Tag Archives: BOD

GameChat – Royals @ Twins #3, 7:10pm. The End.

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This is it. Game 162. The last game of the season.

For the Twins, anyway.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the two Wild Card races are heading in to game 162 in a dead heat. The Rays and Red Sox could still have to play a game 163, as could the Cardinals and Braves. I have to say, as frustrating as it is being a Twins fan right now, being a Red Sox or Braves fan and having to face the prospect of watching your team totally collapse your way right out of the playoffs before they even start might be even tougher. Anyway, there are four games certainly worth keeping an eye on tonight.

Finally, in the “if Ted Williams were alive, he’d kick your ass” category, we have Jose Reyes. Reyes entered the day with the narrowest of leads over the Brewers’ Ryan Braun for the NL Batting Title. In his first PA today, Reyes laid down a bunt and beat it out… then promptly told his manager to remove him from the game in order to put his lead over Braun in the bank. Why? Because he’s a pending free agent and his agent thinks he can get more money on the open market with that batting title in his pocket. I’ve never liked Reyes much and never really had a good reason why. Now I do.

Tonight is not only the Twins’ last game of the season, but also John Gordon’s final game as the voice of the Twins on the radio. Gordo isn’t what he used to be (then again, who of us is?), but he’s been an icon of the organization for many Twins fans for a very long time. We wish him all the best.

This will also be the last game in a Twins uniform for a number of players… we just don’t know exactly which ones, yet. Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Joe Nathan and Matt Capps all could be free agents. Kubel, Nathan and Capps aren’t probably going to see action, but I hope fans find a way to express their appreciation for the years of service that Cuddyer, Kubel and Nathan, in particular, have given the organization.

Here’s tonight’s line up:

ROYALS

@

 TWINS
Dyson, CF Revere, CF
Giavotella, 2B Plouffe, SS
Butler, DH Cuddyer, RF
Hosmer, 1B Parmelee, 1B
Perez, S, C Valencia, 3B
Moustakas, 3B Tosoni, DH
Cain, RF Dinkelman, 2B
Maier, LF Benson, LF
Escobar, A, SS Butera, C
  _Chen, P   _Pavano, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 10 0

One run on 10 hits? Seriously. Hey, let’s just celebrate the 0 errors!

Carl Pavano saved his best for last, throwing a complete game, 5-hit shutout at the Royals to wrap up the season.

Denard Span hit a pinch-hit double in the bottom of the ninth, setting up Trevor Plouffe’s game winning single.

All to make retiring broadcaster John Gordon’s final “call” a memorable one.

So why not 4 BODs? (after all, it’s not like we’ve had very many of them the last couple of months anyway).

Carl Pavano
Denard Span
Trevor Plouffe
John Gordon (Photo: MPR/Jeffrey Thompson)

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GameChat – Royals @ Twins #2, 7:10pm

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So it comes down to this… need to win the last two games to avoid losing 100 games on the season. I’m not really sure losing 99 games is all that much different than 100, but I guess it’s just always better to win than lose, so let’s see what happens.

By the way, in case you haven’t heard, we won’t have Ozzie Guillen to kick around any more. Ozzie and the BitchSox parted ways and it sounds like he’ll be managing the Florida Fish next season.

ROYALS

@

 TWINS
Dyson, CF Span, CF
Giavotella, 2B Revere, LF
Butler, DH Valencia, 3B
Hosmer, 1B Parmelee, 1B
Perez, S, C Plouffe, SS
Moustakas, 3B Tosoni, DH
Cain, RF Benson, RF
Maier, LF Tolbert, 2B
Escobar, A, SS Rivera, R, C
  _O’Sullivan, P   _Swarzak, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 4 14 1
Minnesota 0 1 0 0 2 4 0 0 x 7 11 3

That’s a win! Joe Nathan had to make things a little interesting in the 9th and the Twins did manage to get outhit 14-11, but none of that matters when you end up with more runs than the other guys. Anthony Swarzak threw a nice 6 and 1/3 innings (if you just look at the 2 runs he gave up and not the number of hits) and Chris Parmelee keeps making an impression as he hit yet another home run.

But Rene Tosoni is our BOD tonight in honor of his grand salami, in the 7th inning!

Rene Tosoni (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

GameChat – White Sox @ Twins #4, 7:10pm

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Anyone else here hoping that Pavano can work a little magic and actually get us a win?? I shouldn’t be greedy, I should simply ask that they score more than one run. That seems to be tough enough to get these days.

