SBG Nation Provides Your Daily Source for Half-Baked Crap

Game 86: Tribe vs. Twins — Independence Day

Posted by ubelmann on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Byrd v. Livan

Both starting pitchers today have managed to limit their walks allowed quite well, while at the same time being overall crappy pitchers. But some offensive fireworks would be rather appropriate for Independence Day, don't you think?

Related WGOM Posts

Tags: , ,

This entry was posted by ubelmann on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 5:00 pm and is filed under 2008 Twins Game Logs. It is one of 609 entries by the author. Feel free to write a letter to the editor if you are a registered SBG Nation Citizen. If you are not a Citizen, you can register here.

91 LTEs »

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Cleveland
G. Sizemore cf
J. Carroll 2b
B. Francisco lf
J. Peralta ss
S. Choo rf
C. Blake 3b
D. Dellucci dh
R. Garko 1b
K. Shoppach c

Minnesota
C. Gomez cf
A. Casilla 2b
J. Mauer c
J. Morneau 1b
J. Kubel dh
D. Young lf
B. Buscher 3b
N. Punto ss
D. Span rf

Cleveland
P. Byrd

Minnesota
L. Hernandez

 
socaltwinsfan
socaltwinsfan replied on July 4th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

I don't get why the Indians continue to bat Sizemore leadoff. He's there one consistent power threat. It would be like the Twins batting Morneau leadoff. Well, not quite. Sizemore at least is fast, but he should be batting third, at least.

DK
DK replied on July 4th, 2008 at 5:53 pm

I might bat him second if there was somebody else who was clearly as good a OBP guy as him - maybe Choo will turn out that way - but otherwise I don't see much wrong with making sure your best overall hitter gets the most plate appearances possible.

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 5:59 pm

Sizemore has played 523 games in the leadoff slot, while playing only 74 games outside of that, and those were mainly in the 8th (30) and 9th (26) slot

 
 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 5:52 pm

new lineup, as per Joe C at the Strib

Indians (37-48)

1. Grady Sizemore, CF

2. Jamey Carroll, 2B

3. Ben Francisco, LF

4. Jhonny Peralta, SS

5. Shin-Soo Choo, RF

6. Casey Blake, 3B

7. David Dellucci, DH

8. Ryan Garko, 1B

9. Kelly Shoppach, C

Starting pitcher: RH Paul Byrd

Twins (47-38)

1. Carlos Gomez, CF

2. Alexi Casilla Nick Punto, 2B

3. Joe Mauer, C

4. Justin Morneau, 1B

5. Jason Kubel, DH

6. Delmon Young, LF

7. Brian Buscher, 3B

8. Nick Punto Brendan Harris, SS

9. Denard Span, RF

Starting pitcher: RH Livan Hernandez

Casilla has soreness in his finger

greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 5:58 pm

8. Nick Punto Brendan Harris, SS

OMG, Gardy has somehow merged these two mediocre players! It's ubelmann's twisted dream come true.

Seriously though, Punto is in the #2 hole again. I prefer to think of him in a hole with #2, if you know what I mean.

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:00 pm

oops, the strikethroughs did not copy

I wonder if Stick is going to have an 'edit' button on WGOM 2.0

 
ubelmann
ubelmann replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:13 pm

It's ubelmann's twisted dream come true.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

*maniacal grin*

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:19 pm

GUHHHH

I take it back, Nick.

Good work.

 
 
 
ubelmann
ubelmann replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:14 pm

I kind of like this better without the espn scoreboard widget. Did people find that useful? Personally, I almost never looked at it.

greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:16 pm

I admit I typically did not look at it. Once in a while, but not much.

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:27 pm

it was nice to glance at, but if its gone I will not shed a tear

 
 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:21 pm

PUNTO!!!

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:21 pm

Punto with the bizarro universe power swing

 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

I tune in late and miss a Punto HR?

Now that he's gotten his annual dinger out of the way, he can retire the power bat until 2009. ;-)

 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:30 pm

Nicely played by Gomez...

Anyone see the crazy (non-)catch by Damon in LF at Yankee Stadium today? You have to see the replay, crazy stuff...

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:40 pm

I missed it. I went to work when the game went into a rain delay

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:44 pm

wait..were you talking about the play where the ball sat on the wall?
if so..that was insane. I have never seen anything like that

 
 
smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:32 pm

If I knew what the code was to post a photo (I always cheated with the examples at the bottom of the page), I'd post that picture of the "Hell" sign with icicles hanging off of it.

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pm

< img src="url"/ >

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pm

delete the spaces in the <>

 
 
 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

Busch man!!!

 
smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

Testing...testing 1.2.3

[Fixed by SBG]

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

tighten up at the beginning

smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:39 pm

I see that now...thanks for the assistance dw.

brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

and enclose YOUR URL in quotes, not the actual letters "URL" :-)

 
 
 
 
smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

The butcher once again delivers the meat.

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:39 pm

couple of 1 out runs tonight.
craziness!

brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:40 pm

Do those count?

