Postgame update: Gomez, Span and the tough finish
Posted on July 25th, 2008 – 10:27 PMBy Joe Christensen
CLEVELAND — Carlos Gomez returned from Lutheran Hospital and limped slowly through the clubhouse tonight after Cleveland fended off a ninth-inning rally to defeat the Twins 5-4.
Considering how scary it looked in the first inning, when Gomez was carted off on a stretcher, wearing a neck brace, the injury news was positive.
Gomez had an MRI exam and was diagnosed with a bruised lower back. He was dizzy and sore and probably won’t know just how sore until Saturday morning. He had a pain injection. Doctors told him he can play when he feels up to it, but he made no promises how soon that will be.
“He did everything he could to make a play,” Manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He made a heck of a play. It’s as good of a catch as you’ll see up against the wall like that.”
(*) Denard Span injured his tailbone and groin on his collision with the left-center field wall. He said he too will be sore but doesn’t figure to miss any playing time.
He moved to center field and went 3-for-4 off Cleveland lefthander Cliff Lee. Span is now batting .462 (12-for-26) against lefties. This, after batting .174 off lefties (and .409 against righties) at Class AAA Rochester this season.
“Really, really good at-bats against a good lefty,” Gardenhire said. “He’s getting it done, playing good outfield. You put him in center, you don’t lose a heck of a lot. He’s a good outfielder.”
(*) Still, the anger was obvious after this loss, their fifth in a row. Nick Punto and Mike Redmond sat on a couch in a daze. Gardenhire lamented Redmond’s ninth-inning liner and the fact Cleveland first baseman Ryan Garko was playing in — just the right spot to make a diving catch — probably anticipating a sacrifice bunt.
Brendan Harris and Punto bounced out, ending the game. The Twins couldn’t convert after Justin Morneau’s two-run homer and Delmon Young’s double, all with no outs.
Add to it the fact Chicago got a two-out, two-run, ninth-inning homer from Jermaine Dye to defeat the Tigers 6-5, and the Twins now trail the White Sox by 3 1/2 games.
Note: Adam Everett went 2-for-4 with two singles and a throwing error in his second game for Class AAA Rochester. He will play three more games on his rehab assignment before the Twins are faced with a decision about his future.
66 Responses to "Postgame update: Gomez, Span and the tough finish"
Oh so close yet oh so far…
what are you gonna do. red did his job and hit the ball to the right side and was 2 inches or so away from tying the game. punto’s hit looked like a sure roller up the middle (perez thought so) but the mound slowed it up enough for cabrera to make the play. it happens, so the twins need to just put it behind them and come out swinging tomorrow. there’s a lot of baseball left.
Great at bat by Punto!!!! I think he saw 12 pitches before hitting it hard up the middle…unfortunately it hit the mound hard and that slowed it way down.
Gardy says that with span in center, “you don’t lose a heck of a lot”. Nope, you don’t. In fact you gain about 100 points in batting average, 200 points in on base percentage, more knowledgeable baserunning, and better routes to fly balls. You lose a little power, and very little speed. I would say it is a net gain.
To be fair, fantastic catch by Gomez, and i hope he is ok.
Trade Lamb and Everett and Goof-Boof for a bag of used jock straps. Is there any padding on the outfield walls? Lee is not an easy pitcher to get well on. The next 10 days will determine the Twins season. I hate depending on Punto to do anything offensively.
good game. lots of interesting players and combinations for the twins this year. fun season so far.
no team is perfect.
Good to hear Gomez is OK. But I am surprised he had an MRI. They usually wait on them, which I don’t understand. Is it because they want to be sure you have insurance? How much can an MRI cost? A thousand dollars? Pocket change. Get an MRI right away if its warranted, for crying out loud! I still can’t believe he had one the same day he got injured!
uh, it looked a little serious with him getting carted off on a stretcher with a neck cast on. i’m sure they wanted to see what was going on.
Punto has been having some nice at-bats lately in the later innings. I wish Delmon would have done the same in the 7th, if he takes a few pitches there instead of going 6-3 on one pitch maybe Cliff Lee is over the 100-pitch mark that inning and doesn’t come out for the 8th. But I’m learning not to expect smart at-bats from this team too often.
i must say it’s surprising that liriano isn’t starting in the dome monday if only because the ownership understands how the cash registers would sing.
