Twins-Tribe: Could tonight be the night?
Posted on August 2nd, 2008 – 5:04 PMBy La Velle
The Royals beat the White Sox 9-7 this afternoon, so the Twins can move into first place tonight with a win over Cleveland.
No Gardy tonight, as I posted earlier. He didn’t even do an official pre-game presser. I guess he really didn’t want to talk about his suspension. So I will.
You had to guess Gardy was in trouble for getting the fans fired up enough to toss things on the field following his seventh-inning rant on Thursday. But the White Sox may deserve some of the blame.
Two players and two coaches confirmed that they saw White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen laugh after Gardy kicked his cap, then Guillen and other Chicago coaches tossed their hats out in front of the visitor’s dugout.
It sounds like it was all in good fun, but the Twins believe the two events led to fans tossing stuff on the field, not just Gardy’s actions. The club feels Gardy shouldn’t have to serve a suspension. Personally, I felt the league was going to come down on Gardy as soon as Guillen pulled his team off the field.
On to other stuff
Michael Cuddyer looks on his way to Class AAA Rochester on Monday for a bunch of rehab games, then will join the team when it returns from next week’s road trip to Seattle and Kansas City.
Mauer hit some bombs today during batting practice. He must be feeling pretty good.
Was told that Francisco Liriano had an excellent bullpen session on Friday. Pitching coach Rick Anderson said Liriano’s confidence, command and trust in his stuff are all back.
My flight to Seattle leaves at 2 p.m. Sunday, so I’m going to miss the game. I’m really bummed out about that.
Lineups
Tribe (47-61): 1. Grady Sizemore, CF. 2. David Dellucci, DH. 3. Ben Francisco, RF. 4. Jhonny Peralta, SS. 5. Shin-Soo Choo, LF. 6. Kelly Shoppach, C. 7. Ryan Garko, 1B. 8. Andy Marte, 3B. 9. Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B. Pitching: Paul Byrd.
Twins (61-48): 1. Denard Span, RF. 2. Nick Punto, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Jason Kubel, DH. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brian Buscher, 3B. 8. Brendan Harris. SS. 9. Carlos Gomez, CF. Pitching: Kevin Slowey.
129 Responses to "Twins-Tribe: Could tonight be the night?"
La Velle shouldn’t the league at least fin Ozzie for yealling at some fans?
LEN3, I have to agree with dano. I don’t know if Guillen and Co. were throwing stuff, but Ozzie definately needs some sort of punishment for getting into it with a fan.
I always thought that was Rule #1 when it came to pro-ball.
I just saw that score and I am excited for tonight. I know Paul Byrd was tough on the Twins last year but I hope he has another poor outing this year…
Since the KC game will likely be over before the Twins take the field, the scoreboard should be enough to light this team up tonight.
They were on the radio last night talking about attendence, and they couldn’t figure out why Wednesday’s game had such a high turnout comparred to Thursday.
I was like “DUH!”
Everybody showed up Wednesday because a win puts the Twins ahead of the Sox. I expect with the way the Sox game is going that the Twins could have a pretty big walk up tonight!
KC just gave up back-to-back jacks, so I hope they can hold on and get 5 more outs…
Mahay is dieing out there for KC…
Yea I believe Guillen should get somethibng for getting into it with a fan. And provoking the fans to throw caps, is not a good thing. The league SHOULD look into it.
T,
“Ozzie definately needs some sort of punishment for getting into it with a fan. I always thought that was Rule #1 when it came to pro-ball.”
If Ozzie GOES INTO THE STANDS to get into it with a fan, THATS a Rule#1 violation.
The field and the dugout (and the court/ice and the bench) belong to the participants.
The stands belong to the fans.
Ozzie may have been warning the fan what might happen if he came onto the field.
sane, the reason I think Ozzie needs some sort of punishment is because of how they’re wording the whole Gardy thing.
If he’s truly being punished for “firing up fans” or “inciting a riot” or whatever the call is, then what is it if a coach/player starts yelling at a fan?
