1B
Morneau, 1B		Butler, B, DH
Doumit, DH		Gordon, A, LF
Arcia, LF		Tejada, M, 2B
Plouffe, 3B		Moustakas, 3B
Herrmann, C, RF		Kottaras, C
Thomas, C, CF		Escobar, A, SS
Bernier, SS		Dyson, J, CF
Correia, P		Guthrie, 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
Kansas City	0	6	0	0	0	3	4	0	x	13	16	0

I’m not sure that even deserves to be called baseball.. God, that was ugly. Thanks to Parker (@Overthebaggy), we do have this moment to remember:

Yes, Jamey Carroll pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning with a fastball.. er.. changeup.. er.. something topping out at an effective 78 mph. He kept the ball..

GameChat – Royals @ Twins #3, 12:10pm

Posted on 1 August, 2013 by CapitalBabs

Good grief! I forgot to even check if there was a day game today! My boss called to ask why traffic coming into Downtown was so bad and I thought.. well duh!

Here you go folks!

Kansas City	@	Minnesota
Gordon, A, LF		Dozier, 2B
Hosmer, 1B		Bernier, SS
Butler, B, DH		Mauer, DH
Perez, S, C		Morneau, 1B
Cain, L, CF		Doumit, C
Tejada, M, 2B		Plouffe, 3B
Moustakas, 3B		Herrmann, C, RF
Maxwell, RF		Hicks, CF
Escobar, A, SS		Thomas, C, LF
Shields, P		Diamond, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	2	1	1	1	2	0	0	0	7	11	0
Minnesota	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	1

LisaTwink summed it up perfectly: This game was frustrating… like bang your head on the desk at work and get funny looks from your coworkers frustrating…

Postgame quote: Gardy: “Our fans don’t deserve to watch this crap.”

At any rate, fairly immediately after the game it was announced that Diamond (finally) and Hicks are both sent down to AAA and it appears that Arcia and Albers are the ones coming up tomorrow. Changes like this in August aren’t going to do anything to effect the season at this point but it might mean I don’t feel the need to shoot unsuspecting bystanders with rubber bands to relieve the stress.. then again…

GameChat – Royals @ Twins #2, 7:10pm

Posted on 31 July, 2013 by CapitalBabs

Ok, maybe you avoid social media during the day (not a bad idea) and/or didn’t believe the Twins were likely to do anything before the trade deadline (smart cookie) so weren’t watching the clock with baited breath…

In which case, you missed that just after the deadline, the Twins announced that there was a deal after all! Drew Butera was sent to the Dodgers for a PTBNL or cash.

According to TR, Drew deserved a chance to get back to the big leagues – which meant that chance was NOT going to happen here (which we all pretty much knew anyway). Good for Drew to get himself in a familiar role as catching depth on a team that is in a REAL hunt for the post-season. Like Dougie, or LNP, he may end up getting himself a World Series Ring in a matter of months! Speaking of LNP – LOTS of humor about getting him BACK as the PTBNL. After all, he already HAS a ring. 😉

Anyway, let’s see if the Twins can’t do a bit better job at home tonight than they did last night.

Kansas City	@	Minnesota
Gordon, A, LF		Thomas, C, LF
Hosmer, 1B		Carroll, 2B
Butler, B, DH		Mauer, C
Perez, S, C		Morneau, 1B
Lough, RF		Doumit, DH
Tejada, M, 2B		Plouffe, 3B
Moustakas, 3B		Herrmann, C, RF
Escobar, A, SS		Hicks, CF
Dyson, J, CF		Florimon, SS
Guthrie, P		Correia, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	13	1
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	3	11	1

Well you can’t really get a more prototypical Twins loss than that…

It was close most of the game actually and we threatened in both the 8th and 9th innings to do something that would turn the tables. But yeah, that didn’t happen.

