Author Archives: CapitalBabs

GameChat – Twins @ Yankees #3, 1:10pm

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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!

WillinghamST2012a

GameChat – Yankees @ Twins #2, 2:10pm

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Happy Independence Day!!

american_flag

I hope everyone is safely enjoying a wonderful holiday weekend. You really couldn’t ask for nicer weather for baseball or anything else you might be doing today – and I really mean that. It is going to be a beautiful afternoon so let’s hope that the team can do better today than they did last night.

NY Yankees Minnesota
Gardner, B, LF Dozier, 2B
Roberts, B, 2B Suzuki, K, C
Ellsbury, CF Parmelee, LF
Teixeira, 1B Morales, K, 1B
Beltran, DH Arcia, O, RF
Suzuki, I, RF Plouffe, 3B
Cervelli, C Colabello, DH
Johnson, K, 3B Escobar, E, SS
Ryan, SS Fuld, CF
  Whitley, P   Gibson, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
NY Yankees 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 10 0
Minnesota 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 11 0

I was only able to catch glimpses of this game but the ultimate disappointment in the boxscore hits all the same.

GameChat – Yankees @ Twins, 7:10pm

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And the Yankees are in town…

Somehow is this a pre-req for the 4th of July?? I swear that when my bro and I hit the July 4th game last year, it was against the Yankees but I’m too lazy/busy/otherwise occupied to double-check that. And I don’t think last year was the first time either..

My memory could be playing games with me of course. And it’s going to be a beautiful night for baseball and likely a great pitching match-up with former Yankee, Hughes up against Japanese phenom, Tanaka.

Anyone have a guess of the over/under on how many times Bert brings up complete games since Mr. Tanaka seems to have quite an affinity for finishing what he starts?

Anyway, let’s play ball!

NY Yankees @ Minnesota
Gardner, B, LF Dozier, 2B
Jeter, SS Suzuki, K, C
Ellsbury, CF Parmelee, 1B
Teixeira, 1B Morales, K, DH
McCann, C Willingham, LF
Beltran, DH Arcia, O, RF
Suzuki, I, RF Plouffe, 3B
Wheeler, 3B Escobar, E, SS
Ryan, 2B Fuld, CF
  Tanaka, M, P   Hughes, P, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
NY Yankees 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 0 0 7 10 0
Minnesota 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 9 0

well that most certainly didn’t go the way I expected although the result was not all that surprising…  the good news is that they can’t put Tanaka out there again tomorrow.

GameChat – Royals @ Twins #3

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Except for the fact that there was a fairly commanding win last night, today is such a much better day to watch baseball! Blue sky and cooler temps – perfect to skip out of work and hit the ballpark… sadly, I’m not doing that.

I’m stuck at work bemoaning the beautiful temptation outside AND missing baseball. Jealousy is a difficult mistress.

Kansas City @ Minnesota
Escobar, A, SS Nunez, SS
Hosmer, 1B Dozier, 2B
Butler, B, DH Parmelee, 1B
Perez, S, C Willingham, LF
Ibanez, RF Arcia, O, RF
Infante, 2B Plouffe, 3B
Moustakas, 3B Fryer, C
Dyson, J, CF Fuld, CF
  Vargas, P   Correia, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 9 0
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0

*sigh* ..

GameChat – Royals @ Twins, 7:10pm

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It’s a pretty stunning night for baseball out there. After way too much rain and a weekend that only started to clear up yesterday and now it’s really nice to be out there again.

Let’s see if the Twins can actually get a win STREAK going against what appears to actually be one of the toughest teams in our division.

Kansas City @ Minnesota
Cain, L, RF Dozier, 2B
Hosmer, 1B Suzuki, K, C
Butler, B, DH Mauer, 1B
Gordon, A, LF Willingham, LF
Perez, S, C Morales, K, DH
Infante, 2B Plouffe, 3B
Moustakas, 3B Parmelee, RF
Escobar, A, SS Nunez, SS
Dyson, J, CF Fuld, CF
  Duffy, P   Pino, P

.

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 6 10 0
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 2

GameChat – Twins @ Rangers #3, 2:05pm

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the baseball this weekend has been pretty disappointing. honestly. Let’s see if the Twins can’t do something to entertain us today. I may miss the beginning but I might actually get to WATCH some baseball today! It would be great if it was worth it.

Minnesota Texas
Dozier, 2B Choo, DH
Mauer, 1B Andrus, SS
Parmelee, CF Pena, C, 1B
Willingham, LF Beltre, A, 3B
Morales, K, DH Rios, A, RF
Arcia, O, RF Martin, L, CF
Escobar, E, 3B Chirinos, C
Fryer, C Choice, LF
Polanco, J, SS Odor, 2B
  Gibson, P   Lewis, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 0
Texas 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 0

so I was wrong… doesn’t happen often but there you go. I didn’t get to watch any of the game. *sigh*

And of course they WON!

