Wednesday lineups: Twins/Indians
Posted on June 11th, 2008 – 3:08 PMBy Joe Christensen
CLEVELAND — The Twins look to snap their six-game losing streak tonight, but they’ll be facing Cleveland righthander Paul Byrd, who doesn’t throw hard but always seems to give them trouble.
(Correction: Not a 10-game streak.)
Byrd went 4-0 against the Twins last year and is 10-3 with a 3.50 ERA against them for his career.
The Twins counter with Nick Blackburn who blanked Cleveland for 7 2/3 innings on April 19 to earn his first major league win.
Update (5:30 p.m.): Matt Tolbert had his cast removed from his left hand and now has his surgically repaired left thumb in a splint. Manager Ron Gardenhire said best-case scenario has Tolbert ready to play in big league games again by Aug. 1.
Juan Rincon has a stiff neck, and Gardy said he wanted to see how Rincon felt playing catch before the game before deciding if he was available to pitch tonight. Rincon has been playing long toss in the outfield and appears fine from here.
I should add that the weather here is spectacular again.
The Twins had a team meeting today, but it wasn’t some rah-rah thing. Phil Bradley is here from the players’ union.
Twins (31-34)
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
Starting pitcher: RH Nick Blackburn
Indians (30-35)
1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Ben Francisco, LF
3. Victor Martinez, C
4. Ryan Garko, 1B
5. Jhonny Peralta, SS
6. David Dellucci, DH
7. Casey Blake, 3B
8. Franklin Gutierrez, RF
9. Jamey Carroll, 2B
Starting pitcher: RH Paul Byrd
Progressive Field. First pitch: 6:05 p.m. (Central)
236 Responses to "Wednesday lineups: Twins/Indians"
Wow… 10 games has only seemed like 6 to me.
Certainly feels like 10 though…
Actually the 6 seemed like 10 to most of us- and may end up at 10 if things don’t turn around here……….
does joe mean last 10 ROAD games? have they lost the last 10 road games?
if gardy ever learns the value of the bunt , he may sneak one of these games away from the other manager–last nite i feel was totally irresponsible in not having mauer (as good a bunter as he is) lay one down with 2 on and no out-worst case would be casilla at 2nd and gomez on 3rd (speed) and all we would have needed was a flyball which we got, a passed ball, ground ball or anything and we would have scored that 1st run at the very least and maybe even more, the rest is history and instead we got nothing…..imho that is not good baseball and thats how you get 10 game losing streaks……now lets try again tonite and be a bit smarter, shall we…..hey front office, how you doin on your homework??? i see rincon is still with us….do you need a kick in the ass or what???? seth i want to bat 3rd..lol
Did Joe just copy and paste those comments from the last time we faced Byrd or is he using his crystal ball again?
it’s not even a 10 game road losing streak, rare error by Joe C. So we losing a 1-0 battle or 12-5 drubbing?
It probably will end up being 10 games or more.
“rare error by Joe C.”
except for many commenters on Howard’s blog who claim that throwing the Mauer DP in as part of the “three baserunning mistakes” in the gamer for today was an error…
And his conclusory statement from last Friday on this blog that the Twins are “playing very well” following their 3-4 homestand could be (and has by me) construed as an error…
but I won’t argue with packh8ter as he has the coolest sn of any of us!
i know byrd just carves us up, but didnt we get to him pretty good last time out or am i just having one of those daytime dreams….
We beat him 2-1 the last time we faced him mj1
thx BC of ND ..i guess we got him just a little, but we got him….well thats a start, lets hope they have shed all the demons from the past few days and maybe start this season over now…we have been 61/2 back before and made some nice runs-no reason we cant do it again
Byrd is an awesome pitcher that I wish the Twins would try and acquire. Does anyone know if we will be facing Cliff Lee in this series
mj1: So you want to take one of our best hitters and sacrifice him to move runners along? Great idea. With managing like that, every team will top out at 3 runs a game if they’re lucky.
When you have 2 runners on, no outs and your big hitters coming up, you let them hit. The idea is to generate a big inning. Does it always come to fruition? No, but if you don’t let your big hitters hit away and drive in runs, what do you do?
The little-ball mentality has to go. We have enough trouble scoring runs without taking the bat out of Mauer’s hands. You absolutely do not play for 1 run in that scenario, and Gardy was right not to bunt.
well we have our lefty A-squad of Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, and Lamb in there tonight…should be good enough to do some damage, especially since Gardy went with the “Kubel in moderation” plan by sitting him last night.
I’ll go out on a limb and say Lamb’s due, as well.
Jimmy,
No Cliff he pitched against the Tigers in the Thunderstorm Monday night against A-Baller Dontrell Willis
I agree with tbuck…you can’t have it both ways…the Twins and Gardy get chastized regularly for having their No. 3 hitter (Mauer) bunt…you don’t do that so early in the game, IMO. Next thing you know, they walk Morneau and Cuddyer grounds into a double play or something.
