GameChat – Twins @ Reds, 6:10 pm

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Three decades ago, the Reds were the MLB affiliate of our Cedar Rapids Midwest League team so we tended to follow the players that came through town on their way to Major League careers. Reggie Sanders and Rob Dibble are just a couple of names that come to mind as having pretty memorable minor league seasons here. For the past 20 years, however, our local club has been affiliated with the Angels and I admit I haven’t paid a nickel’s worth of attention to the Reds.

So to recognize this obscure fact, tonight I’m opening up the GameChat here and then heading to the local ballpark to watch our Kernels take on the Beloit Snappers (the Twins’ MWL affiliate), rather than hanging around to follow the Twins game with those Cincinnati Reds. But for those of you who come around for the GameChat, I hope you enjoy the game!

TWINS

@

 REDS
Span, CF Cozart, SS
Revere, RF Heisey, CF
Willingham, LF Votto, 1B
Morneau, 1B Phillips, B, 2B
Plouffe, 3B Bruce, RF
Doumit, C Ludwick, LF
Dozier, SS Rolen, 3B
Carroll, 2B Mesoraco, C
Blackburn, P Bailey, H, P

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

R

H

E
Minnesota

0

1

1

1

0

2

0

0

0

5

10

0
Cincinnati

2

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

4

9

1

Can you believe it!??! I got to watch half a game of Twins baseball and they WON! I know, who would have guessed!

Blackburn only went 5 innings but he still got the win because the bullpen did a fantastic job of just shutting the door once they came out. For that, the entire bullpen gets access to the pastry buffet. Help yourself boys, we’re darn proud of you.

Congrats to Ben Revere for a great outting in front of his family – don’t really know the story (maybe he’s local) but that is just because I wasn’t really paying attention. But that being said, if you can give those who care about you a good show? yeah, that is an exciting time.

But today’s BOD goes to Ryan Doumit who kicked BUTT offensively while catching the game as well. His line says it all:

4 AB, 2 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 HR

That is enough for anyone on this team lately – good for you Doum!

Ryan Doumit

GameChat – Twins @ Pirates #3, 6:05pm

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*crossing fingers* Hendriks has definitely been struggling again since coming up. Here’s hoping that he will be able to follow Liriano’s example from last night and kick some butt from the mound.

yeah, here’s hoping…

Minnesota

@

 Pittsburgh
Span, CF Presley, LF
Revere, RF Walker, 2B
Willingham, LF McCutchen, A, CF
Morneau, 1B Jones, G, RF
Plouffe, 3B McGehee, 1B
Doumit, C Alvarez, 3B
Dozier, SS Barajas, C
Casilla, A, 2B Harrison, SS
Hendriks, P McDonald, J, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 1
Pittsburgh 1 3 0 0 0 2 3 0 x 9 12 1

At least the Twins were able to catch an early flight out of town, with the game not quite lasting two and a half hours.

James McDonald wasn’t really even challenged much by the Twins in his complete game win. Liam Hendriks, on the other hand, gave up all six runs to the Pirates. Then again, only half of those were earned runs, since three of them were scored after Brian Dozier’s error in the second inning gave the Pirates an extra out.

Justin Morneau managed a pair of hits off of McDonald, while Trevor Plouffe and Ryan Doumit worked together to account for the sole Twins run. Otherwise, the Twins’ offense was just that… offensive.

Ah well, on to Cincy! – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Pirates #2, 6:10 pm

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Still no Joe.

I’m curious to see how Francisco Liriano fares tonight against a line up he hasn’t faced, at least since spring training. Sure would be nice to see “good” Frankie, tonight.

Speaking of Spring Training, did you see that the Twins and Lee County agreed on a contract that will keep the Twins at their current Spring Training site for the next 30 years? Cool. Hat tip to TwinsTrivia.com for the news!

