Mark Buehrle vs. Johan Santana
Kubel's been hot and Buehrle's a lefty--will he make the lineup?
Other things that you might want to cheer for tonight:
- Beckett vs. Kazmir turns out to be a slugfest that TB ultimately wins even though Kazmir can't get out of the first and can't strike anyone out
- Fausto Carmona gets lit up by the A's. (This seems highly unlikely to me, since Oakland's had some pretty weak-looking lineups lately, but you never know.)
- Chien-Ming "John Kruk's Pick for Cy Young" Wang gets his 8th loss of the year. (With Halladay pitching for the Jays, this seems possible, though not necessarily likely.)
- The Blue Jays, Brewers, and Dodgers to keep getting wins so that the Twins can keep their top-15 draft slot.
J. Bartlett ss
A. Casilla 2b
J. Mauer c
T. Hunter cf
J. Morneau 1b
M. Cuddyer rf
M. LeCroy dh
L. Ford lf
N. Punto 3b
Ford in LF is actually a pretty decent choice, all things considered.
Kubel hasn't had a day off in a while, and this could be LeCroy's last start in the Metrodome in his career. I'll lie to myself and say that's why Gardy did it (and not because he thinks Kubel can't hit lefties.) Yeah, that's it.
I want Kubel playing every day, even against this tough lefty.
according to BR, Matty kind of owns Buerhle
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/event_hr.cgi?n1=lecroma01&type=b
Casilla is getting a start? What's the explanation for that? Is Gardy trying to sabotage Johan's stats to reduce his bargaining leverage for his next contract?
maybe Casilla is mature enough to play
did anyone catch Terry Ryan with Chad Hartman today? Ryan was not very high on Casilla;s maturity
Casilla has been hitting better vs. LHP all along.
Top Jimmy on TV: Torii never intended to negotiate during the season.
Top Jimmy on TV: Torii never intended to negotiate after Ichiro signed his $100 mil contract
So basically Torii is full of shit and didn't like it when his bluff was called?
Well, we know that the Twins will negotiate with agents mid-season. That's when Redmond and Reyes got their extensions. For most of the guys that complained about not being able to negotiate an extension mid-season, the Twins never really intended on bringing them back.
FLOUNDER!!!!!!! One more reason to love the man is the way he pwn3s the jerkoff.
Give the man his Gold Glove already.
2 K for Santana through 2 IP
6 K for Kazmir through 3 IP despite giving up 3 runs. Man I hate the Red Sox.
Do us proud, Bobby LeCroy, I mean, Matthew Stewart, I mean, Shannon LeCroy, I mean, Matthew Kielty, I mean....
Ford's hitting .341/.356/.455 career against Buehrle before that single.
probably why he is in the lineup tonight
Yeah, though I wish Gardy would put him in on the general grounds that Ford is pretty good defensively and better against LHP than Tyner. (I'm conceding that Gardy has already made Kubel a full-time DH.)
It's up to you, Lil' Nicky--drive 'em home!
Noticed in Minny that at Nick's sporting goods downtown, they list eight names as favorites for jerseys: Cuddyer, Mauer, Santana, Morneau, Punto, Oliva, Nathan, Neshek. Lil' Nicky gets the nod.
I would like to know that M/F gender breakdown on those uni purchases.
Tho't interesting that Oliva is still a draw. Is for this boyo.
That is pretty interesting, especially considering that you don't see any other old-timers listed up there.
I think the old timers love Oliva more than anyone else. Yeah, Killer and Carew, but Tony O was a fan favorite (my memory is only of an old broken down Tony).
H'nos Coot (Harmon) hits ball deep, NBB (Oliva) shags back, miracle catch.
Number 6 is always a good choice.
I stopped by in the skyway to scarf up an Oliva jersey on the way back from my exec. steering meeting. *Sees prices, gulps*
My #8 jersey is at least for a Twins HOFer.
Often you hear that a hitter is a guy who "doesn't get cheated." Nick Punto just got cheated.
So did 2,000,000 paying customers this season.
Kazmir with 7 K's in 4IP
4 K's for Santana in 3 IP.
MLB audio trailing behind gameday. I've reset three times now to catch up...
w00t!!! Mauer!
C'mon Hunter.
That double by Hunter should have been caught, but he did hit it hard.
Yeah, that was an ugly-looking play from Fields. Apparently he hasn't quite adjusted to life in the outfield.
Lucy has agreed to show up with BabySBG at Hubert's tomorrow morning.
Somebody taking pix for th' WGOM Diaspora?
I'll bring the digital...
I have my camera in my backpack too.
Check this out...
Louisa. Nice. +100 Stick.
Yeah, I picked that name out before she was even conceived.
Family name?
Kind of. Louis and Louise are, but not Louisa. I just liked it. Lucy and I were talking about names and I suggested it. She pulled out her baby name book and it was on the top of the page she turned to. After that little coincidence, it was all about what middle name goes with Louisa.
Louisa And-Ball-Guy. Nice. Has a ring to it. Works for the Nation.
by golly, she DOES look just like you, right down to the hairline!
but, umm, pretty and cute. musta got those attributes from Lucy's side.
