Time: 7:10 p.m. CDT
TV: FSN
Radio: TRN, XM 180
Starting Pitchers: Bartolo Colon Jose Contreras (4-9, 4.80 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) vs. Francisco Liriano Brian Duensing (0-1, 5.50, 1.50)
You know, there's not much I like better than beating Mark Buehrle in a series win over the White Sox. One thing I do like better would be beating Mark Buehrle in a series sweep over the White Sox.
I hate the Sox. I really do. Many Twins fans openly express hatred for the Yankees and Red Sox, but I have a hard time truly hating those teams. Don't get me wrong, I hate losing time after time to the Yankees, but I don't hate them. I have a hard time blaming them for taking advantage of a broken system.
No, for me, I just hate the Sox. And I love beating them even more than I hate them. I love it even more when the Twins dominate them during the pressures of a pennant race, like that sweep last season in September (we won't mention October) or dominating them in the second half of 2006, or in 2003 when the Twins went to Chicago tied for first and lost the first two games, but then came back and split the series behind Brad Radke and some young kid pitcher named Johan something and then they came home and swept the Sox and virtually clinched the division. That was great stuff.
This rivalry has produced so many singular moments that remain etched in my mind. Jacque Jones ending Javier Vazquez's bid for a no-hitter with a solo homer and a 1-0 victory. Torii Hunter bowling over Jamie Burke. Torii robbing Carlos Lee of a homer late in the game and the stunned and frustrated look on Lee's face. Clinching the 2004 division title in Chicago after scoring four runs in the first off Buehrle, who had basically guaranteed the Twins wouldn't clinch the division in Chicago. Clinching the division on the final day of 2006 at the dome with a win over the White Sox. (Carlos Silva was the winner in both of those games, btw). Carlos Gomez's cycle. That doubleheader sweep that included Justin Morneau's three-homer game. Alexi Casilla finishing off a ninth-inning rally with a two-out hit to finish a series sweep late last year that gave the Twins a brief lead in the division. 20-1.
Then there's the contrast between the franchises. Big market vs. mid-market. Long ball vs. small ball (until this year), Aggressive front office vs. conservative front office.
And then the funniest part of this rivalry of late is how the main mouthpieces for the White Sox, Ozzie Guillen and Hawk Harrelson, positively adore the Twins. They gush over the Twins every time they play. I don't think I've ever hated and loved a guy as much as Ozzie. He cracks me up and I can't wait to hear what he has to say after a loss, especially to the Twins. He makes it a little harder to hate the Sox. Before Ozzie, the Sox were very smug and convinced they were so much better than the Twins and weren't afraid to say it no matter how many beatdowns the Twins put on them. Ozzie's taken care of that. Of course they still have Buehrle and A.J. and Podsednik and Bobby Jenks (still the dumbest athlete I've ever interviewed).
As for today's game, Jose Contreras has been named the starter after Bartolo Colon got a sore arm. Contreras was on the DL for about a month after coming down with Crappy Veteran Pitcher's Disease. He was brilliant for a couple starts after returning, but then went back to being mediocre. He's allowed 19 base runners in his last 11 IP.
Liriano got hurt by the long ball in his last start and is sporting some really ugly numbers. The good news is that Joe Crede has yet to hit his obligatory home run for each series we play the Sox, so hopefully the offense can get going early today so the Twins can finish off their first sweep of any kind since sweeping three games from the Brewers in May.
Ugly Liriano stat of the day - OPS against with bases empty: .698
OPS against with men on base: 1.001
I think he really needs to work on pitching from the stretch. GO TWINS!!
Brian Duensing's relevant stats in a SSS: xFIP - 6.16; tRA - 4.77. Yummy.
I won't be around tonight, the lady friend beckons. Go Twins.
And I'll miss the early part of this one, since my wife thought it would be funny to schedule a hair appointment at the exact start time of the game. When I'm not shooting, the Twins are literally the only thing I have that's time-sensitive. And yet here I am, missing the early innings. Bah.
Well I'll only be here for the early innings, so I'll tag you in.
And I'll hit you with a chair as you leave.
Yeah, I'm not staying up late tonight either, so I can help cover the (ahem) "early" shift
I'm pretty sure I hate the White Sox more than any other team.
Any story to the Bobby Jenks interview?
One of my best friends from Drake is both a White Sox and Patriots fan. How we are friends is a mystery.
