Tag Archives: BOD

GameChat – Twins @ Indians #3, 11:05am

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stupid east coast start times…

Minnesota @ Cleveland
Revere, CF   Brantley, LF
Casilla, A, SS   Cabrera, A, SS
Cuddyer, RF   Sizemore, G, CF
Morneau, DH   Santana, C, 1B
Young, D, LF   Choo, RF
Valencia, 3B   LaPorta, DH
Hughes, L, 1B   Phelps, C, 2B
Tolbert, 2B   Hannahan, 3B
Butera, C   Marson, C
  Pavano, P     Masterson, P

 

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

I’m wondering if Matt Capps had a discussion with his agent and found out that somewhere in the fine print of his contract, there’s a bonus for “wins”, but not “saves”. That’s about the only reason I can think of for throwing a gopher ball with 2 out in the bottom of the ninth to allow the Tribe to tie this game up and thus rob Carl Pavano of well-deserved victory.

Regardless, the Piranhas II came through in the 10th to grab the win and lead the Twins to their first 3-game series win of the season. Once again, the heart of the order left it to the guys at the top and bottom to do most of the damage (though Justin Morneau did collect a 2B and an RBI, which is more than Cuddy and DY can say).

I was only in the GameChat for a couple of innings and attendance was scarce, so I’m going to make an executive decision (It’s good to be King!) and declare Ben Revere to be Boyfriend of the Day. Revere went 3/5, scored a run and had two RBI, including the game winner in the 10th. The battery of Pavano (1 run allowed in 7 IP) and Drew Butera (a VERY timely 2 out double in the 10th inning, leading to the eventual game-winning run) earn baked goods of their choice for their work. – JC

Ben Revere

GameChat – Twins @ Indians, 6:05 pm

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ANOTHER early start time? Is there some new rule this year that the Twins can’t play more than four road games in a row in the Central Time Zone?

If you thought you had seen all the weird looking line ups that Gardy could possibly come up with, you were wrong. Tonight, we get Denard Span batting 3rd for the first time since he was a senior in high school! Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with giving it a shot… Ben Revere and Alexi Casilla have certainly been doing the job as the 1-2 combination, so why not let Denard take that 3rd spot? It’s not like anyone else is exactly hitting well in that position this year.

Oh… and congratulations, Justin Morneau! Playing his 1000th game tonight!

TWINS @ INDIANS
Revere, RF   Brantley, LF
Casilla, A, SS   Cabrera, A, SS
Span, CF   Sizemore, G, CF
Cuddyer, 1B   Santana, C, C
Morneau, DH   Choo, RF
Young, D, LF   LaPorta, 1B
Hughes, L, 3B   Buck, T, DH
Tolbert, 2B   Cabrera, O, 2B
Butera, C   Hannahan, 3B
Baker, S, P   Tomlin, P

 

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

 

WOOHOOOO!!  We win again! That’s 5 games in a row and I’m almost POSITIVE that it’s the first time all season that the boys have been able to do that. Of course, tonight was really the story of the bottom of the order. After the abysmal play vs the Indians last time, it was really great to see some solid baseball. I’m not on speaking terms with any umpires right now but that’s clearly for the best and I usually get over such things very quickly.  All the way around we had some great defense tonigh – even when we had to get 5 outs in an inning. 

The chat discussed the various merits of hitting and defense tonight and have decided to start by acknowledging the very solid start from Baker – here’s a cookie. Also good job Delmon, Cuddyer & Casilla – you also get cookies – they had some questionable moments but all three kept the winning attitude in place. However unlikely it may seem, Tolbert wins the BOD! But he earned it. Good job!

Matt Tolbert had a big night

GameChat – Twins@ Royals #4, 1:10pm

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The Twins go for the sweep in Kansas City this afternoon with a lineup that still looks more like something that should be taking the field for the Red Wings than the Twins, but at least these guys are showing some life! Hopefully, the rest that Denard and Justin are getting this weekend will have them ready for Cleveland.

TWINS @ ROYALS
Revere, CF Gordon, LF
Casilla, A, SS Cabrera, Me, CF
Cuddyer, DH Hosmer, 1B
Valencia, 3B Francoeur, RF
Young, D, LF Butler, DH
Hughes, L, 1B Betemit, 3B
Repko, RF Aviles, 2B
Butera, C Pena, B, C
Tolbert, 2B Escobar, A, SS
Duensing, P Francis, P

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

That’s a SWEEP!

