Wednesday's Thoughts

Of Note To Fans

As you know, you can wait for what seems like hours for a rain delay to end. While this is nothing foreign to the die-hard baseball fan, online sports betting can make that time pass in a flash. All you need is a laptop and an internet connection and you're ready to go. It's not a bad idea for the seventh inning stretch either.

Twins Notes

Twins don't make another move.

On Monday, the Twins sent Luis Castillo and most of the fans/players were lead to believe that we'd get another bat to help our offense out. Well, the 3:00 (central time) came and passed and the Twins didn't make a move. I am never upset when we don't make a move. Because if the pieces don't fit, they can't be forced. The Twins were most likely reluctant to part with their young starting pitching, but you have to remember that pitching is the key to a teams success, and it's been the way the Twins have ran their organization for years. Why change now? If we were a bottom feeder, barely getting by, then something would likely have to change. But as we sit right now, we are 6 games behind the Tigers for the Division crown, and we are 5 games behind the Indians for the AL Wild Card. The Twins are very much still in it, in fact, if we can continue to have success against the Royals and if we carry that into the next series against the Indians, we could see a drastic change within the next week. I have to agree with what Seth Stohs said:

"I'm mainly disappointed in myself for getting my hopes up. I allowed myself to think that the Twins would actually make a significant trade at this deadline. They made one trade, but it was really ho-hum."

This really isn't anything new, or that I haven't exprienced since I've been a Twins fan (my entire life). I just need to remember that I need to not get my hopes up when nothing has ever happened before.


Twins beat Royals, 5-3.

Carlos Silva showed the team why they made a good decision by not trading him to another team. "Chief" Silva, went 8 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 7 hits. Joe Nathan gave up a 9th inning HR, but he still picked up his 24th save in the process.

Torii Hunter got the offense started with a leadoff HR (his 22nd of the year) in the top of the 2nd. His HR kickstarted a 4-run 2nd inning which even had Lew Ford and Alexi Casilla chipping in with RBI's. Hunter later had a HR robbed by center fielder, David DeJesus.

Alexi Casilla had a good day at the plate. He went 2-3 with a run scored and a run batted in. Lew Ford also had a good day going 2-3 with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Jason Tyner had another good game at the leadoff spot. He went 1-4 while Jason Bartlett went 2-4 in the #2 spot.

Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Mike Redmond, and Jeff Cirillo all went hittless.

Minor League Scores

Rochester Red Wings beat the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 3-1.

Starter Brian Bass put together another gem of a game. The 25 year old right hander gave up just 1 run over 7.1 innings. Bobby Korecky picked up his 30th save while pitching 1 2/3 innings. Denard Span and Matt Tolbet both had 1 hit. Darnell McDonald had 3 hits and drove in his 56 RBI. Garrett Jones and Chris Heintz both had 1 RBI apiece.

New Britain Rock Cats beat the Erie Sea Wolves, 6-2.

Jesse Floyd gave up 2 runs while pitching 6 innings to pick up his 5th win of the season. He also struck out 7. Danny Powers pitched the final 3 innings to pick up his 1st save of the season. Rashad Eldridge hit his 6th HR of the season and 2nd in as many days. He drove in 3 runs on the HR. Trevor Plouffe had 3 hits and an RBI to raise his season average to .291. Garrett Guzman and Matt Moses both had 2 hits.

Ft. Myers Miracle vs. the Dunedin Blue Jays

Game postponed due to rain.

Beloit Snappers beat the Ft. Wayne Wizards, 7-4.

Tyler Robertson has been phenominal all season, and it continued on Tuesday. He allowed 2 runs over 6 innings while striking out 9 batters. Anthony Slama later pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up his 6th save of the season. Joe Benson and Wilson Ramos both had great games. Both had 3 hits and while Benson drove in 2 RBI's, Ramos drove in 3. Chris Cates and Matt Betsill both had RBI's. Eli Tintor and Danny Santiesteban both had 2 hits.

GCL Twins vs. the GCL Reds.

Game postponed due to rain.

Elizabethton Twins lost to the Princeton Devil Rays, 6-3.

Michael Allen pitched a good game by allowing just 1 unearned run to score over 5 innings, but Ludovicus Van Mil and catcher turned pitcher, Caleb Moore couldn't perserve the game for the Twins. Van Mil gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 1 inning of relief, while Moore gave up 3 runs in 1 inning. Rene Tosoni had 2 more hits to continue his hot streak. The 21 year old has 13 hits in the last 10 games. Ozzie Lewis, Danny Lehman, Wesley Connor, Mark Delonc, and Eric Santiago all had 1 hit.

Tuesday's Thoughts

Twins Notes

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Luis Castillo traded to the Mets.
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If you haven't already heard, the Minnesota Twins have traded Luis Castillo to the New York Mets. In exchange, the Twins received 24 year old catcher, Drew Butera, and 23 year old outfielder, Dustin Martin. The 2nd baseman is in an option year of a 3 year $16 Million deal. He's making $5.75 Million this season. According to Twins GM Terry Ryan, the Twins were unlikely going to resign him after the season was over.

Drew Butera was selected by the Mets in the 5th round of the 2005 Draft out of the University of Central Florida. He was hitting .188/.208./.231 in AA this season with 1 HR and 4 RBI's in 30 games (117 AB's), he hit .258/.348/.418 in High-A with 5 HR's and 22 RBI's in 52 Games (182 AB's). Butera is the son of former Twins catcher, Sal Butera. His father won a World Series Ring with the Twins in 1987. He will be reporting to AA New Britain.

Dustin Martin was selected by the Mets in the 26th round of the 2006 Draft out of Sam Houston State. He was hitting .287/.358/.421 in High-A this season with 5 HR's and 52 RBI in 93 games (363 AB's) in High-A. Martin is another left-handed hitting outfielder with below-average power, so he should feel right at home in the Twins system. Although there are reports that he will develope more power as he progresses. Hopefully. I can see Martin turning out to be a Brandon Roberts-like steal that the Twins pulled off last year with the Reds. He will report to High-A Ft. Myers.
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Who will take over at 2nd Base?
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With Luis Castillo being traded, it opened a spot on the 25-man roster. So immediately after the trade, the Twins recalled infielder Alexi Casill from Rochester. Casilla is viewed as being the future 2nd baseman for the Twins, so it was no surprise to see him being called up. Casilla has been hot and cold at times this season, but he may be an option against left-handed hitters where he has hit .337/.388/.484 in 95 AB's at AAA this season. He and Nick Punto will likely split time at 2nd base, with Luis Rodriguez making an occasional appearance.
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Twins beat Royals, 3-1.
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In the midst of all the trade talk, there was a baseball game to be played.

