Saturday's Thoughts

Twins' bats come a live in first game of double-header

(Game 1)

The Minnesota offense hopefully has found itself after being less than impressive so far this season. The Twins lit up the White Sox pitching in both games of the Day-Night Double-header on Friday.

In Game 1, the Twins raised Jon Garland's ERA from 3.15-3.92 in just 3 1/3 innings. He gave up 12 runs (11 earned) in the losing effort. But Scott Baker wasn't exactly "sharp" either, giving up 7 runs in 5 innings. Michael Cuddyer & Jason Tyner both went hitless in 11 combined AB's, but at least Cuddy had another assist when he threw out Jermaine Dye at 3rd base.

Jason Kubel had the Game of his life, going 2-3 with 7 RBI's, 4 of which came on a grand slam off of Jon Garland). Torii Hunter also broke out of his little slump with 3 hits, 3 RBI's & 3 Runs (including his 18th dinger). Keep in mind, he had 2 hits in the last series against the Yankees (in 4 games). Luis Castillo was back in the lineup after getting 2 days of rest, he went 3-4 with 4 runs before being pulled in favor of Luis Rodriguez. The M&M Boys combined to go 7-11 with 8 RBI's & 7 runs scored. Even Nick Punto got in on the action with 2 hits. It was his first multi-hit game since June 16th.

The final score: Vikings 20, Bears 14. I mean Twins 20, White Sox 14.

(Game 2)

Justin Morneau hit 3 home runs to lead the Twins to a 12-0 victory over the rival White Sox. Morneau finished with 6 RBI's on the night to lead the Twins offensively. Torii Hunter also went yard with his 19th HR and 2nd of the day, and Jeff Cirillo hit his 2nd HR of the season. Jason Kubel continued his hot bat going 2-4 with a run scored. Michael Cuddyer hit his 10th home run of the year and finished the game with 2 hits.

Matt Garza pitched very well in his first start of the season, he went 6 strong innings of scoreless ball giving up 5 hits and striking out 6. This may have been an audition for the 5th spot in the rotation, since Kevin Slowey was sent back to Rochester, and Matt Garza may have just made his stay in Rochester a little longer after this start. Matt Guerrier & Joe Nathan finished out the game in the blowout.

• Mike Redmond had to leave the game early after being hit by Jim Thome's bat. He received 7 stitches and aftewards said that he was fine. Because Joe Mauer was DHing and had to move to catcher after Redmond left the game, the Twins were forced to bat the pitcher for the remainder of the game (when the player that is the DH is moved to a position, the team loses the rights of the DH). Joe Mauer deserves a day off, or at least a day of DH, after having to catch the majority of both games yesterday.

Minor League Notes

Rochester Red Wings lost to Pawtucket Red Sox, 6-2. (Game 1)

Winner: Jon Lester (3-4, 3.63)

Loser: Jason Miller (1-3, 3.40)

Notes: Twins have to be happy that with only having 8 pitchers (Slowey's out of it), Jason Miller lasted fairly long for them in the first game of a double header, going 5+ innings (out of 7). The bats were quiet. Garrett Jones & Trent Oeltjen both supplied the runs for the Wings.

Rochester Red Wings lost to Pawtucket Red Sox, 3-1. (Game 2)

Winner: Mike Burns (1-6, 4.94)

Loser: Brian Bass (2-2, 5.22)

Save: Travis Hughes (10)

Notes: Bats quiet again in game 2. Garrett Jones had his 27th double of the season, and Brian Buscher got the lone run in for the Red Wings when he doubled in Garrett Jones in the 7th.

New Britain Rock Cats beat Portland Sea Dogs, 6-3. (Game 1)

Winner: Ryan Mullins (1-3, 3.77)

Loser: T.J. Nall (3-11, 5.18)

Save: Tim Lahey (4)

Notes: Ryan Mullins had another good game giving up just 3 runs in 5+ innings pitched. Brandon Roberts was the hitting hero in the this game going deep for the first time this season and collecting his 24 home run while also swiping his 7th base. Brock Peterson had 2 runs scored.

New Britian Rock Cats beat Portland Sea Dogs, 5-4. (Game 2)

Winner: J.P. Martinez (2-4, 2.98)

Loser: Charlie Zink (8-3, 2.59)

Notes: Matt Moses provided the bat for the Rock Cats in this game, going 1-3 with his 19th RBI. Luke Hughes, Trevor Plouffe, Garrett Guzman, Brock Peterson, & Matt Allegra all scored runs.

Ft. Myers Miracle lost to Dunedin Blue Jays, 6-5.

Winner: A.J. Wideman (6-2, 3.82)

Loser: Jay Rainville (4-9, 3.80)

Save: Conner Falkenbach (16)

Notes: Danny Valencia & Erik Lis both had the hot bats in this contest. Both hit HR's (Valencia's 2nd, Lis' 7th), and both had 3 RBI's combined. Valencia also scored twice in the losing effort.

Beloit Snappers lost to Burlington Bees, 7-4.

Winner: Aaron Hartsock (5-2, 2.58)

Loser: Danny Leatherman (5-3, 3.18)

Notes: Tyler Robertson went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs on 10 hits, but Danny Leatherman and Jose Lugo couldn't hang on and let the game slip away. Dan Berg had 2 hits for the Snappers.

GCL Twins beat GCL Reds, 10-5.

Winner: Mark Hamburger (1-0, 0.00)

Loser: Victor Navarro (0-1, 37.80)

Notes: Dan Berlind still hasn't given up a run in 15 innings pitched this season. He went 6 innings for the Twins, striking out 4 in the process. Ben Revere, Jeanfred Brito, & Wang-Wei Lin all had 2 hits each and James Beresford had 3 to lead the Twins. Rondell White went 0-3 in his rehab start.

E-Town Twins lost to Bluefield Orioles, 5-3.

Winner: Cliff Flagello (3-0, 1.04)

Loser: Steve Hirschfield (1-1, 2.77)

Notes: Deibinson Romero had 3 of the 10 hits for the Twins. Eric Santiago, Ozzie Lewis, & Rodolfo Palacios all pitched in with an RBI each.