Category Archives: GameChat

GameChat – Red Sox @ Twins #3, 12:10pm

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Ok, my apologies for the late post – somehow I’ve managed to get sick.. ain’t that fun?

But the Twins are doing pretty well in rubber matches this season so lets see if that translates to beating the BoSox today!

Boston @ Minnesota
Pedroia, 2B Dozier, 2B
Bogaerts, SS Mauer, DH
Ortiz, D, DH Plouffe, 3B
Napoli, 1B Colabello, 1B
Gomes, J, RF Kubel, LF
Carp, LF Suzuki, K, C
Ross, D, C Parmelee, RF
Middlebrooks, 3B Hicks, CF
Bradley Jr., CF Escobar, E, SS
  Buchholz, P   Hughes, P, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 9
Minnesota 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 12

Well now that was fun! Despite Perk going through a bit of a closer slump right now, we managed to get that rubber match win again! Frankly, this is the first time we have won a home series against the BoSox since Target Field’s first season … ouch. They’ve clearly had our number here for most of it. Glad that we were able to make it happen today. Phil Hughes’ experience against them might have had a LOT to do with that. I am pretty happy with his performance against them today – wish he could have gone longer but not if it meant he’d have given them crooked numbers in the box score.  Of course, they managed to get that tie anyway to give us an extra inning.

Looking at the box score, it’s clear to see that Kurt Suzuki continues to really shine in this lineup and I love how he seems to not only hit well, but to hit CLUTCH! He always shows up when absolutely necessary. And Hicks hardly needs additional recognition because the confidence booster he received from getting that walk-off winner and the support from his team mates does a lot for this young man. Let’s hope that he can pull it together and build on it to return to the big hitter we want to see him be. They are both our BOD’s today!

suzukiAaronHicks

GameChat – Red Sox @ Twins #2, 7:10pm

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well it’s a heck of a lot nicer out there today than it was yesterday.. not a WHOLE lot warmer but the combo of 10 degrees and some actual sunshine sure does seem to be a monumental change.

Let’s see if Correia can’t go a little deeper into the game tonight and let the bullpen have a break. I wouldn’t mind if he figured out how to keep Ortiz off the bases too. Yeah, I’d like that.

Boston @ Minnesota
Pedroia, 2B Dozier, 2B
Victorino, RF Mauer, 1B
Ortiz, D, DH Plouffe, 3B
Napoli, 1B Parmelee, RF
Sizemore, G, LF Suzuki, K, DH
Pierzynski, C Pinto, C
Bogaerts, SS Nunez, LF
Middlebrooks, 3B Escobar, E, SS
Bradley Jr., CF Hicks, CF
  Doubront, P   Correia, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 2 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 2 9 12 1
Minnesota 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 10 2

Apparently David Ortiz likes hitting at Target Field. Or maybe he likes hitting against Twins pitching. Either way, I’ll be glad to see him leave. – JC

GameChat – Red Sox @ Twins, 7:10pm

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so Boston comes to town and all the warmth leaves the state… coincidence? correlation? causation?  You will have to be the judge.

especially since once again, I don’t get to watch any baseball and it will be all I can do to catch the score here and there while at choir rehearsal. 🙁

Boston @ Minnesota
Pedroia, 2B Dozier, 2B
Victorino, RF Mauer, 1B
Ortiz, D, DH Plouffe, 3B
Napoli, 1B Kubel, LF
Sizemore, G, LF Suzuki, K, C
Pierzynski, C Parmelee, RF
Bogaerts, SS Nunez, DH
Middlebrooks, 3B Escobar, E, SS
Bradley Jr., CF Santana, D, CF
  Peavy, P   Nolasco, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 6 11 0
Minnesota 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 8 13 0

Well I missed most of the game but got into the car to come home in time to hear Boston tie it up..  which sounded pretty frustrating if you ask me.

However, I got home and settled in just in time to see Parmelee end it in spectacular fashion so .. it seems like I basically got to see the best part of the game! (although knocking Jake Peavy out in the 6th inning isn’t too shabby). Anyway, it seems somewhat a given that Chris – newly returned to the 40 man roster not to mention to Target Field – is tonight’s BOD!

Chris Parmelee (photo: J Megenhardt/MLB.com)
Chris Parmelee (photo: J Megenhardt/MLB.com)

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers #3, 12:08

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Happy Mothers’ Day to all you moms out there!

mothersdaybaseballSam Deduno takes the mound for today’s rubber contest against the Tigers. Joe Mauer reportedly showed up today saying his back felt pretty good, so he’s at least back in the lineup for the second consecutive day at DH.

