Tag Archives: BOD

GameChat – Twins @ Mariners #2, 9:10, FSN & am1500

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The game itself doesn’t start until later but FSN will begin broadcasting at 8 pm with a memorial for Harmon Killebrew – ESPN radio will begin their tribute to him at 8:40. Seattle has lowered the flags in the park to half staff to honor and there will be a video tribute and a moment of silence before the game begines.

Obviously, Killebrew’s passing will be a major discussion point – not entirely excluding the fact that the Twins play of late hasn’t been worth talking about – so we’ll just embrace it. If anyone has a particular story they would like to share, I encourage them to do so! The Twins will be sporting a 3 patch on their uniforms in addition to the memorials they are planning at Target Field.  Even though there are innumerable writeups in honor of Killer, I think people should read an additional memorial from Harmon’s colleagues this afternoon: Twins Legends Remember

photo courtesy of @MinnesotaTwins

 

 

Minnesota @ Seattle
Span, CF   Suzuki, I, RF
Tolbert, SS   Figgins, 3B
Kubel, DH   Smoak, 1B
Morneau, 1B   Olivo, C
Cuddyer, RF   Cust, DH
Valencia, 3B   Wilson, Ja, 2B
Revere, LF   Wilson, M, LF
Rivera, Re, C   Ryan, Br, SS
Casilla, A, 2B   Saunders, CF
  Liriano, P     Hernandez, F, P

 

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

 

Well, goodness! THAT hasn’t happened in awhile! Whether or not the Twins won this one for The Killer or just got lucky on a couple questionable calls and took advantage of good pitching/bad pitching – it all just doesn’t matter. They won. They broke a freakishly long losing streak. They didn’t hit too much but they hit enough… AND they did play pretty aggressively on the base paths which I do like to see. And Michael Cuddyer gets a new pen for all those signatures he spent so much time improving with Harmon because of being the RBI man tonight.

But this game really came down to the pitching. And since we never know exactly which Liriano we’re going to see on the mound on a given night, I was ecstatic to have 7 innings of (mostly) thrilling pitches from him. For that reason, FranKKKie was voted today’s BOD! (funny thing, we’re so out of the habit, almost everyone left without voting!)

 

 

GameChat: Twins @ RedSox #1, 6:10pm, FSN & 1500am

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It’s game one of a “wrap-around” (Friday-Monday, “wrapping around” the weekend) series with Boston at Fenway and once again the Twins are showing some new faces in their lineup. Trevor Plouffe is plugged in at shortstop and Ben Revere in left field.  Cross your fingers and hope for the best, gang, as Scott Baker faces off against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who has fought his way out of the Boston bullpen and back in to a starting role (at least for now).

I’d make some sort of comment about another Red Wing-heavy line up, but frankly it’s not like the “veteran” Twins are exactly showing up the kids at this point, so let’s see what Plouffe and Revere can do. I was actually glancing over the MLB All-Star ballot today and realized Jason Kubel is possibly the only Twin worthy of representing the Twins at this point. Maybe Denard Span, too.

Ah well… let’s tee off on the knuckler tonight, boys!

– JC

TWINS @ RED SOX
Span, CF   Ellsbury, CF
Plouffe, SS   Pedroia, 2B
Morneau, 1B   Gonzalez, A, 1B
Kubel, DH   Youkilis, 3B
Cuddyer, RF   Ortiz, D, DH
Valencia, 3B   Drew, J, RF
Revere, LF   Lowrie, SS
Butera, C   Crawford, LF
Casilla, A, 2B   Saltalamacchia, C
Baker, S, P   Wakefield, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 1 3 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 9 12 0
Boston 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 2

 *still giggling uncontrollably*

yeah, that was fun! Not only was it good to see ANY win at all but it was good to see the bats actually come out in a big way, win a 3rd straight game – we don’t seem to be doing that too much lately – AND this was our first win in Fenway since 2007!!!!  Hello!?!

