Tuesday’s short hops
Posted on July 7th, 2009 – 8:56 AMBy Joe Christensen
1. That’s three straight losses for the Tigers, pulling the Twins within 1 1/2 games of first place. Armando Galarraga overcame his recent struggles and tossed seven strong innings Monday, but the Royals scored two off Joel Zumaya before Mike Jacobs hit his game-winning homer off closer Fernando Rodney.
Tonight, the Tigers will send Justin Verlander to the mound, opposite Kansas City’s Bruce Chen. It’ll be Luke French vs. Zack Greinke on Wednesday.
2. Jesse Crain had his best outing since reporting to Class AAA Rochester on Monday night, though it came against last-place Buffalo. The righthander held the Bison hitless for 2 2/3 innings, allowing one walk and notching two strikeouts, earning his first Triple-A victory since 2004 and lowering his ERA to 3.72. Crain threw 19 of his 30 pitches for strikes.
3. Tonight, the Twins will face C.C. Sabathia for the first time since June 10, 2008, when he fired a five-hit shutout against them in Cleveland. It’s time to dust off some career numbers against Sabathia, and they aren’t pretty:
Michael Cuddyer 10-for-49 (.204)
Justin Morneau 6-for-36, with 1 HR (.167)
Joe Crede 6-for-38 (.158)
Nick Punto 6-for-35 (.171)
Joe Mauer 5-for-20 (.250)
Brendan Harris 3-for-12 (.250)
Delmon Young 2-for-12 (.167)
Carlos Gomez 1-for-4 (.250)
Jason Kubel 0-for-2 (.000)
OK, but someone explain these: Mike Redmond 13-for-26 (.500); Alexi Casilla 9-for-13 (.692).
Redmond hopes to be ready tonight after being out with a bruised right forearm, and Casilla is at Rochester, where he went 3-for-5 on Monday, raising his average to .343.
112 Responses to "Tuesday’s short hops"
i’m a little concerned by all the wrist injuries and pulled groins. what are these guys doing in the clubhouse?
I’d do:
LF Span
SS Harris
DH Mauer
1B Morneau
RF Cuddyer
3B Crede
CF Gomez
C Redmond
2B Tolbert
Think Gardy will “play the numbers” tonight and have Redmond start behind the plate with Mauer DHing?
Wow. Those numbers a brutal. Hopfully Bakey can pitch a gem and we can scratch a few across.
While those Twin BAAs vs. Sabathia are ugly, that is the norm. In a quirk, both Sabathia’s career (vs. everybody) and vs Twins BAA is .246. The point being: Sabathia is tough and poor performance is to be expected. Clearly, small sample sizes abound (for the listed players) and a regression towards the mean (.246 BA) may reasonably be expected.
Young will be in the lineup one way or another tonight. It will be more like this:
Span
Harris
Mauer
Morneau
Cuddyer
Crede
Young
Redmond
Punto
I would stick with Mauer at Catcher and have Kubel DH… 2 PAs is a TINY sample size. I don’t think Redmond’s bat is gonna make that much of a difference in the lineup regardless of his success versus CC. It’s probably 13 right field singles!
We need Crain to figure things out, we need his power right arm in our pen for the stretch run. I have little faith that BS will make a significant signing this month.
Kubel can’t hit mediocre lefties. Sabathia would carve him up.
Benny,
Good point I hand a brain lapse and forgot CC is a lefty. My bad. So I guess either Redmond catching and Mauer DH or have (gulp!) Delmon DH. Yikes.
I guess with those options I’ll have Redmond in the lineup after all.
Man, still dreaming of what a .343 hitting Casilla would mean to the Twins. Still the biggest disappointment so far this year but hopefully the biggest spark the rest of the year.
a good night to go with last yrs outfield and dh cuddy. save kubel for ph against hughes or that closer guy they have.
