Posts tagged BOD

GameChat – Orioles @ Twins #2, 7:10pm

Jul17th
2012 Written by CapitalBabs

So yeah, it’s hot again. The actual temperature isn’t as bad as yesterday but the humidity is still ridiculous.

It’s also just been announced that Matt Capps will be going to the DL with rotator cuff irritation. That can’t be good.. for anybody..

I have no idea if the Twins have any offense left in them after last night but I sure hope that it’s something they know how to do.

Baltimore

@

 Minnesota
Markakis, RF Span, CF
Hardy, SS Revere, RF
Thome, DH Mauer, C
Jones, Ad, CF Willingham, LF
Wieters, C Morneau, 1B
Reynolds, Ma, 1B Plouffe, 3B
Davis, C, LF Doumit, DH
Betemit, 3B Dozier, SS
Flaherty, 2B Carroll, 2B
  Britton, Z, P   Deduno, P

 

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

A bit more drama in tonight’s game than was involved Monday night, but it seemed to take just about as long to get the game played. Nevertheless, the Twins came away with another win, 6-4 this time.

The bullpen came up big in this game, with Jeff Gray. Tyler Robertson, Alex Burnett, Glen Perkins and Jared Burton combining to throw 4 and 2/3 innings of shutout baseball. Offensively, Denard Span, Jamey Carroll and Ryan Doumit all contributed two hits each with Doumit also racking up a pair of RBI.

But I’m awarding the BOD honors to Joe Mauer in recognition of his three hits, including one double and a RBI, not to mention a pretty nice diving catch of a foul ball in front of the dugout. – JC

Joe Mauer

GameChat, Twins baseball   

GameChat – Orioles @ Twins, 7:10pm

Jul16th
2012 Written by CapitalBabs

“Help us Diamond Won Kinobi! You’re our only hope!”

Sadly, even Bert Blyleven agrees – he tweeted out earlier today: Twins need more innings out of their starting staff. Only Scott Diamond has given them the quality innings needed to save the bullpen.

Given the heat and humidity still existing in Minnesota, something tells me that the balls will be flying high & long if solid contact is made. So I’m REALLY hoping that Scotty is able to work a little newbie magic tonight.

It’s nice to see JJ Hardy though.. welcome back, just hope he doesn’t abuse the hospitality.

Baltimore

@

 Minnesota
Markakis, RF Span, CF
Hardy, SS Revere, RF
Jones, Ad, CF Mauer, C
Wieters, C Willingham, LF
Reynolds, Ma, 1B Morneau, 1B
Pearce, LF Plouffe, 3B
Davis, C, DH Doumit, DH
Betemit, 3B Dozier, SS
Tolleson, 2B Carroll, 2B
  Tillman, P   Diamond, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Baltimore 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 2 7 13 1
Minnesota 7 1 2 1 0 3 0 5 x 19 20 0

I’m not sure where that offensive outburst came from but it was certainly more fun than being on the receiving end of a butt-kicking. How odd was this game? Well, the Twins knocked the O’s starting pitcher out of the game before the end of the first inning despite the fact that he had given up just one earned run. (The six unearned runs were another matter altogether, I suppose.)

There were plenty of offensive stars from which to select a BOD tonight. Justin Morneau went 4-5 with a pair of doubles and Joe Mauer homered to RF. But tonight’s co-BODs are Denard Span and Ben Revere. Not only did they combine to go 7 for 11 with three doubles and 8 RBI, but they flashed plenty of leg & leather in the outfield, as well!

Denard Span

Ben Revere

GameChat, Twins baseball    ,

GameChat – Twins @ Rangers, 7:05pm

Jul6th
2012 Written by CapitalBabs

The Twins have a couple things to be thankful for while in Texas at the moment… First, it’s cooler there than it is at my house in MN – not by much but it IS cooler (of course it is 100 degrees at my house as I type this so it doesn’t take much). Second, no rain.. after the crazy delays of every game in Detroit, it must be nice to look at the clock and start on time.. I’m also grateful for this because those crazy delays were bad enough in Eastern time, no way would I make it to the end of games delayed that long in Central time.

At any rate, we have baseball to play and I wish I could see a little bit just to see Joe Nathan – hopefully, not in his official capacity. My hope is that the Twins offense and Liriano’s pitching can keep us from entering the merest suggestion of a Texas save situation.

