Today’s big news is that the Twins have optioned Nick Blackburn down to AAA and selected the contract of Casey Fien to come up and join the bullpen. I’m not sure what that means the starting rotation will be but that tells me that, even after tonight, Duensing is likely to stay a starter for now. Any other theories?
Raise your hand if you thought we’d be on game three of this series with two wins under our belt. Yeah, me neither.
I don’t know how we got here but I will say that offense has been huge (which makes a lot of sense) and the bullpen has been ridiculously good. Thank god because the starting pitching has still not been great. Let’s hope Duensing can really do something tonight against this lineup because I would really like to see what a lefty with good stuff can do – which means he needs to have good stuff.
Just so everyone knows but I’m sure the announcers will talk about this to death: it’s 103 degrees in Detroit right now.. and more possible storms on the way which I’m sure all of Detroit will appreciate if it brings down the temps at all. The boys wouldn’t have any relief if they were playing at Target Field either – hit 101 here at my house today so .. yeah, it’s just hot on America’s birthday this year. Good luck to ALL the players and fans and I hope they stay hydrated and healthy out there!
[edit] There is a delay to the start of the game because the previously mentioned storms have just hit.. the good news is that it means that the boys will have lower temps to play in.. the better news is that at least this isn’t a west coast game…
Let’s be honest, we didn’t really EXPECT to beat Justin Verlander, did we? So the fact that the Twins lost tonight hardly comes as a surprise. Weather caused the start of the game to be postponed, but not nearly long enough.
The GameChat was looking for silver linings toward the end of this contest. There weren’t many. Chris Parmelee did take a Verlander pitch for a major ride, so that was nice to see. Brian Duensing was hit in the leg by a batted ball, but the X-rays were negative, so I suppose that’s good news, too. Unfortunately Saturday’s scheduled starting pitcher, Cole DeVries had to make a relief appearance, so now both Saturday’s and Sunday’s starting pitcher slots are, as they say, “TBA”.
Is there anything more “American” than baseball? Has our country given the world anything more lasting… more identifiable with our nation than baseball?
The answer to both questions is, undeniably… yes.
Yes, there’s something more that our American ancestors gave to the world… something that is more valuable and more identifiable with our country than baseball. From the time a small group of courageous patriots sat in a room in Philadelphia and declared certain truths to be self-evident some 236 years ago today, up through this very moment, brave American men and women have demonstrated to the world that freedom is not just a word, but a right worth fighting for… and sometimes giving your life to defend. As we go about our celebration today, let us not forget the sacrifices made by others to assure we have the freedom to do that celebrating.
I don’t remember all of the 55 Independence Days I’ve celebrated as a citizen of these United States, but a few of them stand out in my memory. I’ve celebrated at family picnics and I’ve watched half a century of evening fireworks with friends and family. I’ve watched parades down main streets in Albert Lea, Minnesota and Webster City, Iowa… and even Cody, Wyoming, where we capped the night attending a rodeo. I’ve watched a parade of floats down a river in Iowa Falls, Iowa, as well.
But more than parades and more than fireworks, baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve spent July 4 playing baseball, coaching baseball, and watching baseball at pretty much every level it has been known to be played, from T-ball to the Big Leagues.
This morning, I even started my holiday by watching Field of Dreams on HBO. I’ve watched that movie a lot and if I’ve seen it 30 times, then I’m 30 for 30 in terms of tears during the final scene. Every time I see Kevin Costner “having a catch” with his father, it’s as if I’m able to do the same thing with my dad one more time and it reminds me of all the time I spent on a ballfield with him, not to mention all the time I’ve spent on ballfields with my own son. It was a perfect way to start the day.
A couple of years ago, I spent July 4 watching the Twins host the Tampa Bay Rays at Target Field and catching a Major League game on this holiday is something highly recommended. Alas, our Twins are on the road in Detroit tonight so most of us will have to wait at least another year to enjoy that pleasure again.
Fortunately, I do have an alternative. The Cedar Rapids Kernels take on the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at 5:00 this evening at Memorial Stadium here in Cedar Rapids and I’ll be there with family and friends to enjoy the game and the post-game fireworks.
As I’ve mentioned here before, many minor league organizations raise money for various charities by having their players sport special jerseys several times a year with those jerseys being auctioned off to fans. Tonight is no different in Cedar Rapids. The Kernels will be wearing these rather patriotic jerseys tonight and again on Armed Forces Appreciation Night this Saturday. They’ll be auctioned off Saturday night. I’ve already bought more Kernels jerseys at these auctions than I’ll ever wear, but I may have to get me one of these!
