Twins look to extend winning streak to six
Posted on May 6th, 2008 – 3:48 PMBy Joe Christensen
CHICAGO — The Twins take a five-game winning streak into tonight’s game against the White Sox.
The Twins had a five-game winning streak last year (Aug. 22-27) but haven’t had a winning streak of six games or longer since their eight-game streak from July 14-21, 2006.
Update: Scott Baker (strained right groin) said his MRI results were fine, showing nothing besides the slight strain that everyone knew about. The team does not want him to throw a bullpen session in Chicago, however, so the writing is on the wall that he won’t make Saturday’s start.
Pitching coach Rick Anderson said he will have some answers tomorrow — whether Baker is going on the DL, who would take his place, etc.
(5:45 p.m.) Update: It’s raining here, and the tarp is on the field. The White Sox took batting practice earlier, but the Twins are now being forced to use the indoor cages.
There will be baseball tonight, don’t worry. The forecast just calls for a band of showers going through the Chicago area.
(6:15 p.m.) Update: The tarp is off, and the grounds crew is grooming the field.
Twins (16-14)
1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Brendan Harris, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Jason Kubel, DH
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Mike Lamb, 3B
9. Adam Everett, SS
Starting pitcher: RH Nick Blackburn
White Sox (14-16)
1. Orlando Cabrera, SS
2. Carlos Quentin, LF
3. Jim Thome, DH
4. Paul Konerko, 1B
5. Jermaine Dye, RF
6. A.J. Pierzynski, C
7. Nick Swisher, CF
8. Joe Crede, 3B
9. Juan Uribe, 2B
Starting pitcher: RH Gavin Floyd
U.S. Cellular Field. First pitch: 7:11 p.m.
79 Responses to "Twins look to extend winning streak to six"
Man, the Sox lineup looks good on paper.
Why isn’t Punto playing? 2 RBI Sunday great fielder sitting on the bench with lesser players on the field.
If Delmon Young could start hitting with some pop, and Gomez developed just a touch of plate discipline, I’d argue the Twins’ lineup is comparable, if lacking in power.
I nver heard why Punto replaced Everett Sunday. Anyone know?
Glad to see Kubel in there against the RHP. He took Floyd deep last week. Here’s hoping he does it again.
Win Twins!
Lefthanders have hit Rogers much better than righthanders this season.
I nver heard why Punto replaced Everett Sunday. Anyone know?
Scrappy-ness.
Equal playing time. The Twins organization is affiliated with Little League. Apparently, Punto’s mom confronted Ulger after Saturday night’s game.
I know i shouldn’t say anything about the batting order since we’ve won 5 straight but i still don’t like Mauer hitting 3rd. Why not bat Harris first Mauer second and put Kubel in the 3rd spot. Gomez is wonderful and all but i still don’t think he should be leading off.
this sox team should be much better, there has to be internal problems. there sure seems to be more talent around compared to how they produce.
imo ozzie won’t last much longer if he doesn’t get it straightened out. ozzie you can’t live off 05 forever!
Well, the Sox lineup LOOKS fearsome. But I’m thinking that all of Thome/Konerko/Dye/Pierzynski (batters 3-6) are suddenly getting old at the same time.
gobble they just extended his contract to 2012 in the off season i doubt he’s going anywhere.
Detroit’s lineup looks good on paper too but they have 5 guys that should be a DH that they need to find a place for at the same time.
“Man, the Sox lineup looks good on paper.”
But that’s why the games aren’t played on paper… they’re played on TV!
Maybe later this season, BC. Kubel’s been slumping and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the 3 hole.
Cuddy is the only one possible besides Mauer.
bc it’s only money if they keep looking bad and attendance sucks, his contract to 2012 is probably less than jj’s contract the tigers are eating. i bet he makes less a yr than punto does.
Both the Tigers and Sox’ teams look old. Station to station guys better suited to softball leagues. I have to laugh at the $137 mil that Detroit is paying this season v. the Twins’ $57 mil. Just think, if the Twins had kept Santana they would have run away with the division with a payroll of no more than $80 mil.
Is Gardy back with the team?
Tolbert should get more starts at 3B. He has a much better glove than Lamb.
Ha-ha, Seth.
Gonna be at the game tonight?
After seeing Guillen in the field for Detroit I think Lamb deserves a little bit of slack. He has really not been all that bad considering he does not have a lot of experience playing on turf
I was going to go to Satursday’ game but they cranked up the prices and the seats are lousy
I agree BC. I was tempted to say the same thing, but given the 5-game streak, decided to avoid it.
Instead of moving up Cuddy or Kubel into the 2-spot, why not just slide everyone up one.
1. Harris
2. Mauer
3. Morneau
4. Cuddy
5. Kubel
6. Young
7. Lamb
8. Tolbert/Everett/LNP
9. Gomez
Chicken,
No Gardy is not back with the team, funeral is today.