Nothing wrong with the way Young has been hitting lately. Still bumming that he fell about 2 feet from winning the Detroit opener but he has been looking pretty good. He has as good a chance as anyone against CC. It will be a tough game. I hope we are up for the challenge.
gobbledygookguy,
Why DH Cuddy and play Young in the field? Span, Gomez, Cuddy is a better outfield than Young, Gomez, Span! DH Young instead if thats the option.
Des,
Delmon has looked better lately, but he is such a head case; I’m not sure what 3 Ks versus CC (which is somewhat likely) will do to his confidence.
The other option is to DH Mauer and have Morales catch…especially since Red-dog has that bone bruise.
Definitely load the lineup with righties against Sabathia. Also, I want Mauer behind the plate all three games (if possible) against what is arguably the best lineup in baseball.
That’s fer sure, OB. If we stay close maybe we can ph some lefties against that closer guy they have. If not, we can lose the first one and take the next two!
twinsfiend sounds like you just want to find stuff wrong with dy. to your points; dy is hitting .322 in the last month and we need him if we are to make a serious run.
imo he and cuddy are about the same in the of and i know you don’t agree.
it is conventional wisdom that it’s easier for a veteran to dh than a younger player.
doesn’t hurt for cuddy to save his legs once in a while it’s a long season and his 11 k’s in 49 ab’s against cc?
It should be noted that during Sabathia’s career at the Metrodome, the Twins have hit .256 against him. Also he has given up more doubles and walked more batters at the dome than at any other stadium, outside of Cleveland.
opposite Kansas City’s Bruce Chen.
Wait wait wait…is that the same Bruce Chen that floundered as a closer in Baltimore? Because I distinctly remember Morneau ripping a 12th inning homer off of him at a game a few years back.
As far as lineups against Sabathia, since everybody sucks against him you have to go with the regular lineup that’s been winning for the most part.
Span CF
Mauer C
Morneau 1B
Kubel DH
Crede 3B
Cuddyer RF
Young LF
Harris SS
Punto 2B
I only moved Harris down because I’m getting the feeling the shine from his stretch as a decent #2/#1 guy while Span was down is fading.
Kubel can’t touch LHPs T. I say go with the best defensive OF (Span, Go-Go, Cuddy) and DH DY.
I’d say…
Span LF
Mauer C
Cuddy RF
Morneau 1B
Crede 3B
Young DH
Harris SS
Go-Go CF
Punto 2B
…but it won’t happen.
OB,
I agree with your lineup, but you should flip-flop Go-Go and Punto. Punto is hitting .348 this season when he bats eighth.
Works for me ES16.
Kubel will probably not be in the lineup tonight. I am guessing Young will DH and Gomez will play CF.
Lead off with Span and Go-Go and bunt? CC doesn’t like that. Get him off his game?
No reason for Kubel to be in there tonight. He can’t hit lefties in general, why would he be able it hit Sabathia, sample size or not? DH’ing Mauer with Redmond at catcher makes too much sense not to do it, and 13 for 26 is not a small sample size. I also think it’s a good day to get Span a day off. Let GoGo lead off, bunt and try to irritate Sabathia into a lather.
Gomez, CF
Harris, SS
Mauer, DH
Morneau, 1B
Cuddyer, RF
Young, LF
Redmond, C
Crede, 3B
Tolbert, 2B
Time to get into CC’s head again - bunt early and often.
Bunting is a good strategy. Distract CC and make him move. Soft bunts down the first base line. Hopefully, Baker is on and we only need a couple.
Pissing off CC is the reason I have Gomez, Span, and Tolbert in my proposed line up. I was even tempted to bench Harris too and keep Punto in and let it be the new wave of Pirahna night.
Yanks lost the last two to the Jays and are grumpy. Jeter got thrown out of the game Monday, which is rare for him. He evidentally didn’t know a rule or something. I think the rule is they don’t replay outs at third when you do something stupid.