Scott Baker pitched well for the Twins, and really deserved the game ball last night. The 25 year old went 8 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits and struck out 7. Both hits came in the 4th inning, otherwise he had 7 1-2-3 innings. He set down the first 9 and the last 14 he faced in order. Baker has now lowered his ERA to a respectable 4.88 (considering it was betwen 6-7 just a month ago). He is next scheduled to pitch against the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, August 4th.

The offense started off on a great start as well. Jason Tyner and Jason Bartlett lead off the Twins with back-to-back singles which lead up to Joe Mauer's 2-run double to put the Twins up 2-0 after the 1st. The Twins wouldn't score again until the 8th inning when Joe Mauer hit Jason Tyner in after a leadoff double. Mauer went 2-4 with his 19th double and 44th-46th RBI.

With Luis Castillo now gone, Jason Tyner got the start at leadoff on Monday and he did a great job. He went 3-4 with a single, doublem, and a triple (which was almost his 2nd ML home run). He has been great as of late, in his last 4 games, he is 8-15 with a solo home run. He is likely going to see more time at the leadoff spot now that the Twins traded Castillo.

The top of the lineup did a great job for the Twins. The 1-4 hitters who were Tyner, Jason Bartlett, Mauer and Justin Morneau combined to go 8-15 with all 3 runs scored and driven in and 2 doubles and a triple. The rest of the lineup was horrible. Torii Hunter, Jason Kubel, Rondell White, Brian Buscher, and Nick Punto combined for 1 hit in 16 AB's and left 10 men on base. The one hit was by Brian Buscher who had his first hit at the Metrodome with a 2nd inning single. Jason Kubel had a couple nice hits, including one that was just about 5 feet foul of his 10th HR, but he finished the game with 3 K's.

Joe Nathan come out in the 9th and set the Royals down in order to pick up his 23rd save of the year and his 3rd in the last 3 games/days.

Carlos Silva (8-11, 4.76) will face Jorge De La Rosa (8-10, 5.35) on Tuesday in the 2nd game of a 4 game series against the Royals. Silva is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.18 in 9 career starts against the Royals. De La Rosa is 1-3 with an ERA of 4.74 in 6 games (4 starts) in his career against the Twins. De La Rosa pitched 8 innings and gave up just 1 run (which was unearned) against the Twins on April 22nd.
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Minor League Scores

Rochester Red Wings beat the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 3-2.

Dave Gassner may have extended his stay in the Red Wings rotation, at least for the time-being. The 28 year-old southpaw went 6 innings and gave up just 1 run on 3 hits. Julio DePaula helped him win the game by perserving a 3-1 game by pitching 2 innings of no-hit ball. Bobby Korecky picked up his 28th save, but also allowed another run which was his 4th in his last 3.2 innings pitched. Jose Morales hit 2 RBI's and his 2nd HR of the season. Garrett Jones went 1-2 with 2 walks and his 60th RBI of the season.

New Britain Rock Cats beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 8-7.

Starter Anthony Swarzak wasn't as good yesterday than in his previous starts, but he wasn't that bad. He gave up 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 9 in 6 2/3 innings. Tim Lahey pitched 2 innings and gave up 2 runs (1 earned) to pick up his 8th win of the season. Trevor Plouffe went 2-4 with 3 RBI's and his 8thHR of the season. Rashad Eldridge went 3-5 with a two-run game winning HR in the 9th.

Ft. Myers Miracle beat the Dunedin Blue Jays, 6-5.

Kyle Walrdop gave up 4 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings on Monday. Adam Hawes pitched 4 innings in relief to pick up his 2nd win of the season. Steven Tolleson and Erik Lis went 2-4 with an RBI each. Alexander Soto went 2-4 with 2 RBI's. Danny Valencia and Brian Dinkelman both had hits as well.

Beloit Snappers beat the Fort Wayne Wizards, 5-2.

Starter Cole DeVries went 5 innings of 1 run (which was unearned) baseball en route to his 8th win of the season. Jesus Carnevales, Aaron Craig and Anthony Slama finshed off the game. Slama picked up save number 5. Steven Singleton went 2-3 with his 17th RBI. Eli Tintor went 1-2 with his 19th RBI. And Joe Benson went 2-5 with 2 RBI's.

GCL Twins beat the GCL Pirates, 8-3.

Starter Thomas Wright went 4 innings and gave up 3 runs (2 earned). Lee Martin, Tom Stuifbergen, Dominique Rodgers, and Michael Mopas combined for 5 shutout innings. Martin picked up his 2nd win of the season. Juan Richardson went 3-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in. Yangervis Solarte, Andrew Schmiesing, Angel Morales and Nick Biagini all had 2 hits each. Morales had 4 RBI's and his first HR of the season. Ben Rever went 1-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 SB's.

Elizabethton Twins beat the Greenville Astros, 6-2.

David Bromberg picked up his 5th win of the season while going 5 innings and giving up 2 runs and striking out 8. Spencer Steedley, Curtis Leavitt, Omar Alcala and Bradley Tippett combined for 4 shutout of relief innings, 2 hits, and 5 K's. Every starter had a hit, so I won't list those guys. But the RBI's went to Estarlin De Los Santos, D.J. Romero, Rene Leveret, Wesley Connor and Mark Dolenc. Dolenc had 2 RBI's which came from his 2-run HR, his 3rd of the year.

THE TWINS SYSTEM SWEPT THER OPPONENTS ON MONDAY, 7-0!

Monday's Thoughts

Twins Notes

Twins beat Indians, 4-1.
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The Twins came from behind in the 8th inning to beat C.C. Sabathia and the Indians, 4-1. The victory clinched a series win, which was needed after being swept by the Blue Jays last week.

Matt Garza was dealing in this game. He pitched out of a big jam in the 1st. After allowing the first two batters to reach, he struck out Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, and Ryan Garko consecutively. Garza finished the game with 11 strikeouts in just 6 innings of work while allowing 1 run on 5 hits in the no decision.

C.C. Sabathia was also dealing. He struck out 11 batters in 7 2/3 innings including Joe Mauer 3 times and Nick Punto and Lew Ford twice. He allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits in his 6th loss of the season.

The Twins bullpen was good in its 2nd staight game after being roughed up a few previous games. Dennys Reys, Pat Neskek and Joe Nathan combined for 3 scoreless innings of relief. Reyes picked up his 2nd win and Nathan picked up his 22nd save.