What are your plans for the day? Is baseball a part of them?
If the inspiration strikes you, feel free to use the comments section to share something about your favorite July 4 memory or perhaps about your plans for celebrating the holiday this year.
Whatever your plans, please take a moment at some point during the day to remember and thank those who have made this great celebration of national and personal freedom possible.
Obligatory statement about the weather: it’s not as hot here as they said it was going to be – by that I mean it didn’t make it to 100 – just more of the same we’ve had for the last week.
That being said, it’s a lot cooler in Detroit! That’s because it’s RAINING. There is a thunderstorm in progress in Detroit according to weather.com although I haven’t seen anything in the pregame stuff about the weather yet but the thunderstorms aren’t supposed to quit until 7 pm central or so. That’s definitely early enough to get the game in but I haven’t seen any sign that they are talking about delaying the game so maybe things are already easing. *shrug* maybe one of our local Twins weather people will speak up and advise us at some point soon..
[EDIT] according to Ben Collin (TTBB) @bennyc50
Personally I think #MNTwins and #Tigers will have a 1 hr delay at least considering the storms still heading in from the north.
As for the game itself, things look pretty normal lineup-wise. It could be painful to be facing this Detroit lineup if Blackburn is having a bad day. I’m really hoping he has a good day.
Remember how everyone brought up the fact that the Twins didn’t hit anything but singles on Monday night? Well, they made up for it tonight. Their 10 hits tonight included two doubles and three home runs. Of course, we need to express our gratitude to Tigers shortstop Ramon Santiago for sucking on defense, but then pretty much the whole world (at least those not named Leyland) knew the Tigers would suck on defense this season from the moment they showed up to Spring Training.
Anyway, our guys get another win and that’s always a good thing. Nick Blackburn struggled, giving up six earned runs in four innings of work, but once again the Twins bullpen was outstanding. That’s become almost routine lately.
Speaking of things being almost routine, both Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe hit home runs again! But on the not-so-routine side of the ledger, so did Joe Mauer!
The Boyfriend of the Day voting was close and while I think it’s great when there are so many worthy options, I was personally dismayed that I cast the lone vote for Mauer, who went 3-5 with a 2B and a HR, scoring 3 runs. Then again, Willingham also had a 2B and a HR and nobody voted for him! Trevor Plouffe had some support after not only launching a HR, but also flashing some impressive leather (there’s something we don’t have near enough opportunities to say, right?).
But Jeff Gray pitched two shutout innings, while Kyle Waldrop, Tyler Robertson and Glen Perkins each added one shutout inning of their own. Not only that, but thanks to Plouffe’s outstanding snag of a line drive that turned in to a double play and Mauer’s perfect throw to nail Brennan Boesch trying to steal, the four relievers all actually faced the minimum number of batters possible in their collective five innings of work. Their efforts allowed the Twins hitters to pull out a win AND earned them a collective “group” BOD award! – JC
It’s 92 degrees in Detroit right now… If the Twins thought they were getting away from the tropical heat, it appears they were wrong (although that’s still cooler than my house by 5 degrees). Let’s hope that everyone slept in well air-conditioned hotel rooms.
As far as our pitching match-ups tonight, I would love to see Liam do as well or better than his last appearance. I would also love to see Fister not do anywhere near as well… It would certainly make life easier for our offense.
But that being said, I haven’t ever really been one of those who wanted to play a bad team just to win… I just want my team to be better than the other guys.
I ESPECIALLY want to see my team beat the Tigers. *GRIN*
Congratulations to Ron Gardenhire for win #900 and to the team for getting 4 wins in a row for only the second time this season. And congratulations to Twins fans for actually having some fun baseball to watch lately. Of course, Perkins is doing his part to lobby for a closing role by trying to give all Twins Territory a heart attack in the process.
It was fun to see the guys actually figure out Fister and get to him to get a sizable lead in the 4th.. unfortunately, they got closer than is actually comfortable in the 5th. So our thanks to Anthony Swarzak for coming in and shutting down a potent offense for almost 3 innings. As his reward, he was voted today’s BOD!
Apparently, when Twins catcher Joe Mauer’s name was announced as the team’s representative to the All Star game, the Twinsville Twitterverse lit up with tweets condemning his selection. I didn’t notice this so much, myself, which is perhaps a testament to the intelligence of both those who follow me on Twitter and those I personally follow.