We’ve been hard on Gardy, but he made the right call there.
I’ll pull a Blyleven and “call” a Twins win tonight.Blackburn has done a decent job of following his few clunker games with solid efforts.Gogomez will be the offensive catalyst,continuing to drive Gardenhire crazy with his up and down performances.
JoeC- What is up with Casilla and the lack of stolen base attempts? Is this the result of hitting in front of Mauer and Mauer not liking guys running during his ABs?I can think of at least five occassions in the last couple of weeks were Casilla had great opportunities to steal and didn’t.Seems like a Casilla steal followed by a patented Mauer slice to left center would be a great way to manufacture a run.
lol “patented Mauer slice to left center”…love it…
hey Munson, let’s hope your “call” has a bit better odds than Berts calls do…I also feel the boys are in-line for a win tonight!
Looking ahead, we may be talking about a 10+ losing streak! Detroit and Cleveland will be heading up the division ladder and we will be battling the Royals in the second half of the season.
these two lineups don’t strick fear into you on paper, which usually neans a 9-7 game.
wasn’t much consensus on livan today do we keep him till his era tops 10 or try to get something for him?
Jason- I’m simply going with the odds,although I wish Byrd wasn’t the pitcher.
I like Mauers “slice”. It reminds me of my golf swing,which will be tested tomorrow in Des Moines and Friday in Ashland NE as a prelude to the College World Series opening weekend.If some of you folks haven’t expierenced the CWS you need to look into it.
LNB shutdown the tribe last time he faced them but that was at home so he didn’t have to listen to that stupid fricken drum. If i ever see a Twins game in Cleveland i’ll get arrested for slamming that drum on his head.
i beg to differ with you tbuck, and i dont want to take the bat out of mauers hand all the time, but on the road and in the middle of a losing streak and chance to go up on sabathia right out of the chute i say he does lay it down and bring morneau and the boys up with one down…..it was obvious that bunting was getting on sabathia nerves….one more would have been great….instead we got a shutout….we dont get many chances against sabathia, as we found out
bc of nd do the sioux have the stupid drum at any of their games, can’t say i remember it during any sioux hockey games.
imo the drum and braves chop thing are very bad taste.
have fun Munson, the “ping” noise hurts my ears, though…
Tbuck,
I agree in MOST situations bunting in that situation is NOT usually adviseable. However, like every other rule there are exceptions. CC Sabathia in his career against the twins he is 12-8 with a 3.12 ERA fourth behind such powerhouses as Baltimore, Seattle, and the Rays. Last year 4-1 with a 1.51 ERA.
The guy is the reigning Cy Young award winner if you can scratch out a couple runs against him early it might rattle him a little. He has shown to be a headcase. Instead you give him a dose of momentum running yourself out of the jam(Morneau’s DP becomes a sac-fly) and he goes on to give up 3 more hits the res of the game and pitches a SO.
imo if mauer bunts there cc hits morneau right in the middle of the head.
but Dan, what about my assertion that Cle. could’ve simply walked Morneau and faced Cuddy with the bases loaded and got a double play ball or such.
let’s put it this way, if Mauer is such a great hitter–so much so that you’ll have Craig Monroe take on 3-0 when he represents the tying run in the 9th inning because, as Rick Anderson said, “Joe Mauer” is waiting on deck–then asking him to do something that is usually reserved for Mike Lamb or Nick Punto in the first inning doesn’t seem to make sense.
Jason-I hear you on the Aluminum bat thing,but the over all atmosphere more than makes up for it.Rosenbalt stadium is a jewel f a park,I’ll be sorry to see it go.The baseball is usually very well played and the crowds,which come from all over the country, know and appreciate good baseball.The beer is aways nice and cold also!!
Jason,
Mauer is a great hitter and handles the bat really well, and he is a very good bunter. What if he gets a bunt single? I would argue too that they wouldn’t walk Morneau since it would be lefty/lefty and you can’t be absolute Cuddyer will GIDP every at-bat even though it may feel like it.
mj1,
“worst case would be casilla at 2nd and gomez on 3rd (speed) and all we would have needed was a flyball”
You are assuming a successful sacrifice to be the worst case?
No, the worst case is a bunt in the air turned into a double play. also worse than your worst case would be two missed bunts and a strikeout or a hard bunt resulting in a force (or even a DP).
The presumption that it is easy to bunt against great stuff (like Sabathia throws) is nonsense. Practicing bunting against a batting practice pitcher who is throwing “get me over” pitches is nearly unrelated to bunting against Sabathia.