Looking at the box score though, I have to make only one determination for BOD – I see that Gibson pitched 8 innings. That’s pretty rare these days so I’m taking it. Let’s hope they all get back to doing that again.

Kyle Gibson
Kyle Gibson

GameChat – Twins @ Rangers #2, 3:05pm

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I can’t even watch the game today so I really wish that last night’s had been more entertaining.. I didn’t even get to watch the end where they tried to come back. So here’s hoping that they actually give me something good to peek in on close to the end when I get a chance to come check the score!

Minnesota Texas
Fuld, CF Choo, LF
Dozier, 2B Andrus, SS
Mauer, DH Pena, C, 1B
Morales, K, 1B Beltre, A, 3B
Arcia, O, LF Murphy, DH
Suzuki, K, C Martin, L, CF
Parmelee, RF Gimenez, C
Escobar, E, 3B Choice, RF
Florimon, SS Odor, 2B
  Hughes, P, P   Darvish, 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 2
Texas 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 x 5 11 0

I had no idea how this game went, so I asked someone how the Twins did today and I was told they got their asses kicked.

Seems that’s about accurate. I was not shocked. – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Rangers, 7:05pm

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Ok, let’s be honest here.. the Rangers are NOT the Angels.. let’s see what we have for a game!

Minnesota @ Texas
Dozier, 2B Choo, LF
Suzuki, K, C Andrus, SS
Mauer, 1B Pena, C, 1B
Willingham, LF Beltre, A, DH
Morales, K, DH Rios, A, RF
Arcia, O, RF Martin, L, CF
Escobar, E, 3B Gimenez, C
Fuld, CF Sardinas, 3B
Florimon, SS Odor, 2B
  Correia, P   Tepesch, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 6 0
Texas 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 x 5 8 1

Have to credit the Twins for finally mounting a come back in the 9th inning, but if you take 8 innings off, you really can’t expect things to work out well in the end.

Like seeing Jorge Polanco with that triple in the 9th that put the Twins in shape to complete that come back.  – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Angels, 9:05pm

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SORRY!

You’d think with games starting in West Coast time, that I’d actually be able to get something up on time.. yeah, turns out it’s just enough time to get completely occupied in another task and lose track – holy crap there’s baseball on!

Minnesota @ LA Angels
Santana, D, SS Calhoun, RF
Dozier, 2B Trout, CF
Mauer, 1B Pujols, 1B
Willingham, LF Hamilton, LF
Morales, K, DH Aybar, SS
Suzuki, K, C Kendrick, H, 2B
Parmelee, RF Cron, DH
Escobar, E, 3B Freese, 3B
Fuld, CF Conger, C
  Gibson, P   Wilson, C, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 11 0
LA Angels 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 x 8 8 1

Not Kyle Gibson’s finest hour. His team matched five spot for five spot, but when Gibson gave up a second inning HR to Mike Trout, the game was effectively over.

Some very nice relief work by Sam Deduno, though. – JC

GameChat – White Sox @ Twins #4, 1:10pm

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Can we do it? A four game sweep would be pretty amazing. Hopefully, we’ll have a window of dry long enough to get the game in but I think we should all cross our fingers.

I also think we have a chance for a good pitching start today with Hughes out there. It would be a real shame if we had three bad starts in a row – the bullpen would greatly appreciate a little bit less need or their abilities today.

Chi White Sox Minnesota
Eaton, CF Santana, D, SS
Beckham, G, 2B Dozier, 2B
Abreu, 1B Mauer, 1B
Dunn, A, DH Willingham, LF
Ramirez, Al, SS Morales, K, DH
Gillaspie, 3B Arcia, O, RF
Sierra, RF Suzuki, K, C
De Aza, LF Escobar, E, 3B
Flowers, C Fuld, CF
  Danks, Jh, P   Hughes, P, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chi White Sox 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 0
Minnesota 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 x 6 11 1
Kinda says it all, doesn't it!?
Kinda says it all, doesn’t it!?

Woohoooo!!

No, really.. a 4 game sweep of the White Sox! (that hasn’t happened in literally 20 years) Actually, if you take it as simply four home games, the Twins haven’t had a four game home win-streak since 2007. But it’s just that much more special that it was a four-game sweep of a division rival – that we don’t like very much.

There were several really good performances in today’s game (not that I saw any of it) but surprisingly, none of them was from Phil Hughes. And he readily admits it. I feel bad for the bullpen that had been leaned on heavily for the last couple games and it turned out that they were leaned on again today. Swarzak came in and pitched two innings and Fien did a share but since Perkins has had the ninth the last two games in a row, Burton went out there today to get the Save and he got it well. I think the whole team was feeling the pressure though and some really awkward pitch rulings from the ump had Gardy out in force for a little Show Time – and the much more rare ejection.

Sam Fuld was there doing a little bit of everything and Willingham was holding his own but once again, it was Mauer who seemed to carry the team today. It’s really good to have you back and we’ll give you the BOD gain!