Posts in category GameChat

GameChat – TWINS @ White Sox #2: 1:10 PM

Apr21st
2013 2 Comments Written by Jim Crikket

I admit that I’ve been paying more attention to the Cedar Rapids Kernels this spring than I have the Twins. So, to prepare for putting up today’s GameChat post, I thought I should kind of check to see how the Twins have been doing.

Guess what? As the construction worker fan in Major League observed about Lou Brown’s Indians, “These guys ain’t so fuckin’ bad.” (Sorry for the f-bomb, but if Big Papi can get away with saying it on live TV, I can get away with it in a movie quote, right?)

In fact, speaking of Lou Brown, the Twins now have accomplished an official Lou Brown defined “winning streak,” by racking up three straight wins!

On top of all that, our guys are only a half-game out of first place in the American League Central Division. True, they needed that winning streak just to get their record back up to .500 on the year and both the Royals and Tigers are sitting a half-game ahead of them, but unlike those two teams, the Twins get to play the Bitch Sox today! So, we’ve got that going for us. (Imagine that line in my best Bill Murray/Carl Spackler voice).

One reason I haven’t followed the Twins much this season is that I’m actually getting paid to go to Kernels games (is this a great country or what?). Another, of course, is that I don’t get to watch Twins games due to the MLB Blackout rules.

So, yesterday the Twins were on FOX locally. And I was at a Factory Outlet Mall. Don’t judge me. Like many things in life, it was one of those things that sounded like a good idea when plans were made at a bar on Friday night*.

But today, the Twins are on WGN here in Cedar Rapids, so I finally get to watch a game! (Don’t worry, I’ll have Hawk Harrelson on mute, while I likely listen to the Kernels on the radio). Well, I’ll see MOST of the game, anyway… I’m supposed to go to the theater to see 42 around 4:00. The Twins need to put up lots of early crooked numbers for me today.

So let’s watch the Twins celebrate the 52nd anniversary of their first home game as the Minnesota Twins on this date in 1961 by bitch slapping the Bitch Sox. – JC

*Speaking of things that sound like a good idea at a bar and turn out, well, less good… if you’ve got a couple of minutes, click this link to a pretty entertaining article about being in locked-down Boston the day after a one-night stand. (Hat tip to @TwinsGeek for Tweeting the link this morning.)

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Carroll, 2B De Aza, LF
Mauer, DH Keppinger, 2B
Willingham, LF Rios, RF
Morneau, 1B Konerko, 1B
Doumit, C Dunn, A, DH
Plouffe, 3B Ramirez, Al, SS
Arcia, RF Gillaspie, 3B
Hicks, CF Flowers, C
Escobar, E, SS Wise, CF
  _Diamond, P   _Floyd, P

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BroomDustyEXCELLENT! Yes, it was a shorter series than planned but it’s still a SWEEP! And it’s a series win ON THE ROAD and against a DIVISION OPPONENT! These are all very good things. It also means the Twins are back ABOVE .500. Am I shouting a lot? yep.. considering my outlook at the end of spring training, I consider any win a bonus at the this point and well, it’s ALWAYS good to beat the White Sox. :D

It was nice to see Hicks get a hit today and get a steal besides. It was great to see Diamond have such a great  outing and get his first Win. I hope we get to see a LOT more of those. Perkins got his second save in a row which I ALSO would like to see more of. All in all, it was a great game with a lot of highlights to enjoy but all votes agreed that today’s BOD vote goes to Josh Willingham for the 3 RBI double. I’m sure glad he’s over the flu!

WillinghamST2012aNow if only we could get some warm weather so that it actually FELT like baseball season … here’s the warning: we might actually get snow in Minnesota again tomorrow – just in time for the homestand against the Marlins. yay…

 

Twins baseball    ,

GameChat – Twins @ White Sox, 2:05pm, FOX

Apr20th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by CapitalBabs

It took me a minute to find the game on the schedule – oh yeah, Fox Saturday..

So let’s see what the weather is like in Chicago today – it’s cool but SUNNY in Minnesota. I would totally take an afternoon game in MN right now.. wonder if they are as lucky at US Cellular.