It was funny to see the ridiculous fielding from the Red Sox and it was great to see the way the guys all seemed to figure out Wakefield’s knuckleball pretty easily (just goes to show us knuckleballs aren’t so complicated afterall 😉 ). I could not believe that Francona came out to argue the Balk – was shocked to see the physical pushing match that I will stoutly defend Joe West actually started by chest bumping Terry – and wonder if that could have contributed to the whole team just being off their game tonight.

Whatever. I don’t care. We WON! We HIT THE FREAKING BALL! Trevor Plouffe got a freaking homerun over the green monster in his first AB after coming back up to the big show to be our starting SS for awhile (maybe a LONG while at this rate). And Baker pitched his tail off – just for all you Gardy fans out there. Seriously, Baker pitched a FANTASTIC game. It was a beautiful thing.

In fact, those two guys caused quite a debate in the BOD discussion of the gamechat. You know what I like? When there are enough Twins players doing something marvelous enough during games that we get to debate who gets to be the BOD! So we enjoyed debating the various merits of both guys, how good the others were, back to the various merits of Plouffe & Baker, and enjoyed ourselves immensely in the whole process before deciding to encourage both good pitching and good offense by giving the BOD to BOTH players.  Co-BOD’s today!

GameChat – Twins @ White Sox #2, 1:10 pm, FSN & am1500

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I’m pretty sure that the whole team is still riding a high from last night and the optimist in me hopes that that works in their favor.  And I hope that they all got a lot more sleep than FranKKKie because he was reportedly up all night talking to friends and family in the DR and receiving text after text of congratulations – including one from Orlando Hudson. He will get back to his regular schedule I’m sure but he is more than welcome to recover on a little bit looser time frame given that his next start will be a few days away. The rest of the team has to go out there today and continue to kick White Sox butt and I would REALLY like to see a bit more hitting than last night. It just seems like it’s pushing it a little far to expect another no hitter today – or even a shutout, just saying.

In other news, yes, Thome is on the DL now. Oddly, because we all seem to know about it already, Repko is also supposedly going on the DL with continuing issues with the quad he injured and Ben Revere will be back up with the big boys but it’s not been made OFFICIAL that I have seen yet.  *shrug* I’m wondering if that has something to do with the official lineups being a little slower than normal today which is why the post is a little later than normal and only half here. The lineups will be up shortly…

[update] apparently the flight that both Plouffe & Revere are on was delayed and Gardy is waiting because he may actually put one or both in the lineup.

I guess Gardy finally gave up because the lineups were just posted without either callup.

Minnesota @ Chi White Sox
Span, CF   Pierre, LF
Tolbert, SS   Ramirez, A, SS
Morneau, 1B   Dunn, A, DH
Kubel, RF   Konerko, 1B
Cuddyer, DH   Quentin, RF
Tosoni, LF   Pierzynski, C
Valencia, 3B   Rios, CF
Butera, C   Teahen, 3B
Casilla, A, 2B   Vizquel, 2B
  Blackburn, P     Danks, P

 

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

 

YAY!! Two wins in a ROW!!  That’s fantastic! And even more important? 

SWEEP!

Yes, I know it was only a 2 game sweep but still – it was the White Sox. And we need to enjoy every win we can get.

However, it wasn’t nearly as easy to vote for a BOD today. This was a consistent effort on the team but no REAL standout screamed “pick me.” Kubel once again held down the RBI crown for today but Span had 2 hits and 2 runs and young, Mr. Tosoni had the winning RBI to his credit – which we needed – so he’s not to be forgotten either.

But in the end, the vote went to Blackburn who, like Liriano, followed up his previous poor start with a solid outing today. With as little run production as the Rochester Redwings are able to get in the big show, we need our starting pitchers to keep the hitting to a minimum. That’s exactly what Blackburn did today.  And the important part of that effort came to show in the failed participation of Mijares and Perkins. Thankfully, Capps came out and didn’t give up the lead completely and got his save but for all these reasons, Nick Blackburn is today’s BOD!