Joe Mauer
From what others were writing, however, it seems that a significant segment of Twinsville does not believe Joe Mauer is All Star worthy and/or they believe Josh Willingham was more worthy. Whichever the reason, those fans are wrong, of course. Not only is Mauer worthy of being named to the team to represent the Twins, he should have been voted by fans to start the game over the Rangers’ Mike Napoli.
Napoli’s split line is .235/.335/.438 for an OPS of .773. Mauer’s is .324/.414/.445 which gets him an .859 OPS. Napoli does have 12 home runs, of course, but nobody with a lick of baseball sense would consider that stat alone to be enough to overcome 86 OPS points, especially given the difference in stadiums the two call home. No, there’s absolutely no rational reason for Napoli being the starting AL catcher over Mauer. The fans blew that one. Of course, you won’t hear the talking heads mentioning that because Napoli is playing for the two-time defending AL champion (and World Series loser) Texas Rangers.
I did see someone raise the “but he’s not a real catcher” argument yesterday, in regard to Mauer. Yes, he DHs and plays some first base. But guess what, so does Napoli, who’s played more than 20 games at 1B himself this season. Smart managers (and even not-so-smart ones like Gardy and Ron Washington) find a way to give their catchers… especially those that hit like Mauer and Napoli… some time off from duty behind the plate in order to keep them healthy.
Josh Willingham
I would have liked to see Josh Willingham get his first All Star selection. Maybe if one of the AL All Star outfielders can’t participate, he could still get selected, but it’s not likely. Willingham’s year is All Star worthy, but every year there are All Star worthy players who don’t get selected and they’re usually from teams that have lost more games than they’ve won. Just as every year there are players named to the All Star team who are less worthy than others and they’re usually from the team managed by the guy managing the All Star team. This year is no exception. Ron Washington had seven “managers choice” slots to fill. Four of those selections had to come from teams that had no representative voted in. The other three selections were all members of his Rangers team. To the victor goes the spoils, I guess.
Willingham isn’t on the All Star team for three reasons: (1) He plays a position that requires him to compete with a lot of All Star worthy players; (2) He plays on a bad baseball team in a mid-level market; and (3) He is not the best player on his team.
I’d actually boil that down to one big reason he isn’t on the All Star team: The Twins starting pitching has flat out sucked for most of the season. If the Twins had better pitching, their offense is good enough to have them in contention and they wouldn’t be relegated to the “must have a representative” class of teams. He would be getting the recognition he deserves as one of the top Free Agent pick-ups off the past offseason and his name would be getting mentioned as one of the best hitting outfielders in the league.
So, those of you who want to complain about Josh Willingham not being selected to the All Star team, lay off of Joe Mauer. It isn’t his fault. Blame Ron Washington, if you like, but he’s just doing what managers do every year… reward the guys in his own clubhouse. If MLB didn’t want managers to do that, they can stop it easily by simply taking the manager’s choices away. The real blame for Willingham’s “snub”, if you feel he was snubbed, gets laid at the feet of Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn, Francisco Liriano, Liam Hendriks, et al.
Speaking of All Star snubs, I can’t help but wonder why nobody is up in arms over Trevor Plouffe not being selected. He arrived on the scene in Minnesota about the same time phenom Mike Trout arrived in Disneyland and their stats since arriving are similar (though Trout is admittedly the far superior defender). If Ron Washington is really serious about setting his Rangers team up with home field advantage in the World Series this time, you would think giving some consideration to arguably the hottest player in the league for the month of June might have been in order.
Trevor Plouffe
It’s hard to argue that Adrian Beltre and Miguel Cabrera, the two third basemen on the AL roster, don’t belong. They certainly do. But if I were the AL manager, having a late inning option as a pinch hitter and a guy who could play pretty much any position on the field other than pitcher and catcher (though, admittedly, none of them particularly well) would be an option I might consider valuable.
I’m certainly not arguing that Plouffe SHOULD have been selected over anyone who was so honored, but just pointing out that Willingham isn’t the only Twins player that the team’s crappy overall performance may have cost an All Star spot.
