Twinkie Town

Game 47: Tigers @ Twins

2012-05-27T16:39:46Z

First Pitch: 1:10pm CDT

TV: FS-N

Radio: Twins Radio Network

Know Thine Enemy: Bless You Boys

P.J. Walters

#39 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Mar 12, 1985

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - P.J. Walters	2-1	3	3	1	0	0	0	21.1	15	7	7	5	5	15	2.95	.94

Three starts into his Twins career, Walters is surprising...well, everyone. For a guy whose been pitching in triple-A since 2008 with occasional MLB stints, this isn't what the oracles foretold. Yet here we are.

If the Twins would like to salvage a victory in this series and keep their losing streak from extending to five games, they'll need him to come up big again. And it's certainly no small task against the Tigers. He mixes up his pitches pretty well, and he's had a good deal of success in term of BABIP, but he also hits too much of the plate against right-handed hitters.

Rick Porcello

#48 / Pitcher / Detroit Tigers

Height: 6-5

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 27, 1988

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Rick Porcello	3-4	9	9	0	0	0	0	51.0	63	36	30	7	12	33	5.29	1.47

It hasn't been a good start to the season for Porcello, but what do you expect from a 20-year old pitcher? Yes, the "RICK PORCELLO IS JUST 20 YEARS OLD" meme will never die.

Let's win Twins!

Pavano Sputters Again, Twins Lose 6-3

2012-05-26T23:04:41Z

Twins hitters struck out 16 times today against Detroit Tiger pitching.

16 times? 16 times.

Even with that offensive ineptitude, the Twins did nab 3 runs thanks to home runs from Justin Morneau and Denard Span, but poor starting pitching was once again the story today. Carl Pavano took the mound for the Twins and didn't last very long, allowing 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Although Pavano did give up 2 runs right away in the first inning, he did keep the score knotted at 2 until the 5th inning when the following sequence of hits occurred: Single, single, single, double, single, single. Those 6 consecutive hits led to 4 runs, and Pavano was chased from the game.

On the other side, Max Schezer was able to continue his success from his last start, where he had 15 strikeouts in 7 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This time around, he struck out 9 Twins in 5 1/3 innings, and easily would have pitched deeper into the game if it wasn't for a ~40 minute rain delay in the bottom of the 6th inning.

After the delay was over, Tigers manager chose to turn to reliever Octavio Dotel, and the strikeout parade continued. Dotel, Joaquin Benoit, and Jose Valverde combined for 7 more strikeouts, shutting the door on the Twins offense for the rest of the day.

Studs

Denard Span (2 for 4, 2B, HR), Ben Revere (3 for 4), Justin Morneau (1 for 4, 2 run HR), Brian Duensing (2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K)

Duds

*deep breath* Josh Willingham (0 for 4, 4 K), Brian Dozier (0 for 4, 3 K, fielding error on routine double play grounder), Alexi Casilla (0 for 4, 2 K), Drew Butera (0 for 3, 3 K), Carl Pavano (4 1/3 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 2 K)

Game 46: Twins vs. Tigers

2012-05-26T17:10:10Z

The offense did as much as they could last night, but the pitching duo of Anthony Swarzak and Francisco Liriano betrayed them, allowing 10 runs between them.

Neither starter for today's game has looked great so far. Carl Pavano has been battling that sore shoulder of his, which oddly enough has allowed him to become rather economical with his pitch counts lately, though it hasn't helped him with the runs allowed department. Meanwhile, the Tigers' Max Scherzer did have 15 strikeouts in his last outing, but he still has a 5.73 ERA for the season. At least the Twins don't have Carlos Gomez anymore to flail at Scherzer's change-up, but still, with a 15-30 record, this Twins team certainly feels like it could rack up 10+ K against Scherzer, right? Hopefully you all are more optimistic than me.

It's raining right now, but Dave St. Peter tweeted that the game will still start on time. I highly doubt that, but we'll see.

Twins

SP Carl Pavano

Tigers

SP Max Scherzer

Saturday Morning Breakfast & Baseball: Flailing, Dancing, Do-It-Yourself Pie-ing, and Merchandise Error... uh, -ing

2012-05-26T13:00:11Z

After a 5-3 road trip, it seems like the Twins are finally showing some life. Yes, they lost 10-6 yesterday, but hey, 6 runs is something!