Great, 8-6 in the top of the 8th…
Friggin’ Royals bullpen.
Not so fast! The Sox will probably tie or go ahead. Five straight have reached, tying run on second with one out in the eighth.
While temporary, I thought the Twins might be tied for first for a bit, but now it looks like the Royals are ready to flush their game away…
Runners on second and third for the Sox down two with one out. Man the Royals suck.
Yay, Soria in the eighth…
I was surprised that the fan hanging over the dugout roof for an extended period should have been ejected.
Gardy was lucky he didn’t do his number on the road. Then he could have been indicted for crossing state lines to incite a riot. In the Vietnam era that was a federal offense!
That at bat was way too long for me
HR, go Royals!
Sox has a good bullpen and I love it!
T,
“Gardenhire was suspended after he kicked his hat in disgust following his ejection in the seventh inning”
Thats what LaVelle’s lead paragraph said.
If that is the ACTUAL reason for the suspension, then I agree with you.
Its my experience (NOT INVOLVING ME!),however, that the real violation was not leaving the field in a timely /orderly manner after his ejection. That is the normal cause for an ejection leading to a fine or ejection.
Ozzie was not ejected (for arguing) so his behavior is not as closely restricted as was Gardy’s AFTER HIS EJECTION.
My bad!
I meant:
That is the normal cause for an ejection leading to a fine or SUSPENSION.
Twins are three outs away from being in first…
Nice DP
Game over, Twins are tied for FIRST!!!
The Twins are now in first!
Noticed that Grudzielanek was placed in the DL with leg issues today?
Sprained ankle I guess
“Noticed that Grudzielanek was placed in the DL with leg issues today?
Yeah.
Crap!
As the White Sox announcer would put it - YES! (Twins tied for first.)
Grudzielanek was injured in some kind of collision with Gload on Friday night. Though I never saw any discussion of it, I thought he would have been a nice fit to replace Lexi Castillo, assuming at the time that Castillo was done for the year. He is a free agent at the end of the year and had expressed a desire to be traded to a contender. I guess it’s a moot point now
The fans who threw balls onto the field are idiots. You can’t blame Gardy or Guillen for the fans actions.
Dave,
Plus Grudz was the AL leader in BA vs. LHP’s. Talk about filling a Twins need!
Bert just said Matt Guerrier is gone for awhile for personal reasons…anyone know why?
Something involving family. The kind of thing you don’t get a reason for.
I should say *publically* get a reason for.
Wow. Two bunts in a row. Now a Punto homer would be the icing. 
ok…I didnt here…thanks for the update…here we go…Go tWINs
Lets go Mauer!!!!4 in a row!
Great job by the speedsters it is a bunting frenzy out there!
Morneau hit it in the air. Towards the seats.
Lucky to get the sac fly. Geiko just shied away from warm up mound. I don’t know what he was worried about, he’s got good insurance.
(gieco, get it?)
If Kubel could play everyday…I know he stinks against lefties…he would have 25-30 Home Runs and at least 100 RBI’s HE might reach 20 HR only playing half the time…
mudcat…I am more of an aflac guy.
Mauer, Morny, and Kubel shoulda just kept bunting, I guess.
Hey Good Source, how was Sweeny’s? Mrs. Good Source glad you made it down?
Good one, Sourcie.
Yeah, it was ok. Too many people for me. Had a few Sam’s and came home
Oh boy, where is our solid defense?
Why aren’t Delmon and Morny letting Gomez and Span take those flies lately?
Dumb question. They let them have the ones you crash for.
If Morny was running at me, I would let him take it….
Gomez and Span have to be more aggressive in the outfield.
Morneau and Young are not athletic enough to make those plays easily.
Not confident in Slowey to pitch well tonight from what I have seen so far. Hope he proves me wrong.
Nora, considering what his defense has done this inning…I don’t think it’s all Slowey.
Great. Can’t blame the dense for the HR.
I mean defense, LOL
Should be out of the inning already. But still…ouch.
Blame that dense Shoppach.
I don’t like him.
