Twins swept by Halos

Another game, another loss. The Twins were just 4.5 games back from the leaders of the AL Central just 9 days ago. Now, they are 7 games out and have been hitting like an Rookie-Ball team at the Major League level.

The Twins got swept by the Angels while being outscored 20-6 in their 3 game series against the AL West division leaders.


On Friday
Scott Baker had a pretty bad start allowing 6 runs in the 5 1/3 innings of work. Juan Rincon and Carmen Cali didn't help by giving up 4 combined runs in 1 inning. Ramon Ortiz pitched the final 1.2 innings.

Offensively, the Twins had 5 combined hits while Morneau, Cuddyer, and Mauer went hitless. Mauer did have 2 walks though. Rondell White had the only RBI of the game. It was his first RBI since he had two against Baltimore in the 3rd game of the season.

Game Ball

Profile: Rondell White, #24, Left Fielder

Game: 1-4, 1 RBI

On Saturday
The Twins had a 2-0 lead when Carlos Silva left the game after the 7th inning due to cramping in his hamstring. It's too bad too, Pat Neshek had a poor performance and gave up 4 runs (2 earned) in just 1/3 of an inning pitched. He gave up a 2-run HR to Maicer Izturis in which Neshek later said that he left the ball over the plate in anticipation of Izturis bunting. The Twins scored in the 9th, but fell short 4-3.

Jason Bartlett, Joe Mauer, and Mike Redmond all had good games. Bartlett went 2-4 with his 2nd triple of the year. Mauer went 3-4 with his 50th RBI. And Mike Redmond had to take over the DH duties after Jason Kubel hurt his oblique while he struck out in his only at bat. Redmond went 2-3 with an RBI. Morneau, Hunter and Cuddyer all had 1 hit each but combined for 8 runners left on base. The team left a combined 17 runners on base in that game.

Game Ball

Profile: Joe Mauer, #7, Catcher

Game: 3-4, RBI

Sunday
Yesterday, the Twins didn't get a great start from Boof Bonser who gave up 5 runs in his 5 2/3 innings pitched. 2 of the runs came from a HR from Chone Figgins in the 6th inning. Juan Rincon struck out the only batter he faced. Dennys Reyes pitched a scoreless 7th. Ramon Ortiz gave up a solo HR to Jeff Mathis to make the score 6-2.

Joe Mauer and Alexi Casilla both had 2 hits. Mauer hit his 21st double and Casilla had two singles with 2 walks and 2 stolen bases, he also scored both of the Twins runs. Jason Bartlett drove in Casilla both times. Once with a sac-fly and the other with his 3rd triple of the season and his 2nd in as many games. Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer, Mike Redmond and Tommy Watkins combined to go 0-18 with 4 K's and 3 LOB (all Morneau's).

Game Ball

Profile: Jason Bartlett, #18, Short Stop

Game: 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI

Jason Kubel hurting
Like I said before, Jason Kubel hurt his oblique during Saturday's game. The prognoses is a right strained oblique but the Twins don't know how long he'll be out for. According to Joe Christensen, Kubel said his oblique felt better on Sunday but I'm thinking that the Twins aren't going to make a move until they see how he feels today.

Who would replace him? The likeliest of options would be Lew Ford who has played alright since his demotion. But the other option could be Garrett Jones who would provide the team with an outfielder, first baseman, and a designated hitter (where he'll likely see most of his time).

The Twins will likely make a move this morning so the player can join the team in time for the first game of the Seattle series.


Rochester Red Wings lost to the Ottawa Lynx, 6-5.
Brian Duensing was hit for 6 unearned runs in the 4th inning, and the Red Wings fell just short in their comeback. Duensing ended up pitching 5 innings while he threw 100 pitches. Jay Sawatski, Brad Baker and Jason Miller all pitched a combined 4 shutout innings. Garrett Jones went 3-4 with his 32nd double of the year and he also went deep twice to bring his season total to 13 HR's. He drove in 3 of the runs for the Wings. Lew Ford had 2 doubles and an RBI. Glenn Williams drove in the other run.

New Britain Rock Cats beat the Erie Aeros, 8-3.
Oswaldo Sosa threw another solid game and has been really impressive after a slow start in AA. He went 5 2/3 and gave up just 1 run on 3 hits. Tim Lahey gave up 2 unearned runs in relief. Luke Hughes went 2-4 with his 16th double, 2nd triple and he drove in 3 RBI's. Matt Moses and David Winfree both drove in 2 runs each. Matt Allegra drove in the other runner. Trevor Plouffe, Garrett Guzman, and Drew Butera all had 2 hits each.

Ft. Myers Miracle beat the Brevard County Manatees, 4-2.
Jay Rainville pitched another solid game while he went the first 6 innings and gave up 2 runs (1 earned) and struck out 4. J.P. Martinez pitched a perfect 7th and 8th innings before Rob Delaney picked up save #4 with a scoreless 9th. Ed Ovalle, Alexander Soto and Toby Gardenhire, the 7-9 hitters went a combined 3-8 with 3 runs driven in. Juan Portes had the only other hit for the Miracle.

Beloit Snappers lost to the Lasting Lugnuts, 8-0.
Brian Kirwan gave up 6 runs in less than 2 innings pitched. Aaron Craig gave up the other 2 runs in his 2 innings of relief. Matt Williams and Danny Leatherman pitched a combined 5.1 innings of scoreless relief. Steven Singleton, Chris Cates and Eli Tintor were the only batters to get hits, and Tintor had two of them. The rest of the lineup went 0-21.

GCL Twins beat the GCL Orioles, 6-3.
Liam Hendricks continued his success with 5 scoreless innings while he struck out 7 batters. Nelvin Fuentes gave up 1 run in his 2 innings of relief. Tom Stuifbergen pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Jarrad Eacott gave up 3 hits and 2 runs while he only got one batter out before Danny Rondon pitched the rest of the 9th for his 10th save of the season. Ramon Santana had 2 hits and 2 RBI's for the Twins and also hit his 1st triple of the season. Jon Waltenbury and Juan Richardson drove in the other RBI's of the game. Ben Revere went 1-3 and scored a run.

Elizabethton Twins lost to the Greeneville Astros, 5-0.
Mike Tarsi pitched 5 solid innings and gave up just 2 runs on 8 hits while he struck out 7 batters in the process. Caleb Moore and Omar Alcala gave up 3 combined runs in 3 innings pitched. Rene Tosoni and Ozzie Lewis had the only hits for the Twins. Tosoni also stole his 12th base of the season.


To see Friday and Saturday's minor league notes, check out Seth Stohs blog. Also check out his "Get to Know 'Em" post where he gives everyone a look at Elizabethton's slugger, Ozzie Lewis. It's a great piece.