Tuesday lineups: Twins/Orioles
Posted on June 3rd, 2008 – 3:49 PMBy Joe Christensen
After winning the final two games of the Yankees’ series, the Twins will try to avoid another letdown this week against the Orioles.
Remember, the Twins took three of four from the Red Sox three weeks ago, only to get swept the next three games by the Blue Jays.
An interesting challenge awaits tonight, with the Orioles calling up righthander Radhames Liz from Class AAA for this start. Liz actually faced the Twins in his major league debut, Aug. 25, 2007, when he allowed five earned runs on four hits and three walks. Liz was 1-5 with a 4.05 ERA in 11 starts this year at Class AAA.
Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn have already thrown bullpen sessions here today. Assuming they are both on track to pitch Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Updates to come…
Update (6:30 p.m.): Justin Morneau said his left leg is feeling better today, and he’s back in the lineup for the 58th time in 58 games.
“I talked to him again today, and he wants to play,” Manager Ron Gardenhire said. “There’s DH days that I can give him, but right now he’d rather be out there playing.”
Nick Punto said is out of the lineup again but said the hamstring is definitely not as sore as it was when he went on the disabled list. He said he hopes to be back in the lineup Wednesday.
Orioles (27-29)
1. Brian Roberts, 2B
2. Nick Markakis, RF
3. Melvin Mora, 3B
4. Aubrey Huff, DH
5. Kevin Millar, 1B
6. Luke Scott, LF
7. Ramon Hernandez, C
8. Adam Jones, CF
9. Freddie Bynum, SS
Twins (30-27)
1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 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. Brendan Harris, SS
Metrodome. First pitch: 7:10 p.m.
202 Responses to "Tuesday lineups: Twins/Orioles"
Bakers back and your gonna be sorry. Where’s my LNP is he still hurt?
FLATBLADE:
How could you forget our #9 batter?
“flatblade says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Starting Lineup Tonight: (Take it to the Bank)
Gomez CF
Casilla 2B
Mauer C
Morneau 1B
Cuddyer RF
Kubel DH
Young LF
Lamb 3B
Punto SS
Pitching K-Slow”
I see a big game from Lambino!
Kind of thought Morneau might be given a night off based on the descriptions of his assorted bumps and bruises.
I too thought that Kay. Maybe he’s feeling better.
Punto must be hurting. Is he going back on the DL? And what about Everett, did he get another cortizone shot or is he just nursing the arm?
morneau is a freaking hockey player he doesn’t need a day off. a couple stiches between innings good to go. you can tell which m & m boy was the basketball player.
I hope so mike. Hate to have him out of the line-up, but he’s been in a bit of a slump the last few games and if he’s hobbling around out there, give the guy a night off or make him the DH.
Punto’s new role is designated pinch bunter.
Seriously, he looked gimpy crossing the bag last night on his sac bunt. Of course, part of that was spiking the Yank’s foot. (Good job, Nicky)
I think Nicky has a slow healing hammie. I would guess he may be on the DL again soon if it doesn’t feel better in a couple of days.
Carlos,
You mean by Thursday when we have to activate Baker?
You’re right ggguy! If Mauer had a hangnail Gardy would probably sit him.
I am making a call… Mauer goes yard again. He kind of liked the feeling. And with that monkey and most of blog-world off his back for no HRs, he will be swinging freely.
Feelin’ pretty good about our Catcher. You could be paying $7.5 mil for Hernandez’s .218 batting average.
Is someone really concerned about poor wittle Adam Everett? Give me a break.
Hopefully someone took him out back and put old Adam out to greener pastures.
someone mentioned my guy Lew Ford as an example of one in a series of outfield “busts” for the Twins in the previous post…
Ford is slowly coming out of it for Hanshin…pinch hit tonight (Japan’s version of tonight) increases his avg. to .227…a 57 point increase since being recalled from the Japanese minors!
Good call on nailing the lineup, Seth…but I still gotta disagree on your take on D. Young’s outfield plays and the legitimacy of booing.
I like the lineup; I like what we have going…a little nervous if one day off was good enough for Kubel, but we gotta roll with it I guess…no LNP = nice going, Gardy!