Shaun on the radio today they were talking about the yankees game last night. Jeter got called out trying to steal 3rd and he thought he missed the tag so he argued with the ump and apparently the ump said he didn’t need to be tagged to be out. That’s what Jeter said he heard.
Yes, replays show a lot of missed sweep tags at third over the years and the runner is still called out. It must be a super secret rule that just the umps know about.
Span LF
Harris SS
Mauer C
Morneau 1B
Cuddyer RF
Crede 3B
Young DH
Tolbert 2B
Gomez CF
Kubel can Pinch hit for Gomez late in the game once Sabathia is out. I agree bunt early and often. Force CC to move off the mound.
Mike Lamb with a triple off Delaney. Get that man on the payroll!
“the ump said he didn’t need to be tagged to be out.”
That is the policy, but the umpire should never have said it.
If the throw and the tag beat the runner, the umpire is usually going to call the runner out, even if the tag is missed. (and Jeter knows it)
But for the umpire to say that out loud is stupid on his part.
The umpire’s rehearsed-robotic argument has always been “the tag beat you”.
At umpire’s meetings, the direction is to call the runner out, because the umpire is the only non-player in a crowd of 50,000 who knows that the tag was missed.
I am in no way justifying that type of thinking.
I am just repeating what I have heard is “policy”.
I’ve always believed that also, sane. Same applies with the “neighborhood” double plays at second.
Shaun,
“Same applies with the “neighborhood” double plays at second.”
Exactly!
But the umpire should NEVER SAY “the SS/2B does NOT HAVE TO TOUCH THE BAG”,
as if that is the rule. (because that is NOT the rule)
The umpire should say only “the throw beat the runner, so the runner is out”.
THAT is a rule.
That’s how i saw it as well sane and i believe the umpire did say that or Jeter would not have got so upset.
I just hope everyone is ready for the band wagon to start filling up after our boys sweep the yankees. Let’s go Twins.
Red Dog and Joe must bat. Figure it out from there.
In other words, an umpire should never use the “policy” as an argument. (if the policy differs from the rule)
That will always get the umpire in trouble and will make his call vulnerable to a protest and a reversal.
Because the bad call happened at the expense of Jeter and the Yankees it’s the greatest crime against humanity in history, according to ESPN.
If that play happened in a Twins game they would probably show the replay, say something droll and get on with their lives.
…unless it happened in favor of the Twins at the expense of the Yankees or Red Sox.
twins would be best served by forgetting about revenge as a motivation and simply focus on the task at hand and maybe win 3of 4 from them damn yankees, time for all starters to heat it up consistently throughout the rest of the year twins really will need them. and yo adrian or i mean delmon keep open to feedback even if it all doesnt work like you want it to we need your bat the second half really bad!
Jeter’s been around long enough to know how those things are called. He was an idiot for making the first out at 3B and if the best argument he can make is, “I was out by so much that the guy caught the ball, put the glove down to the bag and pulled it away again before I even got close enough to the base to be tagged,” he might want to just shut up.
Why did you have to go and mention Jesse Crain? I was having a great day until that. Others have written that they want him back, or the Twins NEED him back. IMO, the Twins bullpen has been much improved without him, and my enjoyment of Twins games - as well as my blood pressure, has been so calm, peaceful and enjoyable since his departure. Jesse Crain out of sight, out of mind, out of bullpen has done wonders of good for me!
“it’s the greatest crime against humanity in history, according to ESPN.”
If ESPN actually understood baseball “policy” and rules, they would calm down.
But, either they don’t understand, or they actually want to wallow in the controversy for financial reasons (ie., “Don’t upset 30 million Yankee fans”)
Just dreaming: Twins sign E.J. Henderson to the roster. Pinch run him from first. Batter hits slow roller up the middle, drawing both SS and 2B. Runner blows up double play with no slide. Two Yankees fly 12 feet high in the air like bowling pins. Was entertaining anyway.
