BOD – Page 11 – Knuckleballs

GameChat – Tigers @ Twins, 7:10pm

Posted on 28 September, 2012 by CapitalBabs

Happy Fan Appreciation Weekend! or something like that anyway.. they have all sorts of things going on at Target Field this weekend that may or may not have anything to do with baseball.

What I know for sure is that the Twins could not have ordered a better weekend weather-wise for the final home stand. It’s stunningly gorgeous outside for the end of September – will still be in the 70’s at first pitch and lovely sun. Minnesota really shines in the fall and I hope that everyone is taking advantage of it.

Of course, the real story of the day is that the Twins officially released Nishioka this afternoon – at his request. I think he has realized that they just aren’t going to put him in the big games if he can’t play the way we want him to and he has decided that he either can’t or isn’t willing to continue on the path he’s been on. I think it’s really a very good decision for both parties. The Twins are free & clear of the money he’d have been owned and I think he’ll be happier for the decision. Also, having this decided now means that they will have that dynamic removed as they are looking for off-season moves for the team.

As for tonight’s game, the Tigers currently have a solid 2 game lead on the White Sox. Do I think we could change that by beating them each of the three games? No, looking at the math, I don’t think so. So, let’s hope that a) the offense remembers what they do with the sticks and how to run smart baseball b) the defense doesn’t get caught bird-watching or anything silly like that and c) Diamond goes out there and does what we know Scotty really knows how to do… and I admit that a little Tiger Circus never fails to disappoint on the entertainment scale…

Detroit	@	Minnesota
Jackson, A, CF		Span, CF
Infante, 2B		Revere, RF
Cabrera, Mi, 3B		Mauer, C
Fielder, 1B		Morneau, 1B
Young, D, DH		Doumit, DH
Peralta, Jh, SS		Plouffe, 3B
Dirks, LF		Carson, LF
Garcia, A, RF		Escobar, 2B
Laird, C		Florimon, SS
Smyly, P		Diamond, P

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

What do you know? That was a FUN game! We managed to meet Cabrera head on and still never let him score (especially off a better-than-his-average throw from Ben Revere to home plate).

The fun started with a fantastically pitched game from Scott Diamond. That is quite the lineup and he did very well. It should make him feel good about his chances for next year. It’s really a nice way for him to be looking at the end of the season with performances like this. He went 7 scoreless innings and then tagged by Omar Infante in the 8th but Burton finished that well. Then Perk got one of the quickest Saves all season. To our pitching staff tonight, my husband says, “have a Summit on me, it’s National Drink A Beer Day!”

But the vote for BOD was unanimous – Ryan Doumit. He just did a brilliant job with the stick tonight. He just sewed it up with a crucial double, a home run and all 4 RBI belong to him. Yep. No debate.

GameChat – Yankees @ Twins #2, 7:10pm

Posted on 25 September, 2012 by CapitalBabs

so.. Phil Hughes has kind of been on a roll lately – he’s trying for win #17 this season. I would love to see him not quite get there.

Of course, that means our offense will have to do something about that..

and who knows what we’ll get from Vasquez up against the Yankee lineup.

Let’s try this again. It might really be a good idea to win this game tonight because I don’t think we want to rely on the chances of beating Captain Cheeseburger on Wednesday to avoid a Yankee series sweep.

If there was any roster news today, I’m unaware of it… just haven’t been in the loop on news today, sorry. – JC

NY Yankees	@	Minnesota
Jeter, SS		Span, CF
Suzuki, I, RF		Revere, LF
Rodriguez, Al, 3B		Mauer, C
Cano, DH		Morneau, 1B
Swisher, 1B		Doumit, DH
Granderson, CF		Parmelee, RF
Martin, C		Plouffe, 3B
Ibanez, LF		Carroll, 2B
Nix, J, 2B		Florimon, SS
Hughes, P, P		Vasquez, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	1	4	9	0
Minnesota	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	x	5	8	0

Yes, I know the Twins have lost 90 games and are playing out the season, but it’s still fun to beat the Yankees, right?

Esmerling Vasquez threw a nice six innings of baseball. The bullpen wasn’t perfect tonight, but they managed to keep things from getting out of control long enough for the bats in the lineup to put together a four-run 7th inning and hang on for a 5-4 Twins win.

