Twins Nation

The End

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:20:33 GMT

The Twins 2009 season and the Metrodome era finally came to an end on Sunday night with the Yankees completing the sweep of the Twins with a 4-1 victory. Carl Pavano pitched his best game as a Twin, but was ultimately tagged for 2 solo home runs in the 7th inning. Nick Punto made a costly out on the basepaths, running through Scott Ulger's stop sign, but in the end the Twins just couldn't muster enough offense to compete with the Yankees.

The Twins defied expectations by making it to the playoffs this year. With 87 wins, the team played up to their potential, but sub-par years from Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland allowed the Twins to become a playoff team. The Team played its first month without Joe Mauer and its last month without Justin Morneau. Kevin Slowey was lost for the season and Francisco Liriano failed to return to his pre-inury form. They lost on the bet they made with Joe Crede's health and failed to see any improvement from Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez. Despite all that, they made the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.

The Twins should enter 2010 with a stronger bullpen than they started 2009 with. Jon Rauch is signed for next season, and the Twins could benefit from the return of Pat Neshek. They should start the season with their entire core of big boppers--Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel. The team has an opportunity to make a few key off season signings and really position themselves for a playoff run in 2010--the inaugural year of Target field.

Let's hope they have an active off season.

ALDS Game 3 Preview

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:18:00 GMT

The Twins enter game 3 of the AL Division Series down 2 games to none to the high powered Yankees. They'll try to leave the controversy of Friday night's game behind them and hope that the Metrodome magic can, once again, propel them to victory with their backs against a wall.

The Twins will send mid-season acquisition, Carl Pavano, to the mound. Pavano spent 4 injury plagued seasons in New York before the team cut ties with him. His mound opponent will be 38 year-old lefty Andy Pettitte. It seems like the Twins always struggle against left-handed pitchers, but the team, as a whole, has actually hit left-handed pitching slightly better than right-handed pitching this year.

2009 Twins vs. LHP: .285/.344/.441
2009 Twins vs. RHP: .269/.345/.423

The Twins faced Pettitte once this year, managing 12 hits and 4 runs on him in 6 2/3 innings. The Yankees won that game by a score of 7-6, thanks to 6 first inning runs against Glen Perkins. In 2008, the Twins also faced Pettitte and again scored 4 runs against in through 7 innings.

Pavano has had some recent luck against the Yankees lineup. While still with the Indians, he posted a 2.70 ERA and an 8.0 SO/BB ratio in 13.1 innings. Those 2 starts came in April and May. After a nice month of August, Pavano fell back to earth, posting a 5.06 ERA in the final month of the season. In his last outing he allowed 4 runs through 5 2/3 innings to the Royals on the last day of the season when the Twins offense scored 13 runs.

It will be interesting to see what Ron Gardenhire does with the lineup today. Matt Tolbert was put on the disabled list after Friday night's game and Brian Buscher was activated. Brendan Harris had a couple big hits on Friday, so I'd expect him to get the start at 3B. Buscher could be a decent option to pinch hit considering the Twins lack of depth on the bench.

Carlos Gomez got the start in CF on Friday, and obviously made a costly baserunning mistake. His defense could be helpful with Pavano, a fly ball pitcher, on the mound, but I suspect Gardy will revert back to a Delmon Young, Denard Span and Jason Kubel outfield--not that I agree with that.

It was reported yesterday that Joe Mauer has been suffering from a sore hip flexor recently, but he will still be behind the plate tonight.

Winning tonight would force a game 4 on Monday night. Losing would finally close out the Twins' Metrodome era. With unseasonably low temperatures expected to be in the 30's at game time, I'm glad this one's still being played in the dome.

Is Nathan getting a bad rap?

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:15:00 GMT

Since Joe Nathan's 9th inning meltdown last night, I've seen numerous claims of Nathan being bad under pressure, or bad in the postseason. I'm not convinced there's enough evidence to support such a claim.

I feel like calling Nathan a postseason choker is about as valid as when Alex Rodriguez was criticized for not being clutch (look at him now). The postseason is a small sample size that's intensely magnified.

Looking at Nathan's postseason record, I see just 2 games out of 5 since he's become a Twins that couldn't be considered good outings. In 2004 he allowed 2 runs through 2 1/3 innings in a game the Twins lost by 1. That outing, however was surrounded by a perfect inning of pitching in a 2-0 Twins victory and a scoreless 1 2/3 inning in the game 4 loss. In 2006 he through a wild pitch allowing Juan Rincon's baserunner to score, but completed the inning without further damage in a game the Twins lost by 3.

And then, of course, there was last night.

