The Tigers and White Sox will have been playing for an hour before this game starts. Its hard to imagine what it would be like in the Twins' position, where they have some idea of how Verlander and Danks are faring before their game even begins.
I suppose it may be best for the Twins to just completely ignore that other game and focus on their match up with the Royals, but human nature suggests that the team, just like their fans, will want to know exactly how the other game is going. Either way, by the end of today's game the Twins will know exactly where they stand.
If the Twins win, they can't be eliminated. If the Tigers lose, the Twins can't be eliminated. It feels great to say that on the last day of the season. Credit has to be given to this squad for hanging around for so long; it has been an unexpected and pleasant surprise.
Its the last regular season day of Sunday Baseball: Enjoy it! Go Twins!
Probable pitchers:
TEX: K. Millwood (10-8, 3.63)
MIN: S. Baker (12-7, 4.47)
A battle of the staff aces. Baker has a chance to step up and help the Twins win a very important series. No looking towards the bull pen Scott. .500 here we come again.
The Twins are still fighting to get back to .500. Three games to go. One more against the Royals. Break out the brooms? Bannister's given up something like 7 runs in each of his last three starts. I'm not sure what to make of that, but it is what it is. I mean he is going up against the smartest pitcher in baseball.
When's the last time the Twins swept a series? The last week of July against the Chi Sox. Those were good times. Lets recapture a little bit of that feeling today huh? I need some food. /streamofconsciousness
Nick already got ruffed up once in the last 7 days; it'd be a nice time for his smoke and mirrors via his deal witht he devil to reappear today. LEN3, Rick Anderson, and Blackbeard have all mentioned that Nick "corrected" a "mechanical flaw" in his bullpen session this week. I guess we'll have to wait for today's game, but don't color me optimistic. We all know how hittable Nick is, but then again shouldn't expect blow outs every week, should we?
I should be on a flight from St. Louis to DC as this post is published, and so I’m writing this on Thursday so forgive me if there are any errors or changes before the game is actually played.
Game Time: 7:05 CDT – Really? A Sunday night game?
Probable Pitchers:
Pitcher
W-L
ERA
SO
BABIP
FIP
xFIP
tRA+
WAR
Twins - Francisco Liriano
4-9
5.47
93
.321
4.62
4.54
96
0.8
Rangers - Tommy Hunter
1-1
2.35
13
.268
4.20
4.85
104
0.3
League Average
4.31
.300
4.32
100
From the mlb.com rundown:
Twins: Prior to earning the loss against New York, Liriano had seen improvement in his last two starts -- games in which he pitched seven innings each. But the lefty's progression seemed to take a step backwards against the Yankees, as he lasted 5 1/3 innings and allowed six hits…
Rangers: Hunter earned a tough-luck no-decision after throwing six shutout innings against the Mariners last Thursday. That was his second longest outing of the season. In four consecutive outings this season, he has allowed three, two, one and no runs. Hunter is 1-2 over five starts with a 5.81 ERA over 26 1/3 innings pitched in his career at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Go Twins! Sunday’s always a great day to catch a game!
Hope every one had a great Fourth of July. What a series so far. Makes it hard to pay attention to friends and family during a series like this. How good had Justin Morneau been lately? In the last week he's hit .440 with 4 home runs and 9 RBIs. The Twins will be going for their fourth straight series win today against the Tigers. Seems like Sunday games always involve a rubber match. Mauer, the Dude, and the Mountie are all lined up against Porcello.
Game Time: 1:10 CDT
Pitchers:
Twins - Nick "Johnny" Blackburn (6-4) tRA+102; WAR 1.2; 4.98 xFIP
Tigers - Porcello (8-5) tRA+ 84; WAR 0.2; 4.38 xFIP
For starters, to those of you who are dads: Happy Father's Day! Second for those of you who have dads: Call em up, if you can't see them today.
Father's Day Rubber Match Up:
Game Time: 1:10 CDT
Pitchers:
Twins: Glen Perkins tRA+ 109
Astros: Wandy Rodriguez tRA+ 125
Other Info:
The Twins and Astros are playing a rubber match to decide who will be the series victor. The Twins sqandered a great chance to secure a series victory last night losing 6-5. But its pretty hard to be mad about a game where Delmon, Harris, Mauer, and Kubel hit home runs. I mean it would have been nice if Henn could have gotten some outs instead of giving up runs, but I'm not going to dwell on it.