Also, I realized something as I was walking through Ramp A yesterday night after the Twins game: Anthony Swarzak is like a crappier pitching version of Michael Cuddyer. You know how Cuddyer was "versatile" even though he didn't really excel at any one position (yes, that includes right field, where UZR consistently rated him as below-average). Meanwhile, Swarzak has openly announced his willingness to pitch in any role, even once proclaiming last season that he could come into a game in relief despite starting the previous game. I feel Swarzak isn't good in any role, but his unselfishness makes him "versatile," dammit.

/rant*

* Was this a rant? I'm really not sure.

The next time you see a hitter completely embarrass himself by waving at a pitch that's nowhere near the strike zone, you can think of this GIF of Rickie Weeks helplessly flailing at a Sergio Romo slider. To borrow an obnoxious phrase that's common in MLB: The Show, "He would have needed an oar to hit that one!"
I've noticed lately that quite a few baseball teams that are not at the professional level have resorted to making dance videos to pass the time and entertain us, the fans. The viral video at the moment is the Harvard baseball team doing a sorta choreographed "dance" to Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." Honestly, I wasn't too impressed with it (it's only two moves!) but I do have to admit that it's nice to see college males do something more creative than lace their intramural softball team name with more double entendres than you have fingers. Anyway, FanGraphs has put together a collection of baseball teams intertwined with dance to satiate your needs.
I'm a bit tired of the shaving cream pies for having a game-winning hit or a successful debut, but I can make an exception for Angel Pagan when he pie'd himself in the face, with some assistance from teammate Pablo Sandoval. I think knowing that it's coming makes the stinging in your eyes disappear faster.
Finally, the Phillies had a severe crisis on their hands. Can you spot the error with this Roy Halladay bobblehead? No, not the face. Well, maybe this picture will help. If you're a fan of bobbleheads with weird quirks like this, you'll be pleased to know that MLB has these bobbleheads on clearance right now, so go ahead and buy 10 of them.
Edit: A late entrant for today's Breakfast & Baseball is quite possibly the catch of the century. Lower Columbia College outfielder Derrick Salberg made a game-ending catch against Everett, robbing at least an extra-base hit from hitter Keone Kela. However, this wasn't your typical Torii Hunter-style home run grab. Rather, Salberg jumped over the fence to make his catch. Now, I'm not entirely sure how this doesn't count as a home run considering his feet never touched the ground prior to him making the catch and then going over the fence, but somehow it's an out.

No annoying softball news from me today, so you can stop sharpening your steak knives. Well, at least until next week.

Minor League Report...May 26, 2012

2012-05-26T11:39:12Z

While I am traveling to one of my favorite cities, Boston, the organization put together another winning week at 14-12. Rochester (4-2) and New Britain (5-2) were both above .500.

In player movement, Joe Benson was placed on the disabled list a day after hitting his first home run back with New Britain. It was later reported that he was scheduled to have hamate bone surgery yesterday and will miss six weeks. Rene Tosoni was demoted to fill Benson's spot in New Britain. The Twins designated Jason Marquis for assignment, filling his spot with Cole DeVries who was called up from Rochester. One reason you saw the Twins select DeVries was that with the help of pitching coach Bobby Cuellar, he has improved his control. In his last start in Rochester, he threw first pitch strikes to twenty-three of twenty-eight batters and left the game having thrown eighty-three strikes in one hundred nine pitches.

In other moves, Rochester's Michael Holliman returned from the disabled list. The Miracle also activated catcher Danny Rams from their disabled list. Beloit placed Bart Carter on the disabled list. They activated outfielder Nate Roberts and last year's eleventh round pick out of LSU, Tyler Jones, joined them from EST. Numerous sources are reporting that Kyle Gibson will pitch off a mound for the first time in about ten days. He is on a rehab schedule that could get him a few appearances in the lower levels of the minors before their seasons end around Labor Day. It will be interesting to see if the Twins send him to the Arizona Fall League or keep him in Florida at their Instructional League. Former Red Wing Aaron Bates has signed with the Cardinals and was assigned to Memphis.

Tim Shibuya was our Player of the Week with forty-five percent of the votes. This week's review follows the jump.

