Tuesday's Thoughts

Rocket gets #350 in win over Twins

Everything was going great for Boof Bonser and the Twins until the 6th inning. After getting Hideki Matsui to line out, he wasn't so lucky with Bobby Abreu who hit a monster of a HR to the upper deck of Yankee Stadium. Everything seemed to unravel after that when Andy Phillips doubled and Robinson Cano singled. Then Juan Rincon entered the game and walked Johnny Damon to load the bases then walked Melky Cabrera to make it a 3-1 game. Then Matt Guerrier entered the game and Derek Jeter "singled" (In my opinion, it was a fielding error on Jeff Cirillo who let the ball bounce under his glove, but I'm not surprised that the "official scorers" gave Jeter the base hit and two RBI's). The score after the 6th was 5-1 and it would stay that way with Matt Garza pitching two scoreless innings in his first appearance of the season.

The Twins just couldn't get the bats going against the "Rocket" on Monday. In just his 8th start of the season (2 in the minors, 6 in the majors) he went 8 innings, giving up just 1 run on two hits while striking out 4. Now that is vintage Rocket. Luis Castillo had a poor game both offensively and defensively. He went 0-4 and had a few bad throws. According to the ESPN broadcast, he was the last person to get dressed and the last person on the field on Monday, so he could've been a little distracted with whatever it was that made him late. Jason Bartlett, Joe Mauer & Michael Cuddyer were the only players to get hits, Mauer having 2 of them. I wonder how Torii enjoyed the Yankee fans on Monday? Were they telling him that he couldn't hit the slider?

• Carlos Silva (6-8, 4.15) will face Chien-Ming Wang (7-4, 3.86) on Tuesday evening. The Twins will need to score more in this one if they want a chance to win. Silva hasn't been exaclty "great" in his career against the Yankees. In 3 career starts, he is 1-1 with a 7.31 ERA. Ouch. Wang on the other hand is 1-0 in 2 starts against the Twins with a 2.57 ERA.

• Alex Rodriguez left the game in the bottom of the 6th inning on Monday after colliding with Justin Morneau while running to first base. He left with an apparant left hamstring strain. He is supposedly going to meat with a doctor in the morning and is (right now) listed as day-to-day. If he does play, I see him as DH, and not at 3rd base. But we'll see. With how the Twins have played the last two days, it might just be smart for them to keep him out for the game.
  

Twins Minor League Affiliates

(AAA) Rochester Red Wings
Red Wings lost to Buffalo, 7-4.
Brian Duensing had a rough outing on Monday. He lasted 5 innings but gave up 5 runs on 10 hits. It's definitely his worst start since being promoted to AAA. The heart of the Red Wing batting order (Darnell McDonald, Garrett Jones, & Glenn Williams) combined to go 7-11 with 3 doubles, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI (both belonging to Jones). Matt Tolbert went 0-5 with 2 K's.

(AA) New Britain Rock Cats
Rock Cats lost to Reading, 21-4.
Ouch. Definitely a game to forget for the Rock Cats. Kyle Waldrop lasted just 3 2/3 inning giving up 8 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits. Danny Powers definitely had it worst though. He went just one inning giving up 8 runs (all earned) on 7 hits and a walk. Josh Hill went 1/3 inning giving up 3 runs on 3 hits while walking 2. JP Martinez & 2nd Baseman, Luke Hughes, pitched the final 3 innings of shutout baseball! Luke Hughes was good on Monday. He went 1-3 with 2 RBI's and then he pitched well. Matt Moses went 2-5 with an RBI. Garrett Jones went 1-4 with an RBI and 2 runs, one of them coming off of a solo HR (his 9th of the year).

(High-A) Ft. Myers Miracle
Miracle beat Lakeland, 4-0.
It was the Oswaldo Sosa show on Monday night. The young right handed pitcher went 7 strong innings of scoreless baseball while striking out 7 batters. Armando Gabino went the rest of the way only giving up 1 hit. Juan Portes had an RBI double on what was a pretty poor night for the offense. But they did get the job done. Rondell White went 0-3 with a walk.

(Low-A) Beloit Snappers
Snappers beat Clinton, 9-3.
Alex Burnett went 5 innings of 2-hit (1 run) ball and 7 K's to start the Snappers off on the right foot. Matt Williams went 1 inning, giving up 2 runs but still got the win (his 1st since being promoted to the Mid-West League). Danny Leatherman went 3 innings to get his 5th save of the season. Chris Parmelee went 2-4 with his 11th HR of the year and 2 runs scored. Joe Benson went 1-4 with his 3rd HR of the year. And Wilson Ramos went 2-4 with 2 runs and his 6th HR of the year.

(Rookie) Elizabethton Twins
Twins beat Bristol, 13-1.
Mike Tarsi went 5 innings, giving up only 1 run and striking out 7 to get his 1st win of the season. Dan Latham & Brad Tippett both went 2 innings each of scoreless ball. Starling De Los Santos went 1-4 with a 2-run triple, he had 3 RBI's on the day. Ben Petsch, Deibinson Romero, & Rene Levert all had 2 RBI's each. The 6-9 hitters (Greg Yersich, Ozzie Lewis, Mark Dolenc, & Eric Santiago) combined to go 8-18, with 4 RBI's and 9 runs.

(Rookie) GCL Twins
Twins lost to Red Sox, 5-2.
Liam Hendricks gave up 4 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits in 3 1/3 inning. Mark Hamburger, Nick Lobonav, & Nelvin Fuentes combined to pitch 5 innings while only giving up 1 unearned run. Juan Richardson went 3-3 with a run scored. Rookies, Angel Morales went 1-3 with an RBI and his 1st stolen base of the year and Ben Revere went 1-4.