IMO never assume a successful bunt is imminent against a good pitcher.
well the best argument is it might have rattled C.C. in that he doesn’t like bunters…but there, too, when have the Twins ever showed they don’t back down in a situation where the opposing pitcher gets confrontational with them?
gobble UND wont even have there logo anymore let alone a drum but don’t get me started on that. I think of all the teams in our division i hate the Indians the most (Hafner excluded) and i want the Twins to pummel them tonight GO NICKY B
The twins non-confrontational style is very frustrating for me. You don’t have to be brash but to just sit back and let others walk all over you is just pathetic.
I’m surprised that Lamb didn’t pat Crede on the back rounding third and say “Nice hit, Joe” after his second home run!
hate the indians and the white sox… still like leyland a little tho
“Gardy said he wanted to see how Rincon felt playing catch before the game before deciding if he was available to pitch tonight.”
Is this guy for real?
Twins 7
Indians 3
Maybe Rincon is the new emgergency catcher with Punto out. Hopefully there aren’t stolen base attempts, I’m sure Jaunie would airmail all the throws.
now I’m think that the Rincon “injury” might be a way of manipulating the roster. Smith doesn’t want to cut him, the team needs a batter before the Milwaukee series, why don’t you put him in the 14 day DL with a manufactured injury and meanwhile have 14 days to try to trade him or another of your pitchers…
might make sense
packh8ter,
“Maybe Rincon is the new emgergency catcher”
Actually Rincon is the new emergency PITCHER.
When he pitches, a new emergency is about to happen.
nice one sane. Why not fake a injury, they do it all the time in the NBA, unless “sucks” is now an acceptable injury.
thryos98- I think you nailed it with the Rincon “injury”.I’m frankly suprised that ML teams don’t do this more often.This is a staple in the NBA.Over extend some stiff for a game or two and magically an injury appears.Rincon has no trade value so this solves the problem for know.
No doubt the neck inury is from having to whip his head around to look, every time he gives up an extra base hit.
A moment from tonight’s radio broadcast:
John: Gardy to the mound to see Rincon, Danny what’s that sign Gardy is giving? Haven’t seen it before.
Gladden: Well John that looks like the old start walking and on the way out don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split ya, sign.
Player agents at work once again. Player is struggling significantly. Agent advises player to fake an injury. It not only plays as an excuse for his pathetic pitching, but it also allows for things to blow over and management and fans might forget how bad he is by sitting out the 15 days. This is all his agent at work.
The other thing is that a fake injury in this instance might be a win-win-win-win situation
a. Smith get more time to find someone who wants Rincon
b. Gardy has an excuse not to play him
c. Smith might claim to other teams that his recent poor performance has been because he was not 100%
d. Juanie can keep his head up (pun intended) and pretend that even though hurt he did all he could do to help the team
The Rincon Conspiracy.
I doubt it. I think they want to trade Juan. No takers if he’s on the DL. I think there are restrictions about trading a player on the DL, as well.
Maybe the real reason behind the report that Rincon has a stiff neck, is because he has a stiff neck.
“except for many commenters on Howard’s blog who claim that throwing the Mauer DP in as part of the “three baserunning mistakes” in the gamer for today was an error…”
“Blah blah blah anybody who disagrees with me blah blah blah”
I think at this point we could replace Jason with a book of Mad Libs and not miss a step.
“it also allows for things to blow over and management and fans might forget how bad he is by sitting out the 15 days. This is all his agent at work.”
Management and fans might forget, but the player can’t forget. Fifteen inactive days after you have performed badly is torture. The only thing that helps a player forget about playing badly is to play well ASAP.
For football players and coaches, the most miserable week is the week following a loss. You wish that you had a game on Monday.
A common (and quite annoying) mistake made by many atheletes: Jumping to make a play when they can still do so while firmly planted on Mother Earth.
He probably could’ve let that fall and play the hop. Would’ve taken a good throw, but would’ve looked less embarassing.
Frickin’ tornado warning for MY HOUSE. Don’t see anything yet thtough.
That is quite an unusual squibber. Don’t like Blackburn trying for that play. He risks bumping it away from a guy who has a better play.
He catches it…he can’t make that throw from that position.
Good job Blackburn picking up Cuddy. That is a step forward.
Strand the leadoff double. Good start.
Martinez out? That sucks.
romer,
“Frickin’ tornado warning for MY HOUSE”
Good luck with all of that!
Hang in there!
Earthquakes stink, but at least we don’t have to sweat out an earthquake warning in SoCal. We just wet ourselves for a short time and its over.
It’s gone now…..moving into Redwood County.
I think that’s the ONLY thing I’d prefer about earthquakes. You don’t have the impending doom.
They just sorta…pop up.
Bases loaded w one out. Only one run scored is acceptable, but only if it’s a one run game. But then again the inning could have ended with two strikeouts or a double play….
It’s a start. I would’ve liked an XBH there…but the way things have been going a run is a run is a start.
