StarTribune.com

Central Intelligence: Thursday morning edition

Posted on June 19th, 2008 – 9:34 AM
By Joe Christensen

Head to La Velle’s blog for the lineups and latest updates, with the Twins going for a sweep of the Nationals today, at 12:10 p.m.

* The White Sox also will be trying for a sweep of Pittsburgh, at 1:05 p.m. Chicago has won each of Gavin Floyd’s last four starts.

* The Tigers are 8-1 in their past nine games and linger just two games behind the Twins, 6 1/2 behind the White Sox. Detroit is off today before beginning a three-game series at San Diego on Friday.

* This is starting to feel like a three-team race. Cleveland will try to avoid a sweep at Colorado tonight, and the injury news for the Indians continues to be bleak. Travis Hafner is getting a second opinion on his shoulder, and Fausto Carmona won’t be ready to return from his hip injury as quickly as hoped.

26 Responses to "Central Intelligence: Thursday morning edition"

jimmy bee says:

June 19th, 2008 at 9:35 am

Blog On. Did anyone see if our draft pick from Miami pitched last night?

jimmy bee says:

June 19th, 2008 at 9:37 am

CWS Stanford vs Fresno St final I can feel it.

Rotoblinders says:

June 19th, 2008 at 9:52 am

That’s a good final. However I was down there for the CWS last weekend, and Georgia impressed me. I have my doubts about Stanford beating them twice.

As for the other side, I like the way Fresno is playing. I didn’t get to see UNC, but their pitching is superb.

jimmy bee says:

June 19th, 2008 at 9:55 am

Did you see the Fresno St vs Rice game wheeew what a blow out

bc twins fan says:

June 19th, 2008 at 10:23 am

“Head to La Velle’s blog for the lineups and latest updates, with the Twins going for a sweep of the Nationals today, at 12:10 p.m.

So that means we will get the lineups sometime around 1:30

Todd Anthony says:

June 19th, 2008 at 10:59 am

From mlbtraderumors.com:

“If the Twins keep Francisco Liriano in the minors a bit longer, he will lose his shot at becoming a Super Two player.”

cmathewson says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:01 am

That’s the elephant in the corner. LaVelle is barely blogging. In my company, we are encouraged to blog. But that opportunity is only available to those who can post at minimum three times a week and respond to comments daily. People stop coming to a blog when the owner is not there all that often.

buckshotmike says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:06 am

I am a Fresno State grad. I cannot believe this run. It would be nice if they could pull it out. Being a Minnesota fan, we dont have many champs to root for in the last 25 years.

thrylos98 says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:19 am

same lineup 2 days in a row… Mauer starts a day game and Lamb continues to rot

T says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:20 am

“The White Sox also will be trying for a sweep…”

Oh wow. Good to see the Sox have been able to right themselves after an embarassing sweep by the Tigers and a series loss to the Rox of all teams.

“…of Pittsburgh.”

Oooh. Nevermind.

Jonas says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am

On an entirely different topic, was anyone else very pleased to see Crain’s stuff last night?

I was watching on the Nats’ network, and they were busy gushing about how quickly he was coming back from injury, and then he backed them up, throwing fastballs b/w 94-96 mph and sliders b/w 90-93. I was extremely impressed (even though his command wasn’t perfect, it was good).

jimmy bee says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:25 am

Jesse crane is overly hyped and overrated. Where is the great Balfour. Package deal Everett and Crain

thrylos98 says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:30 am

the Great Ballfour has actually pitched pretty well this year in several games for the Rays

mj1 says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:33 am

with the loss of neshek, crains value about doubles, so i for one was very pleased to see him succeed last eve and hope he can continue to fill that 7th inning roll and whatever else they need from him…he will be an extremely important cog in that bullpen, if the twins are to contend to the finish…..now go get the sweep and prepare for those hyped up diamondbacks…

jimmy bee says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:35 am

thrylos98 We kept the wrong guy in Crain and let Balfour go.

jimmy bee says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am

mj1 We have to complete the sweep today because we are going to be taken to the wood shed against Arizona

BC of ND says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:38 am

I’m shocked that both the Tigers and Yankees are playing better now who would’ve thunk it.

mj1 says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:42 am

jimmy bee…what the hell you talkin like that for…youre irritating me today …lol…not only that i think you may be surprised how these boys stack up against your diamondbacks…

thrylos98 says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:43 am

Ballfour has major surgery that kept him off baseball for 2 years. Crain is 26 (the same age as Baker, Blackburn & Co) and is still coming back from his surgery. His velocity is back but his fastball has been very flat. His slider is fine, but there is not much speed differential from his fastball. He might need to develop a good third pitch that goes at most 82-85 mph to be successful in the long run, but I think that he is still in the healing process and the Twins’ staff is correctly not messing with him on that respect. Maybe in the off-season or next spring.

jimmy bee says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:54 am

mj1 I think that the series will be an exciting one to watch with the Twins and D-Backs. Both great young teams. I think we will be seeing alot of Eric Byrnes and his sh*t grin all over the field. Every time I see him I think that the grin on his face is greenery produced

Todd Anthony says:

June 19th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

God Jimmy Bee you are hilarious :), a little nutty, but still pretty damn funny!! Seriously…whenever I read your posts you have me cracking up!!!! Thanks for bringing levity to my workday!!!

tommy says:

June 19th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

Bonser, Cuddyer, Lamb, Everette and Redmond should be traded as soon as possible in order to improve the team and allow the talent in the minor leagues to come up to the club and help the organization win. Span is a much better all around outfielder than Cuddyer. Cuddyer is vastly over rated and very weak in the clutch. Bonser, Lamb and Everette are simply warming the bench and not really contributing to a successful season. Span, Hughes, Morales, and Liriano could help the team immediately.

Trav says:

June 19th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

ben, why post if you’re just going to spew verbal diarrhea?

USAFChief says:

June 19th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Remember when you could come to the STrib blogs and read interesting comments about the Twins and baseball?

Good times.

sane says:

June 19th, 2008 at 11:31 pm

For those who suggested holding Johan until the Trading Deadline, it now appears that CC Sabathia AND Erik Bedard will also be on the market at that same time due to the Cleveland Indians’ and Seattle Mariners’ meltdowns.

Daniel1966 says:

June 20th, 2008 at 12:24 am

Jimmy Bee, Sad to to be the one to have to break the news to you but Erik Byrnes will not be with the D-Backs at the dome. He is on the DL with hamstring injuries and began a 3 - day rehab at class A Visalia today. If all goes well, he is expected to rejoin the team next Monday when they play in Boston. Thought that you would want to know.