Some sad news in the baseball world this afternoon as word came out that Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn has passed away. Gwynn was as pure a hitter of baseballs as you’re likely to ever see. During his career, I always felt he was under-appreciated. Maybe because he played for a lot of bad teams in San Diego and maybe because he wasn’t a noted power hitter. RIP Tony.
Kevin Correia is on the mound for the Twins in Boston tonight.
ok.. sorry this wasn’t up earlier if you were here looking. Rubber match games are always interesting so while I’m moving a piano, let’s see if the boys can pull off a series win in Detroit!
This is one of those rainy (in MN) Saturday’s where I’m doing my best to get some outdoor work done despite the rain. Actually my whole weekend is like that so I’m REALLY glad I got to see that fantastic game last night. I’ll be checking in and catching as much as possible on the radio. Let’s do this!
I have to admit that I’m really interested to see how this series goes – it could be a bell-weather of the whole season. Both teams are kind of at a cross-roads with one on the upswing (I hope) and one sagging (so it appears).
Any predictions?
Roster update: Hicks is on the DL, Fuld is back and the Twins recalled Eric Fryer.
I’m also really interested to see how this new lineup order works AND how it gets adjusted when Dozier is back swinging a bat.
Of course it doesn’t hurt that we won but there were a lot of positives tonight – not the least of which is beating a division opponent and making progress back towards that .500 mark. We didn’t have a LOT of offense but getting that home run in the third from Escobar set up the win well. Only his 2nd HR of the year because he’s not a power hitter but I’ll take it regardless. And getting a walk off Joe Nathan in the 9th inning isn’t as hard as it used to be but it’s still nothing to sneeze at, especially when that walk sent in an additional cushion run! All your RBI’s are belong to Eduardo! I hope he enjoys the All-You-Can-Eat pastry buffet on us.
It turned out to be all that was necessary because Kyle really did a fantastic job tonight. And it wasn’t one of those “no one can touch him” kind of good jobs either. It was a night where he wasn’t perfect and figured out how to get the job done anyway – in some very big situations. He made life hard for himself in both the 5th and 7th innings and Gardy left him out there to figure it out. Had it all gone sour, we’d have been screaming that he once again left him in one pitch too long but I think it does a lot for a young pitcher to make it or break it on his own and we’ll be the better for it in the long run. This was an important game for Kyle because he statistically hasn’t done well on the road and he broke that “curse” tonight. With the 7 scoreless innings tonight, that is 15 consecutive for him without giving up a run. The bullpen was SOLID against this Tigers lineup with both Casey and Glenn putting out excellent innings but tonight was really all about Kyle and for that, he’s today’s BOD!
Another night where I don’t get to watch baseball.. I’ll be trying to catch scores and updates and plays during breaks and car rides.. wish I could enjoy the game since they didn’t do so well for the day I got to watch yesterday.. but I’ll take a win regardless tonight!
Not having seen or heard the game, I’m going to simply give the BOD award to Brian Dozier for his first inning two-run home run, but four pitchers combining for a shutout of the Jays certainly warrants honorable mention! – JC
So much for the “Morales will need a few days to get in to playing shape” stuff, huh? Kendrys Morales is in the Twins’ lineup tonight as the DH and batting sixth.
Odd game. First two hitters go yard for the Twins and then pretty much nothing until the ninth when they rally to tie the game. Unfortunately, the bullpen coughed one up in the bottom of 9.
I’m still over in Kane County with the Kernels this afternoon but the Twins will be looking to win their series with the Astros today.
The big news, of course, is the signing of Kendrys Morales and the subsequent DFA of Jason Kubel. Certainly an interesting move by a team in last place of their division, though certainly the Twins aren’t so far out of things they should be giving up. It’s just somewhat out of character, I guess. – JC
The Twins haven’t really been blown out of as many games this season as they seemed to last year. Maybe that’s why seeing this kind of score brings back some bitter memories.
But it’s just one game, right? Forget it and move on. – JC
I’m hopping in the car in a few moments to head over in the general direction of Chicago to catch prospect Lewis Thorpe’s first start with the Kernels, but while I’m motoring across northern Illinois, the Twins will be attempting to even their series with the Astros. No Oswaldo Arcia in the line up today after he hurt his ankle last night. Hoping it’s nothing serious. – JC
So, while I wasn’t paying attention, not only did the Twins score a bunch of runs AND shut out the Astros, but they also signed Kendrys Morales! That should make for an interesting roster move or two in the next couple days.
As for the game, I have no idea what happened, but I can tell from the box score that Danny Santana had 4 hits and drove in 5 of the Twins’ runs. So, while the pitching staff certainly earned our respect with the shutout, Santana is getting our BOD.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a current picture of Danny in our Knuckleballs library, so the best I can do is go back in time and give you a look at Santana as a member of the Beloit Snappers a few years back. – JC