I watched the game at a bar while having dinner and I was amazed at the circus that transpired after Gomez went down. I told my buddies at the table that Gomez was fine and that he would be out of the hospital before the game ended - and I was right. GoGo might get an Oscar nomination for that acting job. I’m not saying it didn’t hurt, but Carlos is a bit of a drama queen. He probably won’t play for a week to 10 days. If that would’ve happened 20 years ago, he’d be in the line-up the next day.
Too many thing about this game pissed me off and it’s too late to kepp babbling.
MORE PUNTO!!! Keep throwing that loser out there. It’s a crime that he collects a paycheck in the big leagues.
Why did the twins not bunt Young to third in the ninth; with no outs it was the smart play to get in position to tie the game. Cleveland’s bullpen is muy malo, they should have played for the tie. I don’t think what they did was smart baseball.
Hey Bill Brasky, I would like to see you run into that wall and get up and play the next day..Get a life
Span should have started the season in center field anyway. Gomez should be playing with all the other guys we got in the Santana trade.
Brilliant diagnosis, Dr. Brasky. And all from watching a TV in a bar.
Span may have a great glove and putting up better numbers than Gomez, but Span was already playing right field. Who is going to be playing right field in Span’s place and would they be able to match Gomez’ glove? Gomez has also been hitting a bit better since getting moved back in the order. He’s gone 1 for 3 in each of his starts since the move. While I wouldn’t call that break out, it’s a lot better than he was. The injury might weaken the team more than many think.
lets reacquire sid ponson-then sid hartman can interview him and say,”Hey I just interviewed Sid. And he is a great guy.”
Hey Brasky,
Not everyone is tough enough to have there sack used as a tarp at Yankee Stadium. I miss the old school tough guys like Radke.
Did you see the Yankee Steal, I mean deal. My god, what was smith doing. We need the exact same parts and the Yanks get it done with something called oledork and tabatha. Seriously, someone should investigate. Nady and Marte are stud players. Hand the trophy to the stripes. Nice job Cashwomen!
I agree with cd
The Twins should have been bunting Redmond to move Young to third. Bunting him over does two things.
1. It puts him at third with one out making a sac fly possible
2. If he is at third the infield would have had to play in. I know Harris grounded out to the pitcher but if Young had been on third the pitcher may have thrown different pitches.
I know it’s hindsight and nitpicking but at the time I thought bunting was the right move. Oh well, the best part about baseball is there is a game the next day.
Apply for Gardy’s job with these post.
Win Twins!
I see after the horrible series the Yankees had with the Twins, the Yankees noticed they had a few holes and picked up Nady and Marte. Not to shabby!! The Twins on the other hand after getting swept, still do not see any need to make a move. How sweet it is, the Team without a weakness!! Go Twins!!
Mudcat,
For some injuries, there is too much inflammation to get a clear MRI right away. They have to wait until the swelling goes down first. It has nothing to do with money or insurance or anything like that.
I too would love to see a big trade but lets face it there is no way that it is going to happen. I love this team and I also thought that they would be in it this year from the start but I just can’t see them making a move this season. Other teams are asking for too much. That kid that the Yankees trade will be a pretty good ball player he was one of the players that they did not want to part with for Santana at the time. The Twins did like him and they have a knack for scouting other teams farms. That Tabata is like 19 20 years old and almost MLB ready. I don’t know much about the rest of the players but I was looking at that kid when Santana was on the market. I think at the time he was a top five prospect in all the minors. The Twins only had 1 player on the list before the Santana trade and he was like 75 over all. I do think its time to cash in on some of our pitching prospects but I don’t think other teams are very high on them. We have 4 starting pitchers that should be here for a long time plus an ace in AAA. I just don’t think other teams like what he have down there teams like that power type and we just don’t have those guys.
“Great at bat by Punto!!!! I think he saw 12 pitches before hitting it hard up the middle…unfortunately it hit the mound hard and that slowed it way down”
Good one…sawed off and chinked up the middle
never should have been up in that spot
0-11 since playing
Where are all the Punto lovers defending him now after that last two sorry at-bats.
http://www.wewillneverforget2007.com
Pete Mackannin..we need you!
This game shows again what happens when you have a DH who is hitting as badly as Monroe. It still amazes me they actually traded for this guy. It always makes me sad to see Punto bat in a crucial situation. He’s a utility guy, and the exact kind of guy you should pinch hit for.