GameChat – Twins @ Mariners #4, 3:10pm

Posted on 28 July, 2013 by CapitalBabs

So the Mariners 4-game series is surprisingly 2-1 Twins so far! Who would have guessed? The worst we can do leaving Seattle is a split series which I would have taken in a heart beat if you offered me the opportunity before we started. The chance to WIN a series against a team I consider a real challenge for both pitching and hitting is pleasantly exciting.

Let’s see what Gibson can do for us today – and yay, new kids!

(putting this up early so lineups aren’t done yet – I’ll hopefully come back and give them to you before the game starts!)

TWINS	@	MARINERS
Dozier, 2B		Miller, B, SS
Herrmann, C, C		Franklin, 2B
Morneau, DH		Seager, 3B
Doumit, RF		Morales, K, 1B
Colabello, 1B		Ibanez, DH
Thomas, C, LF		Saunders, M, LF
Plouffe, 3B		Chavez, En, RF
Hicks, CF		Ackley, CF
Florimon, SS		Blanco, H, C
_Gibson, P		_Ramirez, Er, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	9	1
Seattle	0	0	1	4	0	0	1	0	x	6	8	0

I guess we’ll just have to settle for splitting the four-game series with the Mariners. Gibson had one bad inning, it appears. Chris Colabello notched his second home run

Brian Dozier left the game early, so I guess we’ll have to find out what that’s all about. – JC

Sunday Morning Comic Relief

Posted on 28 July, 2013 by CapitalBabs

GameChat – Twins @ Mariners #2, 9:10pm

Posted on 26 July, 2013 by CapitalBabs

I gotta admit that I don’t have a whole lot of faith in Scott Diamond these days, especially not when matched up against King Felix…

But it has to be better than Correia last night, right? *knock on wood* *spin three times* *spit*

Minnesota	@	Seattle
Dozier, 2B		Bay, RF
Carroll, 3B		Franklin, 2B
Morneau, 1B		Ibanez, LF
Doumit, DH		Morales, K, DH
Herrmann, C, RF		Seager, 3B
Thomas, C, LF		Smoak, 1B
Hicks, CF		Ackley, CF
Butera, C		Ryan, SS
Florimon, SS		Blanco, H, C
Diamond, P		Hernandez, F, P

Scott Diamond pitched into the 7th inning and gave up just a single run, but was left with a no decision thanks to a Twins offense that could only manage one run of support. After the 13 inning game was over the Twins had walked 15 times (compared with just 2 walks), but they managed to score a couple in the top of the 13th to take their first game in three days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	8	1
Seattle	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	12	0

I didn’t see the end of the game, because of sleep and things like that, but it seemed like Scott Diamond and Chris Colabello (game winning RBI) were the BOD candidates. Colabello needs something to get him started at the MLB level, and maybe winning the BOD will give him a bump.

GameChat – Twins @ Mariners, 9:10pm

Posted on 25 July, 2013 by CapitalBabs

So I know JC is off on Kernel duty so apparently that leaves me the only one here to do this – my apologies for lateness and lack of comment as I’m sick as a dog and will be here if I can but probably not for long.. stupid west coast ball.

At any rate – this is a far more intimidating team to me than the Angels who I considered beatable after their appearance here in Minnesota. I’ll be happy with any win we can pull off in Safeco! Even with the fact that we have fences moved in for our hitters this year, the pitching in Seattle is a true challenge.

Go Twins!

Minnesota	@	Seattle
Dozier, 2B		Miller, B, SS
Herrmann, C, C		Franklin, 2B
Morneau, 1B		Ibanez, LF
Doumit, RF		Morales, K, DH
Plouffe, 3B		Seager, 3B
Thomas, C, LF		Smoak, 1B
Colabello, DH		Saunders, M, RF
Hicks, CF		Zunino, C
Florimon, SS		Ackley, CF
Correia, P		Iwakuma, P

I know the Twins ended up losing, because that’s what the box score says, but I didn’t see a single pitch. Iwakuma, predictably, shut down the Twins. Woe is me.

-ERolf

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	8	0
Seattle	0	6	0	0	2	0	0	0	x	8	11	3