Minnesota

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 Chi White Sox
Dozier, 2B De Aza, LF
Mauer, C Keppinger, 2B
Willingham, LF Rios, RF
Morneau, 1B Dunn, A, DH
Parmelee, RF Konerko, 1B
Plouffe, 3B Gillaspie, 3B
Arcia, DH Ramirez, Al, SS
Hicks, CF Danks, Jd, CF
Florimon, SS Flowers, C
  Worley, P   Peavy, P

 

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Minnesota 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 0
Chi White Sox 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 1

Well that was a cold day and I’ll give it to all the pitchers who did well with cold hands but I’ll still say this, it was better than it was in Minnesota so it does make me wonder what the weather was like last night for the game they postponed… but anyway, it was still a cold day to play all the pitchers get Hand-warmers as congratulatory gifts for the Win.

But today’s BOD goes to Ryan Doumit for the heads up play in the 10th that finally broke the tie and gave us the win!

Ryan Doumit

Ryan Doumit

Twins baseball    ,

GameChat – Angels @ Twins #3, 7:10pm

Apr17th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by CapitalBabs

So far it appears that the game will actually happen but it has started to drizzle at my house.. makes me nervous. It’s going to be cold again tonight AND tomorrow isn’t looking any better. It could be a dicey situation..

Heads up on the roster situation:

  1. Mastrioanni is officially on the DL with what’s being called a “stress reaction” which was aggravated by an outfield mistep, twisted ankle. He could be out for 3 weeks. That means Arcia is back up. 
  2. Ramirez is feeling ok after a scary moment at 1B last night – he took an errant throw to first right on the spine. In fact, he’s the backup CF if anything happens. Let’s cross our fingers that nothing does. We’d like to make sure he’s doing fine when that brand new baby girl, Venus (born Sunday) arrives to see Daddy playing baseball.

The Twins started the first two games of this series with an offensive streak that none of us probably expected. It would be really great if they could figure out a way to keep that up. But like everything right now, it all depends on pitching which suffers a lot in this cold. I really would like to see Vance keep things under control.

LA Angels

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 Minnesota
Shuck, LF Dozier, 2B
Trout, CF Mauer, DH
Pujols, DH Willingham, LF
Hamilton, RF Morneau, 1B
Trumbo, 1B Doumit, C
Kendrick, H, 2B Plouffe, 3B
Iannetta, C Arcia, RF
Harris, B, SS Hicks, CF
Jimenez, L, 3B Florimon, SS
  Hanson, P   Worley, P

well that was somewhat predictable… Game is officially postponed – date TBD.

baseball-in-snow

Twins baseball

GameChat – Angels @ Twins #2, 7:10pm

Apr16th
2013 1 Comment Written by KL

I’m finally posting my first GameChat of the season, and I’ll be around for at least part of the game! The MLB At Bat app told me the Twins won last night, so here’s hoping for more of the same this evening. CapitalBabs and her other half will be in attendance at the game, and while it’s not especially warm, it is sunny, so perhaps it won’t be bitterly cold?

LA Angels

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 Minnesota
Bourjos, CF Dozier, 2B
Trout, LF Mauer, C
Pujols, DH Morneau, 1B
Hamilton, RF Plouffe, 3B
Trumbo, 1B Doumit, DH
Kendrick, 2B Parmelee, RF
Iannetta, C Ramirez, W, LF
Jimenez, 3B Hicks, CF
Romine, SS Florimon, SS
  Vargas, P   Pelfrey, P

 

 

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Babs here – yay for seeing live baseball!! Yes, it was chilly at the ballpark tonight AND we were on the first base side which always seems to be about 5 degrees cooler than the 3rd base side. At any rate, Andrew and I both dressed appropriately so we were just fine to sit and enjoy some baseball without losing any major or minor appendages.. I’m hoping that I was able to grab some decent pictures of all the new guys to add to our gallery since there are so many we don’t have yet! I sure had plenty of time since the pace of the pitching tonight resembled a Yankees game.

But what a game! I’m not sure who this team is with all the offense but it does make it a lot more fun to watch. Lineup switched around a bit tonight and Dozier was leading off – guess what, that worked out WELL. He had a good night and I like seeing the effort. The switch to 2nd base has been good for him and I see a very positive future for that.

Also looking good tonight – most of the time – was Florimon. That boy has some incredible throws across the diamond tonight and if he can work on the butterfingers thing he has going a bit, I’m excited to see him improve.

Pelfrey looked good but slow – I have a hard time with slow. But any game where pitching isn’t a major weakness, I’ll call good. Swarzak looked really good – wish he could have gotten the 4 inning save but not today.

However, once again, the offensive show was really ignited and sustained by Joe Mauer. A  second consecutive 4 hit game, this one with 3 RBI. It’s great to have fans cheering him when he comes up to bat again. Tonight, he’s our BOD!