As for trades - it just isn’t going to happen. It isn’t the Twins’ style. Just another year where they get close, and don’t do anything to get better.
Leaving Liriano in the minors is just stupid and stubborn at this point. Thankfully the NFL is getting started again.
“The Twins should have been bunting Redmond to move Young to third.”
ATTEMPTING to sacrifice bunt is not a guarantee that the bunt will be successful; anymore than ATTEMPTING to hit an oppo ground ball is a guarantee that the batter will execute that.
The oppo ground ball has the potential to get through the infield and score the run immediately without relying on the next batter to drive in the run.
Which is the right play?
Which is Redmond’s better skill?
Bunting or hitting a ground ball behind the runner?
thanks for saying so, sane. it’s kinda like saying “just hit the sac fly.” not exactly automatic if the pitcher is any good.
I love the people that jump all over you when you criticize the coaching staff. “Apply for his job, then.” Well sir, if it was within the realm of possibility for me to land the Twins manager gig, I would do just that. For the most part, I think Gardy and his staff do an excellent job, but you know what…coaching a baseball game is pretty easy. It is easy to know when to bunt, when to make a pitching change, etc. There is no right answer in the Redmond/bunting situation. If he pokes a hit to right and scores Delmon, than it was a great idea to let him take a hack, since he lined and Delmon ended up stranded at third, we can second-guess about whether or not the bunt should have been called. Either way, don’t kid yourselves into thinking it’s hard to coach or manage this game.
Gomez…..All I can say is this man gives us 110% in the field in every single game… Now if we can get him to bunt the ball on the ground, or better even still, hit the ball out of the infield that would be great. I look forward to seeing this guy play in 2-3 years. If he keeps his speed he is capable of stealing 100 bases…how awesome would that be?
I have a feeling with Redmond bunting they’d have time to get the runner AND throw out Redmond.
Whatever the case, I see Blake has been traded. So he won’t be bothering the Twins anymore. Would’ve been nice to see him in a Twins uni, but I doubt Cleveland or the Twins would be willing to do anything to improve the other in the middle of a series.
Especially when the Twins would likely be giving up young players that would be hurting them in the division for years.
Well sir, if it was within the realm of possibility for me to land the Twins manager gig, I would do just that.
If managing is as easy as you say it is…then it really wouldn’t be that hard to land the job now would it?
totally agree gates. What is hard is wollowing around for 15 years as a minor league coach until you get your shot. Gardy should have a play book on his wrist like quarterbacks. “In this situation you do this.”
if that ass smith doesnt pull some kind of trade after watching this team spiral out of control almost the last few days, he never will make a deal…any idiot can see this team is in a very negative setting right now and desperately needs something positive to lift them up and give them some confidence and hope- they need the hype that bringing a liriano up and swinging a deal for an all-star caliber player like beltre, and finding some help for the bullpen would do for this club. otherwise we might as well shut off our sets and turn our attention to the vikings and adrian peterson.. i hate to say this but bill smith, this is general manager 101 and up to now youre failing miserably, while all around you teams are making deals to improve their chances in competing in the post season…even casey blake got traded to the dodgers for hardly anything, that is so damn disgusting its rediculous……time to get some balls and a brain bill smith
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the Twins to make a trade. With Pohlad as the owner, the Twins will never truly compete. The bottom line for the Twins is to be competative while spending as little money as possible. The writing is on the wall that Nathan will soon be gone and probably Liriano too when he returns and wins a few games in September. Then we will have a few more pitching prospects or non home run hitting fielding prospects in the minors. I would look for Pohlad to be selling the team one or two years after the new stadium opens. When else will he get optimum value for this organization?
The sad part, at least to me, is if this streak becomes much longer, the Twins will have moved past the BUY mode right to the Sell mode.
Considering the positioning of the Tigers, and the upcoming series against the Whities, the end of the Twins contending run is within sight, unless something changes RIGHT NOW.
There is no way that one, singe player (Beltre) would have won every single one of the 5 games, but it may have made a difference in at least a couple of them.
Smith, if you are going to do something, it needs to be now. After the WhiteSox series, it probably will be too late, considering the way the Twins are playing right now.
The other team had the corners in looking for the bunt. That’s a good time for a good contact hitter like Redmond to slash it through the infield. If Redmond had bunted, he may have been doubled up. Redmond is very slow. Gardy had the right plan.