Earliest he will be back is tomorrow.
they need to switch Kubel and Young around in the lineup
romer it’s true Kubel is slumping but Young hasn’t been hitting all that great either so putting him behind Kubel wont help. Other then Morneau Kubel is our biggest deep threat. I wouldn’t mind Cuddy there either but they need to stop pretending that Mauer is better batting 3rd than 2nd in the order.
Monroe should actually replace Kubels #’s he is hittint 23 points higher
Gomez has scored 17 runs in 26 games. That is a pace of about 105 runs in a 162 game season. I will take that out of my leadoff anyday of the week. The best part about it is I tihnk he is improving every week. We are just beginning to tap the talent of Gomez.
I spotted a nice chair where Kubel should sit. It is on the side of the foul ball territory over by the bullpen
Lamb and Everett need to step up tonight.
M&M are the anchor of this team. Maybe they have to be joined at the hip in the lineup for it to stay that way.
I can’t even IMAGINE Morneau batting 3rd! He has to be 4th or 5th.
BC and PJS - I don’t object to putting Gomez to the back of the lineup in principle, but there is no way Harris should bat leadoff. He doesn’t have the speed or the ability to manufacture a run that Gomez does. The only other #1 guy in the lineup is Mauer, but imagine the fallout here if I suggested that…
rebeldream don’t even say anything bad about Mauer or they will get out torches and hunt you down on the blog. One thing is no Power Mauer
BTW, did anyone notice BC’s insight yesterday on Liriano?
He said Liriano wasn’t really compelled to work on his other pitches because his slider was such a nuclear threat that he could not only could get by but could also excell with command of that one pitch while letting the other pitches more or less slide a little.
(Is that what you said, BC?!)
Sounds right to me. Now that his command is down on all his pitches, the one pitch he concentrated on — the slider — is still acceptable, while his FB is hopeless because he didn’t really have his command perfected on it in the first place.
“Gonna be at the game tonight?”
Since it is in SHE-Cago, I dont think I could make it there in time. So, I’ll be stuck watching Bert during American Idol commercials!
I wonder if Gardy called Ulger and told him what the lineup should be…….
Ugh. American IDOL? THAT HOPELESS SHOW?!
LOL, Seth.
it’s weird that we’re questioning this lineup. Right now, it is completely the right lineup. There isn’t a lot to argue about it.
Is Gomez an ideal leadoff hitter? Not now, but really he’s probably the best option.
Is Harris a good #2 hitter? Yes.
Is Mauer a good #3 hitter? Sure. He’s just a good hitter. Has he shown power, no, but who on this team has. I’ll take his batting average and on-base skills #3. Maybe he’s better at #2, but there are certainly worse options at #3.
Should Morneau hit 4th? I think he is the definition of a #4 hitter.
Should Cuddyer be hitting 5th? Right now, probably. Eventually he can get back to #3, but no need to rush to that.
Should Kubel bat 6th? I have no problem with it. His batting average and on-base skills are not good right now, but his power and potential mean he should stay in the lineup.
Should Delmon Young bat 7th? Right now, yes. Eventually I think he’ll be the #3 or #5 guy, but for right now, just keep him in the lineup and he’ll bust out at some point.
Should Mike Lamb bat 8th? In this lineup, of course. He’s their best 3B option? Yes. There is no question about that.
Should Adam Everett be batting 9th? Of course. He’s not a great hitter. Should he be playing SS? I was as hard on him in the first couple of weeks as anyone, but now he needs the chance to show he’s healthy and get some At Bats.
There is not really anything to complain about with this lineup.
“Ugh. American IDOL? THAT HOPELESS SHOW?!”
It’s just not to the level it was in seasons 2-5, but it’s still worthy of being watched.
You’ll have plenty of time to hear Bert’s voice tonight, Seth. American Idol is 1/3 show, 2/3 commercials. 
seth there is no place on this blog for rational thought!
You choose, Seth.
Simon or Ozzie?
Simon… people may not like him, but he’s usually right.
Ozzie… people may not like him, sometimes he’s right, but mainly he’s talking to hear his own voice.
Seth, nice blog entry today.
I guess it was yesterday actually, but I read it today!
“Seth, nice blog entry today”
Thank you!! I hope to have several more Q&As with Twins minor leaugers coming in the very near future and throughout the year. Steve Singleton is a guy worth watching, and clearly he took his time in his responses. I thought he did a very nice job. Thank you!
BC of ND, get used to it. Mauer’s doing just fine in the 3 hole. I see him there all year, followed by Morneau, who benefits from seeing the pitches to Joe. No way would I change a thing in those two spots. And,…..it’s working!
How did you do the interview Seth, email, over the phone, or were you in Beloit and talked with him in person?
If the sox bats come alive tonight, there’ll be a run on blowup dolls tommorrow. Slump buster blowup dolls.
SethSpeaks
Yeah, definately keep doing the QAs with the minor leaguers, great idea.
That Q&A was done via e-mail. That’s really the easiest for me. I don’t have any cool technology to record conversations and such.