Parmelee and Benson are back out there tonight so they must have done a good job of making their case to Gardy – that or there really isn’t anyone else who can. As an interesting anecdote, it appears that the two young men were fined $100 a piece yesterday for showing up to the park in suits – apparently it made Gardy’s jeans look bad. Nice to know that there is still something akin to a sense of humor in the clubhouse these days. *snort*

 

Chi White Sox

@

 Minnesota
Pierre, LF   Revere, CF
Ramirez, Al, SS   Plouffe, SS
Konerko, 1B   Mauer, DH
Pierzynski, C   Valencia, 3B
Rios, CF   Parmelee, 1B
De Aza, RF   Hughes, L, 2B
Viciedo, DH   Benson, LF
Vizquel, 2B   Repko, RF
Morel, 3B   Butera, C
  Danks, P     Pavano, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chi White Sox 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 4 12 1
Minnesota 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 x 5 8 2

The kids are alright!

Carl Pavano only lasted a shaky 5 and 1/3 innings, but it was enough to get the W as five relief pitchers threw just well enough to salvage the win, while some of the young Twins hitters found a way to score a few runs. In fact, they scored four of them in just the 3rd inning.

The big blow was a double that rocketed off of Chris Parmelee’s bat over Alex Rios’  head in centerfield, earning Parmelee his first two career MLB RBI… and more impressively, his first Knuckleballs Boyfriend of the Day award!

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

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GameChat – Twins @ Angels, 9:05pm

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I’ll say this for west coast baseball – it’s giving me a chance to quick get in a fantasty football draft before the game starts… *crosses fingers*

But because of the above-mentioned schedule duplication, my pregame research/comments/offerings are pretty much non-existant.

 [edit] Mauer ended up being a late scratch due to illness so here’s the new order, re-shuffled, with Hughes taking the 1B spot Joe had been manning tonight.

 

Minnesota

@

 LA Angels
Revere, CF Aybar, SS
Plouffe, 2B Kendrick, H, 2B
Kubel, DH Abreu, DH
Cuddyer, RF Hunter, To, RF
Valencia, 3B Trumbo, 1B
Tosoni, LF Callaspo, 3B
Hughes, L, 1B Wells, V, LF
Nishioka, SS Bourjos, CF
Butera, C Conger, C
  Pavano, P   Chatwood, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 1 0 0 5 0 1 1 4 1 13 16 1
LA Angels 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 5 8 1

That was a long game. I guess that’s what happens when you have a bunch of pitchers who can’t find the strike zone and when they do, the hitters mash ’em. Remarkably, I’m not talking about the Twins pitchers being mashed by opposing hitters this time!

Carl Pavano pitched relatively well and the young line up behind him hit the heck out of the ball. With so many hits, it’s tough to pick one guy to award BOD honors. Trevor Plouffe got the scoring started with a homer in the 1st and later added a double, but Jason Kubel tallied 3 hits and a couple of ribbies, so let’s make him our Boyfriend of the Day! – JC

Jason Kubel

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GameChat – Twins @ White Sox #3, 1:10pm

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At least I get a momentary break over the lunch hour to put up a gamechat but work calls and I’ll have to head out again when the game starts so I won’t be able to join in…

Nishioka is back on the bench with soreness today and Repko is getting a shot filling the Span/Revere spot in the roster today. I have to admit, I really enjoy watching him play even though he’s not really anything spectacular. He just has a way of making something happen you weren’t expecting and I like that.

I would like it a LOT if the boys could avoid the sweep today.. I really would.

 

Minnesota

@

 Chi White Sox
Repko, CF Pierre, LF
Plouffe, SS Lillibridge, 1B
Mauer, 1B Konerko, DH
Cuddyer, RF Rios, CF
Kubel, DH Ramirez, Al, SS
Valencia, 3B Viciedo, RF
Tosoni, LF Flowers, C
Hughes, L, 2B Morel, 3B
Butera, C Beckham, 2B
  Diamond, P   Peavy, P

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

The Twins rudely played this game while I was having to work, so all I know about it is what I’ve read via various social networking sources. Seems the guys lit up Jake Peavy in the first inning, Scott Diamond pitched well through six innings, Matt Capps safely maneuvered through the 7th and then everyone had to hold on tight while Glen Perkins and Joe Nathan allowed the BitchSox to get within one run with runners on base at the end.

Glancing at the GameChat, it appears the one lonely soul who was there at the end of the game declared support for Trevor Plouffe for Boyfriend of the Day, on the strength of his two hits, three assists and, perhaps most notably, no errors in the field. Thus, Trevor is our BOD! – JC

Trevor Plouffe

GameChat – Tigers @ Twins #3, 1:10pm

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Looks like Matt Tolbert is odd man out as Gardy gets Rene Rivera recalled from Rochester to give Drew Butera some help with the catching position until Joe “Don’t call me soft” Mauer is ready again.

Brian Duensing takes the mound to try to avoid yet another home sweep.