You need to dump that zero and get yoself a hero!
He's acutally a pretty sound lad, except for some bad life choices along the way. (Also, the Huskers. C'mon).
Nothing wrong with the Huskers. Two out of three ain't bad.
The Husker hate is mostly from Eric Crouch taking Antwaan Randle El's Heisman
Uh, there were five guys ahead of him in the voting that year. Even if Crouch hadn't won, it wasn't going to be Randle El's trophy.
Hey, I don't rain on your parades, alright! Them's fightin' words!
Of course he wasn't gonna win on a team with 2 (maybe 3?) wins. But he was a far better player than Crouch.
I just don't get why that makes you hate the Huskers singularly, I guess. I could understand (and probably agree) if you said you hated the system where only the guys on high-profile and/or championship-contending teams get enough hype to have a chance at the award.
I wouldn't really say I hate the Huskers as a whole (though I do enjoy teasing Liz about them). They're just an easy target. It can be a little frustrating being a Hoosier football fan.
Well, it is sports. If there's any place in the world these days where irrational hate is not only ok, but encouraged, its team sports.
The newspaper I wrote for covered his American Legion team and I saw him pitch the summers before and after his senior year. Despite him being the best pitcher in the area, he couldn't keep his grades up enough to play his junior and senior years. Legion ball was the only reason he got drafted by the Angels. Had an electric fastball, but not much else and often didn't know where it was going. I watched him strike out 17 in a victory in a Legion regional tournament game. He would routinely fall behind 2-0, 3-1 and then come back and strike them out. B-Ref has him drafted in 2000 out of Spirit Lake, but I know he went to Lakeland HS near Coeur d'Alene, so he may have had to repeat his senior year at a different school.
Has there ever been a game in which the pitcher didn't throw any balls?
Brian Duensing is pitching a PERFECT GAME through one inning. Mark who?
How much good did that do Buehrle last night?
I have a hard time blaming them for taking advantage of a broken system.
Amen to that. My six-year-old and three-year-old were "selling tickets" to Twins games so the Twins "would have enough money to keep Joe Mauer." That is sick and wrong.
Good news, everybody. I cracked my first hefeweizen, and its delicious. Thick and a bit fruity, with that hint of banana that makes them so delicious.
I really like banana in hefe. Not that I'm begging. Much.
So do I. I was definitely going for that traditional German hefe flavor. It just needs a couple more weeks to fill out, and it should be damn ready.
Wasn't Jacque's HR off of Freddy Garcia, not Vasquez? Or did he screw both of them over?
I am coming to you from 103 degrees of heat in north Seattle. You can tell that it is hot because the half-naked people at the lake are in the shade and not in the sun hoping to contract skin cancer.
You can tell it's hot when the German gals are wearing tops.
Not too many Germans here. Mostly Scandinavians amongst the pale folk.
I'm not going to enjoy this slow strike call from the umpire tonight.
Something about the way Dye played that ball reminded me a little bit of _elm_.
Apparently, he's lost his right to an "n" now too.
About has much range as an elm tree, so I think the "elm" suits him well.
I'm not sure how crafty Dye is--I feel like either he looked pretty lazy on that or he decided that he wasn't going to catch it and was trying to bait the Twins into sending Span home.
GH, I've been meaning to ask you (for about 2 years now), but do you know Geoff Tims?
I do. In fact, I got this email from him earlier today.
He was on my intramural floor hockey team. Tell him I said Hi.
How on earth did Buerhle throw a perfect game with this defense behind him? It's been absolutely brutal all series.
I see that the White Sox and Red Sox exchanged Mark Kotsay and Brian Anderson. Obviously now that Chicago has successfully completed a deadline deal and neither the Twins nor the Tigers have, the White Sox are going to win the AL Central this year.
That's about the most boring trade of two major leaguers I can think of.
That sounds like a challenge.
The Dugout has got you covered.
Nice. It's tough to envision Omar Minaya playing Settlers of Catan, though.
My brother Boog plays that. I almost have a Masters degree and I can't wrap my head around it. He is one smart little cookie.
It's a pretty neat game, but I've only played it a couple of times. I was at a nerd game party a couple of weeks ago where one group was playing Settlers with some expansions and my group was playing Dominion, which turned out to be a really fun game. It didn't hurt that I won all three games we played, I suppose.