Minnesota

@

 Texas
Revere, CF Kinsler, 2B
Mastroianni, RF Andrus, SS
Mauer, DH Hamilton, LF
Willingham, LF Beltre, A, 3B
Morneau, 1B Young, M, DH
Plouffe, 3B Cruz, N, RF
Dozier, SS Napoli, 1B
Butera, C Torrealba, C
Casilla, A, 2B Gentry, CF
  Liriano, P   Perez, M, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 5 9 0
Texas 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 2

It always feels good to pick up a game against one of the big boys of the league, doesn’t it? The Rangers demonstrated that they’re capable of playing a little circus-defense and our guys took advantage.

Kudos to Justin Morneau… not only did he pick up TWO hits against a left handed pitcher (something that’s been far too rare this season), but one of them was a line shot two run home run to right field. That was good enough to earn him consideration for Boyfriend of the Day tonight, but in the end, Francisco Liriano earned that honor. Frankie did walk a few more than we like to see, but he kept his cool and gave up just the one run in 6 2/3 innings while striking out six Rangers. – JC

Francisco Liriano

GameChat, Twins baseball   

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers #2, 6:05pm

Jul3rd
2012 Written by CapitalBabs

Obligatory statement about the weather: it’s not as hot here as they said it was going to be – by that I mean it didn’t make it to 100 – just more of the same we’ve had for the last week.

That being said, it’s a lot cooler in Detroit! That’s because it’s RAINING. There is a thunderstorm in progress in Detroit according to weather.com although I haven’t seen anything in the pregame stuff about the weather yet but the thunderstorms aren’t supposed to quit until 7 pm central or so. That’s definitely early enough to get the game in but I haven’t seen any sign that they are talking about delaying the game so maybe things are already easing. *shrug* maybe one of our local Twins weather people will speak up and advise us at some point soon..

[EDIT] according to Ben Collin (TTBB) ‏@bennyc50
Personally I think #MNTwins and #Tigers will have a 1 hr delay at least considering the storms still heading in from the north.

As for the game itself, things look pretty normal lineup-wise. It could be painful to be facing this Detroit lineup if Blackburn is having a bad day. I’m really hoping he has a good day.

Minnesota

@

 Detroit
Span, CF Jackson, A, CF
Revere, RF Berry, LF
Mauer, C Cabrera, Mi, 3B
Willingham, LF Fielder, 1B
Morneau, 1B Young, D, DH
Plouffe, 3B Avila, C
Doumit, DH Raburn, 2B
Dozier, SS Boesch, RF
Casilla, A, 2B Santiago, SS
  Blackburn, P   Below, P

 

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

Remember how everyone brought up the fact that the Twins didn’t hit anything but singles on Monday night? Well, they made up for it tonight. Their 10 hits tonight included two doubles and three home runs. Of course, we need to express our gratitude to Tigers shortstop Ramon Santiago for sucking on defense, but then pretty much the whole world (at least those not named Leyland) knew the Tigers would suck on defense this season from the moment they showed up to Spring Training.

Anyway, our guys get another win and that’s always a good thing. Nick Blackburn struggled, giving up six earned runs in four innings of work, but once again the Twins bullpen was outstanding. That’s become almost routine lately.

Speaking of things being almost routine, both Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe hit home runs again! But on the not-so-routine side of the ledger, so did Joe Mauer!

The Boyfriend of the Day voting was close and while I think it’s great when there are so many worthy options, I was personally dismayed that I cast the lone vote for Mauer, who went 3-5 with a 2B and a HR, scoring 3 runs. Then again, Willingham also had a 2B and a HR and nobody voted for him! Trevor Plouffe had some support after not only launching a HR, but also flashing some impressive leather (there’s something we don’t have near enough opportunities to say, right?).

But Jeff Gray pitched two shutout innings, while Kyle Waldrop, Tyler Robertson and Glen Perkins each added one shutout inning of their own. Not only that, but thanks to Plouffe’s outstanding snag of a line drive that turned in to a double play and Mauer’s perfect throw to nail Brennan Boesch trying to steal, the four relievers all actually faced the minimum number of batters possible in their collective five innings of work. Their efforts allowed the Twins hitters to pull out a win AND earned them a collective “group” BOD award! – JC

Jeff Gray (Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Kyle Waldrop (Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Tyler Robertson

Glen Perkins

 

GameChat, Twins baseball    , , ,

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers, 6:05pm

Jul2nd
2012 Written by CapitalBabs

It’s 92 degrees in Detroit right now… If the Twins thought they were getting away from the tropical heat, it appears they were wrong (although that’s still cooler than my house by 5 degrees). Let’s hope that everyone slept in well air-conditioned hotel rooms.