First sweep of a series longer than 2 games!

First four game winning streak!

Don’t look now, but that 16.5 game lead the Tribe had over the Twins last Thursday is now down to 12.5 and the Twins are headed in to Cleveland for a big series starting Monday!

It will be good to get Denard Span and Justin Morneau back, for sure, but this new generation of piranhas has been fun to watch this weekend. Alexi Casilla continued ripping the ball, Luke Hughes had a couple of hits and scored a couple of runs, and Jason Repko got in to the action, too, with a couple of hits and three RBI!

Brian Duensing hadn’t gotten a W in his past half dozen starts for the Twins, but he threw eight shutout innings, giving up just six hits and 1 walk, while striking out four Royals. For that performance, Brian is our BOD!

Brian Duensing

GameChat – Twins @ Royals #3, 6:10pm

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Ok, I spent the day on the river, got a decent sunburn to start off my summer and now am joining the BF’s family for drinks and dinner. The boys better win for me.

Minnesota @ Kansas City
Revere, CF Gordon, LF
Casilla, A, SS Cabrera, Me, CF
Cuddyer, 1B Hosmer, 1B
Valencia, 3B Francoeur, RF
Young, D, DH Butler, DH
Dinkelman, LF Aviles, 3B
Repko, RF Getz, 2B
Rivera, R, C Treanor, C
Tolbert, 2B Escobar, A, SS
Blackburn, P Hochevar, P

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 0 1 7 13 0
Kansas City 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1

Three in a row! And tonight’s win clinches a series win, with the brooms all getting ready for Sunday!

Things got a bit dicey when Nick Blackburn left the game after 5 innings with back stiffness. Fortunately, the bullpen was rested after getting last night off and Slama, Dumatrait, Hoey, Burnett and Mijares pieced together four innings of one-hit relief pitching.

Alexi Casilla went 4 for 5 with a double, a run scored and a couple of RBI. It would have been hard to imagine this a few weeks ago, but the truth is that Lexi is the guy that’s holding this line up together right now… and for tonight’s performance, he’s our Boyfriend of the Day!

GameChat – Twins @ Royals #2, 7:10pm

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Something to think about… The Twins started the season with a club-record payroll just north of $113 million. At this moment, $53.2 million of that payroll (eight players) is on the Disabled List, leaving them with an active roster payroll of about $60 million. Thought about in those terms, I’d say the Twins are right about where in the standings I’d expect a team with a $60 million annual payroll to be.

We covered a few roster moves in the GameChat post before Thursday night’s game in Kansas City, but even more moves have been announced since that time. Let’s see if I can give a quick rundown on where things stand with the Twins’ roster at the moment.

The Twins moved Mauer and Nishioka over to the 60-day DL this week to make room for some guys to be added, but the other six are “only” on the 15-day DL.

Three players were dropped from the active 25-man roster. In addition to Thome and Kubel going on the DL, infielder Trevor Plouffe was sent down to Rochester.

Ben Revere returned to the Twins in time to play in Thursday’s game. He’s now going to be joined by infielder Luke Hughes and Brian Dinkelman. Dinkelman has played some infield, but he’s primarily been seeing action in the outfield in Rochester. He’s hit relatively well in Rochester and swings from the left side, which is something Ron Gardenhire considers important since his two lefty DHs, Kubel and Thome, are gone.

The Twins also obtained minor league OF Jeremy Reed from the Brewers and sent him to Rochester to shore up a Red Wings roster that’s every bit as screwed up as the Twins’ roster is.

With Nishioka and Mauer expected to return to action over the next couple of weeks, we’ll soon be speculating over which current members of the 40-man roster the Twins will drop and risk losing to another team’s claim. I personally don’t see any shortage of names I wouldn’t lose sleep over losing, but don’t be too surprised if one of those names is Dinkelman, himself. It wouldn’t be the first time the Twins promoted a guy to get short-term use, only to go ahead and try to pass him through waivers a few days later. In fact, they did exactly that less than a year ago when they brought Matt Fox up for a start (a successful start, at that), then tried (unsuccessfully) to pass him through waivers just a few days later when they needed his roster spot again.