Lamb has a knack for sacrifice flies
“But then again the inning could have ended with two strikeouts or a double play”
That sounds like we’re in a losing streak.
Here is an interesting tidbit from Rochester tonight: DePaula is the starter…
Getting one run out of the 8 and 9 hitters is actually quite a feat…
“DePaula is the starter…”
Ga…wha?
T,
I think that it was Humber’s turn and he is hurt…
cant believe they gave cuddyer a hit on that obvious errant throw…lol
Thank you for that strike, Blackie. 2-1 now.
Sucks about Humber if that’s true.
Hey, nice play by Mauer to end the inning. Too bad they tied it though…
That’s why getting more than one run last inning would have been helpful.
nice
Good relay from our #4 SS.
DePaula is ready for a career change, anyway. Hope it works out for him.
mj1, Everett had a similar play against Detroit way back when. I think they called it an error there like you were thinking.
Weird huh? Is that home town scoring maybe?
Well, correction…..I guess he’s our #2 or #1 SS now.
Thats the way your supposed to block the plate Joe!No mas ole!
Not mentioned yet was the nice play and strong throw from Harris on that little dribbler to get the injured Martinez at 1st.
Now he throws a perfect strike to Mauer to get the out at the plate.
The guy has good skills. Too bad he isn’t a little quicker laterally. Otherwise, he probably could be an adequate SS.
That was one run for sure, Cleveland played it into two. Though I’m not sure if he could’ve gotten to that in time without hte dive anyway…
5-3 any bets….
There we go heart of the order!
Looks like the offense might be playing for us tonight
make me a fool…thank you cuddy…bout time, but i thank you again
ooohhh those doubles had nice sounds
finally we get some runs vs. Byrd
big lumber
It would be nice to see a little byrd shit on the mound.
THERE WE GO!
Free Kubel……
i almost thought Dick was going to do “That is High, That is Far, It is gone!!!”
Wow. Long time since we’ve heard swings like those 3 in a row. Nice 5 run inning.
kubes; such a terrible average and OBP but he can hit home runs.
Nice catch by Gutierrez….
Wait a minute. That’s “Franklin” Guiterrez right? Did Bert call him “Ben Franklin” earlier?
Lammer not happy. He’s 0-21 now, right?
Wow, Twins with some offense and good pitching so far?
Lets hear it for whoever convinced Delmon to pull the ball.
Idiot!
5-3 on an outside pitch.
Go back to OPPO and don’t read the newspaper!
was lamb robbed of a HR or a a flyball in the warning track?
David:
Gutierrez made a good catch right at the wall. It doesn’t go over if he doesn’t reach up, but it probably bounces around for a double.
And drive in runs too, Grant Balfour.
Give him the AB’s.
There’s a ton of hitters in the League with little .210-.230 batting averages who are actually good power hitters. We just saw a bunch of ‘em in Chicago.
DePaula was replaced by Barrett after 2 and 2/3 innings.
Its “all hands on deck” for the Rochester relievers tonight.
Thanks T.
David,
Lamb’s ball was hit at about 5 inches short of clearing the fence on the right. Their RF, unlike Cuddy in the 1st inning, made a great jumping catch.
The Byrd has been stuffed.
Re: Rochester,
they had their hands tied with Humber’s injury and you don’t want to mess up and get someone from New Britain and pitch them with short rest. As a point of reference Kyle Aselton is starting for New Britain tonight, hardly the guy you want in Rochester
T- youre right, he did call him ben f..bert can be an idiot…dah
romer,
I agree batting average really means nothing but that .300 OBP is pretty hideous.
Plus a .407 SLG isn’t much. So-called ” “singles hitter” Mauer has a .433 SLG!
And I say this as a huge Kubel fan!
The 8 HR and 34 RBI are nice for sure though.
JoeC,
Have you seen a list of the Twins draft choices that they have signed?
Are they going announce them real time?
Or do we have to wait until June 17, when the Rookie Leagues open?
Rochester’s game is getting sketchy. They could really use Rincon right now.
Ha-ha Mike. With no ill will intended, I say he might as well be there.
He can only hit 91 on the gun anymore….unless he’s slowing his velocity to try and get command.
Man, I like these Double Play things a lot more when somebody else is hitting into them.
Rochester’s games are always sketchy. For that matter all AAA games. AAA the last 10 years has been a repository for marginal prospects, minor league regulars and major league washouts. Very few AAA players have a future in the majors. Now the AA is what AAA used to be…
Lastly, Grant — if you project Kubel’s stats to a full season of 570 AB’s, he’d get over 100 RBI’s.
And people have been calling for his head, or to be traded.
thrylos98 I agree on your assessment of AAA.Liriano and perhaps Span are the only AAAers that have any future with the Twins.In the Twins case High A and Low A are where all the prospect are.
Mike says:
June 11th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
… They could really use Rincon right now.