I don’t want to tout them here, but if you are interested (Sorry Joe!), you can see all the Q&As I’ve been able to do by going to http://www.SethSpeaks.net/QandAs.htm.
If that link didn’t work, try this:
Having only perused Seth’s blog about 45 minutes ago, I’ll read it intently during those long FSN commercials — while listening to the radio to make sure I get the first couple pitches of every half-inning.
Wow, I didn’t realize you did so many QAs!
Kubel is not really slumping. He is hitting the ball really well. He is getting robbed of hits and hitting it really hard at people. He just needs to hit it where they aint. As for the Twins batting order I think it should be pretty much as it is.
I like Kubel, he will come around, it’s not like every good player starts off hot. People around here are crazy, emotional fans.
Is Harris a good #2 hitter? Yes
I am not sure that he is the best #2 hitter in the team, just because he is too slow on base. I’d rather see Delmon in the #2 hole and Harris in the #7 hole. They both strike out about the same, Delmon is faster and will get better pitches in the #2 hole with Mauer behind him and I think that he can domore than Harris if he sees good pitches. Maybe a move like that will liven his bat. And a couple of splits:
This year:
Harris batting 2nd: .259/.306/.414
Harris batting 7th: .375/.407/.458
Career:
Young batting 2nd: .310/.328/.448
Young career in all spots: .289/.317/.405
good call thrylos98, Delmon has shown some speed but not a whole lot of power so batting him 2nd might not be a bad idea. But then we have 2 low OBP guys batting 1-2.
I like the idea of trying out Young in the 2nd spot as well. Thanks for providing some meat to your hypothesis thrylos.
Robert,
Harris’ OBP has been .307 while at the #2 spot this year, which is just about what Young’s is for the season, and I think that Young’s OBP will trend up (already it is)
On another note, today’s game temperature will be nice but it will rain overnight resulting in a slick outfield for Wed. and by Thu it will drop into the 50s. What is the point of playing whetherman? Last time the Twins’ bullpen worked on colder temperatures, it was not that sharp. Maybe 15-20 days more into the season, it will not be that affected, but this is another thing to watch this series, albeit subtle.
It’d be great sometime if we could really get into Gardy’s batting lineup philosphy. What is it he looks for in a leadoff guy, a 2-hitter, a 3-hitter, etc….
He obviously doesn’t value OBP for the 1 and 2 spots. Is it just speed in Gomez’ case? It can’t be that he’s a “professional hitter.”
whats wrong with lamb in the 2 spot he did a good job the other night
im starting to believe that without doubt that craig monroe should be the dh for this team….i believe he is a better hitter than kubel, flat out…thats it - better hitter and play him….i know that will piss off alot of kubel lovers, but how long do we have to wait for this kid to show us something consistent…he has had a long time to produce…kubel is a good pinch hitter and can spell cuddy from time to time, but monroe should be the full time dh
seth…that was a great job and very interesting reading …keep up the good work…thx
Gardy’s “philosophy” never makes much sense. Just look at some of the moves he’s made through the years.
And, why are we carrying Tolbert if we’re not going to play him? Send him to AAA to get at-bats. I mean, Punto and Lamb are both gone next year. Get him ready by playing him every day this year.
The guy starts off hot as hell, then Gardy sits him for seven of eight, then he’s played something like three times in the past three weeks. Just send him down or get rid of Everett and give him the position. But don’t waste his talent on being a bench player–especially when he’s the best shortstop or third baseman you have!
here is some food for thought:
The only White Sox starting position player with a batting average higher than that of Carlos Gomez, is AJP and he leads him just by .002 points
Go Scotty! Win another and slowly but surely prove you should be managing at this level!
Perhaps Ron and Carol can open a neighborhood hardware store while Scotty manages the Twins. I’d love to see the stamp he puts on this team.
Very good point, thrylos.
lala72s philosophy never makes much sense…oh well, its something to do, isnt it lala….
Gomez and Harris are striking out way too much. Both are on pace to break the record for strikeout totals for a Twins player in a single season. Both desperately need to shorten their swings, and learn to protect the plate with two strikes.
If the excuse this year for Kubel’s pathetic hitting, is that he is hitting the ball hard, right at people, it is the same excuse as has been heard in the past. Another season of unlucky Kubel. The most unlucky hitter in baseball.
Joe Mauer continues to excel in the number three spot in the order. The Twins use a run production equation to judge players. They probably consider Mauer the best run producer on the team this season, using their equation. Good reason for him to hit third.
damn lead off walks…
80% of the time they score every time.
Wait, they score 80% of the time?
Or every time?
Ummmmm….you’ve obviously never seen “Anchor Man”.
Here comes the anemic offense again.
Now that the game is all but out of reach, I am at least rooting for the Minnesota Twins to register a hit.
77% of all statistics you see on the internet are made up on the spot.
“77% of all statistics you see on the internet are made up on the spot.”
Where did you find this?