Anyway… one thing we can be sure of is that the game of musical chairs the Twins are having to play with their roster isn’t about to end any time soon.

As for tonight’s game… I hope the gang at Smalley’s 87 Club for the TwinsCentric bash is having a good time tonight! I’ve got some plans with the family for “happy hour”, so I’m not sure when I’ll be online. Lineups aren’t posted yet and since I’m not sure whether one of us will be around to post them when they DO get released, I’m just going ahead and loading up the GameChat now. Hope everyone’s weekend is getting off to a great start! – JC

Minnesota @ Kansas City
Span, CF Gordon, LF
Casilla, A, SS Cabrera, Me, CF
Morneau, DH Hosmer, 1B
Cuddyer, 1B Francoeur, RF
Valencia, 3B Butler, DH
Young, D, LF Betemit, 3B
Revere, RF Pena, B, C
Hughes, L, 2B Getz, 2B
Butera, C Escobar, A, SS
Pavano, P Duffy, P

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

Two in a row! That almost constitutes a winning streak! This was almost like the old days… hits all over the place, including a double and a near inside-the-park-HR by Denard Span, guys running around the bases, trying to take that extra base (even though it doesn’t work sometimes), and a complete game by Carl noStache Pavano.

In fact, that complete game… his 100th career victory… earned Pavano our Boyfriend of the Day award for tonight!

 

,

GameChat – Twins @ Royals #1, 7:10pm

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Our guys (they ARE still our guys, right?) start a four-game series with the Royals in Kansas City tonight and it gives us an opportunity to see what Anthony Swarzak can do for an encore following his near no-hitter on Saturday vs. the Angels. It also gives us a chance to get a good look at some young Royals who are reportedly on the cusp of becoming a pretty fair ballclub.

After the game last night, word came that the Twins would likely be placing either Jason Kubel or Jim Thome on the Disabled List today and that Ben Revere was on his way back up from Rochester. Today, it seems Gardy couldn’t make up his mind which of his lefty DHs to put on the DL list, so he decided to drop both of them from the active roster. That left him short on lefties, so now Brian Dinkelman will be coming up, as well.

I know I’m not the first to say this, but it really is true… this roster and the line ups we’re seeing really do resemble what we’re more accustomed to seeing at road games in Spring Training. At this point, frankly, there’s probably an argument to be made that we all might as well get a good look at the “next generation”.

Joe Mauer caught three innings of extended spring training baseball today and told media he felt “fatigued” afterward. I’m not sure what to make of that and I’m really not sure what else we should expect. If you put anyone behind the plate for three innings after he hasn’t played baseball for three months, there’s a pretty good chance he’ll feel fatigued. Still… I can’t help but feel like there’s a helluva lot more to this story than anyone is reporting. But I could do a 1,000 word post on the Mauer issue itself (and probably will… soon).

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

TWINS @ ROYALS
Span, CF Gordon, LF
Casilla, A, 2B Cabrera, Me, CF
Morneau, DH Hosmer, 1B
Cuddyer, 1B Francoeur, RF
Valencia, 3B Butler, DH
Young, D, LF Betemit, 3B
Revere, RF Aviles, 2B
Rivera, R, C Treanor, C
Tolbert, SS Escobar, A, SS
Swarzak, P O’Sullivan, P

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

Well that was kinda different. I’m not sure that, over the course of the entire game, the Twins really were all that impressive. But wow, that 3rd inning was a piece of work unlike anything we’ve seen in a long time!

No one particular offensive player had a huge game but Denard Span and Matt Tolbert both managed to get a couple of hits, six different guys had RBI and seven different players scored runs. Nice team effort.

The bullpen contributions of Jose Mijares, Alex Burnett and Matt Capps didn’t suck at all, either!

But while his six innings of work wasn’t quite as impressive as his near no-hitter on Saturday, it was still solid enough to earn Anthony Swarzak his second consecutive Boyfriend of the Day award! Do the Twins have a new “stopper”?

Anthony Swarzak

 

GameChat – Angels @ Twins #2, 6:10pm, FOX & am1500

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It’s been a phenomenally gorgious day so far.  However, it does appear that there are some storms headed our way so I have no idea what that will mean come game time. So cross your fingers everyone if you actually want to see this game.  Maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll have a lead again in the 6th inning and then the storms will hit and the game will be called before the 8th inning meltdown?  Does that still count as optimism?