Oh man, that game rules. I've yet to defeat my friends, but we always have a blast playing it. And there's little funnier than constantly telling your buddy that you gave his wife some wood.
How about Willie Eyre for Brian Bass?
Touche.
I see that Halladay pitched for Toronto today--did our package of Gomez, Humber, Mulvey, and Guerra fall through? It seemed like a pretty good deal to me.
Zing!
Ricciardi is holding out for Casilla.
Gomez with some placement right out of Delmon's book.
Except there's no way Delmon shows bunt and is dextrous enough to get back into a hitting stance.
True, true. I don't think Delmon's ever moved that fast.
Not to mention he'd probably somehow end up with the bat upside down as well.
It's always weird when a marginal player (Gomez) dominates a team. Like Ryan Sweeney always did vs the Twins.
Or like Rivas with the Royals?
Punto's done pretty well vs. the White Sox as well.
Mike Sweeney.
Mike Sweeney was actually good, though. Back when he and Beltran were the only two good Royals, I felt like they always wound up hitting in the ninth inning of close games.
Ryan Sweeney would be more accurate as a marginal player, but his line vs. the Twins is only .291/.328/.309.
I was too lazy to look up his line vs. Minnesota and gave bodly the benefit of the doubt. I don't usually pay much attention to which players dominate which teams.
gave bodly the benefit of the doubt
That was your first mistake.
Damn Sweeneys are multiplying.
don't be bringing those f-bombs back into play!!
f-bombs are on hold until further notice.
F-bombs make Liriano's forearms swell up.
Damn Sweeneys
I think I saw that in the West End.
Yea. Don't be projecting that stuff on a young guy.
I would love it if Gomez would magically figure out how to read pitchers better, but unfortunately I think his base-stealing abilities are pretty much maxed out right now.
Need to get on base first.
It's not like he's Tony Pena, Jr. Gomez reaches base three or four times per week.
Muscles Casilla!
Is that like Clams Casino?
I hate that they always make the runner on first base stay at third on those. But I love taking the lead!
Me too. I wish they would change the rule so that the runner can score if in the umpire's opinion, he would have scored easily had the ball not hopped the fence.
Actually, that is the rule. An umpire actually called it in an All-Star game, I think sometime after 2000.
It happened to Guardado in 2003, actually.
Man, nothing like a series at home against the White Sox to bring the piranhas out of hibernation!
Maybe it's because their defense sucks. They didn't seem to have any piranha problems back in 2005.
I like it when Joe Mauer bats in the second inning.
Holy smokes, this game is on pace to be like 4 hours long. I'm going to fall asleep if this keeps up.
Welcome to the Jose Contreras Experience.
Jayson Nix???
According to Hawk, he does have tremendous upside. Tremendous upside.
Check out the end of this message from Mom:
My mother has expressed similar opinions.
Well, at least she's cool with me and Liz living together.
That's good--sometimes that can take a lot of convincing. As for weddings, I pretty much view them primarily as a big party where your friends and family show up, so I'm looking forward to mine in the case that I succeed in finding a bride, which has thus far proved to be a difficult problem.
One of my good friends, probably my best friend that's a girl that's not Liz, lives out in Seattle. How do you feel about redheads and/or artists/graphic designers?
ooh, a redhead graphic designer. Does she do drapes?
No, but I know a seamstress who could probably hook you up. She is taken though.
Is that some sort of horrible joke?
I was referencing Bootsy's redhead recollections. Something about window dressings....
Well I don't remember what he said about the subject. I figured it was some sort of carpet/drapes hair dye joak.
I can't say that all of those beach balls in the stands make me particularly proud to be a Twins fan.
At the game last night I witnessed the most distressing bout of Twins fandom I had ever seen. A couple of drunken middle-aged douchebags tried to pick a fight with a 15-year-old White Sox fan who was there with his dad. The kid tried to stand up for himself, and one of the Twins fans put his hands around the kid's neck like he was going to choke him. I was too far away to intervene, but luckily some other people stopped them from doing anything really stupid. I felt like apologizing on behalf of all Minnesotans.
That sucks. I hate it when people are assholes for no good reason, regardless of their rooting affiliation.
The stands do look pretty full, though. I wonder how well the WGOM is represented.
Man, trade Liriano for a bucket of balls. Brian Duensing is The Real Deal II.