No network ever went broke by stirring up the passion of Yankee fans.
Jeter’s been around long enough to know how those things are called
Exactly. ANY middle infielder who has been in pro ball for more than a week knows how these things are routinely called.
Jeter is slowing down, he never would have been beat by that throw in the past.
A another note, this series presents Twins fans the last chance to watch the Yankees in the great indoors.
I remember a Ron Davis meltdown against NY around ‘85. Dave Winfield hit a bomb over the plexi.
And to think that people are scared of little ol’ Jesse Crain…
Who else has a favorite “Yankees under Teflon” moment?
I don’t think Mauer will DH after two days rest. Also, after Delmon’s good game on Sunday I would expect him to be on the bench tonight.
Sorry Joe, but it is a case of small sample sizes. Redmond also has a great batting average against Tom Glavine in his career, but that doesn’t mean that he’d be able to sustain it. (I strongly recommend picking up the book “Baseball Between The Numbers,” it has a section that talks about Redmond and Glavine.
heetcpa, you do realize that except for ‘07 and ‘09, Crain has been a GREAT reliever for the Twins, right? Hell, just go to his career numbers and tell me what exactly is so bad about him, and don’t even try to mention that 2/12 saves/save opportunities when he’s never closed for the Twins: http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=430884
I hope Gomez bunts and slides head first into Texiera
“Yankees under Teflon” moment
Twins fans booed Chuck Knoblauch. Yes Chuck Knoblauch! He helped us win a World Championship, and we booed him! TK said if you watch him play every day you can tell he’s a great player. What’s funny is in New York he had trouble with the throw from second to first, which has got to be humiliating.
It’s a stupid policy. This “close” stuff and “he earned the call stuff” is what makes me less of a fan of all sports as time goes on. Either the play was made, or it wasn’t made. Either it was a strike (for any hitter/pitcher) or it wasn’t. Every player should play by the same rules, and the rules should be enforced evenly. Ideally, they should also be enforced as closely to the rules as possible.
The purity of the rules is one of golf’s few advantages over other sports.
Right, Mike. And replays aren’t the answer either, as evidenced by the Super Bowl. Many think the toe never touched and have photoshopped, er, I mean “photos” to prove it.
Sabathia is a fat tub-a-lard and the Twins are going to shell him and the Yanks. Sweeping the series and sending them back to NY to wallow with the beaten battered and underachieving Mets. All the over paid fatties please stand up!
Every player should play by the same rules, and the rules should be enforced evenly. Ideally, they should also be enforced as closely to the rules as possible.
I think they do play by the same rules. And I think it is enforced as closely as possible.
It’s a very difficult call for an umpire, in real time, to determine if a tag was made six inches from the bag, with a runner sliding in at full speed. VERY difficult. Rather than trying to guess–pretty much every time–whether the tag was made, you have a simple, easy to follow, known-by-everybody ‘guideline’ that says if the ball beats the runner, and the fielder cleanly handles teh ball and gets his glove down, the runner’s out.
There’d be no fewer arguments, and no fewer incorrect calls, if umps tried to put their nose 2 feet from the bag at second on every slide to try to see the tag on every play.
Same with the ‘vicinity’ play on a forceout at second. As long as it’s not egregious, it keeps players safer and is applied evenly to both teams. If someone grossly misses the bag, umpires routinely call the runner safe.
mike,
“The purity of the rules is one of golf’s few advantages over other sports.”
For some of the guys that I have golfed with, their best club in the weeds was their kicking shoe.
And addition by subtraction was a scorekeeping technique.
It’s not as “pure” as you may think.
Shaun,
Booing Chuck Knoblauch. I forgot about that one. Did he ever get over his throwing “yips”?
i don’t think so. they booed him in new york also and he finally retired (rich)
Because the bad call happened at the expense of Jeter and the Yankees it’s the greatest crime against humanity in history, according to ESPN.