In an odd followup to the series victory today, the team sent Steve Holm back down to Rochester. It’s an odd move BECAUSE they didn’t bring anyone else up to go on the roadtrip to Boston and Drew is currently our only pitcher on the roster and it appears that Mauer is still not ready to make his return. I will definitely be keeping my eye on this situation.  Something is stirring.

GameChat – Twins @ White Sox, 7:10 pm, FSN & am1500

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As my boyfriend less-than-amusingly pointed out yesterday, “At least the Twins didn’t lose today.” *sigh* True but sad that this is the point we have come to as Twins fans. That being said, I would really like the off-day to count as some sort of restart button for this team.  Can we please end the losing streak now and try to bring ourselves back into contention as a baseball team?

Quick update on stuff in discussion today: apparently we fans are not the only ones who are seriously questioning Lexi’s ability to be the starting SS for this team. Sadly, it appears that, for the moment, they are thinking about bringing up Plouffe. I mean no disrespect to Trevor because I actually really like him – but he’s not an MLB starter at this point. So I don’t see him as a solution to that dilema in the middle infield in any way. He may function as a bandaid or he may surprise us all and step up in a way that we haven’t seen from him yet. I just don’t know when that move will happen or if it will happen for sure. It’s all still rumor and with the late scratch of Jim Thome who is still struggling with that strained oblique, it appears he might make a trip to the DL to make room for Plouffe.  Joe Mauer will begin light hitting and throwing as part of a return to baseball activities. This is good news – just not happening fast enough for a team that is struggling with too many injuries. Hope his rehab goes well and quickly.

It would be especially good to beat the White Sox even though they are HARDLY doing better than we are right now – but it’s still beating the Sox!  Win Twins! Please!

Minnesota @ Chi White Sox
Span, CF   Pierre, LF
Casilla, A, 2B   Ramirez, A, SS
Morneau, 1B   Dunn, A, DH
Kubel, DH   Konerko, 1B
Cuddyer, RF   Quentin, RF
Tosoni, LF   Rios, CF
Valencia, 3B   Castro, R, C
Butera, C   Beckham, 2B
Tolbert, SS   Morel, 3B
  Liriano, P     Jackson, E, 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 0
Chi White Sox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 

Goodness… yes, read that boxscore again. You don’t get to see those very often and especially not from Francisco Liriano. This is his first complete game ever and he gets a no hitter in the process. That’s just amazing to me from a guy who still managed to walk 6 batters. Interestingly enough though, it’s funny to see how much success he was actually able to have with that much ballyhooed “pitch to contact” process that the Twins have been trying to work into Liriano’s regime.

Of course, ‘contact’ usually means ‘hits’ and they managed to avoid that. In part, that was because of a few stellar defensive actions and one horrible call that went our way. Danny Valencia had one absolutely incredible catch at 3B of a ball that by all rights should have skipped out into the foul territory near LF after hitting the 3B bag fair – but he got it anyway. A few great double plays, a lightening infield grab by Tolbert thrown to Morneau that pulled him off the base and he went for a tag of the runner. We got the call even if Morneau didn’t actually touch the runner in any form I could see. Morneau made up for it by digging out another near out right at the base. There was a gorgeous catch from Span in the OF that didn’t quite look like it was humanly possible to get to. There was a terrifying catch in LF in which Tosoni and Tolbert tried very hard to accomplish a slow-motion merge into one human being – while that might east some of our roster issues just a bit, I really am glad that the out was made without anyone being hurt. All together, the defense did their best to let their struggling starting pitcher know that they have his back and that they’ll do their best to not let him down if he’ll give it a go – what a lovely message.  All you can eat desert buffet for the boys in the field.