Emmet's girlfriend is up from Dingle (hehe) this week. His headboard and mine are seperated by about 2 inches of pretty thin concrete. I'm going to try to sleep with those two giggling and talking all night (at the very least). Thank Joe Mauer for Bose headphones and Explosions in the Sky. Night y'all.
Do many people in Dingle grow berries?
Is anyone in Dingle named Fritz?
Night, Andrew. Dream sweet dreams of Twins victories.
Twayn, E-6, Banjo and Beau checking in from section 123 row 26
I'm blaming the Quentin dingleberry on banjo's check-in.
Sounds like trouble...wish I was there to join in.
Did you bring beach balls?
Or strangle a high school-aged boy wearing a Sox hat?
I'm guessing that's not a beer-free zone.
Well hey there, kids. Cheer for runs in the fifth for me, would you? 'Cause that's what I'd be doing if I was there.
Oh boy, Crain warming up....
Well, if we're going to tear down the Metrodome properly, it seems as though we'll probably need a crain at some point.
104 and holding. I'm surprised that the temp hasn't started to dip yet.
It's been cool all summer in St. Paul. We could use some of that heat.
Huh. Only got up to 94 here in Austin, TX today. BRR!!
I think we set the highest temp on record for Seattle today, so I wouldn't expect this trend to continue. The last few days have been warmer than average, though.
Cliff Lee << Roy "Holliday".
just thought I'd help you out there, Daz.
Pffft, wake me up when Holliday wins a Cy Young
I don't think Dazzle understands those symbols. Something like "Cliff Lee isn't fit to carry Roy Halladay's jock" might be more his language.
I'm calling a big inning.
It certainly would be a good time for Morneau to clobber one.
Or Kubel, perhaps?
Or Cuddyer, I mean?
"a Justin Morneau Windup Walker"??
what the hell kind of give-away is a walker, powered or not?
dome dogs..check, beers, check, sid reading the paper check.
It's a one-man crusade to save the newspaper format!
We can take solace in the fact that a good outfielder would not have needed to dive for that.
Web gem, pffllliibt!
oooh. Disrespecting Cuddyer, or respecting the Dude?
Both.
Cuddyer disrespecting himself.
Plus understanding platoon advantage.
crap. I'm out. baby this one into the Twitchy Zone, boys.
Alright, I see spookymilk is here, I'm tagging him in. Later, folks.
Later, New Guy.
g'night New Guy and bS
*hand slap*
Good game, good game.
cuddy go poof says e-6
Cross your fingers, it's Crain time!
Really, Liriano is fine after having his left forearm swell up? Call me cynical, but I'm not buying that yet.
Well, since he's missing a start - he's a giant pussy. Radke would have thrown a CG shutout tonight.
bracing for a crain wreck
Hey, only one base! Solid start for Crain.
Now them's some low expectations.
Well, one is only one more than zero, after all.
whose got the jpeg warmed up
Smart decision by Casilla. There's something I don't say every day...
Umpires with a slow strike call should find a different line of work.
Definitely. Those are enraging. If I'm the batter, I'm taking a swing at blue's head after one of those.
Union leader?
Turn, Laddie, turn.
DP! Never doubted Crain for a moment! (I love having Crede in the field again, btw. My friend called him the baseball Gaborik, and while I wouldn't go that far, I thought it was an amusing comparison.)
Crede's a cherrypicker?
Yeah, and Gaborik's all O while Crede is (almost) all D.
I like the bunt call with a runner on first, no outs, Gomez at the plate with Punto and Casilla to follow. Punto and Casilla probably aren't going to drive in a runner from first base and Gomez has a chance to turn the bunt into a single or an error.
I suppose if you look at it that way.
Bunts got to be an especially bad strategy when league-wide offensive levels went way up. With offensive levels down, and more teams with stretches of the lineup that resemble Gomez-Punto-Casilla, it starts to make sense more often, especially in situations where one run might win you the game.
Yeah, I'm admittedly having a hard time getting used to strategy in the post-steroid era, much in the same way that old-timers had a hard time getting used to strategy in the steroid era.
Just wait until the bionic era. It will be a very confusing, very exciting time.
Does bunting in front of two terrible hitters really make for good strategy?
No, but it's not a half bad stragedy.
Hi everybody! Let's make this a massive night.
Nice! Never doubted the bottom of the order for a second.
w00t! You can't stop Casilla, you can only hope to contain him.