TIGERS

@

 TWINS
Jackson, A, CF Revere, CF
Ordonez, RF Plouffe, SS
Young, D, LF Morneau, 1B
Cabrera, Mi, 1B Kubel, DH
Martinez, V, DH Valencia, 3B
Avila, C Tosoni, LF
Peralta, Jh, SS Hughes, L, 2B
Santiago, 2B Repko, RF
Inge, 3B Rivera, R, C
  _Penny, P   _Duensing, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 11 0
Minnesota 2 0 1 3 0 1 4 0 x 11 12 1

I only saw about the last 5-6 innings of the game, but from what I saw, it was at least encouraging to see something resembling Major League baseball out of the Twins again. Brian Duensing gave his team a chance with 6 decent innings of work on the mound. The “old guard” was represented well at the plate by Justin Morneau (3 hits) and Jason Kubel (first inning HR). But what was most encouraging to me was that some of the younger guys stepped up and showed they might just be understanding that their auditions for next year’s team are well underway. Rene Tosoni had a triple and Trevor Plouffe contributed a couple of hits and started a couple of double plays.

But there was really only one star of this game. Luke Hughes proved his home run in Saturday’s loss was no fluke as he popped two more homers, accounting for five RBI, against the Tigers today. Apparently someone forgot to mention to Luke that Target Field’s fences are too deep to allow the Twins to hit home runs… or maybe he’s figured out that he should just ignore all the excuses and other BS that has come out of the Twins clubhouse for the past year and just do his job. In any event, well done Luke! You are our Boyfriend of the Day!

Luke Hughes

GameChat – Yankees @ Twins #3, 6:10pm

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Not sure I have the heart to watch the Twins tonight again  – which is ok since I have to run off to a DCI competition to see the little brother play – because it’s painful to see the Yankees repeat the same process over and over.  I struggle with the fact that they seem to OWN the Twins no matter how close the Twins can keep the score or not. It always seems to be something.. (and I am not necessarily blaming the officiating). So for all of you who are making the trek to Target Field on this gorgeous day, you have my congratulations on strength of character. For me, I’m hoping to come home to a pleasant surprise!

 

NY Yankees

@

 Minnesota
Jeter, SS Revere, CF
Granderson, CF Plouffe, RF
Teixeira, 1B Mauer, C
Cano, 2B Morneau, 1B
Swisher, RF Kubel, DH
Jones, An, DH Valencia, 3B
Martin, C Tosoni, LF
Nunez, E, 3B Hughes, L, 2B
Gardner, LF Nishioka, SS
  Burnett, AJ, P   Liriano, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
NY Yankees 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 7 1
Minnesota 2 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 x 9 13 1

I didn’t see a lot of the game, but what I did see sure looked good. There was hitting and defense and, most of all, some very good pitching from Frankie!

While there certainly were offensive heroes, including Jason Kubel, Ben Revere, Trevor Plouffe, Luke Hughes and Joe Mauer. But we need to reward excellent work by our starting pitchers, so Francisco Liriano and his seven innings of 3-hit work against the Yankees earns our Boyfriend of the Day award! – JC

Francisco Liriano

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GameChat – Twins @ Tigers #3, 6:05

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Grr… still having a few issues with the service provider but here we are!

The most I have to add to tonight’s pre-game is that I really hope this is one of those Pavano outings that amaze us and give us a series win. We could sure use it right about now and the bullpen would owe him a beer – at the very least.

 

Minnesota

@

 Detroit
Revere, CF   Dirks, CF
Plouffe, 2B   Boesch, RF
Mauer, C   Young, D, LF
Morneau, 1B   Cabrera, Mi, 1B
Kubel, RF   Martinez, V, DH
Thome, DH   Avila, C
Valencia, 3B   Peralta, Jh, SS
Tosoni, LF   Kelly, 3B
Nishioka, SS   Santiago, 2B
  Pavano, P     Penny, P

 

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

R

H

E
Minnesota

0

1

0

0

0

0

2

1

2

6

10

0
Detroit

0

0

1

0

0

1

1

1

1

5

12

2

 

YES!!! we actually won a SERIES!!!! Getting 2 of 3 in Detroit really seemed like an impossibility while watching the fielding disaster that was the series in Cleveland – and I’ll admit that the the recurrance of such hellish glovework last night didn’t make me overly confident for tonight.

But actually? This was a surprisingly good game of baseball (despite some oddities) that included a couple different incredibly fun catches for Ben Revere – both off Delmon Young’s bat if I recall correctly – and for that he gets a rootbeer float. The lead went back and forth several times instead of the Twins either giving up a big one and dying or trying to catch up for 9 innings. Pavano had a decent night and they didn’t screw too much up for him this time so Pavano gets a quality beer. Perkins had a bit of trouble but Capps & Nathan came in and got the necessary outs. They too can have a beer of their choice.

But tonight’s story was really about the fact that we had some OFFENSE! There was actual HITTING and RUNS tonight! Thome & Tosoni BOTH hit homeruns which is FANTASTIC. I like that kind of thing but it was fun to see Tosoni go from bunting to a full-swinging homerun. They both get full access to the baked-goods buffet – all you can eat donuts is nothing to sneeze at.