Man, it's too bad Mauer isn't really allowed to run full speed now. I think he could have otherwise scored on that.
But that was deep enough for him to score on anyway.
Seeing him hobble out there puts the lie to the "he should play hurt" nonsense.
Yeah, watching Mauer hobble around in a meaningless game in September doesn't really make me very comfortable.
One wonders if Top Jimmy thinks, hey, that hatchet job was uncalled for. This guy is really hurt.
Whatever sells newspapers. Gotta feed the family.
Family? I thought he was out sowing his wild oats.
+10!
Get up (get on up)
Get up (get on up)
Stay on the scene (get on up)
+about a million, ubes. high kamadey.
(A-team) Face!
Now we're rolling...
Cuddy Boy!
3 runs in one inning! holy smokes!
In the first inning, Hawk utters this gem,
"It's a big series ..."
(wait for it)
"... in New York."
Seriously, it was a 3 or 4 second pause. Long enough for my wife and I to give each other "What the hell is he talking about?" looks
He obviously was referring to the Convention.
I've been reading about Hawk's refusal to join the Indians in 1969 when he was traded away. One of the PiPress columnists back in the day insinuated that Hawk probably didn't want to leave Boston because he's fallen too in love with the reefer.
Like they ain't got weed in Cleveland...
Rock and Roll HOF, of course they got weed.
+dimebag to Dr. Fever.
Those clods at the PiP prolly couldn't score in St. Paul, though...
Cuddyer stumbles running around the bases more than anyone in the entire history of baseball, I think. But it's not really a problem, because Fields can't judge a ball to save his life out there.
Damn you, Dye!
Ron Coomer. I still can't believe that guy wanted to bring Willie Bloomquist over to play third base. Wow.
Clearly Santana is just pitching to the score here.
Now Hawk and DJ are reminiscing about Konerko's productive outs from 2 years ago.
DJ - "Hopefully, we'll see more of that next year."
Yup, they really needed that productive out--it's tough to score from second base on a double.
But, if Konerko had gotten a base hit, no one would have scored on Dye's double!
That's so generous of Paul. What a good teammate. Deferring RBI to his teammates. You couldn't ask for anything more.
I'm getting the sense that the change-up doesn't have great dive on it tonight.
Or not. 6 K's in 4 IP. Kazmir at 9 K's in 5 IP.
Thome. Bane o' th' Twin.
Lew carrying out Redmond's dirty work?
which reminds me of happier times
Three times in one game. Clearly against the rules, and the Twins were subsequently punished for it. They should've known better.
Bert with the incredible insight that to switch sides in the middle of an at-bat you would need to be a switch hitter. I've heard that you can only switch sides before you have 2 strikes on you, which I could see making sense.
Glad'n: "No question, Punto currently one of the hottest hitters on the Twin."
To be fair, Punto's OPS+ has been creeping up towards his career OPS+. Of course, as long as we're being fair, it's worth pointing out that his career OPS+ sucks, but details, details.
Do you think he's worth saving?
Good grief, Dick. Torii is not coming back, period.
Dick can't accept things that end with ", period." Like, for instance, "Best Damn Sports Show, Period."
Good one.
My boss just became a father; two baby boys on Tuesday. So I sent him a congratulatory email that started off "Congrats! I guess I'm not the only Twins fan in the office anymore."
It's about the big money for more years.
Oh, it's not about the money with Torii, it's just about the years. I propose we sign him to a 40 year, $40M contract. Can't really ask for more years than that.
Carmona pitched 6 innings, gave up 1 run. ERA is now 3.03
Kazmir's out of the game after the 5th for the Rays. 9 K's on the day.
Ruh-roh.
Ugh.
I like that Dick made an analogy to the "most worthless piece of junk" when talking about Hunter. That made me laugh.
Bane++.
7 K's through 5 IP for Santana. Let's get him some more run support, looks like he needs it tonight.
7+1 K’s through 5 IP for Santana.
that was Johan's 9th homerun allowed with a runner on base
only 2 of those have been 3 run shots (32 total allowed)
We're not outta this yet, pally's!
Unfortunately this offense depends far too much on one guy who happens to be in the middle of a pretty severe slump right now.
Casilla?
Tough to be in a slump when you're not in the lineup.
Dick you are a tool. Buehrle has pitched 200 innings the last seven seasons. Maddux did it 14 years in a row, just not the last 14 seasons.
Only 199 1/3 in 2002. Not up to Dick's standards.
He's that 2/3 of an inning short of 19 seasons in a row with a shot at 20 this year.
I see, I didn't read your sentence carefully enough.
Someone throw a brick at Bremer. Rowand and Jones not in Torii's class? Give me a freakin' break.
Crax, there.
Maybe what I would most like to see is for Torii to sign with Chicago, Rowand to sign with the Twins, and for the Twins to subsequently pwn the White Sox.
You can get former Sox pwn3ge through Mike Cameron for probably a lot less money.
True. And actually, Cameron's been hitting a lot better than I thought he had been. He could turn out to be a really good deal.
10 K's after 6 IP. Your major league leader in strikeouts, Johan Santana.
Huzzah!