BTW, with the last couple trades that went down, Yankees and the Dodgers seem to have effectively dropped the price for Beltre. Seems that the time is NOW to strike, not AFTER the WhiteSox series.
Comeon Bill, get it done.
I was in favor of letting it ride before this losing streak hit, but now that the Twins are spiraling, they really need to do something, before they get completely out of range. Right now, they are 3 1/2 back, far from insurmountable, but, with the Tigers on their heals, it is very, very important that they get out of Cleveland with a series win. They NEED these 2 games, to get their luck going again before they play the Sox. The series against the Sox is 4 games, and if the Twins take 3 of 4, they could pick 2 games up just like that. They just need to get their MOJO back.
Why would anybody want Redmond to bunt? The guy makes great contact. I was advocating Lamb bunting in that spot, and saving Redmond to hit for Punto, but to be fair, Punto put in a pretty dang good atbat, at least in my eyes.
Why do some posters here defend the coaching staff, even when a player or coach is being fairly criticized? It truly puzzles me. It’s like some people think that the Twins read these blogs, and are afraid some criticism might hurt their feelings. Or maybe the posters think that if they defend the twins and their staff, the Twins will notice, and take them out for a beer or something. The following is not for everyone that defends the Twins; I respect a well reasoned argument. It’s just for those that think that the Twins can do no wrong. I got some news for you retards. THE TWINS ARE NOT YOUR FREINDS! NOR DO THEY CARE WHAT YOU THINK! THEY ARE NOT GOING TO PERFORM BETTER OR WORSE BASED ON POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE COMMENTS ON A BLOG! STOP VERBALLY BLOWING THEM, AND STOP COMING TO THEIR DEFENCE, LIKE THEY ARE SOME KIND OF SNIVELING LITTLE KID GETTING A WEDGIE FROM A BULLY!!
“BTW, with the last couple trades that went down, Yankees and the Dodgers seem to have effectively dropped the price for Beltre”
or you could argue the price is higher/not changed. with less available on the market it may be that twins have to pay as much as b4 b/c noone else is available. i would guess price has dropped a little bit though.
gates,
“coaching a baseball game is pretty easy.”
1) And you know that because……..?
2) Is coaching spring training and in-season practices also easy?
3) If YOU are running the Twins and you are giving orders to 25 players who all know more about baseball than you do,(and they don’t respect anything you do or think) how easy will that be?
No Blake, no Beltre, no Liriano……..no post-season.
About the trade talks most of the people out their right now that have power are either A. Too old to help as we must remember the twins are geared for 2010. B. They have 1 year left on their contract or are getting paid to much and C. It would take more then it would be worth like A. Beltre.
So, playing for 2010. You are certain they’ll retain all these young starters? You are certain they’ll improve, or be as good as this year, or stay healthy? Always playing for the future, never playing to win now - I’m pretty sure that is why Hunter and Santana wanted out, and Liriano will be no different, and eventually others will also.
mike wants wins gets it. he is absolutely right.
Don’t have insight into their personal situation, but I presume the Yankees have improved with their trade with Pittsburgh.
I believe they’re the favorites in the WC right now with their 5 game lead over the Tigers.
I may be foolish, but I believe Tampa Bay will hit the skids more and more.
And the Twins, as is, don’t have a chance.
The team will bounce back. They were playing great baseball before NY.
Craig Monroe should bat eighth or ninth if Gardy feels he has to play him. It seems hard to believe the Twins can’t replace him with a better player from the minors.
The twins need to demote Livan Hernandez to the bullpen (after leaving the ball up throughout the first inning) and bring up Liriano who is now 9-0 in the minors and give him a chance to start back in the majors again.
how can you ask players to put out their best when the f.o. doesnt do the same….this is a pathetic situation the twins are in and its so sad to watch everyone else make moves…latest rumor has the yanks making another big move for a starter (not sure- just saw the tail on espn - washburn??? anyway it sucks to watch and see us do nothing but falter and listen to gardy say he does what he can with what he has and thats true..so unfair to the mgr, players and fans……might as well trade away nathan, morneau, and the rest of the good guys, because this team will not make winners out of any of them anyway……let the good guys go with winners , they deserve it….
“might as well trade away nathan, morneau, and the rest of the good guys, because this team will not make winners out of any of them anyway……let the good guys go with winners , they deserve it….”