This quote needs to be preserved. I don’t think I’ve seen it said all year. lol
That’s what I meant when I said, getting one run out of our 8 and 9 hitters was actually pretty good.
So now the Tigers are looking to win their 2nd straight from Chicago.
If they can take that series, I will be serving gracious porions of crow ro interested parties during the Brewers series.
CUDDY!
Nice glovework there Cuddy.
I sincerely hope that when the Twins move to the new park that they don’t shoot of fire works after every homer.
I’ll root for warning track power out of spite…
You guys need to give Bert a break on the Ben Franklin thing. With Franklin Gutierrez and Ben Fransisco in the same game it’s the kind of mistake any one of us could make.
Besides there’s probably alot more to bash Burt for than a mixed up name.
Oh it’s no big deal Royster. Though now that you brign that up…I’m looking forward to Bert accidently calling one of them Franklin Francisco.
thrylos98,
I think you have the correct interpretation of AAA and AA. AAA players are usually older, experienced, minor league veterans. Sometimes they have MLB experience. Usually guys who could probably come up and do a short term credible job in the majors, but are not top prospects. Depth type players.
There are usually some exceptions. Span, Casilla, and Macri, are examples of hitters, who were still seen as legitimate front line prospects. All three were stationed at AAA, when the season started. They were also seen as adequately prepared to play in the majors (or very close), if the need arose.
The inning so far at Rochester:
BB-HR-HR-BB-2B
Rincon could be ripping this league up.
Quality start for Blackie. Now if he could pitch 2 more innings…..
Blackie has thrown 94 pitches. I think he’s done. I just hope that Juanie’s neck is still stiff
After the Randball blog on Clemens, I don’t think any stiff players should be allowed on the field.
LOL good one T
Well, that was funny. And eerie. On MLB.tv, the announcers had a segment called “Bringing the Gas” just before Boof came in. It was rather eerie… and hopefully not an omen.
Wow. Boof surprised himself with that play. Double play still in order. Let’s get it.
Dick:
“Had he caught the ball, the would have had a taylor-made triple play.”
BS, Dick. Bonser had to wait for Casilla to get to the bag to even start the attempted double play.
when was the last time nathan pitched?
regardless of the score, i’d expect him to be in there tonight.
I saw the replay, T. Boof double pumped because Casilla wasn’t at the bag yet.
Smart play.
Correction:
“Had he caught the ball, they would have had a taylor-made triple play.”
The best laid plans of mice and men……
well, that sucksw
g*d-d**nit BULLPEN!
Sigh.
Well, now Reyes and Rincon both have more in common than the fact their last names start with R.
“Had he caught the ball, they would have had a taylor-made triple play.”
+2 for humor,
-2 for use of punnery.
I’m going to go ahead and assume that this is intentional by the bullpen because they feel bad that Nathan hasn’t worked in almost a week.
Reyes sucks. Right handers are hitting .450 against him. Lefties not so well. But obviously not so well either. Get rid of him.
2 more ER’s for the Boof.
And he was smiling coming off the mound.
You wanted Nathan to pitch. You’ll get your wish.
“Blackie has thrown 94 pitches. I think he’s done.”
He had a frickin’ 6-2 lead. Can’t he pitch to at least one more hitter to start the 7th to see how he does?
How can a pitcher develop any stamina!
Did they baby the Boof, afraid to bring him in during an ongoing inning?
So the pen now is Crain, Guerrier, Nathan…and Breslow, Bass, Rincon*
I miss Neshek.
Are the Twins middle I won’t call them relief pitchers beacause they haven’t been. Are they trying to bury the team. Wow! what terrible pitching they suck big time! Stop living off last year you Losers!!!
T. not to mention Denny and the Boof.
I was thinking just those that were left tonight.
Despite the K, I’m still happy seeing Young up in that situation vs. Tyner or White or Ford…
This is a taste of how KC felt trying to get a win during their losing streak. If when you think you’ve got one, they don’t come easy.
I thought Monroe is the guy to replace the Tyner/Ford/White thing.
Young was supposed to approach replacing Hunter at the plate.
romer,
Patience with Young. Torii wasn’t anything to write home about until his last 2 seasons with the Twins.
romer, I was comparring Young to our rotation at LF last year.
So if Peralta gets a hit, do ya bring in Nathan?
You’ve almost got to at that point. He’s been out for a week or so. He may over throw at first, but he’ll be rested.
Right, T. Sorry to be picky.
And actually, you were comparing Young to our DH rotation too, with Kubel being in LF some last year.
At some point the manager is going to have to let the starters pitch deeper into the game,Regardless of pitch count.The bullpen is going to be fried by the end of inter league play,if it isn’t already..The Twins say 100 pitches is the “magic” number,but how many Twins pitches have been allowed to reach that Number.