The offense was pretty bad until the 8th. With one out, Jason Tyner was hit by a pitch from Sabathia. Bartlett then grounded out to make 2 outs with Tyner still at first. Nick Punto was lifted for pinch hitter, Mike Redmond. "Red Dog" hit a game-tying RBI double to right field which drifted over Trot Nixon's head and drove in Jason Tyner from 1st. Luis Rodriguez pinch ran for Redmond. Joe Mauer hit a dribbler to Josh Barfield who threw the ball over Ryan Garko's head which allowed Mauer to reach safely and advance to 2nd while Rodriguez scored. Then Justi Morneau delivered an RBI double down the left field line to score Mauer from 2nd.

All that on a two-out rally. Amazing what just 1 hit by pitch can end up being at the end.

The offense will need to stay hot against the Kansas City Royals who have been playing very well as of late. They are 9-7 since the All Star Break and took 2/3 from both the Red Sox and Tigers before losing 3/4 games to the Yankees. But coming off of a 3 game sweep of the Rangers, the Royals are hitting and pitching great and hopefully the Twins can kill the momentum in game one.
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Back, Back, Back, GONE!
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Jason Tyner, after over 2600 AB's (including the Minor Leagues) finally hit his 1st Major League Home Run on Saturday off of Jake Westbrook. The ball landed in the Twins bullpen which was then snagged by Pat Neshek. Here's what Jason Tyner had to say about the hit and who got it:

“I’ve hit balls a lot better than that at the Metrodome,'’ he said. “That ball would not have been out at the Metrodome, but I’ve definitely hit some balls harder than that.'’

“Between second and third it was kind of seeping in,'’ he said. “I was kind of excited so I couldn’t get into a home run trot.'’

“My biggest fear was that Neshek would have it up on his website before the game was over,'’ Tyner said.

Michael Cuddyer Injury Update
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Michael Cuddyer (sprained thumb) feels that he'll be able to return on Friday, when he's eligable to return from the disabled list. On Saturday he hit off of a tee and played catch pryer to the Twins-Indians game in Cleveland. The swelling has reportedly gone down and he also doesn't feel any pain while swinging the bat. Ron Gardenhire said:

"I think he's pretty optimistic," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Just talking to Cuddy, he's pretty fired up. And if he's fired up, that probably means he'll get there."

Buyers? Or Sellers?
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The thing that everyone wants to know is if the Twins are going to be "buyers" or "sellers" by the time Tuesday afternoon comes. The Twins currently are 2 games above .500. While I think that we can still make a strong playoff push, I don't think that (with this market of batters) we'll be able to find the bat that we need. The guy that would help us out the most is Mark Teixeira, but the Twins (reportedly) have no interest in adding him and his expiring contract. Another batter who would help the Twins, Adam Dunn, also hasn't been shown any interest by the Twins. A few guys who the Twins have shown interest in are both off the table. Dmitri Young signed a 2-year, $10 Million extension to stay with the Nationals. And Ty Wiggington who can play 1st, 2nd, 3rd, DH, and has also played outfield in the past, is also off the table after being traded by the Devil Rays to the Astros for reliever, Dan Wheeler. I don't know who the Twins (realistically) could acquire that would turn this season around, but we'll have to wait and see what happens today and tomorrow to see.

Another thing, is that the Milwaukee Brewers traded former Twin, Grant Balfour to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Seth McClung. He struggled in his brief stay with the Brewers, after dominating the minor leagues. Hopefully the Devil Rays will give him more of a chance before they pull the plug on him, which I suspect they will; after all, Edwin Jackson is still in their rotation as the #3 starter. Yikes.
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What About Me?
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The young prospect that everyone has forgotten about has finally resurfaced. Anthony Swarzak has been on a tear after he served his 50 game drug suspension. He has been pitching so well that many think he may still be promoted to Rochester before the end of the season. Tim Kolehmainen has a great success story on Anthony Swarzak and the season that he has had to overcome.
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Minor League Scores

Rochester Red Wings the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 3-0.

Ryan Mullins has improved from his 1st start to his 2nd start in AAA, and Sunday, he improved from his 2nd to 3rd start. The 23 year old southpaw went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 3. He may have saved his spot in the rotation, for now, despite losing his 2nd game in a Red Wings uniform. Carmen Cali pitched the final 2 innings and gave up no hits and no walks while striking out 1. Alexi Casilla and Denard Span both went 1-3 and also stole a base. Garrett Jones and Chris Heintz both had 1 hit each.

New Britain Rock Cats lost to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 10-2.

Yohan Pino's 2nd start was much better than his 1st. Pino went 5 innings and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits while striking out 5. Still, he picked up his 2nd loss of the season for the Rock Cats. Frank Mata and fellow Venezuelan gave up 5 runs in 1 1/3 innings. Tristan Crawford and Jose Mijares both gave up 1 run each. Despite going 0-5 and dropping his average to .273, Matt Moses picked up his 26th RBI, Matt Allegra drove in his 50th. Luke Hughes, Rashad Eldridge, Garrett Guzman and Felix Molina all had 2 hits apiece.

Ft. Myers Miracle

No Games Scheduled.

Beloit Snappers lost the South Bend Silver Hawks, 3-2.

Matt Fox pitched a fantastic game on Sunday. The 24 year old right hander went 7 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 7. Danny Vais pitched 2 innings of relief and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits. Why wasn't Anthony Slama allowed to pitch the 9th? He's been their (best) closer since Rob Delaney was promoted, and I think that's the question people would like answered. Wilson Ramos drove in his 32nd RBI of the season. Garrett Olson hit his 12th double of the season. Joe Benson and Christopher Parmelee both went hitless with 2 K's each.

GCL Twins

No Games Scheduled.

Elizabethton Twins beat the Greenville Astros, 7-2. (Game 1)

6'7" Southpaw Dennis Reyes took the mound in game 1. The 24 year old allowed 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 9 in 5 innings. Daniel Latham and Blair Erickson both pitched an inning of scoreless relief. Estarlin De Los Santos went 2-4 with 2 runs scored. Rene Tosoni went 2-3 with a run scored and a run driven in. D.J. Romero went 2-4. Rene Leveret & Ozzie Lewis both went 1-3, Lewis drove in 2 runs. Gregory Yersich went 2-3 with 3 RBI's and his first HR.

Elizabethton Twins beat the Greenville Astros, 6-3. (Game 2)

Michael McCardell pitched another impressive game on Sunday. The rookie out of Kutztown went 5 innings and gave up 2 hits while striking out 9. Southpaw, Michael Rogers went 2/3 of an inning and gave up 3 runs (1 earned). He walked 3 and gave up 1 hit while striking out 1. Caleb Moore went 1 1/3 inning to get his first save of the season. Rene had 2 RBI's to go along with 2 hits. Ozzie Lewis and Gregory Yersich both had 2 hits each. Danny Lehman had 2 runs scored. Mark Dolenc drove in his 23rd run of the season, and Matt Lawman drove in two of his own.