Eric, the only problem is we are getting too thin at middle inf. Give me a break!
It’s time to give Morneau a couple days off let Punto play first and provide the big bat in the clean up spot.
SweetOne says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Carlos,
You mean by Thursday when we have to activate Baker?
Yes. I think it could be the next move to put Nicky on the DL and give a little more time to move a pitcher via trade. Gardy doesn’t want to lose a position player for long and especially he would want to get rid of one pitcher before the NL games coming up in a week.
I’m so tired of watching these bums that the Twins have in the outfield now. Gomez=BUM, Cuddyer=BUM, Young=BUM. What would it take to get last years guys back. Now those were some good players. Lew Ford, Jason Tyner, Spiderman, Rondell White. That was as good an outfield as the Twins have ever had. I’d even take Dustan Mohr, Bobby Kielty or Brian Buchananon over any of these BUMS. They all stink. BUMS BUMS BUMS BUMS
something does seem a miss with Punto not in the line up now for 3 gms. wonder why, kind of unlike gardy. maybe he tweaked his hammy mowing gardy’s lawn.
Bill Hall for the Twins and he is a 3rd baseman
well gobble, considering the Twins are 0-1 in games Punto started in the last week, and are 5-1 in games he hasn’t started in the last week…I’m too crushed.
“Eric, the only problem is we are getting too thin at middle inf. Give me a break!”
And we’re even worse at middle infield when that POS is healthy.
Right now, Punto, Harris, Casilla, Macri, Clark, Plouffe and probably a couple backups in A ball are better options than Everett when he’s healthy.
If Punto has slow healing hammy, what will he do over at the All-star break …. oh… never mind.
what would the twins have to give up for hall? brewers starters are not great. he’s not playing much hitting poorly, but 9 hr. be a new guy to complain about for a couple months, fresh meat!
jimmy bee,
russel branyon would be the better pickup
be a new guy to complain about for a couple months, fresh meat!
Funny, but oh so true. 
branyon isn’t much different than lamb is he?
lets swap Guerrer for Hall. He can be their new closer (i’m assuming they’re still looking for one). keep Nathan!!
Why the Everett hate Eric? We have not seen him play healthy much this year. When he is healthy, his bat is supposed to be not quite as lame as LNP’s - he even has 1 HR on the year compared to LNP’s 0 - and his defense, better.
I too am crushed that the Skipper’s little buddy is not in the starting line-up again tonight. Gosh darn.
Kay
I like “Skipper’s little buddy”
Maybe fans could wear red shirts and white hats when Punto enters a game and they could play the theme song too!!
branyon makes Lamb look like an All-Star. Career .229 hitter with 124 HR’s
plus the 40.4% K rate
That would be hysterical. I can’t take credit for that name though - I have seen it, or something similar, used on these blogs before.
Now I have that theme song stuck in my head.
Bill Hall already has 13 errors at 3B this year. It’s his worst position defensivly. He’s also played a lot of innings at SS, 2B and CF.
I like Punto… I like him better on the bench than the starting lineup though.
I’d especially like Punto on the DL come Thursday even better… Macri is a nice 3B to have against LHers.
I’m not much of a Macri believer, but he contributes the most out of our other choices against LH starters.
We need Bill Hall at 3B.
We have a Buscher at AAA and we need a Butcher at MLB.
I know its fun to fantasize about ‘what could be’, but the Twins will not be making any moves this year that upgrades their line up… we did that in the off season picking up Lamb and Monroe.
did anyone know the Lakers and Celtics met in the finals alot during the 80s?
we need a guy like atkins in colorado, he is the real deal, much, much better than bill hall, iknow the twins won’t spend that kind of money on a player. pohlad won’t even buy a stadium, the taxpayers had to
I would have taken Bill Hall back in 2006. I think like Punto 2006 was his career year.
Jason, one day on the bench will help Kubel. Look what it did for Delmon and Gomez
On a serious note, with how well Casilla’s been doing this year…anybody else getting a “06 Nick Punto” vibe?
