Twins v. Royals
Probables: Kansas City: Brian Bannister (13 IP, 5H, 3K, 8BB, 0HR, 6.77 xFIP) Minnesota: Glen Perkins
(29 IP, 23H, 16K, 6BB, 0HR, 5.15 xFIP)
Things are still not back to normal at the SBG household. Last night, I headed down to Winona, where I am right now, as my mother-in-law will be entombed today. I figure my wife slept in our house three or four nights in April, spending the rest of the time down here, save for a trip up to North Dakota. We'll be heading back up home on Sunday, and I look forward to a return to normalcy.
A return to normalcy is what the Twins got last night. Joe Mauer didn't say, a la Jordan, "I'm back," he just let the bat do the talking and things were back to normal in Twins Territory. Mauer reached three times, including a home run and a double in his first two at bats, and scored three runs. That set the tone as the Twins defeated the Royals 7-5.
Tonight the Twins send Glen Perkins out there against Brian Bannister. Perkins got roughed up a little bit the last time out and his peripherals suggest that he's going to continue to get roughed up a little more -- don't expect eight innings every time out. But, hey, the guy in the other dugout is due for a rough one, himself. Bannister, the inspiration for Joe Posnanski's "Banny Log" last season is off to a good start, having allowed just one run in 13 innings. That might be unsustainable. He's not missing bats, he's been wild, and he's stranded 92% of the runners who have reached. The record says he's 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA. But, that's not going to last. Tonight would be a nice night to have the wheels come off of the Banny-wagon.
I'm excited to watch the first inning over something other than Gameday over my mobile.
Is it just me, or did the music behind Bannister's highlight reel sound like a "Night Fever" remix?
Just looking ahead to the schedule, the Twins have one off day this month. They play 30 games in 31 days, so we'll be going back to a 12-man staff very soon. Fortunately, 16 of those games are at home.
Wow, it seems like we didn't have many off-days in April, either. (Or at least scheduled off-days.)
Huh, I guess we do have a fairly large number of days off in August and September. That could be an advantage if we're running short on starters down the stretch. It also gives us a chance to keep Redmond on the bench more often and run Joe out for most of those games.
Baby jeebus now has his career obp up to .400. Here's hoping it's there to stay. Also hashis ops+ up to 129 which puts him alone in (I believe) 6th all time for twins behind killer, carew, oliva, Allison (I think his is about 130 when you take out the senators years), and mack.
it's red hats again today
I think this is the hat of the day
I'm sporting one of these.
Don't worry. It's not the rally fez...
You have the matching Vespa?
I wish...
Well, that could have worked out a lot worse.
the "pick to stick" is so lame.
"hey guys, let's start doing a 'pick to click'"
"nah, everyone does that"
"well, how about a pick the stick"
"...you just might have something there..."
How are they chosen? Random draw, or a draft? I don't get the pregame show.
Rotating draft, someone new gets to pick first each broadcast.
Bannister's blue glove seems wrong,,,
He hits home runs. He forces errors. What else do the critics want?
They gave him a gift single. Will give the local grumps something to complain about.
Oh, jeez. That was some bad baseball all around.
What a terrible at-bat by Morneau. Strikes out on three pitches. Takes the first one down the middle and then swings at two pitches not even close to the strike zone.
After he told Marni he was "in the zone.."
Wow. The wheels are coming off for Perkins.
another GIDP saves his bacon. Living on the edge tonight, Perk.
It's kind of a weird start to the game for him. He's throwing a ton of fastballs and they aren't located well, and yet of the six hits, only Crisp's leadoff double was well-hit. There have been three ground balls that made it through the infield and two bloop hits, one off the handle and the other off the end of the bat. If he starts locating better, he could really shut them down. OTOH, if he doesn't improve his location, I expect the Royals to really start hitting him hard.
how does crede "beat out" all these grounders?
I was mid-sentence, saying "huh, a good at-bat for Cuddyer" and Dick goes and ruins the moment by saying "Cuddyer spanks it hard."
i was thinking about typing something smart-ass about that...
that'll work.
Sac fly by Punto scores a barreling Delmon...this got fun in a hurry.
Oh, yea, Punto is "clutch," Dazz.
Ugh. Gladden adds nothing. I don't understand how his presence can be defended.
Remember that football game they did without announcers years ago? Maybe they could figure out a way to make that work on the radio.
that works much better with television than it does with radio.
all right, i'm going out for deep dish with the wife, her best friend, and her best friend's sister. i'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere, but i can't think of it.
I have one about finding hair in your food, but you know? Let's just not.
mmmm, pie.
roasted sweet potatoes and chicken, sauteed spinach on the menu tonight at Casa bS.
bS FTW.
Perkins is looking a lot better now. I haven't been impressed with Bannister. The Twins need to start hitting him better than they have been.
kuddy.
cc to Bootsy. You been to your fb account lately? I've recently discovered the joys of social networking. Or maybe I was just avoiding work....
+2 Time Suck
I have not. Guess I should check, huh.