Gardenhires track record of blowing out his bullpen continues.I don’t know if it’s Gardy or an “organizational” thing,but this philosophy needs some major adjustment.
As far as Boof and Juanie go,why not just DFA them.They have zero trade value,if someone wants them, let them be someone else’s headache.
Crain. That was CLUTCH!
Hear that? Crain is doing better against lefties this year than righties.
And now the K of Dellucci.
Yes!!!!
“The Twins say 100 pitches is the “magic” number,but how many Twins pitches have been allowed to reach that Number.”
A pitcher getting near 100 pitches and getting into trouble should be pulled. A pitcher passing 100 pitches and still holding his own can stay in.
100 is a benchmark, but it’s hardly the golden rule.
especially with Rincon who will be a FA at the end of the year anyways (at least if he stays in the majors he will be)
Geez, Gomez kinda almost overslides the bag on the routine pickoff attempt.
He does play intense, doesn’t he.
Now he steal 2nd.
Fun.
T- for the Twins it seems to be a golden rule.With a 6-2 lead and a taxed bullpen, there is no reason Blackburn shouldn’t have been sent out for the seventh inning.Do you let him pitch himself into a possible loss,no.But with an over used bullpen every out Blackburn gets improves the Twins chances not only for tonight but for tomorrow as well.By your own statement I think Blackburn was still holding his own.
Oh that Casilla, always with the drama!
Thats not necessarily a bad thing Mike.
“By your own statement I think Blackburn was still holding his own.”
Yes. Blackburn wasn’t looking too bad. I actually mistakenly thought that Blackburn had started that inning.
Boof should’ve been able to last longer, and hasn’t pitched much at all during this road trip from what I remember.
I think Bert was right earlier, that is Ben Franklin’s arm out there in RF. My goodness, from shallow right a bounced throw to the infield? Gomez play at plate could have/should have been close play since he had to hold up on the hit.
I have no idea what’s clicking for Casilla right now, but he and Gomez are making it VERY fun at the top of the order.
I really like the Gomez-Casilla tandem on the top of the order…
This is great. Make Borowsky labor and weaker for tomorrow’s game. Just protect the plate and foul a bunch of pitches, Mauer.
It would have been nice to see Mauer get another walks. Four in a night and four out of the five walks on the team.
Twins picking up the bullpen. Nice to see.
Nathan still needs to pitch…even if they get that fourth run.
Mike:
Gets on base four times tonight and the batting average is going to drop after the game.
…that is SO Mauer of him.
Funny how these hits fell in tonight and not last night with Gomez and Casilla on.
4-5-6 hitters knocked the ball well tonight. Hopefully that will get them going again.
Careful, T. You’re starting to second guess the manager. Remember, that’s a no-no.
“Careful, T. You’re starting to second guess the manager. Remember, that’s a no-no.”
The difference is I’m not pretending that my opinion is the right one and Gardy is an idiot for doing otherwise.
T, maybe Casilla felt like a duck out of water too much. Young kid in the big USA.
Being on the team with his old acquaintance Gomez from his homeland makes him relaxed, especially since they’re similar type players.
It’s a great empathetic formula.
Ya had to know someone would get on against Nathan……..
You can put it in the book!
So, does Blackberry get the win?
T., Control yourself. You are starting to become a pedantic prick.
That was a much needed win. MUCH needed.
Offense was offensive, Blackburn was great. Bullpen was shaky but Crain picked them up big.
Two great starts in two games. They need the guy tomorrow to follow suit.
Detroit beat the White Sox again!
Go figure.
yeap, Blackburn gets the win and Nathan the save
Great picture of Cuddy’s catch:
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/photos?photoId=1955841&gameId=280611105
T-”the difference is I”m not pretending that my opinion is the right one…”
No but you love to point out what you percieve to be holes in everyone else’s opinions.And thats just what they are, Opinions.It’s what we all do here.Lighten up A little.I respect 95% of all the opinions on here including yours,the other 5% I pass off as someone just not having anything else to do.
Great picture of the Dennys Reyes Bobblehead (whew!)
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/photos?photoId=1955837&gameId=280611105
Their’s no joy in mudville(the posters that like to rip the Twins)Vavra swung the bats good tonight(that’s right.the players swing the bats)Can’t fire Vavra tonight.Don’t despire.tomorrow they might get shutout and you all can go back to ripping the Twins.
“Detroit beat the White Sox again!
Go figure.”
It is home and road. The Whities are below .500 on the road and smoking at the Cell. If you remember Ozzie’s rant came after they lost three of four at Tampa. They returned home and won seven in a row.
On another near .500 team, Kubel might be expendible. Here in Minnesota, he is the #2 home run threat but quite a bit. There is no one to replace his “power”, so he needs to play against all righties and sometimes against lefties.