Is is just me or does Delmon Young's swing look freer? [Enter wishful thinking and general hoping] Watching a couple of replays his stance looks much more balanced than it did a month ago. He no longer looks like he's swing off of his front foot, nor about to fall down. Whatever the change, he's hitting .326 since June 3rd and finally has started hitting for some moderate power. It would be real nice if he can turn the corner and keep this performance up.
Wandy is a left handed pitcher, which means the Twins probably didn't pick the best game to rest this series on. But then again, the Twins' right handed batters have finally been hitting after shaking off winter, March, April, and May. Wandy can be good, and can be mediocre. The beggining of the season he was deffinitly good, but as of late he has struggled a bit.
Apparently LaTroy Hawkins is bringing a video camera to the game to video tape parts of his last Metrodome game.
Around the Nation:
What have the citizen's been writing about this week you ask: [They should open in new windows]
Putting the toe to the rubber for the Twins will be the Staff Ace Scott Baker[tRA+ 116, WAR 1.3, ERA 5.59]. The Twins will try to provide Baker with some run support. The Twins wOBA stands at .348 so far in 2009.
Starting for the Cubbies will be Ted Lilly [tRA+ 126, WAR 1.9, ERA 3.00] backed by the Cubs team offense holding a wOBA of .330.
Seems the squads are pretty evenly matched on paper, but the eye test [or at least my eye test] tells me that the Twins are the better team right now. We must insist they act like it.
The Twins have looked pretty good so far in this series, although the Cubs miscues and misfortunes probably have something to do with that view. But barring some asinine play by the Twins, I'll come out of this series with a positive view of where the Twins are right now.
Get out your brooms, the Twins are going for a sweep today against the Cubs. After the way this road trip started a series sweep on the road would be a good way for the Twins to make a statement. The way Mauer, Harris, the Mountie and Kubel have been playing this series bodes well for their chances.
Oh and I may never get sick of watching this:
Sunday is always a great day for some baseball.
Get back from the yard/golf course;
Get your burgers on the grill;
Grab your favorite beverage;
And get ready for another exciting game of Twins baseball. Go Twins!
Anybody else still laughing about Tolbert's home run trot? Best reaction or lack there of I've ever seen.
And how about number 52's post game interview yesterday. He was a pretty good sport after getting hit in the face with two pies. He pitched a pretty good game and the movement on his fastballs surprised me. His offspeed stuff was underwhelming at best, but he put his team in position for a when and that's really what counts. It'll be interesting to see if he can still be effective once other teams have a book on him. But it was a fun interview no matter what. Alas, Robby is still annoying.
Joe Mauer is GOOD. Cuddy is raking! Onto the game stuff:
Hey hey a somewhat rare Sunday night game.
Pitchers:
Twins - Scott Baker 1-5, 6.98 era, tRA+ 87
Brewers - Dave Bush 3-0, 3.74 era, tRA+ 102
Both squads are playing today again with some what depleted benches. The Twins will probably be short Kubes and Young which means Buscher might get some more at bats. After last night it looks like he'll need all the practice he could get. The brew crew will be without JJ Hardy which means we'll see some more of Craig Counsell [spelling? Eh I don't care enough to look this up since I'm typing this up on my phone. Damn rural NDls lack of the interwebs] which is big blow to the senior circit club.
It'd be nice to see light rail to get through this game without a high scoring inning. We'll have to wait and are if Rick Anderson's new found tough love dugout talks have straightened the Twin's ace apparant out.
Its a beautiful day for baseball. Hope everyone's enjoying the holiday weekend.
Happy Mother’s Day! Funny how some home runs and a couple of wins change a fan’s perspective on the season. The Twins will be looking to complete a sweep of the visiting Seattle Mariners. I'd say that would be a pretty good Mother's Day gift for Twins Territory.
Today’s Game Information:
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota – HHH Metrodome
Game Time: 1:10 CDT
Latest Weather: A lot like a humidor, but with Teflon. And a baggy. And probably some pink bats. And some Dome Dogs. I could really go for a Dome Dog right now. Or ten.
