Wednesday's Thoughts

Twins Notes

Twins shutout by the Blue Jays, 7-0.

Despite a pretty good start by Scott Baker, the Twins couldn't muster a single run for him in his 2nd straight start. Baker went 7 strong innings and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits while striking out 5. Pat Neshek came in and relieved Baker, but he wasn't any help... The submarine-style pitcher lasted just 1/3 inning and allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks. Matt Guerrier came in to relieve Neshek, but the damage had already been done.

I suppose that it doesn't really matter how many runs that the bullpen gave up, because the game was already lost. The Twins batters combined for 6 hits and only 4 players got the hits. Luis Castillo and Jason Kubel both had hits, and Joe Mauer & Rondell White both had 2 apiece.

White was really impressive, he had some really good hits and his swing looked really good. Last season, he was popping too many balls up with an uppercut type of swing, but yesterday (and on Monday too) he has shown a very nice level swing. He almost had an RBI double, but Torii Hunter was thrown out at the plate after he ran through 3rd base coach Scotty Ulger's stop sign. It was the 2nd questionable baserunning move by Hunter, in as many days.

Dustin McGowan looked very impressive, I had never seen him pitch before, and I liked what I saw. He has a great curveball that he can throw at any point in the count. He also has a nice fastball that he got a few Twins sluggers to swing at. He started the game on a good note, he got Luis Castillo to strikeout on 3 pitches, something that has rarely happened this season.

The Twins most likely will plan on having Mike Redmond catch on Thursday and just let Joe Mauer have the entire day off after catching all week. Rondell White might also get a day off.

The Twins will send Carlos Silva to the mound on Wednesday, to face Jesse Litsch of the Blue Jays.

Minor League Notes

Rochester Red Wings beat the Syracuse Chiefs, 9-6.
Denard Span hit his 3rd home run of the season, it was a grand slam in the 2nd inning. Brian Buscher also hit a home run, it was a 3 run homer and his 6th of the season. Doug Deeds had 2 hits and an RBI, Trent Oeltjen also had an RBI. Ryan Mullins struggled in another AAA start. In this one, he went 4 innings and gave up 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits. Carmen Cali continued his strong pitching from the bullepn picking up his 4th win of the season in 2 shutout innings. Julio DePaula pitched a scoreless 7th inning and struck out 2. Bobby Korecky picked up his 27th save of the season while pitching 2 innings.

New Britain Rock Cats lost to the Connecticut Defenders, 6-2.
Josh Hill started a great game, he lasted 5 innings and gave up just 1 run. But Yohan Pino continued his struggles at AA and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in just a 1/3 inning. Tristan Crawford and Danny Powers both had scoreless appearances, but they couldn't stop the bleeding in time. Brandon Roberts hit his 10th double, Matt Moses hit his 11th. Garrett Guzman and Luke Hughes both had RBI's. Trevor Plouffe picked up his 21st RBI of the season.

Ft. Myers Miracle lost to the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 3-2.
Starter Kyle Waldrop picked up where he left off from the last time he was with Ft. Myers. The young right hander went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs (both in the 1st inning) on 5 hits. David Shinskie pitched the 8th inning and gave up an unearned run. Steven Tolleson had 2 hits. Alex Soto who was just playing for the GCL Twins a few days ago, had 2 hits and an RBI. Chris Woodward hit his 4th HR with Ft. Myers in the 9th inning, but it was only a solo shot and it wasn't enough.

Beloit Snappers beat the Great Lakes Loons, 12-11.
Starter Cole Devries couldn't avoid the big inning and gave up 4 of his 5 runs in the 5th inning. Danny Vais pitched 2 innings and gave up an unearned run. Matt Williams pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. Danny Leatherman started out alright in his relief appearance, but he gave up 4 runs in the 12th inning. Jesus Carnevales pitched 1/3 inning and gave up a solo home run to put the snappers (what looked like) out of reach. Only the Snappers countered the 5 runs in the 12th inning, with 6 of their own to win the game. 5' 3'' Chris Cates went 2-2 with 4 runs, an RBI and 4 walks. Chris Parmelee & Wilson Ramos both had 2 RBI's to go along with multiple hits. Joe Benson had a huge day going 4-5 with 3 Runs scored and an RBI triple.

GCL Twins
No game scheduled.

Elizabethton Twins vs. the Johnson City Cardinals.
Game Postponed due to rain.