Blogging is hard. :)
heh. yea, it's like crack. But I can quit any time I want....
Holy crap, I just laughed out loud at a joke Dick made. I'm kinda drunk, but still.
a Dick joke?
Heh. Not this time, but in the past Bert has made a few Dick jokes at Dick's expense.
Such, Dick
*phonebook listing
Home run Bloomquist?!
what the hell...how come Punto isn't diving?
It's still Easter, right?
That new catcher is pretty good.
I don't know what to say about Joe Mauer.
Here he was born,
Now he lives in every place where people are fighting!
Here he called the earliest revolutionary meetings.
Now he has rallied the people of all countries!
Here he read his first books.
Now he is the teacher of all the revolutionaries of the world!
Here he learned to work hard like the peasants.
Now he brings happy life to the working people!
Uh, yeah. That sorta covers it.
Oh look! Baby Jeebus drove in a run! I thought that never happens, Dan Barreiro!
Dazzle and Gordo struggle to come up with the name "Herb Washington". So far, they've run through Claudell Washington and Gene Washington.
I heard that. Embarressed, I was.
Now that was interesting
That's yer typical double play.
CuddyeHR!
Kuddy Konnection.
It is alive!
CuddyHR!
I'm glad teh awesome is rubbing off on everyone else.
Can fans catch it?
Del feelin' frisky.
Our righties finally starting to swing? Nice to see.
DSpan is due here.
Adam Everett with a Grand Slam??
**looks around for evidence that I may have been Left Behind**
Good day for long odds.
You need more proof than the Bloomquist homer?
Hey, he homered off of Wakefield...once.
Well, we are some time after the Second Coming of Baby Jesus.
Wait. Perkins is still in the game?? Surely he is not coming back out for the top of the inning???
There's some veteran leadership by Punto. Idgit.
My five year old called Punto's lame attempt "the opposite of baseball." I thought that was solid.
Oh, dear. Is Nicky OK?
I thought he was gonna go all George Brett on the ump.
Radio guys were clucking. They softened up after the break.
Buntgasm in the broadcast booth,
Spent last evening with the better half and just got the last rugrat upstairs to go to bed, so I would belatedly like to state for the official record that I'm glad Joe Mauer is back.
Ok, maybe Perk should have stayed in. Freakin' Ayala.
Well, it's not like he pitched poorly. Bunt single, stolen base, weak single to center.
Bringing him into a close game to stroke his ego and build his confidence is ludicrous. He's terrible and doesn't deserve to be in the game in close situations, period.
Man, these KC games are heavyweight fights.
Crede runs well, right? (I read that somewhere.)
for a gimp...
Gimp's sleepin'
Geez. Three runners thrown out to end an inning with the middle of the order due up.
Wasn't one inning of Ayala enough?? Jeez.
The only ball hit well off him came on the last pitch he threw. It's not like we have a whole lot of options. Guerrier threw two innings last night and Mijares and Nathan both pitched an inning. Mijares would have started the inning if we were still ahead.
I'm really tired of the Summit ad about spring training for beer vendors. They need to bring back last year's ads.
This is rapidly turning into a two-beer game. Sierra Nevada ESB tonight. I still have a meatbeer, but it would be a shame to waste it on this thing.
Hell, the Pork Chop is a Doctor. Seems an ideal time for it.
Anyone else around these parts remember when you didn't close an "italic" it made the whole joint tilt to the right? Anyone?
*Not political, more Batman--the Adam West years.
Yea, I miss those days. It just seems so...competent...now. Three-quarters' baked.
I liked the sushi. ;)
Wait. Mijares just got an out not by the virtue of a K? Is that even possible?
I'm a little concerned about this Casilla fellow.
Blyleven channeling his inner Uecker on that call.
He said "little" instead of "bit," and I'm convinced his short pause was because he realized his mistake.
Certainly possible with Blyleven. No, probable.
buscher..I can't watch.
Delmon will save us. Perhaps by inducing wild pitches.
Kansas City Gentlemen's Baseball.
Is it just me or does Cruz have no control tonight?
Hard to regret not getting the guy when this is what he's doing.
Nice pitch, nice cut and nice catch. Sort of the antithesis of the rest of this game.
Come on, Delmon. Cause one more of those and we're tied up!
just got home. i see that ayala gave up his obligatory run...
The Delmonator!
Delmon Young with placement.
I knew Delmon was going to come through there.
Gogogogogo.
Hey fellas, how's the biz tonight?
Come on, Nick. Take one for the team.
Cause Jerry White's the problem here.
Cruz looks like Ricky Vaughn out there with a pair of walks and a pair of wild pitch/past balls in a tie game and the Royals have no one else to bring in here?
So is AMR cheering for the Royales?
Smalls is. :)
Defensively is it better to have Punto at 2B and Harris at SS or is the current alignment the better way of handling things?
Harris is the anti-Everett.
isn't that a good thing?
Not defensively.