Denard Span had a big two-out double in that inning, followed by an RBI single by Joe Mauer. Mauer had three hits in the game. I was apparently the only person in GameChat still awake at the end of the game and I couldn’t decide between the two for the BOD award so we’re going to let them split it. – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers #2 & #3, 12:05pm & 6:05

Posted on 23 September, 2012 by CapitalBabs

So today actually is the double-header to make up for Friday’s rainout. No, really it is. It also makes for a LOT of baseball today but at least there isn’t any rain in today’s forecast. Fall baseball has definitely begun however since it’s not supposed to even reach 60 degrees.

Good luck guys!

Game #2:

Minnesota	@	Detroit
Span, CF		Jackson, A, CF
Revere, RF		Infante, 2B
Mauer, DH		Cabrera, Mi, 3B
Willingham, LF		Fielder, 1B
Morneau, 1B		Young, D, DH
Doumit, C		Peralta, Jh, SS
Plouffe, 3B		Dirks, LF
Escobar, 2B		Garcia, A, RF
Florimon, SS		Laird, C
Diamond, P		Scherzer, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	5	1	4	0	10	13	1
Detroit	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	4	6	1

This game went pretty much like you’d expect until the 6th inning… and then the TWINS actually started getting RUNS! Scott Diamond also seemed to get things figured out and settled down by the 4th inning or so and had a pretty darn good outing!

But today the BOD went unanimously to Joe Mauer. Thanks Joe!

Game #3:

We did a pretty good job of going through the Detroit bullpen this afternoon, let’s see if we can get to them again. Let’s hope that PJ can keep us in it long enough to have that make a difference.

Minnesota	@	Detroit
Revere, CF		Jackson, A, CF
Carroll, 2B		Berry, LF
Mauer, C		Cabrera, Mi, 3B
Willingham, LF		Fielder, 1B
Morneau, 1B		Young, D, DH
Doumit, DH		Boesch, RF
Plouffe, 3B		Peralta, Jh, SS
Carson, RF		Avila, C
Florimon, SS		Santiago, 2B
Walters, P		Smyly, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	7	1
Detroit	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	3

Well THAT was fun!!! I think close games are entertaining. This was a hard fought game from the pitching standpoint and PJ did a very good job! Jared Burton also pitched an IMMENSE bottom of the 9th against the heart of the Tigers order in a beautiful way. For that they both get a classic internet High Five! I hope he keeps it up!

Apparently the Twins are 6-0 when it comes to winning double-headers. I don’t know why that is but I’m not going to argue. I like winning, I like beating the Tigers. I’m not so fond of helping the White Sox reach the post season but.. I like beating the Tigers.

We all agreed that tonight’s BOD was the ever ‘youthful’, Jamey Carroll. He might be mad at himself for getting that out at 2B but he still is the one who got that winning RBI. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Jamey and enjoy the recognition of all that you have brought to your new team!

GameChat: Twins @ Indians #2, 6:10 pm

Posted on 19 September, 2012 by Jim Crikket

Let’s see if the Twins can get the job done in a regulation nine innings tonight.

The news today involves yet another injury. Darin Mastroianni has a torn tendon in a middle finger (insert juvenile off-color joke here) and will be limited to pinch running duties for the rest of the season.

On a happier note, Chris Parmelee will leave tomorrow to return home to LA for the birth of their first child. Congratulations, in advance, Chris!

Another Chris, Chris Herrmann, is getting his first-ever Major League start behind the plate, which is very cool. It would be even cooler if Chris can be a good-luck charm for his battery-mate, starting pitcher Liam Hendriks, who’s still trying to get his first MLB win in his 18th start.

Oh… and this afternoon, the Twins and Cedar Rapids Kernels announced at a press conference today that they’ve entered in to a new four-year player development contract. I heard the press conference, which was open to the public, went well.

TWINS	@	INDIANS
Span, CF		Choo, RF
Carroll, 2B		Kipnis, 2B
Mauer, DH		Cabrera, A, SS
Willingham, LF		Santana, C, C
Morneau, 1B		Brantley, CF
Parmelee, RF		Hafner, DH
Plouffe, 3B		Canzler, 1B
Herrmann, C		Chisenhall, 3B
Florimon, SS		Rottino, LF
_Hendriks, P		_McAllister, P

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

Liam Hendrik’s FINALLY gets his first WIN!! He also took a double shaving cream pie to the face in the post game interview courtesy of Pedro Florimon and Alexi Casilla. Today was not his best outing to be honest but it wasn’t a bad one. After going soooooo many starts without a win, piles of no decisions and a handful+ of losses, it must be the most amazing feeling to finally have this part behind him. I’m also happy that the TEAM got a win – that always feels good.