It’s only a couple. Twins have scored more off better.
Learn from this inning and go back out there and get him.
Maybe, but Slowey still could have picked up the defense and he didn’t. Oh well, hopefully that is the end of the damage today.
Gotta be kidding! So close.
If Everett is DFA’d, his re[placement should not be Macri.
Alejandro Machado is hitting .354 at Rochester.
Macri is hitting .260 and dropping plus he is not a real SS.
Machado…was he a Rule 5 or one of the guys in a Lohse/Romero type trade?
Get this guy, and we’re OK. Four innings to score 3.
T,
Rule V
Someone try to catch Livan before he leaves town!!
Kidding!
I wished Slowey had proved me wrong. Argh
Slowey channeling his inner Livan
Slowey….
Why the heck isn’t Liri…oh wait.
Slowey and his penchant for giving up HRs.
Bean Shoppach and Delucci next time up.
My God, how can Slowey look so dominating in some games and so terrible in others? Does anyone recall if he’s pitched two impressive games in a row yet this year?
I saw this coming Slowey wasn’t giving up singles instead he was giving up doubles and HRs. Not sure we should count on Liriano tomorrow. We saw what happened to Carmona his 1st game back.
Not a time for bunting, Gomez.
Well, OK, try it.
“how can Slowey look so dominating in some games and so terrible in others?”
location
location, location, location.
That’s the three things you need to know about pitching and real estate.
sorry sane. i saw your answer.
Again, So close! Byrd is really getting lucky tonight.
Dick UNDERcalled Mauer flyball to CF.
Whodathunkit?
Mudcat,
No problem.
Weak minds think alike.
The adrenaline isn’t pumping as much tonight. On the field OR in the booth.
Throw some hats! LOL
Bean Shopbitch.
i don’t like him.
Nora!! SShhh!!
Sorry…we wouldn’t want to create another national incident, I guess.
Ulger has to get ejected to fire this team up!
Vavra can take over.
Byrd once again is really lucky. Alot of deep warning track flys.
Sometimes its not luck or umpiring or media conspiracy.
Sometimes they are the dog and we are the hydrant.
Hopefully not tonight.
“flys”?
(kidding)
Maybe they need to crank up the fans blowing out next inning and turn this place back into the homerdome!
We are getting covered in byrd sh-t!.
Byrd for whatever reason give Twins trouble most of the time. *sigh*
No kidding.
Sometimes they are the pigeons and we are the statue.
Mudcat,
“Sometimes they are the pigeons and we are the statue.”
Good job staying with my “theme”.
Could tonight be the night?
Not looking that way.
Sometimes they are the windshield and we are the “flys”…
quit it krissy. LMAO!
We miss Everett’s bat.
Bass masters them.
Sometimes they are a 16-wheeler and we are road-kill.
We’ve still got two more innings.
Sometimes the second mouse gets the cheese.
Sometimes they are the Indians and we are Custer.
I’d love to see Ruiz instead of Kubel facing the lefty there…
thrlos,
“I’d love to see Ruiz instead of Kubel facing the lefty there…”
If Gardy would have been the manager, we would have……….who am I kidding?
Gardy should have taken his suspension during the Yankee series.
Without him telling the players Yankee ghost stories, the Twins might win a game or two.
Mudcat,
“Sometimes the second mouse gets the cheese.”
You made that up, right?
No, sane, I did not. I stole it from this:
“The early BYRD gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”
I made this one up:
“If you come to a fork in the road, PICK IT UP!”
(no i didn’t but i wish i had)
tough loss. oh well, byrd (other than his previous start) has dominated the twins at the dome over the years so it’s not too surprising. the 2 homers off slowey were about 5 inches above the baggie, just tough luck. at least we didn’t lose any ground. they just need to go out and get the series tomorrow.
and whoever said, we shouldn’t count on liriano because it’s his first start, and carmona was bad after his first start. frankie’s been dominating AAA, while i don’t remember even hearing about carmona dominating in the minors before coming back. his sinker was M.I.A. which pretty much means fastballs right over the plate. liriano doesn’t rely on any sinkers.