.333/.333/.333, baby! Your prototypical singles hitter.
Alright boys, three singles and we've got another run.
You do know who the lead runner is, right? It's going to take four singles this time.
LeCroy whatever - let's move'm.
Nick isn't going to make it to -30.
Clearly the increased job security of late has improved his morale, and hence his performance on the field.
I can live with that.
Wow, what a savvy move by Ford to unclog the bases by taking LeCroy's spot on the bases.
Base rap, dude.
Yecch.
If only there had been just one out, that would have been a perfect squeeze bunt.
Is Casilla trying to lose his job? Spending too much time with Bremer? Why is he so in love with the bunt?
You and I both know perfectly well the "bunt all the time" message is coming from the dugout and you and I both know perfectly well that the message will change abruptly in a little while when this proves to be insanely unproductive, but the blame/fault for its failure will fall solely on the immature player.
*Hangs head in reluctant agreement.*
*slaps Ron Gardenhire with a fish*
The pitcher GG voting should come with two options:
- Johan Santana
- I hereby give up my voting rights
Seeyabye.
Well, at least Johan's going out with a bang. Get 'em out of your system this year, big guy.
DJ just compared Santana's changeup to Bugs Bunny's slow ball.
Hawk's response "... what?"
That's actually a good comparison. Shame on Hawk for not getting the reference.
Shame on Hawk for a large number of things, this being only the most recent.
Lewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
awesome play
One might even say it was his "I'm Nick Punto!!" moment of the season.
"I'm Nick Punto, beeeyatch!!!". Fixed that for you.
I love how monochrome these threads can be before Danny DeVito's bright, shiny forehead comes along to break up the monotony.
That DeVito picture cracks me up every time.
:
:
Not that time, strangely.
Just kidding.
Man, I'm in a strange mood tonight.
Nervous about the Convention? Excited about the Convention?
Looking forward to it. A lot of people who would like to come can't make it, but it will be fun. Next year, will have to have more notice (although I gave a month's notice).
how about this bright shiny forehead??
Nice forehead.
Shrek.
Dangit, Wang was totally on the hook for the loss, but the Jays' 'pen coughed up the lead.
so, Wang got off?
Was A-Rod there?
Randy Johnson.
*I'm in 7th grade again*
I'm not going to say that Dick Trickle was in the house. Nope. Not going there.
I see Johan was good on the K part but not so good on the ERA part tonight.
Or the W part, yeah.
Lew takes one for the team.
Blackburn looks pretty good. (I think this might be the first time I've actually seen him pitch.) The cutter does seem to have good downward movement on it, and I could see him getting a lot of ground balls with it, even though he's had a crazy-low GB% so far.
Tyner?? WTF? Why not Kubel? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rob Neyer: Twins should sign Bonds for 2008.
If you take away the PED nonsense it makes some sense. Huge upgrade at DH. The Twins are right on the verge of making the playoffs, so each additional win is worth more revenue than, say, an additional win for the Rays.
But the Twins are too pansy to do it, and Bonds probably wouldn't want to come here for a reasonable sum. 'Tis a shame.
Yeah, that's about as likely as one of the Jessicas showing up for the convention tomorrow.
Fletcher?
Ford is really good at getting HBP. He's got about 21 points in OBP just from HBP.
I should specify, that's in his career he has about 21 points of OBP in HBP.
did you know Lew Ford recieved 2 votes for AL MVP back in 2004?
crazy
You see, that's why sportswriters should be tested for drugs, too.
Do you suppose Top Jimmy did it?
Bartlett misplayed that GB. The runner going to first was slow and a flip to Casilla would've beaten the runner to second.
I thought so, too. Not enough urgency in getting to the bag before the runner.
50% GB% for Blackburn today.
He seems to have pretty good command of the zone, he threw a lot of strikes tonight.
Oh, I forgot, Gardy needed to make sure there was someone to PH for Casilla.
Twins Lose. Let's see if you have any visuals.
What's the HTML code for images again?
<img src="url">
LOL! You win, Boss.
twins lose. ZZZZZ
fixed that for you, DW. You can't just copy and paste the "code". You have to actually type it to get the right kind of quote marks.
do'h!
I'll figure it out one of these days
Put that on the grill, birdie.
Is this one better, E-6??
Mmmm. Sun-dried goodness.
I hear they taste like chicken.
Nope, not working. Trying again.
Does one need elevated privileges to post an image? I can't seem to get it working.
I don't see any img src= blah blah text in your posts, twayn (when I edit).
do you see the "edit this" right after the time of your post? if not, then, well, yea, you need to be given a kiss on the lips by the Capo di Capo.
Nope, no edit option there. I'll have to submit a request to the Minister of Permissions in triplicate on Form 27-B/6. You can't turn on the kitchen tap without filling out a 27-B/6 these days. Bloody paperwork.
You are now cooking with charcoal, twayn.
You can do it, sir. Drag that code into the box. Put your url between the parentheses. Delete 'url'. (But not the "")
Well, mebbe not.
<img src="url">
I got rid of the fancy quotes, which eff everything up.