I'm not going to argue that Nathan has a good postseason track record, but I wouldn't be surprised if he goes 5 for 5 in his next postseason outings, and then everyone would be calling him a big-game closer. Nathan has enough of a regular season track record (through 6 seasons!) that I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Foul

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:48:00 GMT

Friday night's game 2 of the ALDS was every bit as disappointing as Tuesday's tie-breaker game was satisfying. For multiple reasons the Twins lost the game by a single run when Mark Texeira hit an 11th inning walk-off home run down the left field line. Prior to that the Twins had a couple opportunities to seal a victory.

In the fourth inning Carlos Gomez was caught off second after a Matt Tolbert single to center. Delmon Young was coming around to score easily, but Gomez was tagged before Young crossed the plate, ending the inning with no runs for the Twins. Gomez had no business rounding second on that play, but even after making that mistake he should have kept going, allowing Young enough time to score.

Despite losing that run, the Twins managed to bring a 3-1 lead into the 9th inning for closer Joe Nathan. Nathan promptly gave up a sharply hit single to Texeira following by a 2-run, game tying, home run by Alex Rodriguez to center field. Nathan managed to get the next 3 batters out, but the game headed into extra innings.

In the 10th inning, Nick Punto drew a 2-out walk and then Denard Span singled him over to 3rd. Needing a base hit to score a run, Orlando Cabrera flied out to end the inning.

In the 11th inning, the biggest controversy of the season struck the Twins. Mauer hit a ball down the left field line and replays clearly showed it hitting off Melky Cabrera's glove, then landing within a foot of fair territory before bouncing into the stands for what should have been a leadoff ground rule double. The umpire, Phil Cuzzi, while standing in plain view of the play, somehow managed to call it foul.

Mauer followed up the missed call with a single and Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer followed up with singles of their own to load the bases. Delmon Young lined out, Gomez grounded out and Brendan Harris flied out to end the inning with no outs. Not scoring with bases loaded and no outs is almost as inexcusable as missing an obvious and simple call. At that point, I think every Twins fan knew it was over.

Texeira hit his home run in the leadoff at-bat of the bottom of that inning, and just like that the Yankees lead the series 2-0.

I'm not an advocate of instant replay in baseball, but plays like tonight's in high profile games seriously make me re-think my position. What do you think, will this play lead to the expansion of MLB's instant replay to include more than just home run calls next season?

Beat down by the big guys

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:01:22 GMT

The Twins were beat handily in the opening series of the ALDS by a few of the biggest names on the team. C.C. Sabathia pitched almost 7 strong innings. The Twins got to him for 8 hits, but Sabathia got the big outs when he needed them and didn't walk any Twins.

The Twins scored first with 2 runs in the 3rd inning, but the Yankees struck back immediately in the bottom of that inning with a 2-run home run from Derek Jeter. Jeter reached base in all 4 of his plate appearances, getting 2 hits and drawing 2 walks. Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui also had 2 RBI a piece.

The Twins are now 0-8 against the Yankees this season, and Friday's game becomes almost a must-win. They'd like to come back to the Metrodome with a 1-1 split to give them a fair chance of winning the series. Nick Blackburn will face A.J. Burnett in the 2nd game of the series.

Trying to beat the Yankees

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:16:50 GMT

To make matters worse, the Twins used just about their entire bullpen on Tuesday. Joe Nathan threw 21 pitches on Tuesday, but if needed, I wouldn't be surprised to see him called upon late in the game. Jon Rauch threw just 4 pitches on Tuesday, so he should be fresh enough to pitch an inning. Jose Mijares has been pretty shaky the past 2 weeks and Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain racked up decent pitch counts against the Tigers.

The odds are stacked heavily against the Twins in the first game of the series, but they'll have Thursday off and then be able to return with Nick Blackburn on Friday, Carl Pavano on Sunday (at home) and Scott Baker on Monday, if needed.

The Twins are 0-7 against the Yankees this season, but have not played them since the July 7-9 series at the dome. The Twins are a much different team than they were then. Although they've lost Justin Morneau and Joe Crede, they've managed to restore their bullpen, filled a void at SS with Orlando Cabrera and have seen Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young fill an offensive void.

The Twins have won 5 straight with their backs against the wall. They now have their toughest opponent, but ironically have more breathing room than they've had in the past week. Whether that's a good thing or not is yet to be determined.

Playoff bound

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:00 GMT

I might just be caught up in the excitement of the moment, but it's hard for me to remember a Twins game since 1991 that's more exciting than what just took place in the Metrodome.

In the 163rd game of the season, the Twins and Tigers needed 12 innings to finally decide the winner of the AL Central.

The game featured Joe Nathan and Bobby Keppel both working out of big jams in the late innings and saw Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla as the unlikely heroes in the 12th inning.

The Twins will play in Yankee Stadium tomorrow at 5:07 Central. The expected matchup is Brian Duensing against C.C. Sabathia, obviously not a favorable matchup for the Twins, especially with their depleted bullpen.

We should know what the final roster will be for the ALDS shortly.