Pat Neshek Interview

Twins Notes

Interview: Pat Neshek

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Pat Neshek was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 6th round of the 2002 draft. He attended Butler University where he holds many strikeout records including most strikeouts in a game, season, and career. Pat finished 3rd in the Final Vote for the AL All-Star team. He has his own website called "On the Road with Pat Neshek." On the site he talks about life in the majors, collecting sports cards, and autograph stories. Be sure to check out the site after reading the interview.

Name: Pat Neshek
Age: 26
Height: 6-3
Weight: 205
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right
College: Butler
Draft: 2002 6th round #182 overall by the Minnesota Twins



Josh's Thoughts: Growing up in Minnesota, were the Twins your favorite team? Who was your favorite player(s)?

Pat Neshek: Yep, I also liked the A's. My favorite players were definitely Tony Gwynn #1 and Kirby Puckett.

Josh's Thoughts: You were drafted by the Twins twice, both in 1999 (out of high school) and then again in 2002 (out of Butler). How much contact with the Twins did you have before you were drafted both times? Was it hard to turn them down?

Pat Neshek: Both times I was really surprised they picked me. I had a lot of other teams hound me a lot harder than the Twins did, especially in
college. I only signed a questionaire with the Twins out of high school, that's my only contact. In college I met with Scout Billy Milos and talked to him for about an hour and also a couple times on the phone.

Josh's Thoughts: Who has helped you the most in your career (on and/or off the field)?

Pat Neshek: My parents and Butler coach Steve Farley, he scared the crap ouot of me some days but he really taught me how to pitch and throw my slider.

Josh's Thoughts: How did you develope such an unorthodox style of delivery? Have you always thrown like that or did you learn to throw like that?

Pat Neshek: High School injury, I came back throwing from the side since I played shortstop all the time when I was hurt.

Josh's Thoughts: What has been the most difficult part of pro baseball?

Pat Neshek: Dealing with the failure and doing the same exact thing for half a year... it really sucks sometimes.

Josh's Thoughts: If you weren't playing baseball, what other profession would you want to be?

Pat Neshek: If we weren't going by paychecks, I wouldn't mind being a garbage man, lawn mower guy, planner or financial type guy. My major in college is finance so I'm good at that now I understand how the business goes. I wouldn't mind doing anything easy and outside.

Josh's Thoughts: What do you like to do in your free time?

Pat Neshek: Website, collect cards, autographs, play with my dogs, go shopping with my wife, beat her at Nintendo games. Just anything a nerdy guy would do, I do.

Josh's Thoughts: What is your favorite style(s) of music? Favorite Artist(s)/Group(s)?

Pat Neshek: Hard rock, Metal, Metalcore are my favorite styles. I like Chimaira, Lamb of god and Goldfinger probably the most.

Josh's Thoughts: What is your favorite movie(s)? Favorite Actor(s)/Actress?

Pat Neshek: The Pianist and The Count Monte Cristo. I don't have a favorite actor or actress.

Josh's Toughts: What has been your favorite stadium to play at in the Majors? Minors?

Pat Neshek: Metrodome and probably Vero Beach, because of my personal history with the place.

Josh's Thoughts: What is your greatest baseball moment?

Pat Neshek: MLB debut. Can't beat that.

Josh's Thoughts: Your website is a big success, where did you get the idea of starting it? How long have you been running it?

Pat Neshek: I started it in 2004. I wanted to get in touch with fans and share autograph stories.

Josh's Thoughts: What is your repertoire of pitches? Which would you call your "strikeout pitch?"

Pat Neshek: Fastball, Slider, Change-up. My Slider gets a lot of strikeouts.

Josh's Thoughts: What advice would you give a young baseball player that hopes to make it into pro baseball someday?

Pat Neshek: It's a long road and it doesn't happen over night. If you always believe and really believe deep down in your darkest moments of life you know things like college, getting dumped, not succeeding, failure that is when you get tested and can shy away from what you really want. If you still want it then, then that is pretty much the battle. All it takes from there is being prepared, lifting, throwing, getting better, knowing how the system works.

Josh's Thoughts: Thank you for taking time to answer some questions. I wish you great luck not only for the rest of this season, but throughout your career.

Thursday's Thoughts

Twins Notes

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Twins swept by Blue Jays.

Wow. The Twins now have put themselves in a predictament. Due they buy at the deadline and hope that they can turn this season around? Or do they sell and just work on the future? The Twins were leaning towards buying before the series, but after a 3-0 sweep from the Toronto Blue Jays of all teams, it may make the management think otherwise.

The game started out fine, Carlos Silva was cruising until the 5th inning. He gave up a single followed by a double to start the inning. Lyle Overbay came up with runners on 1st & 3rd and delivered a 2-run double to center field.

At that point, the Twins were still in it thanks to an RBI single by Justin Morneau to drive in Luis Castillo after a leadoff double.

But in the 6th inning, things got really ugly. This is what it said on my computer screen:

Bottom 6th: Toronto
- F. Thomas walked

- M. Stairs grounded into fielder's choice, F. Thomas out at second

- A. Hill safe at first on third baseman L. Rodriguez's fielding error, M. Stairs to second

- G. Zaun doubled to right, M. Stairs scored, A. Hill to third

- J. McDonald tripled to deep center, G. Zaun and A. Hill scored

- D. Reyes relieved C. Silva

- T. Glaus hit for H. Clark

- T. Glaus singled to left center, J. McDonald scored

- L. Overbay walked, T. Glaus to second

- J. Rincon relieved D. Reyes

- A. Rios singled to left, T. Glaus scored, L. Overbay to second

- V. Wells walked, L. Overbay to third, A. Rios to second

- F. Thomas singled to right, L. Overbay and A. Rios scored, V. Wells to third

- M. Stairs doubled to deep left center, V. Wells scored, F. Thomas to third

- M. Guerrier relieved J. Rincon

- A. Hill grounded out to shortstop

- G. Zaun homered to deep right, F. Thomas and M. Stairs scored

- J. McDonald lined out to right center

11 runs, 7 hits, 1 errors

Minnesota 1, Toronto 13

There's nothing really to talk about after that. The only things that were good for the Twins in this game were Ramon Ortiz & Joe Nathan pitching 2 scoreless innings (sad that this is such a good thing). Luis Castillo went 2-3 with 2 doubles and Justin Morneau went 2-3 with his 86th RBI of the season. That's pretty much it.

