Thursday Twins Links: June 4, 2009

• Anthony Swarzak struggled last night, giving up six runs over four innings of work. Three runs came from a Johnny Peralta home run which cemented a five run third inning. Unfortunately, the offense didn't help much anyways as Cliff Lee got into a groove early and held the Twins to one run through eight innings. The final score was 10-1. Justin Murphy provided a fantastic recap of the game including some information on what transpired between Lee and Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez.

• Mark Healey from Baseball Digest Live had Twins blogger (and Twins content editor at Baseball Digest) Seth Stohs on yesterday's segment. The two talked Twins for a while including all of the hot topics so make sure to check it out.

Stohs had a busy day. He also...

• He was the first (at least I believe he was) to report that the Twins have promoted two pitching prospects in Alex Burnett and Carlos Gutierrez to New Britain.
• He then posted his second segment of his updated Top 50 Prospect list. Click here for the first segment.
• Hosted a live chat during the Twins-Indians game which started at 7:30 and didn't officially close until after midnight.

• Cyril Morong from Cybermetrics compares Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau to some past "M&M Boy's." Morong compares the highly-powered Minnesota duo to the Giants Willie McCovey and Willie Mays as well as the Yankees Mickey Mantle and Roger Marris. Meanwhile, Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press compares the two to Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent.

• Here's a little information on the two newest Rock Cat pitchers. Carlos Gutierrez was drafted in the first round of the 2008 draft. Much like in 2007 when the Twins drafted Ben Revere, many questioned the move on the Twins' behalf. But again, like in 2007 those same doubters have been quieted by the strong play by Gutierrez. The 22-year-old former Miami Hurricane was 2-3 with a 1.32 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) in the Florida State League. He features one of the best fastballs all of the minor leagues which helped him induce 103 ground balls opposed to only 23 flyball outs. Click here to read more on Gutierrez and on Alex Burnett.

• Glen Perkins will make his first rehab start since landing on the disabled list with 'slight elbow soreness.' Perkins will be limited to 70 pitches. If everything goes well, he'll make another rehab start before coming off of the disabled list. That should give Anthony Swarzak at least two more turns in the rotation. Or maybe it's Francisco Liriano who will get two more turns.

• The New Britain Rock Cats saved the Twins organization from getting swept on Wednesday. And to add more drama, they came back from being one-hit through eight innings to win the game in the 9th inning. The teams combined for eight runs (including both Snappers games). Eight runs, six games played? Not the best night for the Minnesota Twins and their Minor League affiliates. Here are the following scores from around the Twins Minor Leagues:

• Rochester Red Wings 1, Gwinnett Braves 10.
• New Britain Rock Cats 2, Connecticut Defenders 1.
• Ft. Myers Miracle 1, Clearwater Threshers 2.
• Beloit Snappers 2, Peoria Cheifs 3. (Completion of game from June 2nd)
• Beloit Snappers 1, Peoria Cheifs 2.

• Jim Mandelaro writes about Brian Duensing and a 'little trick' Red Wings manager Stan Cliburn told him to do to help with his first inning pitching problems. The trick hasn't worked as Duensing continues to struggle in the first inning.

• This is one feature at Target Field that I am really excited about. Is it possible to be any more excited than I am right now about 2010?

• Tangotiger from Inside The Book takes a look at Joe Mauer's predicted home run totals for the remainder of the 2009 season.

• Thrylos from The tenth inning stretch has given us some Twins draft thoughts over the last couple days. Make sure to check out both posts here and here. And for some draftee interviews, make sure to check out The Baseball Analysts where they have interviews with many players including St. Paul Saints pitcher Tanner Scheppers. And for more draft coverage, make sure to check out Baseball America.

• And finally, the Minnesota Twins have begun campaigning for both Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer making the All-Star game. "Speak Softly & Carry Big Sticks" is the slogan. According to MLB.com, Mauer leads catchers with 769,320 votes (Jason Varitek is second with 406,788 votes). Meanwhile, Morneau is battling with Kevin Youkilis (600,175), Mark Teixeira (506,399) and Miguel Cabrera (444,492). Morneau is in third place with483,226 votes. Make sure to vote! And make sure to write Denard Span in.