If last year’s overreaction from the Mets/Yankees “Homerun” Call is any indication, we’ll have replay enforced on close plays at the plate by the end of the season.
On the plus side, Baker is a Yankee killer. I remember in 2006 he only had two really great outings all year, and they came against the Yanks.
I’m ready for Casilla to come back.
That’s good news, Icon. Good matchup tonight then, Yanks are 8-2 in their last ten, Twins are 7-3. Yanks one game out, Twins are a game and a half back.
chuck was another juicer and i don’t feel one bit bad about the night that torre pulled the yankees off the field as batteries rained down on knoblauch from the left field seats…sorry that’s my moment
For his career Baker has held the Yankees to a .128/.209/.179 line.
Though that is in 2 starts. And Teixeira is 2 for 5 with a home run against him.
I dont really care if Casillia makes the occasional mental error, I have finally had my fill of Punto as a starter. The guy is a head case and lacks the consistent confidence to be a good hitter. I love his glove but something has to be done with his bat. I dont know how he manages to hit so many fly balls to the opposite field. He should teach Morneau his swing because his fly balls would leave most parks..haha.
JimC and Chief, come on guys you both just hate Jeter and the Yankees. What would you be saying if that happend to Joey Ballgame????
Bryz,
It’s never good when you have to preface your argument with “except for”. Are you looking at pre-surgery/ability changing stats? Do those stats put back 1/2 degree of bend or movement on his fastball in the future?
Except for ‘04, ‘05, ‘07, and ‘08, Michael Cuddyer has been one of the Twin’s most consistent power run producers.
hook10:
What about Puckett?
What would you be saying if that happend to Joey Ballgame????
I can’t speak for JimC, but I would be saying the exact same thing.
In the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, if the ball beats the runner on a tag play he’s going to be called out, whether it’s Jeter, “Joey Ballgame,” or some nobody just up from the bushes. And I don’t have a problem with that.
i don’t feel one bit bad about the night that torre pulled the yankees off the field as batteries rained down on knoblauch from the left field seats…
You stay classy.
hook 10,
Good one… I thought it was hot dogs that rained down from the seats.
I guess batteries would hurt more…
I almost forgot about Knobs being on the juice. Who said the steroid era never helped the Twins!
Maybe we could have a “Chuck Knoblach
Bobblehead Night” in honor of his WS
performance?
Yeah chin. a “Knoblehead” night.
Or, Shaun… “Knothead” night.
Batteries from the upper deck, just another example of how many idiots watch games at the dome. I bet you half the people throwing stuff didnt even know who he was. After that Im guessing they started the wave.
Yeah Shaun, we he gets named as the “greatest 2B on the all-time, all-Dome Team”!
Unless of course it’s John Castino…
I found this:
” This included throwing hot dogs, beer bottles and golf balls at Knoblauch during a visit to the Metrodome in 2001.”
No Duracells.
I am pleading all Twins fans to please leave the “wave” at the dome in ‘10.
Along with Rich Becker sightings…
bob, I agree with Chief. Yes I hate the Yankees and I think that Jeter is vastly over rated at this point in his career. But anyone… anyone… who has been around the professional game as long as he has (and especially any infielder who’s benefited over the years from “phantom tag” calls on attempted stolen bases as long as he has) knows how the play is called.
He was embarassed (rightfully so) by having made a boneheaded play and instead of manning up and admitting it, he whined about being a victim of a “bad call.” In other words, he showed the kind of class that we expect of every Yankee and every fan of that team.
I hate the wave. Apparently I’m in the minority because all the ya-hoos around me always get up for the stupid thing.
I knew there were hot dogs involved!
Must have been $1 dollar dog” night…
I believe its been mentioned but the only egregious thing about the Jeter call at 3rd, to me, is the amount of play it gets. Blown calls happen every day. Only when it occurs to a handful of teams or players does it become controversy. I lay the blame for that on ESPN (although it is what their bigwigs get paid for).
re: the wave
I find it a mild annoyance, depending on the circumstance of the game going on at the time (you simply DON’T do it while the home team is at bat because you don’t want your hitters distracted by it as the pitch comes in).