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Darnell McDonald optioned back to AAA Rochester

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After the game on Wednesday, the Twins optioned outfielder Darnell McDonald back to Rochester. McDonald's stay with the Twins was premature, and went just 1-10 in his limited playing time. He had his first hit as a Twin in yesterday afternoon's game against the Blue Jays when he had a pinch hit single in the 9th inning.

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Brian Buscher will be recalled and will be with the Twins in time for Friday's game against the Cleveland Indians. Buscher was pulled out of Wednesday's game for Rochester in the 5th inning. He went 0-2 in his first 2 AB's before being pulled. The 26 year old 3rd baseman was selected by the Twins in the Rule V draft in December out of the San Francisco Giants Organization. He started the season in New Britain and hit .308/.391/.478 with 7 HR's and 37 RBI in 63 games (247 AB's). He was promoted to Rochester on June 21st and hit .313/.385/.530 with 6 HR's and 20 RBI in 35 games (115 AB's).

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The Twins hope to have Buscher as their 3rd baseman for the rest of the season, after Nick Punto has yet to pull out of his season-long slump. The 29 year old utility player is hitting .218 in 94 games (321 AB's) this season. Despite his great defensive performances he puts on on a nightly basis, the Twins are struggling too much offensively and can't afford to have his bat in the lineup anymore. If Buscher can hit anywhere near what he has been hitting so far this year, he'll have the gig at 3rd for the rest of this year, and likely next year as well.

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Hopefully Buscher can't show up the Giant's Organization like Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano & Boof Bonser have already done in the last couple years. All I have to say so far, is thank you Brian Sabean.

Minor League Updates

Rochester Red Wings lost to the Syracuse Chiefs, 8-1.

Hopefully the next time I'm writing about Dave Gassner, it will be that Anthony Swarzak (or somebody else) is taking his spot in the rotation. The 28 year old left hander has been horrible the last 3 months and he didn't help himself on Wednesday. He gave up 4 runs in 5 innings of work. He did strike out 8, but that was the only positive. The bullpen wasn't any help neither. Jason Miller allowed a run to score while pitching 2 innings of relief. Brad Baker gave up 3 in his solo inning. The offense wasn't anything to be pleased with either. Garrett Jones went 1-3 with his 30th double of the season, where was that in Minnesota? Chris Heintz went 1-3 as well with his 10th RBI of the season.

New Britain Rock Cats lost to the Connecticut Defenders, 3-0.

The Rock Cats couldn’t get any runs, despite the fact that Anthony Swarzak pitched one of his best games of the season. The 21 year old went 7 shutout innings and struck out 11 batters. J.P. Martinez couldn’t preserve the shutout and in just 1/3 inning, he already gave up 2 runs. Jose Mijares gave up another run in 2/3 inning. The offense didn’t have a single extra base hit. Trevor Plouffe, Luke Hughes, Rashad Eldridge and David Winfree all had a hit apiece. Felix Molina had 2 hits and a stolen base.

Ft. Myers Miracle lost to the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 3-2.

Jay Rainville just can't get any offensive support this season. The right hander lost his 10th game despite allowing just 3 runs (2 earned) in 5 1/3 innings pitched. He currently has an ERA of 3.60 which has to be the most frustrating thing. The Miracle's offense has been very bad all season. One of the usual contributors, Brian Dinkelman continued his strong play with his 5th home run and 15th RBI of the season. Steven Tolleson, Juan Portes, and Erik Lis all had doubles as their ownly hits of the evening.

Beloit Snappers.

No Games Scheduled.

GCL Twins beat the GCL Pirates, 6-3.

Danny Berlind has been great all season, and that didn't change on Wednesday. The 6'7'', 19 year old right hander went 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 4. Andrew Schmiesing had 2 RBI's in the game, so did Jon Waltenbury but his came off of his 2nd home run of the season. Yangervis Solarte, Juan Richardson and Wang-Wei Lin all had 2 hits in the game (along with Waltenbury). Ben Revere went 1-4 with his 3rd double of the season. Danny Rams went 1-4.

Elizabethton Twins vs. the Kingsport Mets.

Both games of the doubleheader were rained out.

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.

Tuesday's Thoughts

Twins Notes

Twins lose to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2.

Johan Santana showed that he was infact human after the all-star break and gave up 4 home runs (including two to the "Big Hurt") and 6 runs in his 2nd loss in a row. Ramon Ortiz and Juan Rincon pitched the final 3 innings and combined to not allow a hit.

Justin Morneau must love the attention he is getting in Canada. The AL MVP went 2-4 with 2 HR's and 3 RBI's. They were his 27th & 28th home runs of the season. Torii Hunter also added his 21st home run of the season.

Besides Mauer's 2 hits, the rest of the lineup was very quiet. The other 6 combined to go 4-23 with 6 men left on base. The Twins really need to add someone to the bottom of our lineup to pick up some of the slack when Cuddyer is out and so that we don't have to keep relying on our 3-5 batters game in and game out.

The Twins will send Scott Baker to the mound who hopefully can duplicate his last two outings, but, the Twins will need to have some more help on offense for them to win. Dustin McGowan will start for the Blue Jays.

Minor League Notes

Rochester Red Wings beat the Ottawa Lynx, 9-3. (Game 1)
The Red Wings got exactly what they wanted from their starter today, go late into the game to protect the rotation for the doubleheader. Brian Duensing pitched a 7 inning complete game. The 24 year old southpaw gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 108 pitches. Alexi Casilla hit his 3rd Home Run of the season. Jose Morales had 2 hits to improve his average to .354. Chris Heintz had 2 hits and his his 7th RBI. Brian Buscher also had two hits, as did Tommy Watkins. Trent Oeltjen had 3 RBI's in the game. Denard Span has really improved his hitting after starting the season hitting .214 & .212 in April & May. In June he hit .290 and so far in July he's hitting .286. The young outfielder has also recently talked to Twins Center Fielder, Torii Hunter. I love how these two have connected away from the field and hopefully Hunter will be here to mentor Span for many years to come. Span finished the game with 2 hits and 3 RBI's.

Rochester Red Wings beat the Ottawa Lynx, 4-3. (Game 2)
In just his 4th game started (and first in AAA), the Red Wings couldn't have really asked a lot out of Jay Sawatski. The 25 year old went 3 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits. The bullpen took over after that. And they did a great job. Jason Miller went 2 innings of scoreless ball. Julio DePaula also went 2 innings of scoreless ball before handing the ball off to closer Bob Korecky for his 26th save of the season. DePaula picked up the win, it was his 8th of the season. Chris Heintz had another good game. This time he went 2-3 with 2 RBI's and his 1st Home Run of the season. Brian Buscher had 3 hits in this game and in just 8 AB's he raised his average from .297-.321. Great day for him. Denard Span also had a good game/day and went 1-3 with his 37 RBI in this game.