TWINS

@

 PIRATES
Span, CF Tabata, LF
Revere, RF Harrison, RF
Willingham, LF McCutchen, A, CF
Morneau, 1B McGehee, 1B
Plouffe, 3B Walker, 2B
Dozier, SS Alvarez, 3B
Carroll, 2B Barmes, SS
Butera, C McKenry, C
Liriano, P Bedard, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 7 0
Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 0

There was lots to like about the game tonight, not the least of which, of course, is that the Twins WON the game!

Josh Willingham scored both Twins runs, with a double and a home run. Denard Span had what turned out to probably be a game-saving diving catch in the outfield and Brian Dozier also had a web gem of his own. Jared Burton put out a fire when he entered the game and Glen Perkins notched his first save of the season.

But the Boyfriend of the Day award goes to Francisco Liriano, who gave up just one run on four hits over 6 and 2/3 innings. He walked just two (and one was intentional) while striking out six Pirates. Well done, Frankie!

Francisco Liriano

GameChat – Twins @ Pirates 6:10pm

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No Joe Mauer tonight, and no DH either as the Twins are on the road in a National League park to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Hopefully Scott Diamond throws well (and hits well, too!) tonight and gives the bullpen another day off.

Here are the lineups:

Minnesota Twins

@

 Pittsburgh Pirates
Span, CF Tabata, LF
Revere, RF Harrison, RF
Willingham, LF McCutchen, A, CF
Morneau, 1B McGehee, 1B
Plouffe, 3B Walker, 2B
Doumit, C Alvarez, 3B
Dozier, SS Barajas, C
Carroll, 2B Barmes, SS
Diamond, P Correia, P

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 8 0
Pittsburgh 1 0 0 0 1 2 3 0 x 7 12 0

Not a good sign when you’ve got your “best” pitcher in the opening game of a series and you lose that game 7-2. Ah well, we’ll see how things go Wednesday night. – JC
.

Guest Post – Beloit Snappers Game Review

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The following entry comes from one of our faithful Knuckleballs readers and regular GameChat participant Lecroy24fan.  Lecroy24fan chronicles his recent visit to the Twins Low Single-A Affiliate, the Beloit Snappers. Enjoy.

 

I was heading to  Elkhorn, WI this past weekend to visit my girlfriend, and we decided to head a half-hour down the road to Beloit on Saturday night to catch the Snappers game. Pohlman Field was really easy to find. When we arrived, it was posted that the game was moved up to 6:45 PM because of weather moving in. We walked up to the ticket booth and got Section C, Row 3, seats 1-2 for nine dollars apiece. Turns out the first Row was removed at some point, so we were to the right of home plate, second row. The section was covered by a net, so no foul balls could be had. I got to meet Chrissy Scaffidi, Director of Media and Community Relations, as well as PA Announcer extraordinaire. 

The game itself was a bad night for the Snappers, who were playing the Oakland A’s affiliate, the Burlington Bees. An 11-3 loss started ugly in the first and really got worse by the inning. SP Jason Wheeler just didn’t have it. He struggled through 5 innings, giving up seven runs, four of them earned. Tim Shibuya and Bart Carter also looked like they had nothing. Clint Dempster pitched the ninth and I felt like he was very dominant. Other than 2B Adam Bryant, who was 3 for 4 with a double and a triple, the bats were pretty quiet most of the night.  

Defensively, there were five errors. C Jario Rodriguez made a low throw trying to catch a runner stealing in the first, with the runner moving to third after the ball rolled into CF. JD Williams dropped a routine fly in RF and SS AJ Pettersen had a bad throw to first.

The player I was there to see was 3B Miguel Sano. He made two errors, giving him 24 on the season. The first one was on a routine grounder he never got his glove down and it went right under and into LF. His second error was on a throw that was about two feet over 1B Steven Liddle‘s head. I saw quite a few things about Sano that concern me. Every throw he makes is very high. Every grounder he stutter steps, which makes turning double plays impossible. He’s looks like he’s using an outfielders glove, which is causing him to have major issues getting the ball out of his glove. That could be leading to the stutter steps he takes. I don’t understand why these issues haven’t been fixed by now.

After the game, there was a fireworks show, which happened as planned. The rain started towards the end of the fireworks, so we headed for the exit. I would recommend Pohlman Field to anybody looking to catch a minor league game.