If it makes you feel any better, it’s not just Twins fans doing the silly thing. Cardinal fans did the wave at Busch Stadium when I was down there for the Twins games a couple weekends ago, too.
You’re not alone Benny. I suppose I may have been indoctrinated, but my father instilled in me a deep dislike of the wave when I was 3 or 4. It may be petty, but I grimace whenever I view such spectacle.
I am going to promote an “ESPN BobbleHead Night”. Order from any vendor by just yelling….”A$$hole on a Stick, Please!”
JimCrikket, really? I thought the Twins were the only team in baseball with fans that still did it. That is suprising that Cardinals fans would do it too.
bob… Well there were a LOT of Twins fans in Busch Stadium that weekend. I suppose it’s POSSIBLE they started it… and the St. Louis fans just went along with it in order to be friendly hosts?
Crain’s arm is gone. He’s history. He’ll never contribute anything meaningful to this organization again. Get rid of the guy, even if he is a good person.
Also, interesting numbers from the starters. Look at these numbers and figure out why we haven’t gone, say, 23-6 in the last month, especially with the potency of this line-ups top-seven:
In his last five starts, Frankie is 2-1 with a 3.77 ERA and 30 Ks.
In his last six starts, Baker is 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA and 35 Ks.
In his last four starts, Perkins is 3-1 with a 2.02 ERA
In his last nine starts, Blackie is 4-2 with a 1.88 ERA and three CGs.
These numbers suggest that the Twins problem with pulling away from the .500 mark may be bullpen and line-up, specifically the bottom of the line-up.
Now, what could we do if we had a real second baseman, an everyday left fielder that could hit (perhaps Delmon’s coming around?), and a couple of good relievers thrown into the bullpen ahead of Nathan?
I look at the wave the same way I look at “Circle Me Bert.”
At some point, some of us are going to have to become resigned to the fact that the Twins will not find 40,000 20-60 year old white males to fill Target Field every game, nor the numbers of such a demographic to attract advertisers to TV/radio broadcasts of games.
All teams need to do things and encourage things that make a 3 hour ballgame fun for other demographics, ESPECIALLY for kids because those kids will be the fans still around when we’re dead and buried.
So we have the wave, silly contests between innings, TC Bear, and broadcasters who become effusive over every remotely exciting play by the team that employs them.
I can live with that. 
Jim, I’d buy that if it were kids starting the wave. I always see some 40-year old drunk guy at Home Run Porch trying to get it started.
Jim- Maybe the “Big Sweat” brought the wave to St. Louis?
Dr- Before you crush Espy too much, just think about how much coverage they will devote to this series.
Of course, with just a slight NY bias…
Benny, you don’t think 40 yo drunk guys are an important demographic?
By most accounts,Kubel is as healthy as when he was mentioned in the same breath as the M@M boys as future stars.To take the next step he has to learn to hit lefties,even CC.Is Casilla the answer for the second half push?
I, for one, will be quite happy to see the attractive female-with-a bikini-top-on demographic return to the TC MLB market…
For between innings viewing, of course.
The TC Bear is a close second, though.
My point was simply that while I (and probably most of the people (regardless of race, creed or gender) who frequent Twins blogs) are perfectly happy sitting for 3 hours just watching a baseball game, there aren’t enough of us to fill stadiums and provide Nielsen Points.
There are always going to be a significant group for whom part of the fun of being at a ballgame includes dressing funny, posing for KissCam, holding up home made posters, and doing the wave. If that’s what it takes to get big crowds in to the ballpark, I’m ok with that.