Most players who can play SS can play 2B a little better, though that's hardly universal. Harris is not a very good middle infielder at either position. I think Gardy harbors a particular disinclination to play Harris at 2B because of his inability to turn double plays or something like that.
my sister was on tv in the top of the 7th. i was gone, but mlb.tv lets me go back and watch it. nice.
She's the little one who wears #8, yes?
huh? i heard dick going on about the mystical power of the number eight tonight, but i might have missed that...
So we leave Mijares out there until his elbow explodes, right?
It's our MO.
First there will be soreness that he will attempt to rehab and pitch through...then it goes kablooey.
Epic.
This is Sheenie. I wanted to let you know that the month stats (plus a day) are posted on my blog onepinksprinkle.blogspot.com. If you are interested in joining the walks for a walker program now that you know what a month of Twins walks looks like, please let me know. Enjoy the game!
Funny post-inning reaction from Nathan there. We were all right there with you, Joe.
Ho-Boy!!111one!!11, sez Gordo. That's good, right?
Mauer hit most of his HRs against lefties last year. Walkoff?
I think you meant Crede and, yes, that's a call.
And I think you meant Cuddy, and yes, that's a call.
And I think you meant Delmon, but no, that's not a call
I think there were a lot of calls that shouldn't have been made. (although the Joe call was defenisible.)
My five-year-old boy has a strange knack for such things and he predicted a Crede homer in this game. Unfortunately, he's been sleeping for almost two hours.
Wild ones.
What exactly are you rebelling against, bS?
You win this round, sir...
I was so sure I wouldn't get it in first that I closed the game browser to speed up the comment. Paid off!
I'm 47. My first step is gone... :)
I don't have a 'cause.
What are you rebelling against, brianS?
Whaddaya got?
Really? After that solid of an at-bat, he swung at a ball that almost hit the ground?
You expected anything less?
Nah, but he teased me earlier in the game with better.
Matty has good cheese again.
Mmmm, Gruyere. I recently discovered that stuff.
This game is very uninspiring. Can we just call it a tie and go home?
Bush Man!
Burning Buscher..
Bush Baby!
woah, that's a bigun.
Connor Oberst?
Fer foochs sake.
Head for the mountains...
As a brewer, you should prolly steer away from that, pally.
My neighbor had a couple a Bud Lights for me tonight that I couldn't refuse. (Course, he got my Blonde, Maibock and Belgian Pale. I think he came out ahead.)
Free beer is free beer. As a trade? If they were ballplayers? You lost Bartlett and Garza.
Considering the awesomeness of my maibock, its more like the Pierzynski for Liriano/Nathan/Bonser trade.
False modesty becomes you. ;)
I told my neighbor that I enjoy giving people samples of my work because I know they'll like it, thus stroking my ego.
I do good work. ;)
uh-oh. it's the Mexicutioner.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Just one more of those ..
No dazzleman special this inning, alas.
::sigh::
I smell heartbreak..
Should we just blame it on Punto now?
Seger..Old Time Rock N' Roll on the loudspeakers...can't that song be put out of its misery?
MY FOOT!
Craptastic.
So how accurate is Gameday here? Most of these pitches appeared to be right over the plate and roughly belly to chest high. Technically, that's a strike, right?
Some of the pitches are close, but I haven't seen anything egregious by the ump. Breslow has been all over the place.
Ok, that's what I figured. Gameday must be just a little off then, or its the Bud Light skewing my perception.
No one knows the Yale fight song now, do they?
Why doesn't Harris go to first there?
dick: "if he walks teahen, i don't know that they'll have any choice but to bring dickey in"
of course, the bases are loaded...
I will turn this thing off if I see Dickey come in with the bases loaded.
g'night cheaptoy
Good luck, fellas.
Not so fast, boyo.
G'nite.
Ball 4 as I sent my LTE.
I smell Dickey.
Alright, I'm off to bed then. I'll figure out what happened in the morning.
Dickey, RA before he Dickeys You
mauer's never caught dickey before. this could get interesting...
Dickey bringin' the heat on that pitch!
Dazz and Gordo doubting
ThomasMauer's ability to catch the knuckler?cripes. 4th walk of the inning...
sdfasdklfsdadsf,/.msf lsdfaad fvm loadvf lkafd vklj/sv
exactly.
Just give up the effing grand slam. This death by a thousand cuts is killing me.
Ugh. What a moronic way to be losing an extra-inning game. Or any game, I guess, but don't they know I invested four hours in this crapfest?
Dick: "There's no defense for the walk."
You know what there's really no defense for? FOUR WALKS!!!
betting stop hitting olivo...
The Twins did an amazing job of setting themselves up for a dramatic walk off grand slam that inning.
okay, super-duper rally cap time...
Joe Mauer is even better than Jose Morales!
That was the worst baseball game I've ever seen.
I remember one that was worse...a 15-inning game against the Indians that was freaking epic and scoreless until the Indians scored 5 in the top of the 15th to win 5-0. I've never sworn so much in my life, and I swear probably fifty times a day at the bare minimum.
Well, that was satisfying.