Of course, there is another player we have to mention. There’s really only one way to win a 1-0 game – you have to get the 1. The 1 tonight belongs to Kubel – a solo homerun that put us on the board and allowed us to actually enjoy a no hitter, complete game, WIN. Kubes? This win’s for you.  Party like it’s your birthday and enjoy a great big ol’ cake on us here at Knuckleballs.

And yeah, normally, having the one and only RBI/Run in a winning game is almost always the best way to have yourself declared the BOD for the night. But yeah, a No Hitter? That kind of tops it I think. The chat unanimously agreed. So for going just that one step above and beyond, FranKKKKie Liriano is today’s BOD.

I’m praying that this is the key moment – the turnaround this team needs. Taking a no hitter into the home of the White Sox is a HUGE mental victory for these guys not to mention the fans. All over Twins Territory, fans were finally smiling again. They were smiling in the clubhouse just the same. Liriano got the boost he needed (we might have to tell him his job is on the line before every start) and we broke the losing streak in dramatic fashion. It does make me look forward to tomorrow in a very different way.

On a side note, the situation with Thome that I mentioned in the pregame became official and was announced after.  He’s been placed on the DL retroactive to Saturday and Plouffe will make his way up here. According to Twitter, Revere is also coming up but no one seems to know who is going down to make room for it. I’m sure we’ll know by morning!

GameChat – Indians @ Twins #3, 1:10pm, FSN & am1500

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Happy Easter everyone. I’ll be spending the day with family and won’t be around for the game and I assume a number of others will be, as well, but we’ll put up the GameChat for anyone who has the opportunity to come and enjoy the game as the Twins go for what I suppose would constitute a “sweep”, right?

INDIANS @ TWINS
Sizemore, CF Span, CF
Cabrera, A, SS Repko, LF
Choo, RF Kubel, RF
Santana, C, 1B Morneau, 1B
Hafner, DH Cuddyer, 2B
Cabrera, O, 2B Thome, DH
Brantley, LF Valencia, 3B
Marson, C Butera, C
Hannahan, 3B Casilla, A, SS
Carrasco, C, P Pavano, P

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cleveland 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 1
Minnesota 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 x 4 10 0
two brooms for a two game sweep!

Not having actually seen the game myself, all I can do is say, “HEY, we’ve got us a winning streak… AND a sweeeeeeep!” That’s three games in a row AND our guys are now not only just four games behind the AL Central leading Tribe, they’re also a nice looking 1.5 games ahead of the BitchSox in the standings! That’s right, Ozzie’s crew is down there in last place (where they rightfully belong).

I’d love to write an insightful summary of today’s game, but since I didn’t see a single pitch of it, about all I can do is go by the box score and media reports. It looks like ‘Stache had one iffy inning as Carl and the Twins benefited from an overturned HR in the 3rd. Other than that, Pavano must have done a good job of keeping the Indians at bay. Jim Hoey and Jose Mijares combined to work the Twins out of a mini-jam in the 8th and Matt Capps did his best Joe Nathan imitation, allowing some drama in the 9th before recording his 4th save.

Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel had similar hitting lines, both going two for three with a walk, and both recording a two-run double, to account for all four team RBI. That, one would think, would make for a pretty tight race for Boyfriend of the Day, but clearly Kubel had the better timing (his double accounting for the go-ahead runs in the 7th inning) as a glance at the log of the GameChat shows a clear preference for Kuuuuube as today’s BOD!

– JC

Jason Kubel

GameChat – Indians @ Twins #2, 12:10pm, FSN am1500

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I’m sure last night’s rainout inconvenienced about 40,000 people who planned on attending the game, not to mention everyone who was hoping to watch it, but it also seems to have bought Justin Morneau just enough extra time to work his way back off the sick bed and in to the line up! Now let’s just hope he doesn’t take too long to get his game together.