Speaking of Plouffe, I know we’re all waiting for his bubble to pop because there’s no way he keeps up the level of offensive productivity he’s shown in June (and the first day of July), but he’s riding just about the hottest offensive streak I’ve seen in a long time. There’s understandably a lot of attention paid to uber-prospect Miguel Sano down in Class A Beloit, but isn’t Plouffe pretty much putting up the kind of numbers that most of us dare to even hope Sano will put up some day? Over the last four weeks, his split line is .311/.376/.744 for a 1.121 OPS. Yes, small sample size warning is applicable, since that covers only 24 games, but still… that’s one heck of a four weeks!
Plouffe was the Twins’ first round draft pick in 2004 and it seems like we’ve been waiting around forever for his productivity to reach his potential. His stats over the course of parts of eight seasons spent in the Twins’ minor league system were unremarkable, if not downright disappointing, for a first round pick (.258/.320/.406 .726OPS). That said, he put up a 1.019 OPS in 51 games at Rochester last season, so his current hot streak is not completely out of nowhere, either.
Miguel Sano
Sure, his defense still needs work, but trust me when I tell you that, by comparison, Miguel Sano makes Plouffe look like Brooks Robinson at third base. Most people still believe Sano will eventually need to be moved to a less challenging position, though the organization is still holding out hope that he can learn to play a passable third base. Plouffe, on the other hand, didn’t really even start to learn the position until he was thrown in there at the Major League level earlier this season.
And here’s the best part… Trevor Plouffe JUST turned 26 years old a couple of weeks ago. Pitchers around the league won’t allow Plouffe to put up numbers at his recent levels forever, but while he’s hot, he’s certainly got the potential to be one of the few interesting stories to follow through the remainder of this disappointing Twins season. And if he keeps improving year-to-year, by the time Miguel Sano arrives in Minnesota, it won’t matter whether Sano can play 3B, because that position will be claimed for the foreseeable future by Trevor Plouffe.
It doesn’t seem all that long ago that four-game series were pretty commonplace. Not so any more. But thanks to yesterday’s make-up game, we’ve got the finale of four-game series today against the Royals. Thanks to yesterday’s doubleheader sweep, the worst our guys can do is come away with a series split and a win today claims the series 3-1.
In case anyone missed it, the Orioles acquired Jim Thome from the Phillies yesterday. Big Jim will be wearing #25 for the O’s. Yes… as hard as it is to believe, the Orioles have not retired that number in honor of Rafael Palmeiro. Thome will return to Target Field with his new team in just two weeks!
The All-Star Game rosters were announced today. Representing the Twins will be Joe Mauer. That’s not really a surprise and he deserves to be selected. He probably deserves to start ahead of Mike Napoli, but with the Twins pulling up the rear in the AL Central standings, you don’t expect to get much love around the country. All of that said, I’d have liked to see Josh Willingham get his first All-Star selection. The Twins poor record has kept Willingham from getting the recognition he deserves. He’s clearly one of the best Free Agent pick ups in the league (especially if you consider performance vs. pay).
The Twins have declared today “Armed Forces Appreciation Day” with a special ceremony scheduled to honor “Gold Star” families. With Independence Day this week, it’s a good time to honor families of those who have given the “last full measure of devotion” for our country’s freedom. They deserve our thanks this week and every week.
Francisco Liriano is on the mound for the Twins. Let’s see the good Frankie today!
I can’t stop laughing.. LOL That was just a ridiculous game of baseball that ended with us on top so at least I’m not crying. Today was all about the HR. Whether we credit burning the assbats, or the warm weather or the sacrifice of live chickens to Jobu, I don’t really care. It’s about time that the hometown 9 figured out how to hit Bruce Chen!!
The real entertainment seemed to be the battle of the team Homerun lead between Trevor Plouffe and Josh Willingham. Both guys have been on fire for the month of June and wanted to get July started off on the right pace. They started today tied but Trevor took the early lead in the 2nd inning. But Josh couldn’t let him get away so he answered back in the 6th with a homerun of his own to tie the race. Trevor was having none of that and took back his position as the HR leader with his SECOND HR of the day in the 6th. It was an embarrassment of runs and riches to watch them go off that way.
For that, we grant them both ice cold adult beverages of their choice (unless they need to re-hydrate) just to show our appreciation.
And then out of the blue…
Drew Butera?!? Totally unexpected 3 run HR in the 8th to build that run cushion up. AND it turns out that 4 HRs in a single game is actually a Twins record. Then it turns out that those runs weren’t so extraneous after all. Perkins made life a little interesting in the top of the 9th and all of a sudden we were VERY grateful that we had those “extra” runs from Drew. As much for the runs as for the surprise of the source, Drew gets the room vote for BOD!