Thanks for sending in the post, Lecroy24fan!  During his post Lecroy24fan mentioned that he had the opportunity to meet Chrissy Scaffidi who, among the other things she does for the Snappers, recently started a blog detailing her adventures in the Minor Leagues.  Definitely an interesting read for anyone interested in some behind-the-scenes action in the Midwest League. If you have a guest post idea of your own feel free to email one of us Knuckleballers or reach out to us in one of our GameChats and we will be more than happy to give you an audience.

-ERolfPleiss

Book Review: Harmon Killebrew: Ultimate Slugger

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I recently received a review copy of Harmon Killebrew: Ultimate Slugger.  The book was written by Steve Aschburner with a foreword by Jim Thome and published by Triumph Books.

Steve Aschburner is a long time sports writer, covering all four major league sports and NCAA basketball.  His primary area of emphasis is NBA basketball, but between this book, and his 2008 work “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Minnesota Twins”, it is clear that he has a soft spot for America’s Pastime and the Minnesota Twins.

As a Twins fan not old enough to have seen Harmon Killebrew play for the Senators/Twins, nor old enough even to remember him calling games for the Twins on television, reading Ultimate Slugger provided an excellent opportunity to familiarize myself with one of the greatest men to ever play professional baseball.  Not only did I learn a lot about Killebrew, but I learned a lot about the game of baseball as it was played nearly 50 years ago.

The book is straight forward enough, it starts with a brief synopsis of Killebrew’s family lineage, includes some stories about Killebrew as a young kind, and then follows his career through his early days as a “Bonus Baby” in the 1950s right through his playing days and his strong presence with the Twins up until 2011.

The two things I liked best about Ultimate Slugger was the way Aschburner captured the spirit of Killebrew and the insights into Major League Baseball as it existed in the 50s and 60s.  Aschburner best captured Killebrew through interviews and stories from his life long friends.  He provided insight into the MLB gone-by with just enough statistical analysis to give you an idea of how the game was played and who the biggest players were, and throwing in some anecdotes that highlight the essence of the game.

One thing that particularly struck me was the story of how Harmon Killebrew’s first trip to the Major Leagues.  Killebrew joined the Washington Senators during a 19 game road trip.  A NINETEEN GAME ROAD TRIP (The Twins’ longest road trip in 2012 is 10 games, and that’s one of the longest road trips in MLB this year).  But when Killebrew joined the Senators on that road trip, it was not just the first time he’d been to a Major League game, but the first time he’d even seen a Major League stadium.  Because he was a “bonus baby” Killebrew did not have the benefit of Minor League seasoning, and his first two years he played sporadically, mostly being used as a pinch hitter or pinch runner.  Pretty interesting start for a man that would become an MLB icon.

The biggest drawback to the book is Aschburner’s writing style.  As a seasoned sports writer, his book reads more like a 230 page newspaper column than a regular biography.  Aschburner uses more than his fair share of hokey transitions and cliches to chronicle the life of Harmon Killebrew, but that’s really the only knock on the book.

If you’re a Twins fan looking to gain more insight into the life and stories that surrounded Harmon Killebrew you should definitely pick up a copy* of “Harmon Killebrew: Ultimate Slugger”.

*Knuckleballs will be running a contest during the upcoming All-Star break and giving away two copies of “Harmon Killebrew: Ultimate Slugger”.  Stay tuned!

GameChat – Brewers @ Twins #3 1:10 pm

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The Twins need a win today to salvage a season split with their boarder buddies, the Milwaukee Brewers.  The Twins will have their work cut out for them this afternoon facing Milwaukee’s ace, Zack Greinke.  To make matters worse, if the Twins do manage to scrape out a couple of runs against Greinke, Minnesota will have to rely on a struggling Nick Blackburn to keep them in the game.  In his last two starts opponents have hit Blackburn to a line of .310/.370/.452 (BA/OBP/SLG), turning every hitter into the 2012 version of Angel Pagan.  And his line is even worse against current Brewers.  Tough to win ball games like that.