Jesse Crain to return

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:57:00 GMT

On the heels of the Twins' 16-1 loss to Oakland, the Twins made a move to exchange Kevin Mulvey for Jesse Crain. Mulvey, a piece of the Johan Santana trade last year, made just 2 appearances. Mulvey allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in relief of Glen Perkins on Wednesday.

The Twins' pitching staff is in shambles right now. They just got done allowing 33 runs in 3 games to one of the worst offenses in the league. Perkins, who couldn't get out of the 2nd inning, will now visit a specialist after admitting to experiencing some shoulder discomfort while warming up recently.

Joe Crede, who has missed the past couple games, will see that same specialist after he complained of pain in his shoulder. The absence of Crede marks a significant defensive downgrade, which only stands to weaken the results of a Twins pitching staff that, for the most part, pitches to contact.

Wednesday's loss brought the Twins 1 game above .500. They trail the White Sox by 1.5 games and still trail the Tigers by 2.5. It's only going to get tougher, with the Twins opening a 4-game series against the red-hot Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels have won 6 of 7 since the All-Star break and are 13-5 in the month of July.

A fitting way to bounce back

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:36:53 GMT

Monday night's 14-13 loss ended with Michael Cuddyer getting called out at home plate, while replay video clearly shows he was safe. That defeat made Tuesday night's 10 inning victory all the better.

The Twins tied the game at 2 in the 4th inning and the game remained locked at that score until the 10th when, fittingly, Cuddyer drove in Joe Mauer for the go-ahead run with a triple. Prior to the game Mike Redmond was quoted as saying, "A tough loss like (Monday's) can send you spinning for awhile if you don't bounce back." The Twins bounced back in a big way, and although they still find themselves in 3rd place, they're right on the heals of the White Sox and just 2.5 games behind the leading Detroit Tigers.

Anthony Swarzak pitched a terrific game, allowing just 4 hits to an Oakland club that scored 14 the night before. He went 7 innings before handing the ball over the Matt Guerrier for the 8th and 9th innings. Joe Nathan earned his 26th save of the season with a perfect 10th inning.

Thoughts on the low point of the season

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:17:47 GMT

The Twins surrendered a 10 run lead largely thanks to a poor start by Nick Blackburn and an even worse showcase by Brian Duensing, Bobby Keppel and Jose Mijares. This has to be the lowest point of the season so far.

The combined failures of those 4 arms erased brilliant performances at the plate from Justin Morneau (2 HR, 7 RBI) and Jason Kubel (1 HR , 4 RBI).
Despite a good stretch the past few weeks from the bullpen, there's still weakness in that area. This game was a clear reminder of that. Not to mention, the rotation is inconsistent all-around. Blackburn had been the rock this season, but now has 2 consecutive starts where he was quite hittable.
Yes, the Twins should have tied the game in the 9th when Michael Cuddyer was incorrectly called out at the plate, but that miscall by home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski pales in comparison to what the Twins managed to screw up on their own.
Before the game Ron Gardenhire jokingly wished for 14 runs while explaining the reason for Joe Mauer's day off. They came just one run short.

Mauer doesn't win HR derby

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:40:00 GMT

Joe Mauer didn't embarrass himself Sunday night in the home run derby, but he didn't have enough to advance into the 2nd round. He ended up bopping 5 homers in the first round, which landed him in a swing-off with Carlos Pena and Albert Pujols to advance to the 2nd round. Pujols advanced, but Mauer proved he can keep up with the more notable long ball hitters in baseball.

On Sunday, Mauer had perhaps the worst day at the plate of his career, going 0-5 with 4 strikeouts, so it seems he's found himself in some kind of rut. Fortunately the Twins will get Wednesday and Thursday off following tonight's All-Star game, so he can begin the second half a little rested.

By the way, in case you didn't hear, Prince Fielder won the derby.

Can Joe Mauer win the HR Derby?

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:42:00 GMT

With more notorious home run hitters like Justin Morneau, Mark Teixeira and Josh Hamilton declining their invitations to participate in this year's home run derby, the door has opened for Joe Mauer to participate in his first derby.

Mauer has certainly shown an increase in power, already amassing a career-high 15 home runs on the season, but throughout his 5+ year career he's been more of a single & double hitter. A common thought has always been that Mauer could hit more home runs if he chose to sacrifice some average and on-base percentage. He'll now get a chance to prove that.

He's up against some stiff NL competition.

Prince Fielder (22 HR)
Adrian Gonzalez (24 HR)
Ryan Howard (21 HR)
Albert Pujols (32 HR)

The AL is still looking for participants with Brandon Inge (19 HR) being the only other to confirm so far. Evan Longoria (17 HR) and Jason Bay (20 HR) are the most likely to fill out the AL's squad.

Of all the participants, Mauer has the lowest home run total, but also missed the entire month of April. His teammates certainly aren't looking past him--in fact Glen Perkins has no doubt he'll win it.