Drew Butera sporting the Minneapolis Millers uniform (Photo: Minnesota Twins)
Kudos to the Twins cleaning crew who got the ballpark ready for Game 2 of today’s split doubleheader in just a couple of hours.
Before we take on Game 2, if you haven’t seen it yet, check out Brian Dozier’s “infield hit” below. I’m pretty sure it’s something you’ve never seen happen before. This, folks, is why coaches taught us to “always run everything out!”
On to Game 2. Cole De Vries has been called upon to make a spot start tonight for the Twins, though he won’t find a Twins jersey in his locker when he shows up to get dressed for the game. Tonight is “turn back the clock” night and the Twins will be wearing Minneapolis Millers uniforms. The Royals, likewise, will be wearing throwback KC Blues uniforms.
Drew Butera sporting the Minneapolis Millers uniform (Photo: Minnesota Twins)
Denard Span is getting the night off as Ben Revere leads off and plays CF. Having Span and Ryan Doumit ready to pinch hit late in the game could come in handy.
Where to begin? So many little tidbits being passed along after the Twins beat the Royals 5-1.
Let’s start with the obvious… that was a doubleheader SWEEP of the Royals that our guys completed tonight. Yes, I know it isn’t exactly the Yankees… or even the White Sox… but hey, the Twins are looking up at the Royals in the standings, so let’s not minimize this too much!
MLB.com Twins beat writer Rhett Bollinger tweeted a couple of additional little fun facts after the game. For example, this was the Twins’ first doubleheader sweep since September 13… FOUR years ago. Yes, September of 2008 was the last time the Twins took both ends of a doubleheader. In fact, winning even one game of a doubleheader would have been an improvement over last season when the Twins went 0-8 in doubleheader games. And finally, with today’s sweep,the Twins completed the month of June with a 14-13 record… the first winning record for a month since July last year.
Joe Mauer continued his hot hitting, going 2 for 4 and Josh Willingham apparently decided he didn’t want to let Trevor Plouffe lead the team in HRs without him, so he launched his 16th of the season, as Plouffe did this afternoon.
But the story of the game… and our Boyfriend of the Day… was starting pitcher Cole DeVries. The Minnesota kid went six innings while giving up just five hits and one walk and striking out six Royals. The bullpen of Alex Burnett, Tyler Robertson and Jared Burton each threw a scoreless inning of relief in support of DeVries.
This is going to be an interesting day.. Two games, HIGH temps, and we used 5 pitchers in last nights trial. In the post game questions, Gardy said that they deliberately didn’t over-use any particular pitcher so they are all theoretically available for today… This is going to be another one of those endurance challenges.
I have a hint for our boys.. lots of offense makes it way easier on everyone. Just saying..
well hot damn! look what happens when you hit the ball! Better yet, look what happens when your pitcher actually pitches WELL!! THAT was a fun game to watch!
And Scott Diamond, you brilliant gem, YOU are BOD!
I’m a little excited that we get to see Duensing finally return to the mound tonight.. *crosses fingers* I don’t want to jinx him or anything but I have been hoping for awhile that they’d let him have another shot. I really hope that he’s able to do something with it! We get Cole back tomorrow and Liriano on tap for Sunday. Let’s just call it a whole weekend full of “I wonder what will happen” as it comes to our pitching.
I really hope the offense gives them the support they’ll all probably need.
As a Twins fan, I feel a lot like Charlie Brown going for that football again just because they made me hope during yet another 9th inning rally that looked promising and … doesn’t quite make it.
So after several discussions in our gamechats, I’ve come to the realization that so many of our faithful participants are out of the FSN viewing area and don’t get to see so many of the very funny Twins Commercials that we get to see here in state. So from time to time, I’m going to post some of them!
Lately, they’ve started a new series that I find hilarious – think Deep Thoughts with Jack Handy…
and this one is on a different vein but still entertaining…
and now a BONUS that you CAN’T find on the Twins website .. because it’s for the MN State Lottery but still… couldn’t resist publishing Bert.
Just so everyone knows but I’m sure the announcers will talk about this to death: it’s 103 degrees in Detroit right now.. and more possible storms on the way which I’m sure all of Detroit will appreciate if it brings down the temps at all. The boys wouldn’t have any relief if they were playing at Target Field either – hit 101 here at my house today so .. yeah, it’s just hot on America’s birthday this year. Good luck to ALL the players and fans and I hope they stay hydrated and healthy out there!