New Britain Rock Cats vs. the Connecticut Defenders.
Game postponed due to rain.

Ft. Myers Miracle beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 4-1.
Jeff Manship has been great all year, and nothing changed on Monday. The 22 year old pitched another gem to add onto his remarkable season. On Monday, he went 7 innings and gave up 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 12. He is showing his stuff and hopefully can join his friends Oswaldo Sosa & Yohan Pino in AA real soon. Armando Gabino pitched 2 innings to pick up his 4th save of the season. Brian Dinkelman continued his great play, the 2nd baseman went 1-4 with 2 runs scored and a walk. Juan Portes had 3 of the 7 hits and he also drove in a run. Erik Lis had 2 RBI's.

Beloit Snappers beat the Great Lakes Loons, 7-6 .
The Snappers needed 10 innings, but none-the-less they still got the win. Brian Kirwan didn't have that bad of a game, but he couldn't avoid the big inning and gave up 5 runs in the 5th inning. He was relieved by struggling Jose Lugo who had his best appearance in quite some time. He pitched 2 innings of scoreless relief. Aaron Craig gave up an unearned run in 1 inning of relief. Anthony Slama came on and pitched 2+ innings to pick up his 1st win of the season for the Snappers. He allowed just one hit and struck out 4 in the process. Steven Singleton picked up 2 RBI's in the contest. Yancarlos Ortiz, Joe Benson, and Garrett Olson drove in one apiece. Chris Parmelee had a great game, having 3 hits and 2 runs including the game winner. In the bottom of the 10th inning Parmelee singled to begin the inning, Parmelee advances to 2nd on a sac bunt, the next batter was walked, then Parmelee advances to 3rd on a balk and then Singleton hits a sacfly to left field to drive in Parmelee from 3rd and to win the game.

GCL Twins vs. the GCL Orioles.
Game postponed due to rain.

Elizabethton Twins lost to the Johnson City Cardinals, 3-0.
The game was called in the bottom of the 6th inning due to rain, but the game is official and the Twins couldn't get enough run support to help pull Michael McCardell out of a 3-0 deficite. McCardell went 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits but on a positive note, he struck out 8 batters and walked none. Estarlin De Los Santos had 1 of the two Twins hits. Wesley Connor had the other hit which was his 6th double of the season.

Monday's Thoughts

Twins Notes

Twins lose to Angels, 7-2

The Minnesota Twins couldn't complete the sweep of the Los Angeles of Anaheim of California of the West Coast etc. on Sunday. It what looked like might be a good day for the batters after scoring 5 and 7 runs in the first two previous games, but that didn't happen. The bats were quiet and Matt Garza didn't help by starting out the game on a bad note, he loaded up the bases (in the first) and then walking Orlando Cabrera home which turned out to be his first earned run of the season. The young righty never got into a groove until the 4th and 5th innings, but at that point, his pitch count was already at 100 pitches. He came out in the 6th and struck out Garrett Anderson, but a base hit by Casey Kotchman who later scored, ended the day of Matt Garza. Garza finished the game by going 5 1/3 innings pitched while giving up 4 runs (1 unearned) and 3 walks while striking out 3.

The relievers, who have been a big part to the success for the Twins, couldn't stop the bleeding. Juan Rincon continued his woos by giving up 1 run in 1 inning of relief, he also walked the first batter he faced which was charged to Garza. Dennys Reyes gave up an inherited run (which was the run charged to Rincon) and walked a batter in 1/3 of an inning of work. Matt Guerrier pitched 1.1 innings and gave up his first earned run in nearly a month. Ramon Ortiz who hasn't pitched since July 6th pitched the ninth inning and gave up another run.

The offense just couldn't get anything going. Joe Mauer came up with 2 runners on in the 3rd, it what looked like we might be able to close the 3-1 game, he instead grounded into an inning ending double play. He finished the game with a hit and 3 men left on base.

Jason Kubel had a great start to the series, and it looked like he was going to finally start turning it around at the plate, but that too didn't happen. The young left fielder had a terrible game at the plate by going 0-4, but did make a "web-gem" in left field by making a late cut to the ball and diving to his left to catch it. Darnell McDonald also went 0-4 at the plate and has yet to get a hit in first 9 AB's.

Jason Bartlett picked up error number 19 on the year with a bad throw that went over Justin Morneau's head. The ball was then touched by a fan which allowed the runner (Nathan Haynes) to advance to 2nd.

Jeff Cirillo hit a sac fly (right before Mauer ended the 3rd with the double play) and Justin Morneau had an RBI single. Those were the only runs the Twins would score in the game.

Nick Punto started at 2nd with Luis Castillo having a day off to sort out his visa problems and to rest his sore legs. Castillo may not be with the Twins in their first game against Toronto on Monday, because he forgot his visa at his home in Miami. The Twins are hopefully he will make the flight to Toronto, but they expect he'll be there (if not by Monday's game) then by Tuesday's game. With Nick Punto starting at 2nd, Luis Rodriguez got the start at 3rd. the switch hitter had an alright day both offensively and defensively. He finished the game going 1-2 with a walk and a run scored.

The Twins hope to re-spark the offense in time for Monday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.


Rondell White activated from the DL, Garrett Jones sent down.

The Twins announced after the game on Sunday that they have activated Rondell White from the DL and have sent Garrett Jones back to Rochester.

Rondell White has missed all but the first three games of the season because of a right calf muscle tear. White has only played in two minor league games since July 8th due to a strained right hamstring. He went 3-4 on Sunday with a double for the GCL Twins. He has also told the team that he isn't comfortable yet playing the outfield (thank god), so the Twins will use him (at first) as a designated hitter.

Garrett Jones just never really got a good chance to show what he has. The 6-4, 227 pound first baseman/outfielder had just had 17 AB's this time around and only had 3 hits. Jones looked clueless sometimes at the plate, especially when it came to offspeed pitches (the curveball in particlular). He will likely be up later this year when the Twins expand their rosters in September. But still then, I don't think he'll have enough chances. This guy may never be given the right time to prove that he has what it takes at the next level. The Red Wings will love to have him back and hopefully he can focus on hitting better against anything that is not a fastball.

I can't believe this, but I'm actually happy that Rondell White is coming back and that I am optimistic that he'll help out offense out. But I have to keep remembering that he's crushed those feelings before.