As far as our pitching match-ups tonight, I would love to see Liam do as well or better than his last appearance. I would also love to see Fister not do anywhere near as well…  It would certainly make life easier for our offense.

But that being said, I haven’t ever really been one of those who wanted to play a bad team just to win… I just want my team to be better than the other guys.

I ESPECIALLY want to see my team beat the Tigers. *GRIN*

Minnesota

@

 Detroit
Span, CF Jackson, A, CF
Revere, RF Berry, LF
Mauer, DH Cabrera, Mi, 3B
Willingham, LF Fielder, 1B
Morneau, 1B Young, D, DH
Plouffe, 3B Raburn, RF
Doumit, C Peralta, Jh, SS
Dozier, SS Avila, C
Carroll, 2B Santiago, 2B
  Hendriks, P   Fister, P

 

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9

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Minnesota

0

0

0

4

2

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0

0

0

6

13

0
Detroit

0

0

1

0

3

0

0

0

 

4

9

0

Congratulations to Ron Gardenhire for win #900 and to the team for getting 4 wins in a row for only the second time this season. And congratulations to Twins fans for actually having some fun baseball to watch lately. Of course, Perkins is doing his part to lobby for a closing role by trying to give all Twins Territory a heart attack in the process.

It was fun to see the guys actually figure out Fister and get to him to get a sizable lead in the 4th.. unfortunately, they got closer than is actually comfortable in the 5th. So our thanks to Anthony Swarzak for coming in and shutting down a potent offense for almost 3 innings. As his reward, he was voted today’s BOD!

GameChat, Twins baseball   

GameChat – Royals @ Twins #4, 1:10 pm

Jul1st
2012 Written by Jim Crikket

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that four-game series were pretty commonplace. Not so any more. But thanks to yesterday’s make-up game, we’ve got the finale of four-game series today against the Royals. Thanks to yesterday’s doubleheader sweep, the worst our guys can do is come away with a series split and a win today claims the series 3-1.

In case anyone missed it, the Orioles acquired Jim Thome from the Phillies yesterday. Big Jim will be wearing #25 for the O’s. Yes… as hard as it is to believe, the Orioles have not retired that number in honor of Rafael Palmeiro. Thome will return to Target Field with his new team in just two weeks!

The All-Star Game rosters were announced today. Representing the Twins will be Joe Mauer. That’s not really a surprise and he deserves to be selected. He probably deserves to start ahead of Mike Napoli, but with the Twins pulling up the rear in the AL Central standings, you don’t expect to get much love around the country. All of that said, I’d have liked to see Josh Willingham get his first All-Star selection. The Twins poor record has kept Willingham from getting the recognition he deserves. He’s clearly one of the best Free Agent pick ups in the league (especially if you consider performance vs. pay).

If you’re in to the whole ESPYs thing (or even if you aren’t), Ben Revere needs your vote!

On to the game…

The Twins have declared today “Armed Forces Appreciation Day” with a special ceremony scheduled to honor “Gold Star” families. With Independence Day this week, it’s a good time to honor families of those who have given the “last full measure of devotion” for our country’s freedom. They deserve our thanks this week and every week.

Francisco Liriano is on the mound for the Twins. Let’s see the good Frankie today!

ROYALS

@

 TWINS
Gordon, LF Span, CF
Escobar, A, SS Carroll, 2B
Butler, DH Mauer, DH
Francoeur, RF Willingham, LF
Betancourt, Y, 3B Morneau, 1B
Hosmer, 1B Plouffe, 3B
Pena, B, C Mastroianni, RF
Bourgeois, CF Butera, C
Falu, 2B Dozier, SS
  _Chen, P   _Liriano, P


1

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3

4

5

6

7

8

9

R

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Kansas City

0

0

0

1

0

4

0

0

3

8

13

1
Minnesota

0

1

0

0

0

5

1

3

x

10

9

2

I can’t stop laughing.. LOL That was just a ridiculous game of baseball that ended with us on top so at least I’m not crying. Today was all about the HR. Whether we credit burning the assbats, or the warm weather or the sacrifice of live chickens to Jobu, I don’t really care. It’s about time that the hometown 9 figured out how to hit Bruce Chen!!