I’ve sat in relative silence with only a couple of thousand fans before. No wave was attempted. Not much fun was had by anyone, actually, and certainly no money was made.
chinmusic, I noticed at Busch Stadium that their mascot “Fredbird” was constantly attended by several attractive women in shorts and tshirts. Maybe next year the Twins will throw a little something in the direction of us 20-60 year old males and give TC Bear some similar company?
JimCrikket,
Maybe the Twins should adopt some of the Saints’ sideshows at Target Field. How about some porcupine races. Imagine a drunk guy getting stuck with a quill and rolling around on the field in agonizing pain… Or how about a buffalo fighting contest. Give a drunk guy a plastic sword and a homer hanky and let him poke at the buffalo until it gets good and ticked off. The stands would be packed every night.
JimCrikket: Don’t be hatin’ on TC Bear!
JimCrikket,
You are on to something!
It is never too early to start thinking about upcoming promos for the new park. Oh, the possibilties are as endless as our “sky blue waters”!
Yes the twenty-something attractive bikini-toppers is the market group that is desired. That way the 40 yo drunk demographic will see a significant increase, thereby increasing revenue.
John, I would never hate on TC Bear! One of the things that made me smile the widest at Spring Training this past year was sitting in the Ft Myers sun and watching TC douse fans with his SuperSoaker squirt gun. I thought about how you sure won’t see that during the season at the Dome!
Ah… but NEXT year!
Shaun, you never know… it might also give the 40 yo drunk something to be destracted enough by that he’ll forget to start the wave!
ES 16,
Outstanding work!
Maybe they could sell neon balls for a dollar and(drunk)fans could throw ‘em at a poor Target executive who would be running the bases with a bullseye on his back!
Point taken JC. Tame, sanctioned spectacle is surely desired by many fans. But as this blog is starting to point out, some outlandish spectacle would truly be worth the price of admission.
who is dh’in tonight, Im going to puke if it is Red. I know kubel would probably take an 0-for but there is a chance he catches a hanging slider and puts it in the stands.
sane, I don’t know about you, but I don’t play golf professionally (unfortunately). I was on the course in WA this weekend playing casually when it occurred to me that we amatuers probably take the golf rules too seriously.
As for applied evenly, do you all believe that certain pitchers and hitters don’t have strike zone advantages? I almost quit watching baseball while Glavine was in his prime, getting pitches 8 inches off the plate called strikes. Sports should be played by the same rules for all, then you can see who’s really the best (or sometimes the luckiest).
I realize not everyone shares my belief, or the NBA wouldn’t be so popular and officiated the way it is.
Lala,
We have won 7 out of hte last 8 series we have played. Perhaps starting pitching is the reason we are turning it around. Not saying we can’t improve elsewhere…but the Twins are winning and playing much better. Most of that was on the road too!
I think Gardy will actually play the numbers tonight (probably because it’s the Yankees) as opposed to going with this “gut”… Redmond should catch if he’s going to play and give Mauer another Day off, then he can play the next 5 in a row before the break… Young will most likely be in LF, with Span in CF… I hate seeing Kubel on the bench, but as long as Redmond doesn’t DH and is instead catching, I can live with it… Mind you, Kubel will be the 1st one off the bench in any PH situation, or should be… Who’s doing lineups today, Joe C or LaVelle?
Span CF
Harris SS
Mauer DH
Morneau 1B
Cuddyer RF
Crede 3B
Young LF
Redmond C
Punto 2B
Although giving Morales a shot at catching wouldn’t be a bad idea, since he’s also a better bat than Redmond and would also give him another day to rest… we shall see.
I don’t think there’s any way a healthy Mauer doesn’t catch game 1 of this series after a day off yesterday. I’d assume you’re going to see a pretty normal RH-hitting lineup tonight.
Span
Harris
Mauer
Morneau
Cuddyer
Crede
Young DH
Gomez
Punto
JimC is right unless gardy gets crazy and gives Kubes a chance vs cc. then take out gomez put young in lf and dh kubes