Starting Pitchers:
Twins: Nick Blackburn 2-2 with:
ERA
5.19
BABIP
0.311
tRA+
107
tRA*
5.20
Wins Above Replacement
0.5
Mariners: Erik Bedard 2-1 with:
ERA
2.37
BABIP
0.301
tRA+
141
tRA*
4.98
Wins Above Replacement
1.3
Lineups: Punto will be getting the start at short after a two(?) game mental break.
1. Denard Span, LF
2. Matt Tolbert, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, DH
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Brendan Harris, 3B
7. Mike Redmond, C
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Nick Punto, SS
Last Sunday I committed two errors in the game log and was benched for 7 days. I feel a bit like Brian Buscher, but I think I at least got the game number right this week.
Today’s Game Information:
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota – HHH Metrodome
Game Time: 1:10 CDT
Latest Weather: A lot like a humidor, but with Teflon. And a baggy.
Starting Pitchers:
Twins: S. Baker (0-3, 9.82 ERA) [tRA+ 0 tRA* 5.31 WAR -0.3]
Royals: G. Meche (1-2, 3.77 ERA) [tRA+ 142 tRA* 5.14 WAR 1.1]
Baker is coming off of a series of terrible starts [and spring training for that matter] but it looked as though he was showing signs of life near the end of his last start against the Devil Rays. In that start he gave up four runs on six hits, none of which were homeruns. I’ll count that as progress. According to the Statcorner 2009 Twins page Glen Perkins continues to be the Twins most valuable pitcher. Memo to Scott: We need to work on this. Fast.
Gil Meche is . . . well he’s Gil Meche. He’s off to another decent start this year, but is already battling injuries. This time Meche is trying to work through some “lower back tightness.” He was roughed up for 5 runs in 3 2/3 innings in his last start against the Blue Jays. Meche says his back is fine now, but we won’t know for sure until game time how effective he’ll be. If he can’t find the strike zone and walks a few batters his back is probably still bothering him. Walks for the cure?
Lineups: Joe will probably be sitting this one out. Bummer.
Both teams played pretty sloppy last night, but Nick Punto’s fourth inning error ended a streak of seven games where the Twins committed no errors. Errors happen but lets hope the Twins don’t make this a habit, I mean they are 2-4 in games where they committee commit an error. Seems to be a correlation there . . .
It is of course the rubber match of the series, and with a win the Twins can tie the Royals for first place in the AL Central. Must win game? I don’t like the term rubber match, it conjures up strange images, so lets go with series finale.
[Preposting Update: Lineups]
ROYALS (13-11)
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Willie Bloomquist, SS
3. Mark Teahen, 3B
4. Jose Guillen, DH
5. Mike Jacobs, 1B
6. David DeJesus, LF
7. Alberto Callaspo, 2B
8. John Buck, C
9. Mitch Maier, RF
TWINS (12-12)
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Brendan Harris, 2B
3. Justin Morneau, 1B
4. Jason Kubel, DH
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Brian Buscher, 3B
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Jose Morales, C
9. Nick Punto, SS
[/update]
Hopefully this game log will go better than the one I wrote for last week. I somehow accidently deleted the entire post from my computer while I was trying to post it. I probably shouldn’t have been attempting to do any sort of work at 3 am on the Des Moines Holiday Inn Express’s crappy wireless. Live and learn I guess.
Speaking of living and learning, while the Twins got off to a pretty rocky start to the season, this last week has gone much better on the Twins left the east coast that is. After getting pretty much destroyed by the Red Sox, the Twins are having a great series against the Indians.
Today’s Game Information:
Location: Cleveland, OH – Progressive Field
Game Time: 12:05 CDT
Latest Weather: Grumpy with little chance of snow or acid rain
Starting Pitchers:
Twins: Glen Perkins #15 LHP (1-1) 1.50 ERA 12 SO [tRA+ 152 tRA* 5.02 WAR 0.9]
Indians: Aaron Laffey #32 LHP (1-0) 2.19 ERA 8 SO [tRA+ 135 tRA* 5.05 WAR 0.3]
Lineups: Gardy said Gomez will probably be back in the saddle again.