In other news, Francisco Liriano is out… sore shoulder… Swarzak is getting the start and somewhere, Kevin Slowey is kicking himself and cursing fate.  It just seems to be par for the course of this season doesn’t it?? *grumble*

Sadly, it also appears that Joe Nathan is going on the DL again as well. I’m sure the details of why this is necessary will be forthcoming.

Jim Thome is expected to get a cortisone shot in his shoulder tonight and hopes to play tomorrow, which sounds a bit odd to me since those shots don’t typically have that kind of immediate effect.

Jose Mijares threw a couple of extended spring training innings Saturday and could be rejoining the Twins Monday. Have to wonder if that constitutes good news or bad news, but given the performance of the bullpen lately, it probably has to be considered good.

Oh yeah… one more thing… HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABS!

– JC

ANGELS @ TWINS
Izturis, M, 2B Span, CF
Aybar, SS Casilla, A, 2B
Abreu, DH Kubel, DH
Hunter, To, RF Morneau, 1B
Callaspo, 3B Cuddyer, RF
Branyan, 1B Young, D, LF
Bourjos, CF Valencia, 3B
Mathis, C Rivera, R, C
Willits, LF Plouffe, SS
Weaver, P Swarzak, P

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

Well that game was a lot better to watch than last night’s was!

That was a good old fashioned pitchers’ duel. Jared Weaver faced only two hitters beyond the minimum over nine innings, giving up just two hits to the Twins and Anthony Swarzak took a no-hitter in to the 8th inning, before giving up a one-out double to Peter Bourjos. It’s never easy losing your no-no, but at least it was a legit line drive double down the line. It would also turn out to be the only hit the Angels would get on the night.

Every fan in my section of Target Field was holding his/her breath when Matt Capps relieved Swarzak to start the 9th inning. Capps did a nice job, however and got a very nice ovation from the crowd as he walked off. Then it was Alex Burnett’s turn in the 10th and he, too, held the Angels at bay. Two hitless/scoreless innings from the bullpen! woo-hoooo!

It’s best not to push your luck though, and in the 10th inning, Danny Valencia lifted a fly ball over Torii Hunter’s head to score pinch runner Jason Repko from third base and the Twins had a much needed W!

Lots of baked goods to the guys who put together that little rally in the 10th (hits by Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young preceded Valencia’s game winner), but the BOD can only be awarded to Anthony Swarzak!

Anthony Swarzak had no idea what kind of night was ahead of him as he toed the rubber in the 1st inning

GameChat – Mariners @ Twins #2, 7:10 pm

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Wow there was a lot of “trade” discussion in the digital universe today. Kevin Slowey’s options are being discussed extensively – including the fact that he’s getting a second opinion on abdominal pain. Also, out of the blue, someone started the discussion about what Thome would bring.. God that would suck to lose him. I really hope that never happens.

The weather is cool and cloudy but no sign that there is going to be any rain to rescue the Twins if things go badly. Blackburn is starting so lets hope that we can get a good result off a good start from Nick. I would hope that the Twins are able to use that to get a W tonight.

Cuddy’s hip must still need a little downtime – I haven’t checked to see if anyone has said whether he’ll be available off the bench though. Delmon is back so his shin must be ok. It also sounds like both Mauer & Nishioka are getting some time in down in Florida so that could be REALLY good news soon.

I’m getting the post up but I’m off to go say hello to a brand new little baby that arrived on Sunday and I don’t intend to be in a rush to say goodbye… LOL I’m such a sucker for the short ones.. JC is also at a Kernels game tonight and given questionable weather there, if you see him, it’s because he got rained out. Have a good chat guys!

Seattle @ Minnesota
Suzuki, I, RF   Span, CF
Figgins, 3B   Tolbert, SS
Smoak, 1B   Kubel, RF
Cust, DH   Morneau, 1B
Olivo, C   Thome, DH
Kennedy, A, 2B   Young, D, LF
Peguero, LF   Valencia, 3B
Ryan, SS   Rivera, R, C
Saunders, M, CF   Casilla, A, 2B
  Fister, P     Blackburn, P

 

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

 

HELL YES!!

That is EXACTLY what the Twins needed – a fantastic outing from Nick Blackburn, getting some hits, doing some running, and in general breaking a 9 game losing streak at home.