The Rochester Red Wings (20-26) have been playing better ball of late, however, remain in last place nine games behind Pawtuckett. The Wings began this week against Louisville with Liam Hendriks pitching another strong game. Hendriks allowed only two runs in seven innings for his second win as the Wings won 5-3. Tyler Robertson picked up his second save with another perfect inning. Robertson's 5.63 ERA is misleading as one three run outing in sixteen innings really hurts. In his last nine appearances, Robertson has pitched 5.2 shutout innings with only two hits and eight strikeouts. As Jesse Lund pointed out earlier this week, Robertson is on the organization's leader board with twenty-two strikeouts (12.375 per nine innings). Robertson has been death to left handed hitters who are hitting only .143 average while striking out in over half of their at bats.

My Player of the Week is Cole DeVries, who was very strong in Saturday's 6-4 win over visiting Gwinnett. Yes, he allowed four runs on six hits in eight innings, however, three hits and three runs were in the ninth inning as Manager Gene Glynn tried to get DeVries a complete game. Cole finished his year at Rochester with a 1-4 record in eight starts (46.2 innings) with a 4.24 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, thirty-seven strikeouts and only seven walks. DeVries then finished off his week with the call all baseball players dream of. Anthony Slama, who has eight saves while allowing only one run in twenty innings for a 0.45 ERA, came on to close out the win for DeVries.

Luke French allowed two runs Sunday in the Wings 2-1 loss to the South Division first place Braves. With one out and a runner on third in the sixth inning, Lester Oliveros came into the game. Oliveros struck out the first batter before inducing a fly ball to right field, stranding the runner at third. In three appearances in AAA, Oliveros has a 0.00 ERA with nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings after posting a 1.42 ERA in nineteen innings at New Britain. Jeff Manship made a quality start in Monday's 10-1 win, allowing one run in seven innings for his fourth win. The Red Wings hitters were led by Rene Tosoni who was 5-5 against former National League All-Star Jair Jurrjens. Daryl Thompson allowed three runs in 3.1 innings as Gwinnett split the series with a 3-1 win on Tuesday behind the third best pitching prospect in baseball, Julio Teheran. The Red Wings bullpen didn't allow a run in 5.2 innings, led by Deolis Guerra, who pitched 2.2 innings, and Oliveros, who pitched two innings with four strikeouts and no walks. Guerra has a 1.08 ERA in seven appearances (11.2 innings). With Slama, Oliveros, Robertson and Guerra in Rochester, those are four strong arms should the Twins need to restock their bullpen later this year.

In a scheduling quirk, after an off day on Wednesday the Red Wings traveled to Gwinnett for another four game series. Liam Hendriks picked up his third win in three decisions by pitching seven innings with only five hits and one unearned run Thursday, striking out nine with two walks in the Red Wings 3-1 win.

The New Britain Rock Cats (28-18) began their week by moving into first place as they took two of three from first place Reading. They won the first two, 5-2 and 3-2, before getting clobbered in the get-away game, 10-4. B. J. Hermsen made another quality start Friday, allowing two runs in 7.2 innings. Andrew Albers followed with a quality start on Satruday, pitching six innings while scattering nine hits as he allowed only two runs. Brad Thompson came off the disabled list for his first start on Sunday, allowing five runs (four earned) in 2.1 innings.

Binghamton came to Connecticut on Monday with the Cats winning the first two, 10-7 and 3-0, as they stretched their lead over Reading to a game and a half. Steve Hirschfeld allowed only one run in five innings for his third win. Daniel Turpen has been very good most of the time, however, Monday was an off day as he gave up six runs in two innings. He has given up ten earned runs in two of his fifteen appearances while allowing only four runs in 18.1 innings in thirteen appearances. The Cats won on Tuesday behind Logan Darnell, who pitched seven shutout innings with four strikeouts and no walks earning him a spot as my co-Player of the Week. In nine starts, Darnell has a 5-2 record with a 4.53 ERA in 49.2 innings. David Bromberg made another strong start Wednesday, pitching six innings while striking out eight and giving up only one run. Blake Martin picked up the loss as he allowed a run in one inning of work. The Rock Cats got only two hits off top prospect Zach Wheeler who was the sixth overall pick by the Giants in the 2009 draft. Brett Jacobson gave up five runs (two earned) in the ninth inning as the Rock Cats lost, 8-1. The Rock Cats won the four game series with a 6-4 win Thursday. Hermsen was effective, allowing ten hits while holding Binghamton to four runs (three earned) in seven innings. He struck out only three batters while giving up no walks.