Liam also gave a LOT of credit where credit most definitely due – Chris Herrmann. He may not have gotten a hit tonight but he did get his first MLB RBI. However, that’s not what was so good about his job tonight. He had an amazing catching debut managing to keep a LOT of bad pitches from becoming bad situations; at least one truly stellar throw to 2B; and a few great tags. He did everything you would expect from an experienced MLB catcher with none of the cross-ups you could leave room for in a newbie. For that we have to be truly thankful and we give him his own shaving cream pie! (ours is much easier to clean up)

Additionally, I don’t know whether to be grateful or disappointed that Gardy went face to face with Cowboy Joe West and managed to stay in the game. It might even be a first… is Gardy losing a step at the end of the season or is he just not feeling the pressure since there is no pennant to be racing.

Lastly, tonight’s BOD was a unanimous choice – Josh Willingham. He earned it and in a big way: 4 hits, 4 RBI and in general, fantastic presence in the offense. Considering it was yet another 1 run game, and another save for Perkins (thank you for shaving btw), we needed every bit of offense we were able to round up tonight. Good Job Willy! – CB

GameChat: Twins @ Indians, 6:10 pm

Posted on 18 September, 2012 by Jim Crikket

Glancing at the Twins line up, it kind of looks like the closest thing Gardy can come up with to a legitimate “A line up,” right up to the point where you see who’s pitching. Tonight we have the return of P.J. Walters. I’m going to be honest, I don’t really remember enough about him to opine about whether I’m glad he’s back or not. I guess at the very least, I’m glad he’s healthy again.

TWINS	@	INDIANS
Span, CF		Choo, RF
Revere, RF		Kipnis, 2B
Mauer, C		Cabrera, A, SS
Willingham, LF		Santana, C, C
Morneau, 1B		Brantley, CF
Doumit, DH		Canzler, DH
Plouffe, 3B		Chisenhall, 3B
Carroll, 2B		Kotchman, 1B
Escobar, SS		Carrera, LF
_Walters, P		_Huff, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Minnesota	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	16	2
Cleveland	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	11	0

What a long time to watch the Twins play the Indians. And for the record, I’m pretty sure there were more people tweeting about the Twins game than were sitting in the stands watching the game. BUT! Our endurance was rewarded! Our boys managed to get the WIN! It’s been a bit since we saw that and it feels good to come back and get a win in the division fight..

It was a battle from early on – we got an early lead that disappeared almost immediately and stayed tied or a run apart for most of the game. Nothing like making a game late in the season go 12 innings. And breaking that final tie took a LONG time.

A few highlight players:

Duensing who threw 3 innings with 1 hit and no runs after a short, somewhat shaky but not irreparable start from PJ.
Mastroianni who manufactured the tie breaking run and got himself to home on an error in the top of the 12th.
Florimon who ended up getting the actual winning RBI since we needed BOTH of the runs we got in the 12th to get the win.

All these guys deserve a steak dinner. Seriously, there was a point when I thought this game would never end.

But the real standout effort tonight came from Joe Mauer – who else? He was on base every at bat, 3 hits, 2 walks and an RBI. For such an outstanding plate performance, he earned today’s BOD! – CB

GameChat – Royals at Twins #3 7:10pm

Posted on 13 September, 2012 by Eric Pleiss

The biggest baseball news in Minnesota today had nothing to do with the Twins. The Saint Paul Saints are going to be building a brand new stadium. Look out, Target Field!

Last night the Twins were let down by the starting pitchers, the bullpen and Ryan Doumit‘s defense. Tonight they have a chance to salvage a win in a 3 game home series with the Royals. In the first two games Minnesota has been outscored 19-6, so even keeping the game close would be an improvement. The Royals are sending Luis Mendoza to the hill and the Twins are countering with the winless wonder, Liam Hendriks. Mendoza is not very good, and Hendriks has not proven he is any good yet, so this could be a fun game for fans that like offense.

Joe Mauer and Chris Parmelee are still out of the lineup, but at this point I would assume that Ron Gardenhire and the Twins are erring on the side of caution and making sure these guys are 100% before putting them back in the line up.

Kansas City Royals	@	Minnesota Twins
Lough, RF		Span, CF
Escobar, A, SS		Revere, RF
Gordon, LF		Willingham, DH
Butler, DH		Morneau, 1B
Perez, S, C		Plouffe, 3B
Moustakas, 3B		Mastroianni, LF
Cain, CF		Escobar, 2B
Hosmer, 1B		Butera, C
Giavotella, 2B		Florimon, SS
_Mendoza, L, P		_Hendriks, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Kansas City	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Minnesota	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	4	7	0

Well that sounded like a fun game (at least the last few innings) anyway. Liam continued to struggle, giving up a couple of runs in the first inning, but the Twins offense managed to stay within striking distance and ultimately took the game in to extra innings, winning 4-3 in the 10th.