A guy nobody expected to do anything when he was called up, gets called up, starts contributing all over the place, batting 2nd….
I’m hoping people keep that in mind next year when the league catches up in 09 and Casilla starts the season off slow.
Eric,
Re: Everett. Here are some interesting numbers:
The Twins have problems against LHP this year. Everett’s splits against LHP?
.364/.462/.455 (.916 OPS)
yeap
They need to change those names… very disrespectful to the Celts and those who recreation on the open waters.
Atkins would be fantastic.
The Rockies are going to be looking to trade Atkins this year with them out of the race and I Stewart ready to take over 3rd. He is a great right handed hitter with power and is decent to below ave in the field. He would make this a feared lineup esp if Young and Cuddy start rolling as they are right now.
Difference is that Casilla won’t be gauranteed $2+MM $$$ for not living up to expectations.
Garza pitching tonight against the Pink-hose
I agree, I’ve been coveting Atkins (and Rowand until he was off the market) for a while.
Though I’d expect at the first sign of struggle we’d see a rehash of the Young stuff around here.
While I’m still not ready to start saving up for the postseason tickets, I have to agree that with the unexpected stuggles of Detroit thus far, it’s left the division wide open.
Chicago and the Twins fighting it out at the top right now? Whodathunkit?
Which pitchers would the Rockies take for Atkins?
The Twins will not go after Atkins, Holliday or any other Rockies player.
Atkins might be a solution (as might be Andy LaRoche). A few things to consider:
Atkins’ career away splits are .272/.341/.439 (which is fine, pretty close to Cuddyer’s life time numbers) but he is a below average 3B with a career fielding percentage of .950 (.927 this year) and RF 2.33. For reference, Lamb’s fielding percentage this year is .967 and RF 2.49.
He will be expensive. I am not sure what Cororado might want for him, but I think that they might be looking for MLB-ready starting pitching + middle infield help + relieving (and, unfortunately, I do not think that Boof+ Punto + Rincon would do it )
You’d have to sign the guy to a probably $5-6 mil/year contract for a while, because despite the fact that his numbers are inflated by playing in Denver, those numbers count come arbitration contract time.
There might be better in-house options. I think that Cuddy should be starting at 3rd instead of Lamb (with Monroe at OF) against LHP. He will give the same production as Atkins. Gardy should bite the bullet and do it. Also, I’d love to see Hughes getting called up instead of people like Clark and Buscher who are going nowhere…
We really don’t want coor players. They look like superstars at coors and you pay the price for a superstar but you get an above average player for a superstar price.
Atkins Home
.335 .396 .526 .922 117
Away
.272 .341 .439 .780 84
Doesn’t everyone know this and discount appropriately?
Monroe doesn’t throw Jeter out last night and the Yankees have a runner in scoring postition for ARod,leave Cuddy in the outfield.
Cuddy saved a possible run with that throw. Mauer gave one up with poor position on Morneau’s throw home on A-Rod the inning before.
two innings before?
There is no discount for home/road splits at all.
Poor position or not A-rod was out by a mile.
thrylos, the Cuddyer @ 3B option played out. Poorly I may add.
He’s found his home in RF.
Left field fans threw a homer ball back again. At least it wasn’t a future Hall-of-Famer’s ball.
Hopefully this isn’t the Boston/Toronto…thing…again.
Unconventional, but I’ll take it.
I was watching on radio. Gordo and Gladden thought that Gomez’s throw had the runner at the plate before it was cut off. Any thoughts on that?
Carlos G,
the play at the plate was not on TV. Nor the TV announcer said anything to that effect.
At this point in the game, it’s the smart move.
If they botch the play at home, the runner is likely safe at 3rd. He then scores on the deep fly ball hit in the next AB for a 3-0 game and an extended inning.
If you don’t trust your offense to get two runs, you don’t trust your offense at all.
On a side note, with Everett going through his second stint on the DL, and Neshek on extended DL time…how does that work as far as payroll and contracts?
Does the team still pay the player (like expensive sick time?) or do they have some financial support when a player is unable to play due to injury?
I am pretty sure they still get paid in full.