Twins have had a pretty good weekend so far. Lets hope Perkins brings it inside all afternoon and come out with win. Sorry about the short post, but I lost the first one.
eschapp April 12, 2009, at 12:00 pm 119 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired)
Subtitle: Easter Rubber Match
If history has shown us anything, its that early season series against division rivals can be important tellingvery importantpivotal down the stretch [cough . . . 2008]. I think a win here to take the series would make Twins Territory feel much better about the 2009 campaign. The Twin’s offense so far has been lack luster and sporadic. Today is the day that changes.
Today the Twins finish out their first road series against the Chicago White Sox. It also is a rubber match to win the series. Leaving Chicago with a 2-1 series would be the greatest accomplishment of the 2009 Twins season. [So far] Since this is my first game log of the 2009 campaign, I'd like to say a few words. With that out of the way, lets get to the important stuff:
Guesstimated Weather Conditions: Warmer than the Arctic, Colder than the Sun.
Game Time: 1:05 CDT [2:05 EST for at least Jonas and I]
Scheduled Pitchers:
Twins: Nick Blackburn - tRA* 4.83 [small sample size], WAR 0.1, FIP 4.72
Sox: Mark Buehrle - tRA* 4.83 [small sample size], WAR –0.1, FIP 7.72
I don’t have too much today because I’m already running late, but I’ll leave you with this:
I can’t find photographic evidence, but Nick Blackburn used to have a sweet beard. I’m pretty sure he grew it so he didn’t look like Joe Mauer’s twin. I think Blackburn owes it to himself and the Twins to re-grow the beard. Just sayin. Battle of the beard photos? Buehrle versus Blackburn versus ZZ Top? Have at it in the comments.
Hope everyone is having a happy holiday weekend! Go Twins!
A colleague of mine who is a big sports guy (primarily college) read Top Jimmy's column and told me that the Twins should trade Joe Mauer. What do I take from that? Joe's demands are large enough that some of the more casual fans are starting to get turned off by him.
Beau wrote: Joe Cocker -- With A Little Help From My … Rich -- The Most Beautiful Girl
Dar Williams -- You Rise And Meet The Day
Johnny Cash -- Home Of The Blues
Gin Blossoms -- Til I Hear…
davidwatts wrote: 'Glory Days' - Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA
'Bang on the Drum All Day' - Todd Rundgren
'If God Will Send His Angels' - U2 … - The Beatles The White … Contradiction' - Green Day…
hungry joe wrote: i had a full component stereo system, but it was also starting to collect dust. amp, equalizer, cd, tape, record player, and some real decent speakers i picked up real cheap. when the…
Jeff A wrote: Nice to know Gordo and Dazzle are in mid-season form.
brianS wrote: I fully expected that tweet to have been stuttered.
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: We were on our way back to our hotel thinking that we sure did well going to the Tuesday game instead of tonight's. Now, wonder if our flight gets home tomorrow night out of…
meat wrote: Is anyone paying attention to Gordo and DazzL?
Gordo "I don't know.....well, I don't know if fireworks will work in rain like this"
DazzL "Sure they will"
Gordo "uh.....well. Uh."
Me "you guys must be loaded"
Moss wrote: Is there a state-tax component to the deferred money strategy? Maybe after the player retires and settles in Fla., then he's not paying state tax in every state where he plays games (and effectively, pays…
frightwig wrote: I think it depends on the racist. Some may look at Vlad and never get past the dark skin. But some people do have one set of feelings about American-born blacks and a different set…
frightwig wrote: Craig Calcaterra writes:
"There are likely a dozen black kids playing second string safety for second tier college football programs who would have been ten times the ballplayer than the out-machines on your favorite team's…
brianS wrote: No, 'wig. I'm saying that your argument is plausible. It's just that the evidence is ... sketchy, for a hard-to-prove allegation.
somehow, however, I'm thinking that your typical racist doesn't draw too fine a distinction…
frightwig wrote: If management is going to act on racist bases, the first place you would expect it to affect a roster would be the least valuable spots -- low-leverage utility players ("Scrufis" if you will).
I agree.…
brianS wrote: What, exactly, is the problem with MLB signing Latin kids to contracts? Isn't that the way markets are supposed to work? To the degree that factors of production are mobile, we should expect those factors…
brianS wrote: fw:
I have no doubt that racism persists in some quarters of baseball's … hierarchy.