Darnell shares the spot on this week's ballot with Chris Herrmann, who was 4-5 with a double on Monday and 4-4 with another double on Tuesday. Herrmann was 12-27 (.444 average) with five runs scored, four driven in and three doubles. Manager Jeff Smith spoke about Herrmann, "He's pretty hot right now. He's had more balls hit hard that have been robbed and caught than anybody this year, so he deserves some bloops. They all even out at the end of the season. He's a good hitter who's putting good swings on the ball." Herrmann now has fourteen doubles which are the second most in the league, with four home runs, a .271 average and .746 OPS.

The Fort Myers Miracle (18-29) are having a better week, winning three of seven. They began with a win at Brevard County, 2-1, before dropping two, 7-2 and 13-2. Pat Dean threw his hat into the ring for Player of the Week as he won a pitcher's duel, pitching eight innings while allowing only one run with eight strikeouts. Ricky Bowen pitched a shutout inning for his third save. Madison Boer, who has struggled since his promotion to Fort Myers, gave up seven runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings Saturday. Fortunately, Jose Gonzalez (2.1 shutout innings) and Matt Hauser (two shutout innings) were solid or the game would have gotten ugly. Sunday's game did get ugly when starter Miguel Munoz allowed four runs in three innings and the normally reliable Cole Nelson allowed seven runs (five earned) in 2.2 innings.

Clearwater came to Hammond Stadium on Monday with the Miracle taking the first two, 7-1 and 2-1, before dropping a pair of one run games, 4-3 and 2-1. Jhon Garcia made a quality start Monday, pitching six innings with only four hits and one run. Edgar Ibarra earned a three innings save when he allowed only one hit. Marty Popham also had a quality start Tuesday, pitching six innings with one run. Nelven Fuentes pitched two shutout innings for the win with Bowen pitching another shutout inning for his fourth save. In sixteen appearances, Bowen has a 1.98 ERA with twenty-six strikeouts in 27.1 innings. Levi Michael was at second base again Tuesday as Manager Jake Mauer continues to have him playing nearly as many games at second than he is at shortstop. Pat Dean got the start Wednesday, pitching three shutout innings before being removed from the game after a long rain delay. Ricky Bowen gave up three runs in the ninth inning for a blown save and the loss. Madison Boer had his best outing for the Miracle Thursday, pitching five innings with two runs (one earned), yet, picked up his fifth loss in five decisions. Matt Hauser and Bruce Pugh each pitched two shutout innings.

The Beloit Snappers (28-19) lost four of six this week as they slipped back into second place, two games behind Wisconsin. They dropped the last game of their series in eleven innings with Quad Cities on Friday, 7-6. Matt Tomshaw allowed four runs (three earned) in 5.2 innings. Clint Dempster, who has a 2.08 ERA and three saves, pitched three shutout innings before Bart Carter gave up two runs in the eleventh inning. Drew Leachman was the hitting star, going 4-5 with his second home run and five runs driven in.

Steve Gruver lasted only one inning at Burlington on Saturday, allowing three hits and a run. A. J. Achter gave up two runs in four innings before Ryan O'Rourke was tagged with the loss, 9-6, when he allowed five runs (four earned) in 1.2 inning. As often is the case, Tim Shibuya wasn't sharp in his first start following his complete game shutout. Shibuya allowed nine hits and eight runs (seven earned) in 4.1 innings of Sunday's 12-0 loss. Former Player of the Week Jason Wheeler got the Snappers back on track Monday when he made his sixth quality start in his last seven starts. Wheeler allowed two runs in seven innings winning his fifth game in six decisions, 5-1. Wheeler appears to be a typical Twins pitcher as he got twelve outs on ground balls with only one fly ball out. Michael Tonkin picked up his third save by pitching two no-hit innings with five strkeouts.

Cedar Rapids came to Beloit Wednesday with the Snappers splitting the first two games, dropping a 5-3 loss Wednesday backed up by a 9-2 win Thursday. Matt Summers allowed five runs (four earned) in five innings Wednesday. A. J. Achter made his first start of the season Thursday, allowing two hits and two unearned runs in five innings. In thirteeen appearances (31.0 innings), Achter has a team best 1.16 ERA and 0.90 WHIP with thirty-three strikeouts. Tyler Jones made his first appearance with the Snappers, pitching three shutout innings of relief.