The real entertainment seemed to be the battle of the team Homerun lead between Trevor Plouffe and Josh Willingham. Both guys have been on fire for the month of June and wanted to get July started off on the right pace. They started today tied but Trevor took the early lead in the 2nd inning. But Josh couldn’t let him get away so he answered back in the 6th with a homerun of his own to tie the race. Trevor was having none of that and took back his position as the HR leader with his SECOND HR of the day in the 6th. It was an embarrassment of runs and riches to watch them go off that way.

For that, we grant them both ice cold adult beverages of their choice (unless they need to re-hydrate) just to show our appreciation.

And then out of the blue…

Drew Butera?!? Totally unexpected 3 run HR in the 8th to build that run cushion up. AND it turns out that 4 HRs in a single game is actually a Twins record. Then it turns out that those runs weren’t so extraneous after all. Perkins made life a little interesting in the top of the 9th and all of a sudden we were VERY grateful that we had those “extra” runs from Drew. As much for the runs as for the surprise of the source, Drew gets the room vote for BOD!

Drew Butera sporting the Minneapolis Millers uniform (Photo: Minnesota Twins)

GameChat, Twins baseball   

GameChat – Royals @ Twins #3, 6:10 pm

Jun30th
2012 Written by Jim Crikket

Kudos to the Twins cleaning crew who got the ballpark ready for Game 2 of today’s split doubleheader in just a couple of hours.

Before we take on Game 2, if you haven’t seen it yet, check out Brian Dozier’s “infield hit” below. I’m pretty sure it’s something you’ve never seen happen before. This, folks, is why coaches taught us to “always run everything out!”

On to Game 2. Cole De Vries has been called upon to make a spot start tonight for the Twins, though he won’t find a Twins jersey in his locker when he shows up to get dressed for the game. Tonight is “turn back the clock” night and the Twins will be wearing Minneapolis Millers uniforms. The Royals, likewise, will be wearing throwback KC Blues uniforms.

Drew Butera sporting the Minneapolis Millers uniform (Photo: Minnesota Twins)

Denard Span is getting the night off as Ben Revere leads off and plays CF. Having Span and Ryan Doumit ready to pinch hit late in the game could come in handy.

ROYALS

@

 TWINS
Gordon, LF Revere, CF
Betancourt, Y, 2B Carroll, SS
Moustakas, 3B Mauer, C
Butler, DH Willingham, LF
Francoeur, RF Morneau, DH
Hosmer, 1B Plouffe, 3B
Perez, S, C Parmelee, 1B
Dyson, CF Mastroianni, RF
Escobar, A, SS Casilla, A, 2B
  _Hochevar, P   _De Vries, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
Minnesota 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 x 5 9 0

two brooms for a doubleheader sweep!

Where to begin? So many little tidbits being passed along after the Twins beat the Royals 5-1.

Let’s start with the obvious… that was a doubleheader SWEEP of the Royals that our guys completed tonight. Yes, I know it isn’t exactly the Yankees… or even the White Sox… but hey, the Twins are looking up at the Royals in the standings, so let’s not minimize this too much!

MLB.com Twins beat writer Rhett Bollinger tweeted a couple of additional little fun facts after the game. For example, this was the Twins’ first doubleheader sweep since September 13… FOUR years ago. Yes, September of 2008 was the last time the Twins took both ends of a doubleheader. In fact, winning even one game of a doubleheader would have been an improvement over last season when the Twins went 0-8 in doubleheader games. And finally, with today’s sweep,the Twins completed the month of June with a 14-13 record… the first winning record for a month since July last year.

Joe Mauer continued his hot hitting, going 2 for 4 and Josh Willingham apparently decided he didn’t want to let Trevor Plouffe lead the team in HRs without him, so he launched his 16th of the season, as Plouffe did this afternoon.

But the story of the game… and our Boyfriend of the Day… was starting pitcher Cole DeVries. The Minnesota kid went six innings while giving up just five hits and one walk and striking out six Royals. The bullpen of Alex Burnett, Tyler Robertson and Jared Burton each threw a scoreless inning of relief in support of DeVries.