I won’t be around for the game today. I’ll be spending the day with my mom and family having dinner at a casino 🙂

Let’s hope Deduno makes it a terrific Mothers Day for Twins fans.

Go Twins!

Minnesota @ Detroit
Dozier, 2B Kinsler, 2B
Mauer, DH Hunter, To, RF
Plouffe, 3B Cabrera, M, 1B
Colabello, 1B Martinez, V, DH
Pinto, C Kelly, D, 3B
Nunez, LF Jackson, A, CF
Parmelee, RF Avila, C
Hicks, CF Romine, A, SS
Escobar, E, SS Davis, R, LF
  Deduno, P   Ray, R, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 4 10 1
Detroit 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 7 1

I missed the entire game, so I have nothing but the box score to go on here, as far as naming a BOD.

Sam Deduno appears to have had a decent enough start. That’s great to see.

The two Eduardos, Nunez and Escobar, each had a couple of hits.

But I’m going to go with Josmil PInto as BOD for his two hits, two runs scored and a RBI.

Pinto2014ST5
Josmil PInto (photo: JC/Knuckleballs)

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers #2, 12:08pm

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I would definitely like to see some great baseball this afternoon but .. I’m moving a piano into my house so I will likely only get to listen to the game, if that. I wouldn’t mind seeing a return to the pitching duel with Gibby out there – matching up great pitching with great pitching is a rare thing for us with Detroit so I think we should take full advantage of it.

Go Twins!

Minnesota @ Detroit
Dozier, 2B Kinsler, 2B
Suzuki, K, C Hunter, To, RF
Mauer, DH Cabrera, M, 1B
Colabello, 1B Martinez, V, DH
Parmelee, RF Jackson, A, CF
Nunez, LF Kelly, D, LF
Escobar, E, 3B Castellanos, N, 3B
Hicks, CF Avila, C
Santana, D, SS Romine, A, SS
  Gibson, P   Scherzer, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 2
Detroit 0 6 0 0 0 0 3 0 x 9 11 1

Kyle Gibson had another one of those “welcome to the Big Leagues” kind of days against the Tigers. On the other hand, his defense in the second inning did him no favors at all.

It was good to see Joe Mauer’s name at least in the line up again and someone who looks like him step in to the batters box. Now we just need to get the real Joe Mauer back.

Anthony Swarzak’s contributions should not go overlooked. He relieved Gibson to start the 3rd inning and proceeded to throw four shutout innings against what appears to be the best line up in the AL. Too bad the effort was wasted.

Hey, has anyone noticed that Eduardo Escobar is hitting .322 (small sample size) and Danny Santana is at .412 (smaller sample size)? – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers, 6:08pm

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*** RAIN DELAY OVER…

A weekend series in Detroit… this could either be a lot of fun or.. not so much.

In case you missed it, Sam Fuld is officially on the Concussion DL and Nunez has been brought up in his place – plus some other roster news:

All in all, it makes for a bit of the same ol’ same ol’ kind of feeling with the injury bug.

Minnesota @ Detroit
Dozier, 2B Kinsler, 2B
Suzuki, K, C Hunter, To, RF
Plouffe, 3B Cabrera, M, 1B
Colabello, 1B Martinez, V, DH
Kubel, LF Jackson, A, CF
Nunez, DH Castellanos, N, 3B
Parmelee, RF Avila, C
Hicks, CF Romine, A, SS
Santana, D, SS Davis, R, LF
  Hughes, P, P   Verlander, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 9 0
Detroit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 10 0

I didn’t get to even listen to anything but the last two innings tonight, but I was pretty much shocked to see the Twins not only scored twice on Justin Verlander, but that Phil Hughes had kept the Tigers off the board for 7 innings. How cool is that combination?

Yes, Perk gave up a run in the 9th, but with the critical strike outs, we’ll let that pass this time.

Kurt Suzuki obviously had a big 2 out, 2 RBI single, but I don’t think there’s any doubt that Hughes is our BOD. – JC

Phil Hughes (photo: JC/Knuckleballs)
Phil Hughes (photo: JC/Knuckleballs)

GameChat – Minnesota @ Cleveland #4, 11:05am

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Welcome to Breakfast Baseball – especially if you happen to be a west coast Twins fan.

This is the last game in this series in Cleveland and our boys’ chance to even things up – for this trip. In the broader picture of division match-up for the season, we still have the edge on the Indians but we can’t afford to give that up so go Twins!

Unfortunately, we’re getting even more bench pinching. Fuld is having issues with headaches and neck stiffness and yeah, they are checking him for concussion issues. Not sure where that leaves us but Gardy is going to have a few issues today.

