Tuesday June 26, 2006

Twins Lose To Blue Jays

The Minnesota Twins lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-5. Kevin Slowey gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings in his 5th game as a member of the Minnesota Twins. He was hurt by the long ball for 3rd straight game when outfielders Vernon Wells and Alex Rios went back-to-back in the 3rd inning. Matt Guerrier had a poor outing giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Torii Hunter and Mike Redmond provided a lot of the Twins’ offense. Hunter went 1-3 with 2 runs and his 11th stolen base. Redmond went 2-4 with 2 RBI’s while getting the start at catcher for the DHing, Joe Mauer. On a side note, Jason Bartlett is now 12-12 in stolen bases this season. Roy Halladay still hasn’t lost a game against the Twins as he went 7 innings giving up 5 runs and striking out 4 batters. Jeremy Accardo pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his 9th save of the season.

• The Twins will send Scott Baker (2-2, 6.75) to the mound on Tuesday to hopefully give the Twins a chance to still win the series. He will face Shaun Marcum (4-2, 3.38) who has been red hot as of late. He has only given up 4 runs in his last 19 innings pitched.

• The Twins received good news on Monday when MVP Justin Morneau was released from a Florida Hospital after 3 nights of stay. Ron Gardenhire said that they don’t expect him to land on the DL, as long as he “continues on the path he’s on.” He said that he could return as early as Wednesday or Thursday if he’s “up to it.” The Twins are 2-1 without him.

Twins Minor League Affiliates

(AAA) Rochester Red Wings

Rochester lost to Charlotte, 8-2.

Starter Dave Gassner and the Rochester Red Wings lost their 2nd game in a row on Monday. Gassner gave up 3 runs in 5.1 innings before being relieved by Carmen Cali who also gave up 3 runs in his 2.2 innings of work. Alexi Casilla reached base 4 out of 5 times with a single, two walks, and a fielder’s choice. He also stole his 16th base of the season. Garrett Jones led off the 2nd inning with his 11th Home Run and 44th RBI. Tommy Walkins, Glenn Williams, and Jose Morales all registered two hits apiece.

(AA) New Britain Rock Cats

New Britain beat Connecticut, 5-2.

Ryan Mullins pitched a great game but unfortunately got a no-decision. He pitched 7.1 innings giving up 2 runs while striking out 10. He was relieved by Tim Lahey who got the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings with 1 hit and 2 K’s. Matt Moses is hopefully on the right path with a nice game at the plate. The struggling former first rounder went 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI’s. Centerfielder, Brandon Roberts got 2 runs while going 1-4 at the plate with a walk. Luke Hughes went 1-2 at the plate, raising his average to .312 on the season.

(High-A) Ft. Myers

Ft. Myers lost to Palm Beach, 5-0.

Zach Ward lost his 10th game of the season on Monday. He lost it while only giving up 3 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings. He is definitely pitching better than his 2-10 record shows. He still has 59 K’s in 68 innings this year, and an ERA of just over 3. Looks like Mr. Ward needs a little run support. Which Brian Dinkleman and others hope to supply. Dinkleman has now gone 1-4 in each game since being promoted to Ft. Myers. He got a triple in the top of the first inning, but Luis Ugueto & Erik Lis failed to drive him in. Two other recently promoted players, Danny Valencia & Chris Woodward both went 1-3.

(A) Beloit Snappers

Beloit lost to Cedar Rapids, 9-5.

Despite getting 13 hits to Cedar Rapids 11, and jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the 3rd inning, the Snappers still lost by 4 on Monday night. Cole Devries kept the Snappers in the game giving up 4 runs in just over 6 innings. But the bullpen didn’t help while Jose Lugo got the loss giving up 4 runs (3 earned) in 1/3 of an inning. Recently demoted from Ft. Myers, Matt Betsill and Eli Tintor both had two hits in the ball game. Tintor had two RBI’s, both of them coming in the 1st and 2nd innings. Steve Singleton went 3-4 with an RBI single in the 3rd.

(Rookie) Elizabethton Twins

Elizabethton beat Princeton, 20-6.

Talk about blowout. The Twins were leading 16-0 before the Rays scored their first runs in the 8th inning. Dave Bromberg pitched a fantastic game going 5 innings of shutout ball while striking out 10 batters. Outfielder, Ozzie Lewis and 1st baseman, Rene Leveret combined to go 8-13 with 5 runs and 7 RBI’s. Rene Tosoni & Starling De Los Santos both got 2 hits and combined for 6 runs in a great offensive game by the Twins.

(Rookie) GCL Twins

Twins beat Pirates, 12-3.

On a hot and sunny day in Florida, but the heat was no match for Santos Arias who pitched 6 innings of 1 hit ball while receiving his first win of the season. Rehabbing former “All Star”, Ken Harvey went 1-4 with his 1st Home Run. Juan Richardson went picked up 3 RBI’s on what was also his 1st Home Run. James Beresford & Andy Schmiesing combined to go 6-10 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s at the bottom of the order. Ben Revere went 0-4, but scored twice.