INDIANS @ TWINS
Sizemore, CF Span, CF
Cabrera, A, SS Repko, LF
Choo, RF Kubel, RF
Santana, C, C Morneau, 1B
Hafner, DH Cuddyer, 2B
Cabrera, O, 2B Thome, DH
Brantley, LF Valencia, 3B
LaPorta, 1B Butera, C
Hannahan, 3B Casilla, A, SS
Carmona, F, P Duensing, P

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

I don’t really believe in “statement games”, especially in April. That said, after the slow start the Twins have had and the way Cleveland has racked up wins this month, there’s something to be said for going out in the first head-to-head match up of the season and announcing loud and clear that if the Indians are going to be more than pretenders in the race for the AL Central championship, they’re going to have to go through Minnesota to get there. I think that was communicated clearly today.

I think our guys liked that unscheduled off day on Friday! Ten runs!! That’s the kind of thing we were hoping to see out of this line up! The Twins got two hits each out of Lexi, Denard, the Jasons (Repko and Kubel) and Justin, as well! In fact, Doc came through with a 2-run single immediately after the Tribe intentionally walked Kubel with runners on 2nd and 3rd. That’ll teach ’em! Danny ValenSEEYA went yard for the second time this season. So much offense from so many contributors that a full dessert buffet for all is probably called for.

It was also good to see Joe Nathan come on to pitch the 9th inning, throw the ball up in the 93 mph range, strike out two hitters during a 1-2-3 inning AND get the kind of standing, stomping, cheering crowd support that a guy who has worked his butt off for the Twins and their fans for so long deserves. Well done, Joe and well done Twins fans!

But, as strange as it may seem on a day when the bats finally woke up, today’s Boyfriend of the Day has to be a pitcher. Brian Duensing flat out owned the Indians hitters, giving up only one run in seven innings. He gave up only 5 hits and walked just one, while striking out three. A very efficient day, throwing only 90 pitches. Keep it up, Brian!

Brian Duensing

GameChat – Twins @ Orioles #4, 6:05, FSN am1500

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OK boys and girls, let’s think positive and try to get a split out of this series so the guys come home to Target Field with some momentum!

TWINS @ ORIOLES
Span, CF   Roberts, B, 2B
Casilla, A, SS   Markakis, RF
Kubel, RF   Lee, D, 1B
Cuddyer, 1B   Guerrero, DH
Thome, DH   Scott, LF
Valencia, 3B   Jones, A, CF
Hughes, L, 2B   Reynolds, M, 3B
Butera, C   Wieters, C
Repko, LF   Andino, SS
Baker, S, P   Guthrie, P

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

Hey that was a WIN!

Sure, the Twins only scored 3 runs… but two of those runs were on HOME RUNS! Yes… you read that right… the Twins hit TWO HOME RUNS… in one game! Michael Cuddyer hit his second home run in as many games. If he keeps up that pace he’ll hit… um… well a LOT more home runs! Baked goods for Cuddy!

Jim Thome mashed another tater, too! And he added a second ribbie with a single to drive Alexi Casilla in from second base. I believe we awarded a keg of the Minnesota microbrew of his choice to Jimmers.

But the consensus Boyfriend of the Day is tonight’s starting pitcher, Scott Baker. Baker K’d nine Orioles in his seven innings of shutout work, while giving up only four hits and one walk. This quite honestly was the kind of pitching performance this team needed as it tries to get a few guys healthy enough to get back in the lineup. Congratulations Scotty… you are the Knuckleballs BOD!

Scott Baker

GameChat – Twins @ Orioles, 6:05 pm, FSN & am1500

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At least this lineup is a little more familiar than yesterday’s mental stunner.  Morneau is out for the second day with the flu – I bet they are passing that around the clubhouse – and it’s one of the few teams that I wish he wasn’t quite such good friends with Mauer.  Speaking of whom, Joe saw the specialist in Baltimore and then immediately flew back home to MN. When questioned about whether or not there was going to be an updated diagnosis for Mauer, team officials responded that his dual diagnosis of bilateral leg weakness and viral infection would stand and weren’t going to get any amendments.  Whether the two are related or not is not really a big deal.