And honestly, I said in the pregame that the Twins really needed Blackburn to do well but they needed more than a quality start – they needed a monster start because three of their bullpen pitchers were unavailable. Blackburn gave them EXACTLY that – a MONSTER of a complete game in 127 pitches and finished with a 1-2-3 9th inning. For simply ROCKING it, Blackburn gets unanimous support for today’s Boyfriend of the Day!

GameChat – Twins @ A’s #2, 2:35 pm, FSN & am1500

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Well the Twins have had two previous three game winning streaks this season – I don’t think we have ever done more than that yet – and I would really like to see today make the third. Who knows if we have any chance of getting back into the realm of competitive opportunity this season but I would just like to approach EVERY game with a must-win attitude. Get it done Boys.

Minnesota @ Oakland
Span, CF Crisp, CF
Plouffe, SS Barton, D, 1B
Kubel, RF Sweeney, R, LF
Morneau, DH Matsui, H, DH
Cuddyer, 1B Suzuki, K, C
Valencia, 3B DeJesus, D, RF
Young, D, LF Ellis, M, 2B
Rivera, Re, C Kouzmanoff, 3B
Casilla, A, 2B Pennington, SS
Blackburn, P Ross, P

 

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

 

WOOOHOOOO!!!  The Twins no longer have the worst record in baseball! Today’s win officially moved them past the Astros.  And wow, was that a fun game to watch. The boys remembered how to use the bats and the pitching was ON! I really miss that kind of baseball.  Lots of people contributed today but the eventual BOD debate came down Justin Morneau, who really is starting to get his rhythm back, and Nick Blackburn, who followed up his last three consecutive quality starts with another gem.  We finally said, why are we arguing about this?

They’re BOTH today’s BODs!  Congrats!

Justin Morneau

 

Nick Blackburn

GameChat – Twins @ A’s #1, 9:05pm, FSN & am1500

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The Twins continue their road trip down the left coast as they open another two-game series against an AL West foe tonight. Oakland hasn’t been great… they have won two more games than they’ve lost… but they’ve managed to turn that mediocrity in to a first place tie at the top of the AL West standings. Then again, right now I wouldn’t mind seeing some mediocrity out of the Twins. It would definitely be a step in the right direction.

Let’s see if ‘Stache can hold the Athletics in check and then maybe hope a few hits start dropping in. Here’s tonight’s lineup.

TWINS @ ATHLETICS
Span, CF DeJesus, D, RF
Plouffe, SS Barton, D, 1B
Kubel, DH Willingham, LF
Morneau, 1B Matsui, H, DH
Cuddyer, RF Suzuki, K, C
Valencia, 3B Sweeney, R, CF
Revere, LF Ellis, M, 2B
Butera, C Kouzmanoff, 3B
Casilla, A, 2B Pennington, SS
Pavano, P McCarthy, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Minnesota 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 10 1
Oakland 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 8 1

Hey hey! That’s two in a row, boys and girls! This one took 10 innings to accomplish, but it’s a win… on the road even!

We saw the Carl Pavano we have been hoping to see all season… not overpowering, by any means, but effective. He gave up just 1 earned run over seven innings of work. He certainly deserves kudos and perhaps even a nice basket of baked goods for his work.

As a matter of fact, every pitcher who toed the rubber for the Twins tonight earned our respect and praise. Glen Perkins not only worked a clean 8th inning, giving up just one hit and striking out two hitters, but he also returned in the 9th inning to retire Hideki Matsui before stepping aside in favor of Joe Nathan. Twitchy gave up a hit and a walk, but he managed to escape the 9th inning without being touched for a run, sending the game to extra innings, which was good enough to earn Joe the win. Matt Capps pitched a perfect 10th inning for his 7th save.

But while the pitching staff certainly had some support in the GameChat for BOD consideration, that honor went to shortstop Trevor Plouffe in a split decision. Plouffe’s throwing error in the second inning resulted in two unearned runs for Oakland, but Trevor wasted no time making up for his mistake by driving in two runs in the top of the 3rd to allow the Twins to regain the lead. Then, for an encore, Plouffe drove in the game winning run for the Twins in the top of the 10th inning with a sacrifice fly. Those three ribbies were enough to earn Plouffe the Knuckleballs Boyfriend of the Day award!

– JC

Trevor Plouffe