Miguel Sano, who is going through his first slump as a professional, is hitting .061 in his last ten games with no home runs. His average is down to .245 with a .892 OPS. Eddie Rosario is doing better, hitting .250 in his last ten games as he has seen his average dip under .300 to .281. My Player of the Week is Drew Leachman, who was 8-22 (.363 average) with two home runs, two doubles, four runs scored and eight runs driven in. Since being promoted to Beloit, Leachman is hitting .282 average with a .818 OPS, ten strikeouts and twelve walks in 71 at bats.

Poll

Who is the Twins organization's Player of the Week?

Twins Pitching Out-Uglies Tigers Defense in 10-6 Loss

2012-05-26T03:44:22Z

The resistible force (Tigers defense) met the movable object (Twins starting pitching) on Friday night, and the latter gave more, as Anthony Swarzak and Francisco Liriano were battered by the Tigers potent offense in a 10-6 loss.

Things started promising enough, as Brian Dozier drilled a two-out, bases loaded double to stake the Twins to a 2-0 lead in the first. It was short-lived, as the Tigers got to Swarzak for four runs in the top of second on the strength of doubles by Brennan Boesch and Alex Avila. They chased him for good in the fourth on more doubles from Boesch and Avila, with an RBI single from Ryan Raburn ending his night with the Twins trailing 6-2.

With the score 7-3, the Tigers defense reared its ugly, ugly head in the sixth, with reliever Brayan Villareal contributing two throwing errors to Detroit's already unsound fundamentals and allowing the Twins to get within 7-5. And that was as close as it would get, as the Tigers got to former starter/current God-knows-what Francisco Liriano in the seventh for three more runs. In Frankie's very limited defense, the 10th run scored when Dozier whiffed on a shallow fly.

The 8th and 9th innings were marked by me begging the Twins to either make a comeback or just end the damn game and soon. The glacial, effective pace of Jose Valverde made sure neither happened.

Studs: Denard Span had a couple doubles. Josh Willingham had a double. Ben Revere had a couple very nice catches in right. Glen Perkins had a 1-2-3 eighth.

Duds: Swarzak was horrible. Liriano was horrible. I can't even get mad at the position players for any mistakes or bad at-bats when the pitching is such a [redacted] [redacted]show. First base umpire Allan Porter missed a pretty clearly safe Jamey Carroll on a close play at first in the 8th, tossed Carroll (his first career ejection, and he's terribly old) for reacting to his bad call, then tossed Gardenhire (his 61st career ejection, and he's terribly Gardy) for sticking up for Carroll.

Day game tomorrow. I hope it's better than this one. Enjoy your long weekend, everybody. Drive friendly.

Game 45: Tigers @ Twins

2012-05-25T22:40:06Z

First Pitch: 7:10 pm CDT
TV: FSN
Radio: 1500 ESPN
Know Thine Enemy: Bless You Boys

Detroit is more disappointing than the Twins. Yay!

Heavers:

Anthony Swarzak

#51 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-4

Weight: 225

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 10, 1985

Squatch-y.

Drew Smyly

#33 / Pitcher / Detroit Tigers

Height: 6-3

Weight: 190

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Jun 13, 1989

WYLD STALLYNS!

Lineups (courtesy FSN's Tyler Mason):

Twins

Span CF

Revere RF

Mauer C

Yes Pig DH

Mountie 1B

Dozier SS

Plouffe LF

Casilla 2B

Carroll 3B

Tigers

Berry CF

Dirks LF

Miggy 3B

Fielder 1B

Delmon DH

Boesch RF

Peralta SS

Avila C

Raburn 2B

Enjoy the game, everybody.

Mackey: Burnett Getting Elbow Checked, Roster Move May Be Coming

2012-05-25T15:37:15Z

Mackey: Burnett Getting Elbow Checked, Roster Move May Be Coming

Per 1500ESPN's Phil Mackey, Alex Burnett felt pain in his elbow after throwing a breaking ball on Wednesday, and will have it checked by Twins doctors this weekend.