Mudcat,
the fork quotation is from Yoggi Berra
Highlight of game: bert eating bugs
sad 
that was painful to watch rafi but everyone looses i guess
Yep, AJ, everyone looses sometimes.
But I have two questions, if I can quit giggling:
Does “Looses” rhyme with “juices”
and
Does “flys” rhyme with “Kris”?
i suppose it does
Ruiz the K out king……He struck out many times at AAA. Welcome to the bigs.
Buscher could have done no worse.
can ruiz play third or not because i’d rather have him play against lefties then everette with harris at short
The game did not go well in the home team clubhouse tonight.
Apparently, Gardy will miss tomorrow’s game, also.
Hangover.
AJ,
Not.
didnt think so but if he could it would increase his playing time
Mr whalefeet, As I recall, Carmona pitched two rehab games, 1 at A & 1 at AA, totalling 9 innings. Let’s hope Liriano is better prepared and ready to go. I think he is. Byrd has always been an irritant and lately has been pitching well.
Red Dog should have been stalking the byrd tonight.
Sane, Machado is hitting well, but he only played second base and DH. Macri has been playing all infield spots. Macri did well when he was in the majors. I would go with him first, but Machado might get a callup after Rochester finishes, if there is room on the 40-man roster.
The Twins need Cuddyer to get well in a hurry. Tolbert also, unless Casilla can play. If Casilla can’t play, Tolbert or Machado will have to replace him. Everett has no discernible hitting skills.
It was a generous gesture on the part of the Twins to bring Ruiz up as an interim player, until Cuddy returns. If Ruiz gets more than a dozen AB though, something is terribly wrong. Redmond should Kubel’s platoon partner, not Ruiz.
“Red Dog should have been stalking the byrd tonight.”
Yes, indeed.
According to mlb.com, Cuddy says he could be ready by next weekend vs. KC. Let’s hope so.
will the umpire be suspended for making such a bad call? The real source of the problem was that he must not have been looking at the play. Worst call of that kind i have seen in decades
You gotta think that now the White Sox outfield is now the slowest, worst defensive outfield in major leage baseball. Quinton/Griffey/Dye, thats painful.
I really hope the Twins can get in front of the Sox by the end of the week. Because I think the Vikings are like 72 hours away from starting QB Brett Favre throwing on the purple/gold.
If that happens, Twins could win the Series and they still won’t talk about them.
Can’t believe no one posted about the Twins being in first place, so I guess I will.
THE TWINS ARE IN FIRST PLACE!!!
Anyway, Liriano looked pretty good. Not 2006 good mind you, but pretty good.
The positives: He didn’t allow a run. He over came an error and a bad play. He only gave up 3 hits. He made pitches when it counted.
The negatives: He walked 3. He struggled with control at times. He had many 3 ball counts. Had a (somewhat) high pitch count in the 6th inning. His velocity was down slightly. And, lest we forget, he was facing a (very) bad and (honestly) weak lineup.
Overall: Definitely a solid outing, and while it could have gone better, went about as well as one could hope for a first outing. Major points for a shut out. A very promising start, and I believe that he will get better as the season goes on- which is good because he will have to get better to beat playoff teams. Has the potential to be very dominating once again- and Possibly by the end of the season too. A major step forward today.
One man’s assessment and grade: B+
(Not A- because of the -’s I pointed out and the difficulty of team faced)
**The Twins should have made some kind of trade**
TK2 your negatives take on Lirianos performance are very good and exactly what I thought myself …. there is not much for hitting left in that Cleveland lineup except for Sizemore and he walked him twice and now Liriano will face KC next … another team with a weak lineup …. suppose it is good for him to start off facing weak hitting teams but with his control struggles yesterday if that would have been a top tier hitting team he might have had some trouble because he was not dominant and I actually felt he got a couple strikes called that bailed him out of a couple sticky situations and the Indian hitters swung at a lot of pitches that were well out of the strike zone …….. I’d give him a B- at best but it was a step in the right direction