BUT the big prize, today’s BOD goes to Justin Morneau. Timely hitting is timely hitting and he actually knocked in the winning RBI breaking the tie in the top of the 9th. Yeah, that was good stuff. Congrats Doc!

 

 

News for tomorrow: there will be a roster move announced tomorrow when they figure out a couple things going on – Span is not likely to be playing, Kubel will be gone for family reasons and the Twins are recalling Hughes.. again. Not sure how that room will be happening but they’ll let us know tomorrow.

I’m just excited that they are coming back to Minnesota in such a good mood.

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers, 6:05pm

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Wow, lots of controversy in Twins Territory today – although not nearly as much on Twitter as you would think. It appears that those who are more of my mind about the Delmon trade are in greater numbers in that particular venue than those who are of JC’s mind. Frankly, I think that we could have gotten a towel and a bar of soap for Delmon and the Twins would have come out ahead.  I know he has devoted followers but I was done with waiting for his potential to show up as existing talent instead of potential. Yes, I know he was younger than he looks.. I kept hoping that with the weight up & down and the occasional sign of effort in the outfield that he was really trying to improve his baseball skill. But somehow he never did. Batting practice bombs do not win baseball games and I wish the Twins had moved him on to another environment where he could succeed while he still had some actual trade value.

For the record – this was not a situation where the Twins approached an intra-division team and said, ‘let’s deal.’  The Twins apparently decided they were done as well and put him on waivers. The Tigers grabbed him and the Twins had to either get the deal done or let it all go for nothing. Don’t be confused folks, the Twins didn’t really have a lot of options here. Delmon had no value to speak of so I think we did ok.  It will be interesting to face him as the #3 hitter tonight though and the whole thing with him riding the team bus over to Comerica and then saying goodbye to everyone was a bit… odd… awkward.. hope it went ok for him. And don’t get me wrong – I wish him the best of luck and really do think he needs an entirely new situation for him to have any chance at being successful. I’m absolutely certain it was never going to happen here.  Good Luck Delmon! (just not tonight! 😉 )

 

Minnesota

@

 Detroit
Span, CF Jackson, A, CF
Plouffe, 2B Raburn, 2B
Mauer, C Young, D, LF
Morneau, 1B Cabrera, Mi, 1B
Kubel, RF Martinez, V, DH
Thome, DH Peralta, Jh, SS
Valencia, 3B Ordonez, RF
Revere, LF Avila, C
Nishioka, SS Betemit, 3B
  Liriano, P   Porcello, P

[EDIT] The Twins have a lineup change. Denard Span scratched – didn’t feel right during BP. Revere in CF Plouffe in LF. Uh-oh…

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 3 0 0 3 3 0 0 9 11 1
Detroit 1 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 6 11 2

Lots of cool stuff happened during the game tonight, not the least of which was Delmon Young going yard off of Frankie in his first AB as a Tiger and Ben Revere ALMOST hitting an inside-the-park-homerun that ended with a collision at the plate.

But let’s be honest… nothing else measures up to Jim Thome mashing career taters #599 AND #600 against the Tigers.

Congratulations to our BOD, Jimmer! (aka Mr Incredible). – JC

Mr. Incredible, Jim Thome! (Image: TD Davis)

GameChat – Red Sox @ Twins #3, 7:10pm

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I hate to admit it but at this stage of the game, I get a little … blah… about Twins games. I just don’t have quite the enthusiasm for baseball that I normally do. Does that mean I won’t turn it on the second I get home from my meeting? oh, I’ll turn it on.. afterall, I’m still watching for Thome’s #600!!  What about you guys? what keeps you turning on the games?

 

Boston

@

 Minnesota
Ellsbury, CF Span, CF
Scutaro, SS Revere, RF
Gonzalez, Ad, 1B Mauer, C
Youkilis, 3B Cuddyer, 1B
Ortiz, DH Thome, DH
Crawford, LF Valencia, 3B
Saltalamacchia, C Young, D, LF
Reddick, RF Plouffe, 2B
Aviles, 2B Nishioka, SS
  Lester, P   Blackburn, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 8 0
Minnesota 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 x 5 11 1

The losing streak is OVAH! Our guys finally put together a pretty nice ballgame tonight. Nick Blackburn gave the Twins a great start, with 6 2/3 innings of work without giving up any earned runs, Delmon Young reached base all four plate appearances, and Jim Thome had a pair of hits and a pair of ribbies. Joe Mauer, Danny Valencia and Matt Tolbert all came through with big RBI, as well.

But the Chat determined that Joe Nathan earned BOD honors tonight with his 255th save of his Twins career, making him the all-time franchise leader in that category. Congratulations Joe!

Joe Nathan