Cole DeVries (Photo: Hannah Foslein – Getty Images)

GameChat, Twins baseball   

GameChat – Royals @ Twins #2, 12:10pm (make-up)

Jun30th
2012 Written by CapitalBabs

This is going to be an interesting day.. Two games, HIGH temps, and we used 5 pitchers in last nights trial. In the post game questions, Gardy said that they deliberately didn’t over-use any particular pitcher so they are all theoretically available for today… This is going to be another one of those endurance challenges.

I have a hint for our boys.. lots of offense makes it way easier on everyone. Just saying..

Kansas City

@

 Minnesota
Gordon, LF   Span, CF
Betancourt, Y, 2B   Revere, RF
Moustakas, 3B   Mauer, 1B
Butler, DH   Willingham, DH
Francoeur, RF   Plouffe, 3B
Hosmer, 1B   Doumit, C
Pena, B, C   Mastroianni, LF
Bourgeois, CF   Dozier, SS
Escobar, A, SS   Casilla, A, 2B
  Sanchez, J, P     Diamond, P

 

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9

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Kansas City

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7

1

Minnesota

0

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0

4

0

0

1

x

7

14

0

well hot damn! look what happens when you hit the ball! Better yet, look what happens when your pitcher actually pitches WELL!! THAT was a fun game to watch! 

And Scott Diamond, you brilliant gem, YOU are BOD!

Scott Diamond (photo: Genevieve Ross/AP)
GameChat, Twins baseball   

GameChat – Chicago White Sox @ Minnesota Twins 7:10 pm

Jun25th
2012 Written by Eric Pleiss

Matt Capps has been officially placed on the Disabled List and Tyler Robertson has been called up from AAA Rochester to join the Twins.  Wether or not he makes his MLB debut tonight will depend on Francisco Liriano‘s ability to work effectively and efficiently (the latter something he rarely accomplishes).  In addition to beating Jake Peavy and his 2.74 ERA the Twins will have to battle Chicago’s newest addition, Kevin Youkilis, batting in the 2 hole for the south-siders.

Enjoy the game!

Chicago White Sox

@

 Minnesota Twins
 De Aza, CF  Span, CF
 Youkilis, 3B  Revere, RF
 Dunn, A, DH  Mauer, DH
 Konerko, 1B  Willingham, LF
 Rios, RF  Morneau, 1B
 Pierzynski, C  Plouffe, 3B
 Viciedo, LF  Dozier, SS
 Ramirez, Al, SS  Butera, C
 Beckham, 2B  Carroll, 2B
 _Peavy, P  _Liriano, P

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chi White Sox 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 1
Minnesota 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 x 4 14 1

Ruined the big first game of Kevin Youkilis as a White Sox… check. Put an end to the “Jake Peavy has a perfect 0.00 ERA at Target Field” nonsense… check. Beat the Bitch Sox… CHECK!

The top 3 guys in the order combined for nine hits tonight but the obvious Boyfriend of the Day award winner was Francisco Liriano. It wasn’t a no-hitter like the last time he started a game against the Sox, but he arguably actually pitched better tonight. Seven innings, 4 hits, 5 Ks, only one walk and just one run. Can’t beat that! – JC

Francisco Liriano

BitchSox, GameChat, Twins baseball    , , , ,

GameChat – Twins @ Reds #2, 12:05pm

Jun24th
2012 Written by CapitalBabs

Bugger – too late home from family lunch but here is the chat anyway. I really hope that Scotty can have a better outing this time than last time.

Minnesota

@

 Cincinnati
Revere, CF Heisey, CF
Mastroianni, RF Valdez, W, SS
Mauer, C Votto, 1B
Willingham, LF Phillips, B, 2B
Morneau, 1B Bruce, RF
Plouffe, 3B Ludwick, LF
Dozier, SS Frazier, 3B
Casilla, A, 2B Mesoraco, C
Diamond, P Leake, P

1

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9

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Minnesota

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Cincinnati

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Well that sure felt familiar.. And then all of a sudden, Josh pulls out the Hammer and we’re on top again! I do like winning.. I think we need to win more SERIES however but I’ll take one whenever it happens. Today was all about the HR though thanks to Plouffe and Willy. And for pulling out that late game ‘grab the lead in the 9th’ blast, Josh Willingham is today’s BOD!

Josh Willingham

GameChat, Twins baseball   
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