Why should the Twins players, staff and FO continue to compete when fans and bloggers have already given up?
zygi should own the twins….theres no doubt this team would not be standing still at this time….maybe thats the answer..get zygi to buy the twins also….at least he is interested in winning and not just lining his pockets…. and jon i dont think anyone is giving up including me, but its damn depressing when you have a front office so far out of touch and such a lack of caring about winning and the fans..thats just a simple fact….
My question is though who do they trade to make a winner now. I don’t think that a lot of teams are real interested in what we have in the minors the AAA team is just plan bad with very few MLB ready prospects. We are not going to give up Young because he is still young. We will not get anything for Livan, Boof, Lamb, and Everett so we are stuck. Our farm is not that strong right now we have some solid AA guys but they are still 2 or more years away from being MLB ready. That is why the Front Office stands still because they can’t move what we have. Its like the Wild at the deadline they couldn’t make a big trade because they didn’t have any solid prospects that teams wanted.
BS on the Wild. They’ve never once tried to do anything but be the most profitable NHL franchise ever. Plus, if they have no prospects, why are they so well regarded as a franchise (actually, I agree they have few good prospects, but for some reason they are worshipped, when they’ve done nothing but make money).
As for the Twins, they have plenty of young, unproven prospects. But, they just will not change their philosophy and go all in. As Twins fans, we can either accept that, and not get mad at this time of the year, or we can get all frustrated and enjoy life less (that is really how I feel, and am not asking others to feel that way).
mj1
How many Super Bowls have the Vikings won?
mj1,
“such a lack of caring about winning and the fans..thats just a simple fact….”
Its not a fact.
You have no idea (nor do I) what the FO is thinking, much less caring.
If making a BAD trade, is caring more than making NO trade, then I HOPE they don’t care.
I am sure they are trying to do what is necessary to improve the team, but it takes two teams to trade.
If they can’t make a useful trade, they just have to develop the young players they have and be patiently vigilant for a GOOD TRADE opportunity.
I know the FO is capable of holding their water until the opportunity shows up.
Fans and bloggers - not so much.
Most of this blog is still bitching about the Young-Garza trade about 2-3 years before anyone really will know the results of that trade.
dragon and jon: well said. last year a lot of the blog wanted wigginton real bad.
Mike wants wins,
I think you hit on the head. The Twins have prospects to trade, but they wont trade them.
Looking at the trades that have been made by other teams, we should be able to get Beltre for prospects…and prospects ONLY…or prospects and one of our fringe players like Boof.IMO, none of our core players should need to be included.
The Twins are one of the youngest teams in the league. We can afford to give up some prospects.
Jon has blind faith in the Twins front office, and blind faith is the crutch of the ignorant. with blind faith, you don’t have to think for yourself. You can just sit back and post “Go Twins!” all day, while seeing no faults in the way they are run.
Bill Brasky …your a dumb ass. Punto has the best glove in baseball and is batting near .300
jon apparently also believes that the Twins compete based on whether or not fans and bloggers are angry and disillusioned.
What decision do they have to make about Everett? It’s called the unconditional release. That is not a decision… that is divine intervention at this point.
After losing 5 in a row I am starting to sweat a little and agree that after Liriano’s start in AAA tomorrow we need to get him up here to make that next start. The Twins have given Livan two more starts, and he has looked terrible in both of those starts. I’m a Livan Hernandez fan from his days back with the Marlins… He has done his best here, and his numbers are in some ways much better than his ERA reflects, and in some ways amazing considering his ERA… I think he would make a National League team a solid asset, and we could make a trade with a team like the Cardinals, Arizona, or the Dodgers who all might be willing to take a low risk flyer on Livan Hernandez for the rest of the season.
Hey,BC Beneke like your comments about trading Livan. Im convinced he is still tradeable. Now all you have to do is convince(BS)Bill Smith Twins GM to do it…
You’ve got to be kidding,
“Jon has blind faith in the Twins front office……while seeing no faults in the way they are run.”
Its not “blind” faith.
It is perfect vision that tells me they have won four division titles in the last six years and two World Championships in the last 20 years on a shoestring budget.
Compare that to the Vikes, Wolves, Wild, or whoever.
I would have to be blind to believe the stupid posters who know less than I do, but tell me that THEY know more than the Twins Front Office.