The real deal finally shows up

Former Twins J.D. Durbin pitched a 9-inning complete game shutout against the San Diego Padres on Sunday. The former Twin top prospect has been great in his last two starts with the Phillies, and hopefully he can continue to pitch well. The 25 year old has been with the Diamonbacks, Red Sox, and now the Phillies since the Twins placed him on Waivers in April.

Minor League Notes

Rochester Red Wings lost to the Ottawa Lynx 3-2.
Kevin Slowey pitched a gem, even though he only lasted 6 innings. The young righty gave up 1 run and struck out 6 while walking 1 with 4 hits. He left the game with a 1-1 tie and was apart of the no decision. Carmen Cali pitched 3 solid innings in relief by giving up just 1 run. Brad Baker received the loss as he gave up a game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th. Slowey didn't pick up the win in part to the Red Wings not being able to capitalize off the hits. The team had 10 hits, but only scored twice. Alexi Casilla & Matt Tolbert (#1-2 in the lineup and both very important to the team's offense) combined for 0-9. The Twins need these two guys to get on and run the bases. Denard Span, Trent Oeltjen, Doug Deeds and Tommy Watkins all had 2 hits. Denard Span scored on a wild pitch in the 6th and Trent Oeltjen picked up RBI #18 with a single in the 7th.

New Britain Rock Cats lost to the Trenton Thunder, 7-2.
Oswaldo Sosa pitched his first game for New Britain (this season) on Sunday. The 21-year old righty gave up 2 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings of work. He also struck out 3 and walked one in the no-decision. J.P. Martinez, Jose Mijares, and Tim Lahey pitched 4 scoreless without giving up an earned run. But bonehead mistakes by Felix Molina, David Winfree, and even a few bad plays by Tim Lahey in the top of the ninth allowed 5 to score which broke up the 2-2 tie and put the game out of reach. The loss was Lahey's 3rd. The top of the order did their jobs on Sunday. Brandon Roberts went 2-3 with a stolen base. Trevor Plouffe went 1-3 with a run scored. Garrett Guzman went 2-3 and Matt Moses went 1-4 with his 25 RBI. The rest of the lineup went 1-18. Ouch.

Ft. Myers Miracle beat the Sarasota Reds, 13-4.
Errol Simonitsch pitched his first game of the season for Ft. Myers on Sunday. The 24 year old southpaw went 3 2/3 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 4. Adam Hawes relieved him and 4 1/3 innings and gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on way to pick up his 1st win in a Miracle uniform. Rob Delaney pitched a scoreless ninth inning in relief. Everyone contributed on offense, even if it was by walking and later scoring. Steven Tolleson, Jeff Christy, Brian Dinkelman, and Ed Ovalle all had 2 hits and combined for 7 runs and 3 RBI's. Dwayne White and Danny Valencia both had 2 RBI's to go along with a base hit. Erik Lis had 3 RBI's and 3 hits to go along with his 23rd RBI.

Beloit Snappers lost to the Great Lakes Loons, 6-4.
Matt Fox started for the Snappers and gave up 3 runs (all unearned) in 6 innings of work. The bullpen just couldn't get the job done though. Danny Leatherman gave up 1 run and Jesus Carnevales gave up 2 more. Danny Vais came in to stop the bleeding, but it was too late. The damage had already been done. Former Miracle players, Matt Betsill and Eli Tintor had 3 hits each and combined for 3 doubles. Ben Petsch had 2 hits in just his 2nd game in the Midwest League and also hit his 1st tripple.

GCL Twins lost to the GCL Red Sox, 5-3.
Santos Arias got roughed up early, and the Twins could not overcome it. The 20-year old righty went 4 2/3 innings and gave up 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits. Jarrad Eacott & Dominique Rodgers pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Rondell White had 3 hits including a double and an RBI single. Danny Rams picked up RBI #7 with a single that scored Rondell White in 2nd.

Elizabethton Twins lost to the Bluefied Orioles, 8-4.
Starter Steven Hirschfeld pitched just two innings and gave up 2 runs. Spencer Steadley gave up 2 unearned runs in 3 innings but picked up his 1st loss of the season. Ludovicus Van Mil also gave up an unearned run in 2 innings of relief. After struggling at the plate for Ft. Myers this season, catcher/ (now) pitcher Caleb Moore pitched one inning of scoreless relief and struck out 1 in the process. Curtis Leavitt gave up 3 runs in 1 inning to put the icing on the cake for the Orioles. Danny Lehman and Rene Leveret both had 2 hits. Estarlin De Los Santos and Rene Tosoni both had 1 hit and two runs scored. D.J. Romero supplied most of the offense by going 3-5 with 3 RBI's.

Saturday's Thoughts

Twins' bats come alive to beat Halos, 7-5.

The Minnesota Twins beat the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim), 7-5 to break a 3 game losing streak that started as the result of the Detroit Tigers sweeping the Twins in all 3 games of the series.

Carlos Silva got hit up early. He gave up 2 in the 1st, 2 in the 3rd, and 1 in the fourth. He was only charged with 4 of the 5 runs. The 1st run of the game was of a result of a throwing error by Nick Punto when he robbed Vladimir Guerrero and then tried to throw out Orlando Cabrera at 1st base. Chone Figgins (who doubled to start the game) scored on the play.

Silva finished by going 6 2/3 innings and gave up just the 5 runs on 10 hits. He definitely turned a horrible start into a solid game. Dennys Reyes and Juan Rincon were both solid and both pitched 2/3 inning of scoreless baseball. Joe Nathan had two strikeouts as he pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his 19th save of the season. Nice to see that he's recovered (mentally) by the loss the day before.

Torii Hunter had a hamstring injury? He chased down fly balls and cruised the basepaths at (what looked like) full strength. He even attempted to steal a base when the Twins put the hit-and-run on with Jason Kubel singling to center field. Torii reached third with a foot first slide and got up smiling. I think he'll be alright.

Jason Kubel had another good game. The young left-fielder went 3-3 with a walk, 2 RBI's and his first triple of the season. Over the last 2 games, he's improved his batting average from .240-.257! With the way he's been swinging the bat the last two games, he could be hitting around .290 by the time this series is over (we could only wish). The Twins need him to get hot for the 2nd half. He'll need to help pick up the slack while Michael Cuddyer is on the DL. Jason Bartlett also hit his first triple of the season. He had a few well hit balls to center field. Both Jason's made great contact with the ball.

Justin Morneau went 2-4 with 3 RBI's and 2 runs scored. He also hit his 26th home run to deep right center field. Nick Punto made a few web-gem type plays in the field and he also wasn't that bad at the plate. The 3rd baseman went 1-4 with 2 RBI's.