Adding to the interest of the story is that he has invited his high school baseball coach, Jim O'Neill, to be his pitcher for the event.

Every year players decline, fans and media complain, and people generally worry that a player will "mess up" his swing by participating in the derby. Surely, some players have seen their numbers decline post break, but that can hardly be specifically tied to the derby. Player production fluctuates throughout a season, and as Mauer himself said, "I don't think one night will affect your swing for the rest of the season."

Justin Morneau won the 2008 home run derby, so it's now up to Mauer to keep the crown with the Twins--one of the last teams that has historically been associated with power hitting.

What do you think? Does Mauer have a chance? Is he making a mistake by participating? Do you even care?

Down but not out (yet)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:50:00 GMT

The Twins fell by a score of 6-4 in the 3rd game of the series and the final of 7 games against the Yankees this year. They never led for a single inning in the series, and are now a demoralizing 0-7 against the Yankees this year.

The string of losses puts the Twins in 3rd place in the AL Central--4 games behind Detroit and 1.5 games behind Chicago. They also fell back to .500 for the first time since June 29th.

The Twins have the perfect opportunity to bounce back before the All-Star break, with 3 home games against the White Sox. Detroit will be playing the last place Indians, so it's unlikely they'll gain much ground on them, but if the Twins can win the series this weekend, they'll stay well within striking distance when the second half opens.

Lineup problems

One thing that needs to change, is what Ron Gardenhire is doing with the #2 spot in the lineup. He had been batting Brendan Harris there on a regular basis, which was fine until Harris fell into a slump. After hitting 2 for 27 in the month of July, Harris was finally given a day off, but Gardenhire chose instead to bat the .183 hitting Matt Tolbert in the 2-hole.

I can't think of a much better way to dampen an already spotty offense than putting perhaps it's worst hitter almost at the top of the lineup. The Twins simply lack an ideal #2 hitter, so it only makes sense that they should move Joe Mauer to that spot and slide everyone else up a spot.

Other Notes

Mauer accumulated enought plate appearances on Tuesday night to finally qualify for the AL Batting lead. He currently sits atop both leagues with a .389 batting average. Ichiro Suzuki is #2 with a .361 average.
The Yankees won largely by shutting Justin Morneau down. He was 0-10 in the 3-game series, a sharp turn from his strong 9-15 + 2 HR effort in the Detroit series.

Twins blown away by Sabathia, Yankees

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:54:05 GMT

The Twins were swept by the Yankees in a 4 game mid-May series at Yankee stadium. They lost the 4 games by a combined 5 runs, so the hope was that they'd be able to get over that hump while playing on their own turf. That was not the case. The Twins' bats were shut down by CC Sabathia and Twins' pitching backed themselves into corners with 7 walks in the game.

The Yankees scored 3 runs early, with the help of some bloop hits and control problems from Scott Baker. By the end of the 3rd inning, Baker had already surpassed the 50 pitch mark. Brian Duensing relieved Baker in the 4th, with bases loaded. Carlos Gomez robbed Alex Rodriguez of a grand slam with a leaping catch in dead center. For a moment it prevented the Yankees from busting the game open, but they would still add a couple runs to their lead.

The Yankees busted the game open in the sixth inning with 5 more runs.

Game Notes

Michael Cuddyer got the Twins on the board with a solo home run, his 14th of the season, in the 2nd inning.
The Twins managed just 4 hits in the game and drew just 2 walks.
Joe Mauer was 0-3 with a strikeout, and was relieved late by __Jose Morales.
Nick Punto drew both of the team's walks.

Twins Notes

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:05:40 GMT

The Twins won the opening game of their series against the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. All 7 of their runs came in the first 3 innings, and were helped considerably by Milwaukee errors and miscues in the field.

Francisco Liriano's struggles continued. He got the win, but struggled to get through 5 innings with 117 pitches thrown. He allowed 7 hits and 5 walks to Brewer hitters. He came up with big inning-ending strikeouts in the 4th and 5th innings, which prevented what could have been more damage.

Joe Mauer had an 0-5 day at the plate, and suddenly his batting average has fallen below .400 to .395.

Jason Kubel sat out the game with illness. He left Sunday's game early, and apparently the day off Monday wasn't enough for him to recover.

Denard Span felt fine after his first game in Rochester on Monday night. He played again last night, but left the game early after getting hit on the hand by a pitch. That's some bad luck, but Joe Christensen reports that it likely won't affect his planned activation for Thursday. The Twins desperately need Span back at the top of the lineup.

The Twins have again improved their record to .500. Hovering around that mark is fast becoming the theme of this season. That's a theme they better shake if the Detroit Tigers keep winning.

Nick Blackburn will face Braden Looper tonight. That's a matchup the Twins should win.