The Twins bullpen did a real job tonight. Hendriks survived five innings, but that left five innings of work from the pen. Robertson, Fien and Burton not only worked one shutout inning each, but none of them gave up so much as a hit. Glen Perkins followed with two shutout innings, giving up just one hit. That’s some pretty impressive work and it would be quite easy to just give the Boyfriend of the Day award to that group.

You could also make a case for Denard Span. While he had only one hit, it was a walkoff double in the 10th inning and that’s pretty BOD-worthy. For that matter, Alexi Casilla, who entered the game as a pinch runner, led off the 10th with a double of his own and ended up scoring on Span’s double and that was pretty sweet work on Lexi’s part.

But tonight’s BOD award is going to Trevor Plouffe. Not only was Plouffe the only Twins hitter with more than one hit, one of his two hits was a home run in the 9th inning that sent the game in to extra innings. Beyond that, Plouffe made a diving defensive play in the 5th that saved a run. Without that play and the homer, this game was another loss. For that, Trevor is our BOD! – JC

GameChat – Indians @ Twins #4, 7:10pm

Posted on 10 September, 2012 by CapitalBabs

So the final game against the Indians.. I would like to win the series, how about you?

It’s a phenomenally gorgeous day to play baseball outside and I hope Deduno has that EFFECTIVE part down to his “Wild” today.

Cleveland	@	Minnesota
Choo, RF		Revere, CF
Brantley, CF		Casilla, A, 2B
Santana, C, DH		Mauer, C
Canzler, LF		Morneau, 1B
Kotchman, 1B		Willingham, DH
Chisenhall, 3B		Doumit, LF
Phelps, C, 2B		Plouffe, 3B
Lillibridge, SS		Carson, RF
Marson, C		Florimon, SS
Masterson, P		Deduno, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	3	0
Minnesota	0	0	0	1	0	2	3	1	x	7	10	0

You know, that was kind of the Twins performance we used to be much more accustomed to seeing. Good starting pitching, followed by a couple innings of shut down work by the bullpen. Some timely hitting, speed on the basepaths and excellent defense. Almost makes you a little misty-eyed to see it again, doesn’t it?

There was support for Alexi Casilla and his flashy leatherwork for Boyfriend of the Day honors. I’m a big Lexi fan and I acknowledge that time may be running out for him to get one more BOD award in his Twins career, but there were a couple of other performances that have to rate just a bit higher.

Sam Deduno went seven innings and gave up just three hits. Somehow, though, he gave up almost as many runs. His six strikeouts were pretty nice, but then there were those three walks. That’s pretty impressive.

But BOD honors tonight go to Pedro Florimon. He showed some pretty fancy glovework, himself, but he also added a double, a triple, a couple of runs scored and an RBI. I don’t know if this is the kind of performance we can expect from Pedro consistently, but wouldn’t it be nice if it was?

Minnesota Twins v Seattle Mariners — Pedro Florimon (Photo:Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

GameChat – Indians @ Twins #3, 1:10pm

Posted on 9 September, 2012 by CapitalBabs

So Minneapolis is a busy place this afternoon! Vikings are kicking off the NFL season at home hosting the Jaguars while the Twins finish off the series with Cleveland. And of course, I have 15 things going on so all of the above are going to be hit & miss for me to catch.

Given that the this is a rubber match for the Indians, I’m really hoping that Esmerling Vasquez has a fantastic Target Field debut – not that I don’t always hope our starting pitcher is fantastic. It might be a day game but our boys aren’t leaving town since the home stand still has another week to go. I’m hoping that means that the offense remembers that it can hit the ball!

And the weather is absolutely perfect to be outdoors watching baseball while the rest of the Minnesota is indoors watching the Vikings in the Dome. I’ll take the baseball… at least while I’m not going out to pick up my new dryer….

Cleveland	@	Minnesota
Choo, RF		Revere, CF
Kipnis, 2B		Carroll, 2B
Cabrera, A, DH		Mauer, DH
Brantley, CF		Morneau, 1B
Santana, C, 1B		Doumit, C
Canzler, LF		Parmelee, RF
Lillibridge, SS		Mastroianni, LF
Donald, 3B		Escobar, 3B
Marson, C		Florimon, SS
Kluber, P		Vasquez, P

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

Seems pretty much everyone had other things to do today that were more important than hanging out online during the Twins game, but I made it home just in time to hear Justin Morneau’s walk-off solo shot down the right field line.