JOEMAUER

Twins baseball    ,

GameChat – Angels @ Twins, 7:10pm

Apr15th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by CapitalBabs

There will be a Moment of Silence before the start of the game tonight to recognize the victims from today’s events at the Boston Marathon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those involved.

scroll graphic
For baseball itself, tonight’s game is “confuse the heck out of everybody night” with the whole team wearing Jackie’s 42. I was always a big supporter of ONE PERSON wearing the number and letting teams figure out however they chose who that player would be…  It’s my personal opinion that having everyone wear really makes it a lot less special. There are a lot of people who will probably disagree with that but as you guys already know, that doesn’t change my opinion one iota.  ;)

Anyway, let’s see what happens tonight..  it’s still kind of cold out there folks!

LA Angels

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 Minnesota
Bourjos, CF Mastroianni, CF
Trout, LF Mauer, C
Pujols, 1B Morneau, 1B
Hamilton, RF Doumit, DH
Trumbo, DH Parmelee, RF
Kendrick, 2B Plouffe, 3B
Iannetta, C Arcia, LF
Harris, B, SS Dozier, 2B
Jimenez, 3B Florimon, SS
  Blanton, P   Correia, P

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oh yeah, THAT’s why we’re Twins fans. Wins are so much more fun than losses – even in the cold! Lots of good things to report tonight.

Young, Oswald Arcia made his MLB debut and made a real job of it too – collected his ball for his first hit, did a great job of running the bases and a fair job of manning Left Field in the Minnesota cold – of course I still don’t know what he looks like because he was wearing a full face mask most of the time.. poor kid.

Hicks replace Arcia later in the game and walked off the field with both 2nd and 3rd base tucked under his arm… ok, not really but a great steal of 2nd and a heads up advancement to third left him pretty much owning scoring position at that point.

Glass-milkOf course, the hometown boy seemed to feel like getting some positive attention from fans again – I think he missed us. Mauer went 4/5 with a everything for a cycle but a triple. On pretty much all occasions that would be enough to get voted BOD but not today. It’s still worthy of recognition so for a spectacular offensive performance that definitely seemed to liven up the rest of the lineup, we award Mauer a glass of fresh, Minnesota milk.

correia

April 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

But for fans of a team that HAS good hitters while feeling a bit stretched by our starting pitching rotation, I think it was only natural that there was a significant lead in vote totals for Kevin Correia! We have a starting pitcher who got outs and a win and went 7 innings!! I don’t care if it is a little sad that for us this feels so uniquely special. The truth is this: you start to value something more when it’s rare. Thanks Kevin!

Twins baseball    ,

GameChat – Mets @ Twins #2, 3:10pm

Apr13th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by CapitalBabs

Believe it or not, ALL the Knuckleballer facilitators actually have LIVES on this Saturday so we aren’t going to be here at game time to get the chat going. So, I’m putting it up early with no information just so it’s there for those who CAN be here. I might be able to get here by the 2nd inning or so… Good luck boys!

 

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Today can be summed up by the phrase, “too little, too late”. Of course, Mauer & Willingham started a little show in the bottom of the 9th.. yeah, not enough to overcome the Mets’ 3-run lead though.

It was nice to see Scott Diamond make his season debut – although his numbers aren’t exactly what you want to see. He at least got a K in the first inning but only was out there for four innings. That fifth inning got really rough.  For coming back from injury, it was still an encouraging outing.

In case you hadn’t heard, instead of the guess that maybe Hernandez would go on the DL while Scott came back, they left him alone and sent Liam back to Rochester for a bit. Hard to argue too much with that though. We’ll see where we go with it all. See y’all tomorrow.

 

Twins baseball

GameChat – Mets @ Twins, 7:10 pm

Apr12th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by CapitalBabs

So… THIS is what people expected when they announced they were building an open air ballpark in Minnesota – April games in the snow and cold. We just got lucky the first couple years and we ALL know it. That being said, despite a butt-load of the HEAVY, SLUSHY snow pile that arrived over the last two days, the grounds crew has done a remarkable job to have the field ready for play.

Target Field Snow

Mother Nature hasn’t been as on-the-ball. Game time temp is supposed to be 34 degrees and go down from there… Today’s silver lining? The Twins don’t have to worry about how long Zack Grienke is going to be on the DL with a broken collar bone.

