3:10 p.m CDT
Safeco Field
WFTC29, MLB.tv, TRN
Kevin Slowey (8-1) vs. Erik Bedard (4-2)
They say it's not who you play, it's when you play them. If that's the case, we're getting Erik Bedard at probably the worst possible time. Not that there's ever a real great time to face him, but he's pitching better than ever this season, and his splits to date would seem to spell even more inevitable doom for the Twins today.
Against left handed hitters Bedard has an opponents' batting average of .185, against right handers he pitches to a .233 average. With the Twin's lefty heavy lineup - advantage, Bedard. In home games, Bedard has a 1.85 ERA, in away games it's 2.72. Hello, Seattle - advantage, Bedard. In day games, Bedard has an ERA of 1.99. In night games, it's 2.79. Seattle start time is 1:10 p.m - advantage, Bedard. On grass, Bedard's ERA is 1.94. On turf, it's .466. Game, set, match, Bedard.
Overall this year, Bedard has a 2.37 ERA, 4th best in the American League, good for an ERA+ of 185. He's 12th on the AL leaderboards with 61 punchouts, tied with Captain Cheeseburger. At thirty years of age, this six-year veteran lefty is having the best season of his life, noticeably better than his overall career numbers. So we have to pin our hopes for generating offense today on regression to the mean, or a wicked one-hopper off Bedard's athletic cup.
I haven't seen either of the games this weekend, but I do like the fact that we've only given up 3 runs in this series, and our starters (including Liriano) have only given up 2. So far it's come done to a pair of pitchers' duels, and with Slowey, who at 8-1 is tied with Zack Greinke for 2nd among AL Wins leaders taking the mound, we could very well get another one in the rubber game today. Let's hope we're on the right side of it if we do.
TWINS (28-29)
1. Denard Span, LF
2. Joe Mauer, C
3. Justin Morneau, DH
4. Joe Crede, 3B
5. Jason Kubel, RF
6. Michael Cuddyer, 1B
7. Brendan Harris, SS
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Alexi Casilla, 2B
MARINERS (27-29)
1. Ichiro Suzuki, RF
2. Russell Branyan, 1B
3. Adrian Beltre, 3B
4. Ken Griffey Jr., DH
5. Jose Lopez, 2B
6. Ronny Cedeno, SS
7. Endy Chavez, LF
8. Jamie Burke, C
9. Franklin Gutierrez, CF
Welcome back to the doghouse Delmon Young. When you're on the bench vs. a lefty starter while Jason Kubel is playing the outfield, that's not a good sign. Maybe we should start a Delmon pool of how long it will be before he is off the Twins' 25-man roster.
I'll take July 31
I'll take the 4th of July. It would be our independence from seeing him in the lineup and the field.
I'll take January 31st. It's not happening until an offseason trade.
I figured it would be against the rules to take someone else's date.
?? Did I miss something in the contest rools?
Our lefties have hit Bedard well in the past.
Morneau: .429 .435 .810
Mauer: .308 .400 .308
Span: .400 .500 .400
Kubel has never faced Bedard.
I smell SSS.
He who smealt it, dealt it.
+ 1 SBD
For Span, definitely. 2 for 5 with a walk. Mauer 4 for 13 with 2 walks. Morneau's sample is a little more substantial. 9 for 21 with 2 doubles, 2 homers and a walk.
Not that anyone needs a reason to sit _elm_n, but he's 2 for 17 with 7 Ks against Bedard.
Burgers on the grill last night. Tonight -- I've been sentenced to accompanying the Mrs. to an end-of-year BBQ hosted by members of her pre-school board (the Mrs. is a pre-school teacher).
Don't these people understand that the NBA Finals are on???!!!one111!!!
Oh, well, at least there might be "beer".
My daughter wanted a Subway party sub for her birthday party last night. So I've had Subway for three meals in a row now.
+several sizes, twayn
I can't see a picture of that guy and not think of this:
http://m.assetbar.com/achewood/one_strip?b=M^a11f09b8576e606bcb5038dfdb92fb821&u=http%3A%2F%2Fachewood.com%2Fcomic.php%3Fdate%3D01212003
any achewood fans here?
Huh, Denard Span on base. Never would have seen that coming.
He's not the type of player you want leading off.
+0 playoffs for the Mets
DSPAN2! Speed Killz.
Nice efficiency. A three-pitch inning would be kewl.
Damn Branyan.
Prior would have caught that.
Ack.
This does not sound encouraging, suddenly.
Branyan
Enough with the Radke impression, K-Slow!
As long as he got that out of his system and starts throwing up some quick zeros, I won't mind.
Right. Because "wins" is the only relevant stat to evaluate starters, guys.