They’re got insurance on the expensive contracts for sure but I don’t know if it’s just catastrophic coverage or if it covers run of the mill DL stints as well. I’d guess not.
“You can smell like Jessie Crain”…
In before: “But he STINKS!”
Just checked video at mlb.com. It doesn’t show the plate either. Probably the same feed as fsn. From that replay, it looked like a strong throw, but didn’t really look like it was a sure thing at the plate. Gladden was complimenting Hernandez for drawing the throw away from the plate. I see Dick was suggesting it was a very poor base running move. Even the media don’t agree on the 2nd guessing.
I agree that it was the right play.
T,
the contracts are guaranteed and players get paid in full (if disabled or released) unless they retire. There is no concept of disability in pro sports 
In some large contracts there is insurance and this concept came about after Bo Jackson’s injury a couple of decades ago…
Tough play for Cuddy. Either way that run scores. Thankfully Delmon made the next play so the runner at 3rd didn’t make a difference.
This team is so consistent!
That called strike to Young was half a foot outside
Not to add fuel to any fires because it’s ridiculous, but….
Luke Hughes with Home Run #13 tonight.
Kevin Slowey, you are not going to be an above average ML pitcher until you figure out a freakin way to put hitters away when you have 2 strikes on the hitter.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Not what you want to do on an 0-2 count…
If the called strike to Young was a half a foot outside, the 0-2 pitch to Mora was 2 feet inside, which is where you want an 0-2 pitch.
Joba in his first start this season. Goes 2 and 1/3?
Oh boy…THAT’S not going to sit well.
Rincon?
Why not Rincon? This game appears to be out of reach.
Why waste a ‘pen guy that could do some good later? Especially on this string of 20 some games.
And that Joba thing…wowza. That’s trouble considering the bullpen usage during the Twins series.
How often have the Twins had GRDs when it was pretty clear it was gonna be a triple?
Is it just me or does it seem like slowey does not stop talking and doesn’t seem to notice that others arent paying attention or don’t care.
Dare I say it? The Return of the Pirahnas?
Sit rincon back down this isn’t over.
Here go the electric boys. back to back doubles from the speed guys.
OK! Not of reach yet.
YES
And our Singles Hitter strikes again!
I like doubles.
OK! Not of reach yet.
(darn right it was a duplicate comment you detected)
No no. Keep warming up Rincon…hide Guerrier or Crain somewhere else whiele they get their tosses in. The Twins appear to be responding to his presence in the ‘pen.
Good manager move to pull Liz. We figured him out the third time through the order. those three hits were smoked.
Alright, with the amateur draft coming up, here is an obscure factoid to file under the “once bitten, twice shy” category:
The Twins drafted Nick Punto in the 33rd round of the 1997 draft out of Saddleback College in CA, but he elected not to sign and drafted next year (in the 21st round by Philly). BTW, Gardy was the Twins’ 1st base coach in 1997. The next is history…
What was Gardy before he was the Manager? Was it still 1B coach?
Boy, Morneau has had a tough time driving in runs lately.
“Boy, Morneau has had a tough time driving in runs lately.”
You know what that means in Blogger Land don’t you?
BENCH MORNEAU!
*runs*
Gardy coached 3rd for awhile…. he was the 3rd base coach when he shopped in my liquor store
Was it me or did that slider catch a lot more of the plate than pitch 1.
Rincon!
T,
in 1998 he became the Twins’ 3B coach and stayed there until he got the Twins’ manager job.
and why do we keep him?
Rincon…Rincon rincon rincon.
What can I say but…rincon.
Here we go Rincon, we get within 2 and it probably will be 5 by the time this is all said an done
I think every twins fan should fork in some money to pay rincon to go away and never come back.
I think Gardy was 3rd base coach in 91 as well
i got a few bucks
Rincon should come in when we are 10 runs behind in the 9th.
Q: Who is the only Twin to ever be suspended for violating the MLB performance enhancing drug policy?
A: Juan Rincon.
“and why do we keep him?”
Because nobody else will take him…
At least Gardy’s not wasting any time.
that was worth it gardy
Viva El Gasolino!