Minnesota @ Cleveland
Dozier, 2B Bourn, CF
Escobar, E, CF Swisher, 1B
Plouffe, 3B Brantley, LF
Colabello, 1B Santana, C, C
Kubel, LF Murphy, Dv, RF
Suzuki, K, DH Cabrera, A, SS
Pinto, C Raburn, DH
Herrmann, C, RF Chisenhall, 3B
Santana, D, SS Aviles, 2B
  Correia, P   Masterson, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 4 5 1
Cleveland 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 1 x 9 15 1

Well that wasn’t any fun.. I really do put it down to lack of flexibility.. as in, there is a reason we have a 25 man active roster and not having 25 available players is highly problematic. The Twins are basically still hoping that Mauer will be able to play “tomorrow” and Fuld is now on the DL.. these are not good things and it leads to losing baseball games.

GameChat – Minnesota @ Cleveland #3, 6:05pm

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Another rubber match. I have to start trusting Nolasco at some point if he keeps doing well enough but .. not yet.

Still no Mauer and now EE in left field.. this could be interesting.

Minnesota @ Cleveland
Dozier, 2B Morgan, CF
Fuld, CF Swisher, 1B
Plouffe, 3B Brantley, LF
Colabello, 1B Santana, C, 3B
Kubel, RF Murphy, Dv, RF
Suzuki, K, C Cabrera, A, SS
Pinto, DH Chisenhall, DH
Escobar, E, LF Gomes, Y, C
Florimon, SS Aviles, 2B
  Nolasco, P   Salazar, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 9 0
Cleveland 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 9 1

…that was a hard fought game actually – I don’t think the Twins have much to regret except that they didn’t come out on top –especially against a division opponent, that stings. When the walk-off was only possible because poor Escobar had one bad play in Left Field where he has very little experience? Yeah, he’s not feeling good about it either. I feel kind of bad for him.

We’ll have to see what happens in the final game of the series tomorrow.. for our west coast fans, you get breakfast baseball!

GameChat – Minnesota @ Cleveland #2, 6:05pm

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Still no Mauer – and this is why I never understood all those people who said they needed to move him to 1B to protect his playability. Physical issues/injuries happen no matter what position you’re playing so he’s still going to have down time now that he’s moved over. Just about every guy on this roster is going to have downtime like that at one point or another – some every season but let’s hope not many.

Anyway, here’s tonight’s lineups:

Minnesota @ Cleveland
Dozier, 2B Morgan, CF
Fuld, CF Swisher, 1B
Plouffe, DH Brantley, LF
Colabello, 1B Santana, C, 3B
Kubel, LF Murphy, Dv, RF
Suzuki, K, C Cabrera, A, SS
Escobar, E, 3B Chisenhall, DH
Herrmann, C, RF Gomes, Y, C
Santana, D, SS Ramirez, J, 2B
  Deduno, P   Tomlin, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 5 1
Cleveland 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 4 6 2

I admit, I gave up even following this game after the Tribe jumped out to that 4-0 lead. Looks to me like Sam Deduno figured something out after those first two innings. And am I reading that boxscore right? Three perfect innings of relief for Logan Darnell? Wow! – JC

GameChat – Minnesota @ Cleveland, 6:05pm

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It’s stunningly gorgeous in Minnesota today.. too bad for the Minnesota fans that suffered through that cold last week and can’t be enjoying the weather THIS week. It looks quite a bit cooler in Ohio right now.

I’m hopeful that the boys can come off the last winning series and bring that feeling into the division opponent battle. We’re doing pretty well against the Indians (and in our division) so far but that it’s way too early to make any determinations on how the division stands. I think Kyle Gibson is going to be a big factor in that determination – let’s hope that he is able to keep things rolling forward tonight.

Minnesota @ Cleveland
Dozier, 2B Morgan, CF
Fuld, CF Swisher, 1B
Plouffe, 3B Brantley, LF
Colabello, 1B Santana, C, 3B
Kubel, LF Chisenhall, DH
Suzuki, K, C Cabrera, A, SS
Pinto, DH Gomes, Y, C
Herrmann, C, RF Murphy, Dv, RF
Florimon, SS Aviles, 2B
  Gibson, P   McAllister, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 8 0
Cleveland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1

And the Twins celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a Win!

Sure, it took them a little longer than you’d like it to, but a win is a win.

Kyle Gibson was VERY impressive. I mean, two hits in seven innings? Pretty tough to beat. And his bullpen didn’t hurt him in support either.

But when Eduardo Escobar enters the game as a late-inning replacement and hits a home run in the 10th inning to give the team their only run of the game, that’s BOD-worthy! – JC

Eduardo Escobar (photo: JC/Knuckleballs)
Eduardo Escobar (photo: JC/Knuckleballs)