Hoo-hah! Casillarama.
I almost felt bad for Casilla for how bad he's played this season so far. It's good to see him have a good game like this. Now, he needs to have a few more.
I can't stick around, but while I was out mowing, I called the Quinton HR.
Only it was just a thought, so no one can vouch for me.
I called it too, if only because he's the first batter I saw when I turned the damn thing on.
Generally I don't like it when they cut to the dugout, but watching Disgruntled Ozzie stew in the dugout is hilarious.
Watching Ozzie do anything makes me laugh.
Hey Ozzie, "WHY SO SERIOUS?!!!"
A.J. Fail.
Castro fail?
Gameday thinks he's still a Met too.
So ubeldude, how am I suppose to pack if it's going to be 103 in Seattle and 60 in Alaska?!
Highs in Seattle are supposed to be back to ~86 by Friday. I don't expect it to be 103 in Seattle again any time soon. Upper 90s tomorrow, though, I guess.
I'd think for a Minnesotan it'd be shorts and t-shirts for both climates.
60 degrees in a marine climate can be pretty chilly, especially at night. I didn't believe it until I experienced it for myself, though.
Uh oh, Cuban Missile Crisis on the field?
Ramirez's ankle looked very similar to what my leg/ankle looked like back in 10th grade playing football. For me, it was a pretty solid sprain and hurt like hell.
Morneau has taken some shitty at-bats today.
Ugh, it would be really convenient if we had some right-handed bats good enough to break up Mauer-Morneau-Kubel.
I guess there's some hope that we could hit Valencia between Morneau and Kubel, but finding a right-handed #3 hitter to put between Mauer and Morneau could prove difficult.
So, no can defend against Crain Technique if done right?
The Crain Technique is difficult to master.
He's done a lot of waxing off to build arm strength.
to dinner. there is shredded cheese on the table. Omen?
Why is this game temporarily unavailable?! For frick's sake, MLB.tv! Get your act together and give me my rivalry game! BAAAAHHHHH
I got disconnected for no good reason, too, but after about a minute I was able to re-connect successfully.
Yeah, me neither.
Yep, I'm back now, too. Thanks.
w00t!! Let's get some insurance before Twitchy Time.
Really glad Crain was able to survive two innings with leadoff singles. I was expecting Gardy to use an assortment of pitchers, 2 or 3, to get the 6th and 7th done.
WE'RE NOT DRUNK YET AND THE TWINS ARE WINNING
When do beer sales cut off? You'd best get a move on.
WE'RE NOT DRUNK YET
Your all-caps make me think otherwise...
No more beverage sales now, either. You all failed us!
Nathan going high & tight on Beckham was delicious.
Fillllllllllllllllllllllllthy
Dom-i-Nathan.
Yeesh. This AB is less dom-i-Nathing.
Bobby Jenks warming up.
What for?
I always enjoy when Bert incorrectly names a pitch and just sticks with it, evidence be damned. That slider to strikeout Dye, the one that went in around 86 mph and cut across the plate? Naah, it was the cutter Nathan's working on, the one with just a little movement.
Thanks Bert.
Joe going for the degree of difficulty.
He's gotta make up for that one out save.
Which Joe?
Yougly strike out. But I'll take it.
That's a hell of a result for a K.
Yikes, that was an unsatisfying strikeout.
Ahh, shut up, Dazz. Just go strike this guy out, Joe.
Can o' corn.
SWEEEEEEEEP!
Torii would have turned that one into a HR
Not Nathan's best scoreless inning, but it'll do.
Looking forward to seeing that next year.
Good thing that the Sox traded for Kotsay! :)
And what does that asshole in the Sox booth say?
"You've got to be kidding me, this park."
Fuck you Hawk.
I hope the Twins put together a series of 20-1 whoopings next time we go to The Cell. WHAT NOW, HAWK?
I guess Twins fans are the same way talking about Yankee Stadium and the woes there, but I find it hilarious that Sox fans/announcers blame all these losses on the Dome and not the actual play on the feild
Most Twins fans I know blame the players for choking at Yankee Stadium, not the Stadium itself.
Nothing more satisfying.
Success!
Nice time at the ballyard, tonight. Thanks for the company gents.
And thanks for the tix, Stick. We missed ya.
Glad you guys got to enjoy it.