Does anybody else want to join me in wondering how different the season may have been had the Twins been able to include him in the Young/Garza deal?
Anybody else want to join me in wondering how different the RAYS would be with Rincon in their pen?
Shoot! Sox leading KC 8-4 in seventh. AJ homered.
Mitch,
Swarzak did, too…
In Gardy’s defense, Rincon has to be able to do SOMETHING to be worth anything to this pen.
If he can’t do anything except pitch in mopup duty (what this game was before the bottom of the 7th) then he’s worthless.
At this point, if the Twins can get ANYTHING for him from ANYBODY I say do it.
Is Rinon playing for the twins or the opponant? Can’t tell the way he gives up runs and squashs Twins rallys.
With him just sitting in the pen not pitching at all they probably lose 5 more games. He is so bad that he can drain the confidence of every other pitcher down to nothing.
well, The Twins are 8-13 with him pitching…. will be 8-14 without a rally…. i gotta believe a better reliever gets us a win or two.
I will NOT QUIT!!! Neither should the Twins!!
Swarzak was suspended for recreational drugs not performance enhancing.
Kansas City has Yabuta pitching.
Shake,shake,shake,
Shake,shake,shake,
Shake Yabuta!
(ok that was dum)
Not including minor leaguers…
Bullpen looks fantastic tonight.
Wild pitches galore!
When will the Twins finally cut bait with Rincon?
Thursday?
They appear to let up (big time) after victories against big name foes. As for me, I do not!
Is Gomez’s aim getting better as of late? Or is it just me looking for silver linings tonight?
Can someone help me here. Rincon is spanish for_____________.
I am glad you guys are not in St. Paul listeing to Obama - thank you!
mierda
*pfft* He was out on the tag regardless of baseline or not.
But two hotboxes and they STILL can’t score the guy from third.
Rincon is spanish for “That’s Bullsh!t”
Paint your self in the perverbial CORNER! Vote for me!!!
I am glad i am nowhere near that Hilary C
That, my friends, is damage control.
“Can someone help me here. Rincon is spanish for_____________.”
That actually sums it up pretty well.
“Emptyness”
Stop the presses!! Obama just annouced his victory???? Oh my, I am calling Bill and cry!!!
Nice at bat for kubel
Somebody turn Hilary off!! Hey - Delmon is going to hit one out tonight!
He should have taken that
Is Gomez’s aim getting better as of late? Or is it just me looking for silver linings tonight?
He siphoned off Joe’s accuracy while he was sleeping.
Okay - Ican smell a HR coming!
That was a pathetic swing by young
Not tonight for DUY.
next time . . . or perhaps another lifetime
Man - Texas is killing Cleveland and now KC is slowly gaining on Chicago
BTW - Joe Torre is now showing up in beach and surfing commercials out here in SoCal - funny to see
snepp, I think we just found where Gomez has been getting his accuracy from now…
Way to go harris
Nice wheels,Kubes.
But pick up your 3B coach next time.
Remember when the O’s only had 4 runs?
That was nice…
PS: There should be a new rule. If a starter only gives up X-runs, and the offense eventually gets that many after he’s pulled, he shouldn’t be on record for the loss anymore.
Case in point. When the Twins get that 4th run, Slowey should be off the hook.
Yeah it is a completely different game if rincon doesn’t come in to give the game away. I understand they want him to try and get it together but his trade value would be alot higher if he just distributed snacks and drinks to the other pitchers.
Good thing Manager Ron gave the ball to Rincon in a 2 run game.
His trade value would be higher if we ran his jersey out there with someone else pitching
When’s the last time Twins went back to back HRs?
Rincon should be cut when Baker is up.
Good thing Cleveland gave up on Breslow, maybe the Twins could follow their lead and just cut Rincon.
For this Orioles team to have 11 hits is pathetic doing by the Twins staff.
Let’s see if the Twins can contain Ramon Hernandez in this next AB.
Unbelievable.
This bullpen is awful tonight.
Mauer, Morneau , & Cuddyer…time to rally!!
Erik,
Rincon is awful (every night). The rest of the pen is ok
Rincon is awful tonight the bullpen is doing fine.