NY Mets

@

 Minnesota
Valdespin, CF Hicks, CF
Murphy, Dn, 2B Mauer, C
Wright, D, 3B Willingham, LF
Davis, I, 1B Morneau, 1B
Buck, J, C Doumit, DH
Duda, DH Plouffe, 3B
Byrd, RF Ramirez, W, RF
Baxter, LF Dozier, 2B
Tejada, R, SS Florimon, SS
  Niese, P   Worley, P

 

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yep, that was ugly.. that was cold and snowy…

Hernandez is now day to day after leaving the game with a leg injury but as was immediately pointed out, that leaves a possible spot for Scott Diamond who is back this weekend and will need to carve out a corner of the roster. Yep. That seems the wrong side of convenient.

After that, it was just more ugly.. let’s hope it’s warmer tomorrow – no snow in the forecast though!

Twins baseball

GameChat – Twins @ Royals #3, 7:10pm

Apr10th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by CapitalBabs

Today could be a little dicey with the weather but they’re going to make a go of it because supposedly the makeup game would be tomorrow if they can’t get it done today.

What worries me more about tonight is the quote I heard from Liam Hendriks yesterday: “Billy Butler OWNS me…”

Yeah, that’s reassuring.

Let’s see what happens.

Minnesota

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 Kansas City
Hicks, CF Gordon, LF
Mauer, DH Escobar, A, SS
Willingham, LF Butler, DH
Morneau, 1B Moustakas, 3B
Doumit, C Perez, S, C
Plouffe, 3B Hosmer, 1B
Parmelee, RF Francoeur, RF
Dozier, 2B Cain, CF
Florimon, SS Getz, 2B
  Hendriks, P   Davis, W, P

 

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

I’m sure the Twins are ready to put Kansas City behind them for a while. Miserable weather and even more miserable play.

The Twins were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. That says about all anyone needs to know about the offense.

Liam Hendriks wasn’t exactly “sharp,” but he deserved better support than he got. He struck out 4 and walked none in his five innings of work, but threw a lot of pitches in those five innings. Was it enough to keep his spot in the rotation when Scott Diamond comes off the DL in a couple of days? We’ll soon find out. – JC

Twins baseball

GameChat – TWINS @ Royals, 7:10 pm

Apr9th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Jim Crikket

It looks like a few of the regulars are getting a night off. Mastroianni, Carroll and Escobar are getting starts tonight for the Twins.

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Mastroianni, CF Gordon, LF
Mauer, C Escobar, A, SS
Willingham, LF Butler, DH
Morneau, 1B Moustakas, 3B
Doumit, DH Perez, S, C
Plouffe, 3B Hosmer, 1B
Parmelee, RF Francoeur, RF
Carroll, 2B Cain, CF
Escobar, SS Getz, 2B
  _Pelfrey, P   _Guthrie, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 8 0
Kansas City 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 x 7 13 1

Well, if it hadn’t been for that little issue about the 5-run first inning the Twins coughed up to the Royals, that would have been a decent ballgame.

Ah well, tomorrow’s another day. – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Royals, 3:10pm

Apr8th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by CapitalBabs

I really do have to admit that I’m looking forward to the point in the season where I might actually be able to WATCH some baseball instead of wish I was somewhere other than work….

The only roster notes I have kept track of for today are that Gardy would rather not use either Swarzak or Roenicke – being careful. And Scott Diamond is supposedly still “on target” for a Friday appearance.

Minnesota

@

 Kansas City
Hicks, CF Gordon, LF
Mauer, C Escobar, A, SS
Willingham, LF Butler, DH
Morneau, 1B Moustakas, 3B
Doumit, DH Perez, S, C
Plouffe, 3B Hosmer, 1B
Parmelee, RF Francoeur, RF
Dozier, 2B Cain, CF
Florimon, SS Getz, 2B
  Correia, P   Santana, E, P

 

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Sadly, or perhaps luckily, I missed the last two innings while trying to get my butt out of the office…  We had a good thing going until Correia hit the wall. Then things didn’t go so well. I will give Kevin credit in the fact that his wall came in the 8th inning which I think is pretty darn good at this point of April.

After some craziness at the plate involving a blocked stolen base by Florimon, he got a spike to the thigh but says he’s ok. The official call about DeVries appears to a strained pronator – supposedly nothing terribly serious – but as Seth Stohs pointed out: the last two Twins players to have that injury were Anthony Slama and Kyle Gibson. :/

Since we haven’t yet been able to win the first game of a series but then followed up with wins enough to follow, let’s see what the boys can do for us tomorrow!

Twins baseball
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