Anyway, let’s play ball!

Minnesota @ Baltimore
Span, CF   Roberts, B, 2B
Tolbert, 2B   Markakis, RF
Kubel, RF   Lee, D, 1B
Thome, DH   Guerrero, DH
Young, D, LF   Reynolds, M, 3B
Cuddyer, 1B   Jones, A, CF
Valencia, 3B   Fox, J, LF
Butera, C   Wieters, C
Casilla, A, SS   Andino, SS
  Liriano, P     Tillman, P

 

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

 

There was some good and some bad in this game but.. since it’s the first time we have been able to get a back to back win this season, I’m going to just say it was Good.  Liriano wasn’t as good as I have seen him be in the past but he hung in there long enough andgot the job done – that’s going to happen to all pitchers and I hope that he’s able to do that kind of thing more often.  His defense really did a great job behind him tonight for the most part – including a moment where Casilla was channeling the recently departed Nick Punto.  I guarantee someone says that to Lexi in the clubhouse after the game tonight.

Secondly, this strike zone tonight was ridiculous – it was ridiculous for both teams though honestly but still it just SUCKED.  The players were not appreciating that fact either which started to get pretty ugly at one point – and necessitated a little Showtime from the Manager. Gardy got ejected but following that, you got the unique visual of coaches literally trying to haul Thome off the homeplate ump – not an easy job & I can’t really remember seeing Big Jim get that mad before.

The new guy, Hoey, had a pretty solid (impressive even) outing in his Twins debut.  It’s fun to see a legitimate heater thrown like that even if you do pause with each wind-up and pray that it goes where he wants it. Fun Stuff!

The BEST thing about tonight contributed highly to the Chat’s vote for BOD.  Our spotlight hitter of the night was no other than … *drumroll* Sweet Drew Butera!  no, really! it was!  2 hits with a double and 3 RBI actually give him a better BA than Thome (and Tolbert & Casilla).  For keeping Francisco anchored for more than 5 innings, for getting the run-scoring off to a great start and for being a generally excellent backup for the ailing Mauer, Drew Butera is today’s BOD!

Drew Butera, BOD!

GameChat – Twins @ Rays #4, 12:40, FSN & am1500

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Looking to avoid getting swept out of St. Petersburg, Gardy has apparently decided the trick is to have the strongest pinch hitting options on his bench and filled out the line up card accordingly. I suppose his options are somewhat limited, though, since reports are that the flu bug has now bitten Justin Morneau. Denard Span is apparently being rewarded for his big day at the plate yesterday with a day off today, as well.

In other news (the Pioneer-Press’ Kelsie Smith was a tweeting machine this morning), Joe Nathan met with Gardy and pitching coach Rick Anderson after last night’s meltdown and the triumvirate concluded that perhaps Joe should pitch in less critical situations while he finds the old magic. That leaves the closer spot to Matt Capps. While that’s who I thought should have had the job all along, he hasn’t exactly shut the Rays down the last couple of games, either.

Gardy also apparently hinted at more changes in the bullpen. Hard throwing righthander Jim Hoey is likely to be brought up. He has a 1-0 record in Rochester, with 8 Ks and only 1 walk in his 6 2/3 innings of work spread over four appearances. Gardy and Anderson told Hoey to work on an offspeed pitch when they sent him down near the end of spring training, in favor of keeping Jeff Manship. I don’t know whether Hoey has found an offspeed pitch or has just been blowing his 98 mph heat past AAA hitters, but it sounds like we’re about to find out.

I argued in favor of keeping Hoey out of spring training, in addition to giving Capps the closer job to start the season, so obviously Gardy is starting to realize he should just do what I say. If that trend continues, clearly the Twins should start turning things around very soon!