T:
“Two great starts in two games. They need the guy tomorrow to follow suit.”
Lumpy says Leave It To Livan.
I am absolutely loving what Casilla is doing with his second or third chance with the Twins. Patient, hitting the ball solidly, really cutting back his mental errors and providing another speedster at the top of the order.
I don’t know whether it was his play to cover second in the seventh, but that was a huge misplay that could have cost the game. If they were playing the hitter straight away, it would have been Harris’ play, but I don’t know.
About a week ago, only 2 teams had winning road records in the AL, I think. I think the Twins were at .500.
cmath, quite a rant about Reyes. You living in the floods in Iowa?
Can’t disagree with you much though. Look at this —
Bauer 13.50 ERA
Betancourt 6.75
Borowski 9.00
Why did they get rid of Breslow?
So where’s the talk about Casilla being a future superstar, like was said about Gomez?
He’s certainly making a big splash like Gomez. Almost looks like a 5-tool guy too.
So what’s on FSN? They’re showing a Duensing start at Rochester.
romer it’s a Squeeze play from May 30th.
Romer,
His line tonight:
0 IP 1H 1R 1HR inherited runners, scored: 2,2
For the year against righties:
.385/.467/.538/1.005
So he can’t get righties out. And the time he comes in to get one lefthander out, he gives up a three-run homer. With Breslow on hand, I don’t see how you can justify keeping him around.
Lumpy. have you ever noticed Reyes has no neck or it just looks that way most of the time. Probably because he has such a fat head.
romer-since you and i had a discussion about it when Casilla first came up,I will officially eat crow for my comments about Alexi’s left handed hitting!He has been fun to watch.He seems much more relaxed than last year when he was expected to relace Castillo.
The Mayor gets an RBI.
Casilla’s improved play: unexpected but maybe due to: 1)Gomez on base so pitchers throw more fastballs (someone wrote that on a recent blog post) plus 2)Mauer behind him, so cant walk him - so again he’s getting good pitches .. plus 3) he’s more comfortable and experienced his third time up. hope he keeps going…
Romer and Doug, I enjoy, among others, reading your input. Anyone else thinking that perhaps Livan’s input on this team supercedes pitching? Looking at him in the dugout, he often appears to be a coach for the young Latin players, i.e. Gomez and Casilla. He seems to keep them relaxed and who can argue with the exciting results to date.
romer,
I already ate my words a couple weeks ago about Casilla. He is playing really, really well now. But, it would be too much to ask me to talk about him as a future superstar, like Gomez, since we do have knowledge of the former Casilla.
I hope you are right though. And, the two of them are a blast to watch in the first two spots right now. They do seem to feed off each other and enjoy each other. That makes it even more fun.
Daniel,
Bingo re: Livan. Since day 1, Livan has been a bench coach for Gomez. Simple reason, he can speak his language. This team has such a bad record in communicating with Latin American players and Livan is making a difference this year. Memo to management: Please replace Liddle with a Spanish speaking coach next year
Daniel1966-I think you are correct in that Livan may be a good influence.The Twins could use a Latin coach.Hernandez really seems to enjoy the game of baseball.But at some point you have to look at numbers.I don’t think the Twins are ready to pull the plug on Livan yet.But if,and it’s a big if,the rest of the rotation gets settled,and Liriano continues to improve.Livan could find himself in a cost cutting move.
Though I don’t recall, Doug Munson — I’m sure what you noticed about Casilla was true at the time.
There’s a learning curve, and there’s a basic training time. And Casilla didn’t quite latch on to the program.
But he’s a damn nice kid. And Gardy’s a damn nice man. Looks like the two of them are working together real good right now.
So if he was a little overwhelmed, I’m wondering if Harris is a little overwhelmed right now. He got some of that Twins basic training at 2B this year and the results were lacking.
Now he’s the SS, having been 5th in line for that position (after Everett, Punto, Tolbert, and Casilla). I’m thinking playing his position (or more precisely, out of position) is consuming him and that’s why his offense is taking a hit.
Yeah, Daniel1966 and danimals are right about the Livan influence and serrendipitous batting order thing for Casilla.
Good influences in general in the clubhouse and dugout this year.
With the bullpen being so unstable right now,i guess we can see just how important Pat Neshak(sp) was to the bullpen.
Can a ballclub release a player and then make him a coach? Maybe Livan would do that, eventually.
I can’t shake remembering that historic season Reyes had in 06 — 5th lowest ERA for a reliever all-time, I believe. So I don’t want to throw him under the bus just yet.
Maybe Livan can get drunk with him and Rincon and loosen up some of that old punch they used to have.
Carlos G, I know it’s way too early to ascribe superstar to either Gomez or Casilla. But damn!
Casilla is a muscled athlete and has been muscling a long ball more than expected. With that pop, he’s the threat that Harris was invisioned to be.