Vasquez wasn’t exactly impressive and a couple members of the bullpen weren’t entirely helpful, either, but Casey Fien and Brian Duensing both managed to put out a fire or two and keep the Twins in the game.

But today was a bit of a “throwback” day for the Twins… if you can call going back about 4 years “throwback.” In any event, today it was an M&M day. Joe Mauer had three hits, finishing just a home run short of hitting for the cycle. No problem, though, because Morneau hit a couple of them, including the game winner in the bottom of the ninth inning.

For that bit of heroism, Justin is our Boyfriend of the Day! – JC

GameChat – Indians @ Twins #2, 6:10pm

Posted on 8 September, 2012 by CapitalBabs

First things first: Congratulations TK! I think it’s wonderful that the Twins are choosing to honor your accomplishments in this wonderful way.

TK field number — The Twins chose to paint the field with TK’s number as part of the ceremony to retire his number.

Second, Cole, can you please have an amazing outing and let the Twins have a great game to keep TK from being frustrated while watching?

Third, offense, what do you say you do your part and make a contribution or two?

Cleveland	@	Minnesota
Choo, RF		Revere, CF
Kipnis, DH		Carroll, 2B
Cabrera, A, SS		Mauer, C
Santana, C, C		Willingham, DH
Brantley, CF		Morneau, 1B
Canzler, 1B		Doumit, LF
Phelps, C, 2B		Parmelee, RF
Hannahan, 3B		Plouffe, 3B
Carrera, LF		Florimon, SS
McAllister, P		De Vries, P

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

Pretty sure the Twins HAD to win tonight or TK would have kicked their ass. But then again, Cole really pitched a beautiful game. Anytime the home team can work with a shutout of the visiting team, they really don’t have to do too much. For that, Cole DeVries is voted today’s BOD!

DeVriesGetty — Cole DeVries (Photo: Hannah Foslein – Getty Images

GameChat – Twins @ White Sox #2, 7:10pm

Posted on 4 September, 2012 by CapitalBabs

I would be very happy if Scott Diamond could return to the form he possessed earlier this season rather than the struggling performance I saw at Target Field last week….

And we have our first appearance of Eduardo Escobar. I’m intrigued to see what he does since I haven’t ever seen him play – we got him in the Liriano trade if I recall correctly.

Minnesota	@	Chi White Sox
Revere, CF		De Aza, CF
Carroll, 2B		Youkilis, 3B
Mauer, C		Dunn, A, DH
Willingham, DH		Konerko, 1B
Morneau, 1B		Rios, RF
Doumit, LF		Viciedo, LF
Parmelee, RF		Ramirez, Al, SS
Plouffe, 3B		Flowers, C
Escobar, SS		Beckham, 2B
Diamond, P		Quintana, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	7	0	0	10	0	1	0	0	18	17	1
Chi White Sox	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	1	9	13	1

Well THAT was unexpected.

Oh, and don’t let me forget to say FUN! Diamond had a little rust to shake off after his suspension in the first inning but after that, he put together what I would call a solid start and got his 11th win of the season. I won’t quite call it great but it was certainly nothing to sneeze at with this hitting lineup.

But the Twins bats sure did their best to make fools of a few White Sox pitchers tonight and I have to say that only one error for the Sox somehow doesn’t really give the right impression. Think Detroit. Think Circus. That’s what the WS defense resembled tonight. It was … weak.

But the Twins offense wasn’t a slouch – there were several guys you could point to that really lifted the team. Doumit had 3 hits, 3 runs and 3 RBI and Parmelee only had one hit and still managed to get 4 RBI while they both hit the team’s only home runs! For that they receive all the cold beer they can drink (well not all, it’s a school night and they have a day game tomorrow). On second thought, we’re going to make that rootbeer floats just to be safe. I would much rather they can both contribute in equal quantities tomorrow without disability.

But, the room agreed on someone who was perhaps a more unexpected hero – in his very first MLB game with the Twins, against his former team, Eduardo Escobar managed 2 runs, 3 RBI, a walk AND also performed well on the field with no errors (thank you), 5 assists and 2 putouts. Not bad for a kid who was just called up. Also not bad to earn your first BOD of what I hope will be many!