Matt Capps is out with a sore shoulder until at least Tuesday, but both Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are in the lineup today for a very “unSunday Lineup” Sunday Lineup.

Here is the rest:

Milwaukee Brewers

@

 Minnesota Twins
Aoki, RF Span, CF
Morgan, CF Revere, RF
Braun, LF Mauer, C
Ramirez, Ar, DH Willingham, LF
Hart, C, 1B Morneau, 1B
Green, T, 3B Plouffe, 3B
Weeks, 2B Doumit, DH
Ransom, SS Dozier, SS
Maldonado, C Carroll, 2B
_Greinke, P _Blackburn, P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 R H E
Milwaukee 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 15 1
Minnesota 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 20 2

15 innings take a LONG time to play, 4 hours and 50 minutes with a rain delay thrown in for fun.

Nick Blackburn went just 6 innings, giving up 4 runs, all earned while throwing 101 pitches.    The Twins we down 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 7th and erupted for 3 runs to tie the game at 4.  That’s the way the score remained for 8 more innings before a Denard Span RBI single in the bottom of the 15th scored Brian Dozier from 3B.

For 9 innings of scoreless work, the Minnesota Twins bullpen (Nearly ALL of them, Burnett, Burton, Perkins, Duensing, Gray and Swarzak) falls just short of Father’s Day BOD honors.  As a consolation prize, LeCroy24Fan has agreed to mail them $300 to share. Enjoy it.

His 4/8 performance, with a double and game winning RBI earn Denard Span the coveted BOD.

Denard Span thanking fans for the Father’s Day BOD.

The Twins are off tomorrow to rest their bullpen, and start a 6 game Inter-League road trip against the Pirates on Tuesday night.  Remember, no DH in games played in NL parks,  so if Mauer’s leg is still a little beat up he’ll likely get a couple extra days rest and his bat will be out of the lineup all together.

GameChat – Brewers @ Twins #2, 1:10pm

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So Dave St. Peter assures us that the game will go on and our favorite Twins Fan Weather Forecaster says that the game might be a damp affair but should get off too so I feel confident between the two of them that the plan is to play baseball in Minnesota this afternoon.

In lineup news, Mauer is out today with a tight hamstring BUT Morneau is back so that’s good right? And Liam Hendriks is back. I’m hoping for a good outing but I honestly don’t know what to expect. It could be interesting. I hope he’s ready.

Milwaukee

@

 Minnesota
Aoki, RF Span, CF
Morgan, CF Revere, RF
Braun, LF Willingham, DH
Ramirez, Ar, 3B Morneau, 1B
Kottaras, DH Doumit, C
Weeks, 2B Plouffe, 3B
Green, T, 1B Dozier, SS
Ransom, SS Mastroianni, LF
Maldonado, C Carroll, 2B
  Fiers, P   Hendriks, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 6 10 0
Minnesota 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 2

Remember way back last week when the Twins were winning games? Yeah… those were good days. The never ending search for starting pitching moves on.

GameChat – Brewers @ Twins, 7:10 pm

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No Justin Morneau tonight… he’s out with a sore forearm. Should be no problem because the “good” Frankie Liriano is back in town, right?

BREWERS

@

 TWINS
Aoki, RF Span, CF
Gomez, CF Revere, RF
Braun, LF Mauer, 1B
Ramirez, Ar, 3B Willingham, LF
Hart, C, 1B Doumit, DH
Weeks, DH Plouffe, 3B
Ransom, SS Dozier, SS
Maldonado, C Butera, C
Maysonet, 2B Casilla, A, 2B
  _Gallardo, P   _Liriano, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 5 5 0
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 10 0

If contending teams are looking at what the Twins might have to offer, Francisco Liriano showed them a little something, anyway. Those walks continue to kill, though. Then again, Matt Capps also showed his own Achilles heel giving up a home run in the top of the 9th inning to lose the game.

It sure is fun watching Trevor Plouffe hit, though, isn’t it? Two more home runs tonight. Pretty amazing.