I guess you've picked the softest underbelly here. If management is going to act on racist bases, the first place you…
frightwig wrote: OK, so a few of the top Latin American prospects, besides Cubans, now are getting something like 1st round bonus money. This is a new development, right? And are kids like Sano the exception or…
frightwig wrote: Washington didn't get his foothold in the majors until he was 29-30, and also didn't have much of a career after the Twins released him. Two 6th place teams gave him some playing time in…
October 4, 2009, at 12:00 pm 
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Recent Letters to the Editor
In Response to Music Day,
Beau wrote: Joe Cocker -- With A Little Help From My … Rich -- The Most Beautiful Girl Dar Williams -- You Rise And Meet The Day Johnny Cash -- Home Of The Blues Gin Blossoms -- Til I Hear…
davidwatts wrote: 'Glory Days' - Bruce Springsteen Born in the USA 'Bang on the Drum All Day' - Todd Rundgren 'If God Will Send His Angels' - U2 … - The Beatles The White … Contradiction' - Green Day…
hungry joe wrote: i had a full component stereo system, but it was also starting to collect dust. amp, equalizer, cd, tape, record player, and some real decent speakers i picked up real cheap. when the…
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 11, 2010,
Jeff A wrote: Nice to know Gordo and Dazzle are in mid-season form.
brianS wrote: I fully expected that tweet to have been stuttered.
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: We were on our way back to our hotel thinking that we sure did well going to the Tuesday game instead of tonight's. Now, wonder if our flight gets home tomorrow night out of…
meat wrote: Is anyone paying attention to Gordo and DazzL? Gordo "I don't know.....well, I don't know if fireworks will work in rain like this" DazzL "Sure they will" Gordo "uh.....well. Uh." Me "you guys must be loaded"
UncleWalt wrote: Win/win!
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: btw, it's "icky" weather here tonight. Even worse tomorrow.
cheaptoy wrote: I am eagerly anticipating the Dugout's 2010 Twin's Spring Training chat.
cheaptoy wrote: So.... you're suggestion is to cut _elm_n and give that money to Joe? I'm on board!
meat wrote: Where do I line up to take issue?
Moss wrote: Is there a state-tax component to the deferred money strategy? Maybe after the player retires and settles in Fla., then he's not paying state tax in every state where he plays games (and effectively, pays…
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 10, 2010,
frightwig wrote: I think it depends on the racist. Some may look at Vlad and never get past the dark skin. But some people do have one set of feelings about American-born blacks and a different set…
frightwig wrote: Craig Calcaterra writes: "There are likely a dozen black kids playing second string safety for second tier college football programs who would have been ten times the ballplayer than the out-machines on your favorite team's…
brianS wrote: No, 'wig. I'm saying that your argument is plausible. It's just that the evidence is ... sketchy, for a hard-to-prove allegation. somehow, however, I'm thinking that your typical racist doesn't draw too fine a distinction…
frightwig wrote: If management is going to act on racist bases, the first place you would expect it to affect a roster would be the least valuable spots -- low-leverage utility players ("Scrufis" if you will). I agree.…
brianS wrote: What, exactly, is the problem with MLB signing Latin kids to contracts? Isn't that the way markets are supposed to work? To the degree that factors of production are mobile, we should expect those factors…
brianS wrote: fw: I have no doubt that racism persists in some quarters of baseball's … hierarchy. I guess you've picked the softest underbelly here. If management is going to act on racist bases, the first place you…
frightwig wrote: OK, so a few of the top Latin American prospects, besides Cubans, now are getting something like 1st round bonus money. This is a new development, right? And are kids like Sano the exception or…
frightwig wrote: Washington didn't get his foothold in the majors until he was 29-30, and also didn't have much of a career after the Twins released him. Two 6th place teams gave him some playing time in…
In Response to Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim -- Girl From Ipanema,
frightwig wrote: The album they did together is really special, too.
brianS wrote: That's how it's done.
In Response to Pat Neshek is the Greatest Thing since Sliced Bread!,
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: btw, I meant to mention that I've seen high schoolers that looked older than Danny Rams. Light Rail almost looks older.
In Response to Post-Oscar Review,
Moss wrote: Much obliged, CH!