And the rally begins.
Tough night at the plate for MVP.
Time for a Kubel long ball
And the rally looks to be headed towards ineptitude.
Someone is a glass half empty kind of guy
Garza got lit up for 7 runs, 5 earned in 5.1 innings
Delmon Young…
My, oh my.
It shouldn’t but that makes me very happy.
He is so due it isnt funny
What is that brown stuff running down Delmon’s leg?
Oh, nevermind.
It looks like he just pissed himself.
That pitch wasn’t even close to the strike zone.
Delmon just got sick of not swinging his bat.
*sigh*
Plate discipline ftw.
ok, Rincon is spanish for spot ‘em a couple of runs and still beat ‘em.
Lets hope so.
Can the Twins trade Delmon for Tim Lincecum, like was talked about during this past offseason?
When delmon is hitting 25 bombs and Lincecum is on the dl after blowing out his elbow you will regret judging a trade after 2 months.
On WorldLingo.com Rincon translates as “corner”…
Discuss
Poor AB by Macri.
The Twins hitters are absolutely horrid at taking a strike in the latter innings when they are trailing.
You mean like “Go stand in the corner for punishment”?
Stop criticizing Delmon Young. He’s only 22 years, 8 months, 18 days, 22 hours, 8 minutes and 37 seconds old.
Geez, what a sorry inning at the plate.
When delmon is hitting 25 bombs and Lincecum is on the dl after blowing out his elbow you will regret judging a trade after 2 months.
And when will these 25 HR’s come?
When he turns 25?
I forgot…he’s got loads of talent, and is only 22 years old. He’s destined to be great.
CRAIG:
That is extremely hard to figure out.
Kinda reminiscent of the Kyle Lohse meltdown. Maybe Lohse means corner also.
A definite letdown following the past 2 wins.
Stop criticizing Delmon Young. He’s only 22 years, 8 months, 18 days, 22 hours, 8 minutes and 37 seconds old.
*snicker, snicker*
SNEPP:
Don’t laugh. That is extremely hard to figure out.
Trade rumor: Rincon for a 30th round draft choice or a Nicky rookie card. Gardy’s choice to make.
Trade rumor: Rincon for a 30th round draft choice or a Nicky rookie card. Gardy’s choice to make.
Can we at least get a bucket of balls in return?
Can we at least get a bucket of balls in return?
Nope. Bucket of balls was yesterday’s offer.
Tomorrow’s is a couple of broken MLB baseball bats.
“Trade rumor: Rincon for a 30th round draft choice or a Nicky rookie card. Gardy’s choice to make.”
If draft choices were tradeable in baseball, that would be a better joke.
Nacho says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 am
“For everyone whining about DY and his age, just remember what you were doing at 22. Most likely trying stumble into Dennys at 3am after drinking yourself stupid.”
Dennys Reyes?
Craig is all about the snark tonight.
100% pure snark.
RINCON DELIVERS THE BALL AND THE BATTER SWINGS AND DRIVES THE BALL 400 FEET INTO THE LEFT FIELD SEATS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL,BUT A REAL LIFE OCCURENCE.PLEASE LET HIM GO-HE IS NOT VERY GOOD!
FTR: Rincon did have a disappointing outing. But this team lost 5-3. Not 1-0.
There’s still the matter of Slowey’s inability to get hitters out after going 0-2 (including one that took an 0-2 pitch and planted it firmly in the left field seats).
Rincon didn’t do anybody any favors, but Slowey shouldn’t walk away scott-free on this one.
Slowey got outs. Rincon did not get anybody out. He’s lucky to only be charged with one run rather than two.
Ey! The frick business does this team have losin’ to the flippin’ Orioles for cripesake? I mean good god they oughta kick this teem right in the keester and get ‘em movin’ again! Bye Bye Baltimore Birdies, straightouttatownitellya.
When are the Twins going to hire some Major League television announcers. Instead, fans have to listen the those two clowns on TV who think and speak at the 4th grade level. Fans have to turn the sound off on the TV and listen to the radio announcers in order to enjoy the games.