Of course, one way the Twins could choose to deal with the dilemma of who to have protect 1-2 run leads in the 9th inning would be to have bigger leads in the 9th. That would require hitting more and scoring more runs. Which brings us back around to today’s… interesting… lineup. Maybe this group will rack up a dozen runs or so. Stranger things have happened.

– JC

TWINS @ RAYS
Tolbert, 2B Fuld, DH
Casilla, A, SS Damon, LF
Kubel, RF Upton, B, CF
Thome, DH Lopez, F, 3B
Young, D, LF Shoppach, C
Cuddyer, 1B Zobrist, RF
Valencia, 3B Rodriguez, S, 2B
Holm, C Johnson, D, 1B
Repko, CF Johnson, E, SS
Duensing, P Hellickson, P

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 4 9 0
Tampa Bay 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we in the business refer to as a “win”. It’s been a while, so it’s understandable if some folks don’t remember what those are.

The new pairing of Glen Perkins as the set up man for closer Matt Capps got the job done as they preserved the two run lead they were handed following another very nice performance by a Twins starting pitcher. Brian Duensing went seven strong innings. He struck out 5 and spaced out seven hits and a couple of walks. For that performance, Brian earns an assortment of baked goods (although, Brian, if someone hands you cookies, you might want to check them closely… some of those things have been getting dumped in ovens and on floors lately).

The Twins’ much-maligned outfield defense stepped up today, too. It should be interesting to watch for Web Gems tonight since Jason Repko had a terrific diving catch and Delmon Young contributed as well.

But on the strength of a couple of great plays deep in right field AND an opposite field home run, the GameChat crew awarded today’s Boyfriend of the Day award to Jason Kubel! Way to go KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBE (keep this up and you may get out of jamar’s doghouse by the All Star break!).

Jason Kubel

 

GameChat – Royals @ Twins, 7:10 pm, FSN & am1500

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I hope the boys enjoy the nice day tonight because it’s supposed to be cool and rainy the next couple days.  I have yet another meeting tonight so I won’t be here for the beginning of the game but I will definitely be back before things are over… I hope. LOL

Kansas City @ Minnesota
Getz, 2B Span, CF
Cabrera, Me, CF Mauer, C
Gordon, A, LF Morneau, 1B
Butler, 1B Young, D, LF
Francoeur, RF Cuddyer, RF
Betemit, 3B Kubel, DH
Aviles, M, DH Valencia, 3B
Pena, B, C Hughes, L, 2B
Escobar, A, SS Casilla, A, SS
Francis, P Duensing, P

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

Well THAT was interesting! We saw some things we haven’t seen much of so far this season. Let’s see…

We saw the Twins score first AND we saw the Twins put up a crooked number in the 4th inning!

We saw Michael Cuddyer go four-for-four and more than DOUBLE his batting average for the year, from .107 to .219! That certainly warranted some BOD consideration. Even his one non-hit plate appearance was a walk in the 10th inning that moved the winning run over in to scoring position at 2B. WTG Cuddy, keep it up!

We had a nice starting pitching performance from Brian Duensing (tell ya what, Bri, we’ll just pretend you didn’t even take the mound in the 7th inning since you didn’t retire any of the 3 hitters you faced that inning anyway… and those first 6 innings were pretty darn nice!)

Then we saw 12 straight hitters sat down by the bullpen… a K by Mijares, five straight outs by Matt Capps (including a K that stranded a runner at 3B in the 7th inning), a 1-2-3 by Joe Nathan in the 9th and Dusty Hughes wrapped up the bullpen’s night with a perfect 10th inning (and a Web Gem of a diving catch, as well) to earn the Win. Not too shabby for a bullpen that so many people have expressed so little confidence in.

But our GameChat Boyfriend of the Day award really could go to nobody other than the guy who delivered the game winning RBI with a solid single to right center field with bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning. That heroic feat earns you our BOD award, Danny Valencia!

Danny ValenSEEYA tomorrow!