 
 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Wow, just noticing those special Indians caps -- they look awful. Isn't there something in the US Constitution prohibiting commingling the American flag with racist caricatures?

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

I am watching Punto's HR (WHAT!?) on MLB.com...is that Chaief Wahoo decked out in red, white, and blue?

 
 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:44 pm

Hmmm... according to FSN North, the Twins aren't just leading MLB with a .315 average with RISP, if that holds up (probably won't) they'd have the highest mark in MLB since 1974... last year's Tigers are in the current #1 spot at .311.

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

Shoppach

 
smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:50 pm

Hmm...we're going to need more runs.

brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:53 pm

Both teams with their batting practice pitchers on the bump today... I hope Gardy's draw on the bullpen phone is quicker than Wedge's...

smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:54 pm

Gardy doesn't lose that draw very often.

 
 
 
smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:57 pm

I feel a Morneezy HR this game.

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:58 pm

maybe next at bat

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

couple batters early :lol:

 
 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

kuuuuubel

 
brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

dw talks to me from the future

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

DELMONNNNNNNNNNNN

 
smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

Delmon making himself useful!

smalls
smalls replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:02 pm

Excuse me, Delmon making himself useful...brought to you by State Farm Insurance.

 
 
brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:02 pm

w00t!

How you like me now, Will??

brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:06 pm

You got your name back, Kid

 
 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:02 pm

Delmon is officially En Fuego.... that'll help the team BA w/RISP....

brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:15 pm

Delmon's July split a robust .444/.500/1.111 with 4 RBI so far...

 
 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:05 pm

Oh, here's the link for that crazy Damon play in LF in the Sox/Yankees game today.

I don't believe I've ever seen a ball teeter on top of a fence like that for a couple seconds... how many stadia even have a fence where that would be possible?

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:27 pm

wiggle wiggle

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:28 pm

Hi, I'm Joe Mauer droning on monotonously for your favorite airline. Plan your next vacation with zzzzzz.........

brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:29 pm

he should stick with modeling.

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

yeah, not a good commercial

 
 
brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

Byrd escapes the power spot in the lineup

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:34 pm

Punto with 82 PA on the season, .707 (before the game) OPS. Not too far off his .725 2006 line. Still small sample size and not somebody I want playing 3rd, but good for him for coming back with reasonable production in a utility role.

brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

ISTR Punto being a sparkplug for the Twins for about 3 months in 2006 but really tailed off at the end (had an awful August)... his OPS was north of .800 for much of the season, I know that... THAT was what was so unexpected... he was that year's version of Casilla...

 
 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

its home run derby at the Dome tonight

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

Yeah, we got fireworks. DOH.

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:46 pm

Hernandez accidentally works his slowdown hypno magic on Gomez - oops.

 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:48 pm

That CF play sums up Gomez 2008 in a nutshell: flashes of brilliant athleticism coupled with frustratingly boneheaded plays...

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:49 pm

Three runs on Rasputin through six, not bad.

 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:50 pm

"A masterful job of pitching by the veteran Hernandez" says Dick Bremer.

His Hyperbolater 3000 is definitely working at peak efficiency.

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:51 pm

kuuubes

 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

Gardy and Wedge both seem determined to ride their tired starting horses as long as possible today...

Though with Cleveland's bullpen, you can't fault Wedge too terribly much.

brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:58 pm

You can't really expect either closer to throw more than 8-10 pitches. For different reasons, of course. But still.

 
 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:58 pm

looks like the day off yesterday did not stop the Twins hot hitting

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 7:59 pm

Boy, it's nice to have a couple of good offensive games against Paul Byrd.

 
brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:03 pm

Hmmm.... things looking good on the Southside with Moneyball beating the Sox 5-1 in the 7th...

If things hold up in these games, Twins will pull off the AL Central Superfecta with a win and every other team losing...

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:07 pm

what does the Superfecta pay?

brink
brink replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:16 pm

1 game in the standings x 4

 
 
 
brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

Puntooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

and Harrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrisssssssssssssssss!!!!

brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:11 pm

but at least harris is "comfortable" at SS

 
 
brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

quiet tonight.

davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:13 pm

I think most people are being sociable and out enjoying the holiday

 
 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

Livan was so-so tonight
102 pitches, 59 strikes = 58% strikes

 
twayn
twayn replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:15 pm

Hi, gang. Just checking in from the lake. Looks like we have a good chance of fireworks tonight.

brianS
brianS replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:24 pm

fireworks good

 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:27 pm

Im going to miss the town fireworks tonight, due to me being at work
but all my neighbor lit them off last night, so I think I'm good

enjoy them twayn!

 
 
davidwatts
davidwatts replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Mauer needs a hit here

 
greenmachine
greenmachine replied on July 4th, 2008 at 8:24 pm

Dazzle: That would be a good time to clinch ... in Cleveland ... trash the clubhouse.
Gordo: Ho ho ho, sure, nothing wrong with that.

Raise your hand if you can imagine Gordo trashing a clubhouse.