Not that I'm opposed to Slowey going to the ASG.
Hey come on now, "wins" are every bit as relevant to pitchers as "grit" and "hustle" are to positional players.
+1 moral equivalence.
Wild thing, you make my heart sing. You make everything...groovy.
Grrrrr.
Lot of excitement in this gamelog.
I thought that said excrement...
That was yesterday! Trying to stay positive.
you are a couple of rolls late with that, E-6
High pitch counts for both starters. Bedard is walking everyone while Slowey just gives up hits. And both teams 0-fer with RISP.
It's like watching paint dry.
It had literally put me to sleep.
Hello, gentleman. Just in time to see Ichiro fire a laser to the plate
That's more better. Way to go lefties.
shit.
and I WAS getting work done....
PriorMorales doesn't catch that ;-)Oh, great. Email o' th' Day time.
Ahh, they never learn
You do NOT steal on the Baby J!
STFU, Gordo.
This feature deserves to be waterboarded.
What was the question? I'm not curious because of your outrage.
What's the better indicator of a pitcher's performance -- wins or ERA? paraphrasing Gordo -- "if you ask the manager, he's gonna say wins. Who cares about ERA?"
Dazz then responds with "No question!"
Me: "Give me a spoon to gouge out my brains."
At least they were sparring with an intellectual equal in the feller that wrote that question.
They were spouting that same garbage last week.
Wait, no, I am curious because of your outrage.
Slow death.
Remember when the Twins used to hit home runs? Those were good times.
Remember when Jamie Burke didn't hit them, like, ever? That was awesome too.
Bring on the Dickey.
and they continue with the idiocy. Dazz: "If a pitcher loses 1-0, the bottom line is he lost the game."
I bet he was popular with the pitchers when he played.
As a career .270/.324/.387 player, I bet he was. With the opposing pitchers.
Last week he was bad-mouthing "new" stats. He called "wins" the only stat that mattered. Gee, that's brilliant, Dizz.
I've stepped in puddles deeper than Gladden.
I got cable this year so I haven't had to listen to a game on the radio once. The vitriol spewing from you listeners this year makes me glad I forked out the money. At least if Bert and Bremer become annoying I can hit mute
On the other hand, if your offense scores zero runs, you cannot possibly win unless the other team defaults.
It just doesn't matter.
/Meatballs riff
Comcast sucks. I just got my connection back after almost two hours. Did I mention Comcast sucks?
Dirty Harry!
afternoon, all. looks like things have been going great without me. fun trivia: guess the one team the twins have more wins than on the road.
I didn't know there was one. The Nats?
yup. the twins have 7, the nats have 6.
Rats.
We've had a mind boggling amount of offensive futility in this series.
A surfeit.
I've got a good feeling about this game these next three innings. Mark it down!
dang, nice play by Mauer. What a cannon he has
I wonder what that sounded like inside Ichiro's helmet?
Dickey now has an ERA of 2.94.
gotta say, the dickey signing is becoming more and more solid each day.
More relevantly, he now has a FIP of around 5.22.
Reverse regression to the mean.
Dude looked like a lady with that cut.
+1 future Elven babe
+1 unfortunately extended role.
(funny you would mention that, as right now it is uncertain whether Helm's Deep will hold.
Is it just me or are games taking forever these days? It seems every game goes 3 and a half hours, whether it's low or high-scoring. Is this normal?
It's not just you.
I'm out. Bring 'em back.
lead man on 4 times in ball game. and... 2 runs.
Oh boy, looks like Gardy's handcuffing the defense.a
Ah, I figured he was bringing __lm_n into the outfield. Still, rather have Gomez out there.
Those would be Leg Irons...
this is just sad...
The word of the
daygame is: interminable.There is no I in team. There is no O in Twins.
again the twins get the lead runner on. anyone venture to guess the end result?
Stranded.
Time for a Mauer bunt, right\?
almost... come on, rat-face!
here's what we need some more of:
One more chance to stick it in DC's face, Dude.
I've got a fever...
That sucked donkey balls.
Crap. We suck against Seattle.
Isn't sucking in Seattle usually what turns the season around?
tick tick tick BOOM!
that's it. season over, man! season over...
criminy. Get it right, boy!
my bad. my bad.
why even go to Oakland. geeze
With all the talk of how the Twins suck with RISP in road games, I didn't hear anyone mention that the Mariners went 0-fer the series with RISP. Yep, the Twins outhit the M's in clutch situations. Plus, the M's didn't score one single run on an out while the Twins scored three in the series. The difference was the M's power. The Twins had 15 more homers than the M's coming into this series but the M's outhomered the Twins 4-0 in the series. Sometimes I really hate SSS.