I think he’s the real deal.
“No but you love to point out what you percieve to be holes in everyone else’s opinions”
Very true. Though you have to admit most of the time the responses I get back are directed moreso at me than the argument I’m making.
Usually something along the lines of:
A) I work for the Twins.
B) I’m
Romer 10:37, (Sounds almost biblical) I’LL BUY and you’re invited!!
romer: I’m excited about Casilla right now, but I also have that nagging in my head that’s like “06 Punto…06 Punto”
Punto’s overachieving came from his overachieving on every play. He LOOKED so good defensively because he was trying so damned hard and made plays full out.
For instance, although he has a strong arm, it isn’t and wasn’t THAT strong but looked like it because he LOOKED like he was throwing so full-out hard. And a lot of ultra-hustle associated with his going after balls, etc.
Casilla is stronger and more athletic — and naturally faster — so he doesn’t have to overachieve.
Make sense?
But he could burn himself out. It depends how he develops. Looks to me like he’s probably in a good coaching situation to prevent that from happening.
So who knows if he’ll be a steady producer along the lines of a Roberto Alomar. But he’s got a shot at it. Lots of talent. More than Punto.
Daniel1966, it inevitably looks like the night out with the boys would be a farewell party to Punto.
Party delayed is party denied.
Yikes, I mean a farewell party to Rincon.
Hmmm….
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/wcStory?contentId=8118850#story=8236342
Yanks want public money for a stadium. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of overall press reaction this gets.
Only 9 major leagues teams out of the total of 30 have lost more games than the Twins in 2008. The Twins organization will always try to deflect blame for bad personel decisions to the notion that the team is very young.
“06 Punto…06 Punto”
Vastly different players. Punto had two successful years in a 10-year professional career. Casilla has had one unsuccessful year in his four-year professional career, the year after he was rushed through the system from A ball to the majors. Punto never had much talent. He has fooled them so far with hustle. And with all the talk about Casilla’s lack of fundamentals and being a “loose cannon”, his fundamentals are way better than Punto’s.
Just look at their bunting. Punto can’t lay down a bunt to save his life. Casilla hits nearly one perfect bunt a game.
cal don’t go talking about facts!! T and GENO will blast you for that!! remember Twin Rube Nation motto - “never never hold the Twins org. accountable”
on a happier note - Twins look like they got a 2nd baseman in Casilla.. just need a SS and 3rd baseman from the lot of Harris, Macri, Buscher
Only 9 major leagues teams out of the total of 30 have lost more games than the Twins in 2008. The Twins organization will always try to deflect blame for bad personel (sic.) decisions to the notion that the team is very young.
That is really a deceiving stat. Four teams have lost the same number of games as the Twins. 11 teams have worse records on a percentage basis than the Twins.
The Twins do have the youngest roster in baseball. That is not necessarily a bad thing. When you look at the “veterans” this team has had over the last few years, I don’t know if being younger is such a problem. Tony Batista, Juan Castro, Rondell White, Jeff Cirillo, Joe Mays, Ramon Ortiz, Sidney Ponson, Livan Hernandez, Juan Rincon–the list goes on. You can argue that the veterans have pulled this team down more than the youngsters.
Now what would we give to get Blake back?
I see we are in for some great baseballl weather here in Minny over the next week. 2 words for everyone out there “Retractable Roof”
Caveman says:
June 12th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Now what would we give to get Blake back?
Costs to much to sign him we just want fill in type players. We are cheap
If we only could have kept him…Blake that is…
Blake would cost to much and I am cheap. I make Mike Lamb crush beer cans (with his feet) that I steal from the legion at night. then we drive to Michigan to recycle them
Jimmie, give it a rest. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re on the road, playing outdoors, in largely the same weather that we have had in Minnesota. It just takes a day or two for it to get to Chicago and Cleveland. We have played on wet fields, and had a couple of rain delays, but no rain-outs. We even got in a make-up game. That’s baseball. If you want a roof, follow hockey or basketball.
Seeing Anthony LaPanta getting hit by lightning. PRICELESS!!!!
That’s pretty funny, if you like gallows humor. I just wonder if his piece is fire-proof.
Costs to much to sign him we just want fill in type players. We are cheap
The consensus best third baseman on the free agent market was Mike Lamb. Signing free agents is rarely the answer.
cmathewson says:
June 12th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Costs to much to sign him we just want fill in type players. We are cheap
The consensus best third baseman on the free agent market was Mike Lamb. Signing free agents is rarely the answer.
Cabrera, but he is now being played at 1st. But he is a third baseman
Cabrera was not a free agent. The Tigers had to give up better prospects than we had at the time to get him. Then they signed him for seven years and $150 million, lest they lose him to free agency at the end of this year. He’s hitting about what Kubel is hitting this year, and unable to play in the field competently. I would not call that a wise investment.
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