1 Hit wonders. Luis Castillo and Joe Mauer both only recorded 1 hit. Luis Castillo almost beat out a few infield balls and probably could've finished with 3 hits. Joe Mauer has been trying to become Adam Dunn recently with his bat, and that's not necessarily a good thing, especially when he's not hitting for power. He struck out for the 4th straight game in a row. This isn't necessarily that bad (and no, he's nowhere close to Adam Dunn), but considering Mauer usually has a great eye at the plate, and that he only had 53 all of last year, it's not something to be proud of. I've been seeing him take too many good pitches to start the AB and swinging at balls out of the zone later in the AB. He needs to jump on the first ball he sees that he can take a good whack at it and drive it to the gaps. Hopefully he can improve that tomorrow against Jared Weaver.

Former Red Wings didn't help. Garrett Jones and Darnell McDonald both didn't have great games. Jones continued to have bad AB's while swinging at almost every pitch. I'll give him something though, the strikeout he recorded with the bases loaded was truely a ball and he should've been awarded 1st base and it should've been his 1st career RBI. Oh well, he had other opportunities and he didn't capitalize. Darnell McDonald looked like he never has seen a curveball before and swung at almost every one he saw (which wasn't good being that John Lackey throws a lot of them and the throws them well). I'll give him the pass though because it was his first game and besides the over-throw to Nick Punto, he was fairly solid in his 2nd career game (and first since he was an Oriole in '04) at the Dome.

Boof Bonser (5-6, 4.68) will start for the Twins on Saturday against Jared Weaver (6-5, 3.36) of the Angels. Weaver pitched his first game against the Twins earlier this season and went 7 innings and allowed 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 4 Twins batters. Bonser also pitched his first game against the Angels earlier this year, only the outcome wasn't nearly as good. "The Boofer" went 5 1/3 innings and allowed 6 runs on 12 hits while striking out 1.

Michael Cuddyer sent to the disabled list, Darnell McDonald recalled

Michael Cuddyer has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with is what La Velle E. Neal III calls "strained ligaments in his right thumb." It was first thought that he'd only miss a couple games, but as Michael Cuddyer arrived at the ballpark, he said that it was "about five shades of purple and a few times bigger than my other thumb," the right fielder told La Velle E. Neal III. Cuddyer doesn't expect to miss more than the required 15 days.

With Cuddyer on the disabled list, the Twins recalled Outfielder Darnell McDonald from AAA Rochester. McDonald (if you don't remember) was acquired by the Twins for pitcher Lavele Speinger of the Nationals. McDonald hit .282 with 2 HR's and 13 RBI's with 6 SB's in 22 games for the Red Wings.

He was in the starting lineup Friday for Michael Cuddyer and went 0-2 with a strikeout and a walk. He tried his best impression of Torii Hunter by diving into the catcher, but Mike Napoli held onto the baseball and McDonald was out on the play. He showed that he has a strong arm while overthrowing Nick Punto at 3rd to Carlos Silva who was backing him up.

Side Notes

• Twins Territory has offered another great interview. This time, they had the opportunity to ask Kyle Waldrop some questions. I definitely recommend that everyone checks it out.

• Seth Stoh's had a great email by a reader that goes by the name "RaiderMike" that possed the question, "What to do?" I defintely recommend reading what he had to say and others did too. Don't be afraid to give your two-cents on the issue.

Minor League Notes

Rock Cats make 4 roster moves
The New Britain Rock Cats announced on Friday that they have sent Kyle Waldrop back to High-A Ft. Myers and have removed pitcher Errol Simontisch from their roster, he's currently on the GCL Twins roster after coming off the disabled list.

The Rock Cats announced that pitchers Oswaldo Sosa and Yohan Pino have been recalled to take their place. And all I have to say is that it's about time!

Sosa should never have started the season in Ft. Myers to begin with. He had a bad spring (0-0, 13.50) but he only pitched 1.1 innings! That's not enough to determine where a top pitching prospect like Sosa should be sent. Last season he was 4-1 with a 1.82 in 6 games (34.2 innings) with Ft. Myers. This season he is 5-5 with an ERA of 2.23 (the record is because of the lack of run support that Ft. Myers has had all season). The 21 year old Venezuelan was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Twins in 2002. He looks to have a bright future within the Twins organization.

Yohan Pino has been very impressive this season. He posted a 4-3 record with the Miracle along with a 1.73 ERA. He also pitched a no-hitter on June 30th against the St. Lucie Mets. He has mastered the Florida State League and will probably have a good transition into the Eastern League. He was outstanding in 2006, and then too was moved along very slowly. In fact, despite posting a 14-2 record with a 1.92 ERA with 99 K's in 2006, he was never moved up to High-A ball.

He started game two of the double header on Friday and went 3.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits with 3 K's. Definitely not the debute he or the Rock Cats were looking for.


Rochester Red Wings lost to the Ottawa Lynx, 6-3.
Dave Gassner continued his struggles this season by allowing 6 runs (5 earned) in 4.1 innings pitched. He was relieved by Carmen Cali and Brad Baker who combined allowed just 2 hits (no runs) over the next 3 2/3 innings. Matt Tolbert went 1-4 with a 2-run double. Jose Morales drove in the other run for the Wings. Doug Deeds went 3-4 with his 6th double of the season.

New Britain Rock Cats beat the Trenton Thunder, 7-1. (Game 1)
In game one of the double header, the Rock Cats beat up "top pitching prospect" Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees. Chamberlain allowed 7 runs in 4 2/3 innings with 7 K's and 3 walks. He allowed 3 HR's which came off the bats of Garrett Guzman, David Winfree, and Matt Moses. Matt Allegra finished the game with 4 RBI's and 2 hits. Matt Moses had 3 runs scored and Trevor Plouffe improved his average to .287 with 2 hits. He also stole his 9th base of the season. Anthony Swarzak pitched a 7 inning complete game, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 5 batters. He is now 3-3 with a 3.72 ERA this season. The 21-year old has only allowed 5 runs in 25.1 innings with New Britain since returning to the team after his 50-game suspension.

New Britain Rock Cats beat the Trenton Thunder, 5-4.
Starter Yohan Pino went 3.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits with 3 K's. Not a great start for the newest addition to the Rock Cats rotation. JP Martinez went 1.1 innings of relief and gave up 1 hit, 1 run, 1 run and 1 walk. Jose Mijares went 1.1 innings of 1-hit relief and Tim Lahey picked up his 7th save while pitching a scoreless ninth. The Rock Cats only had 3 hits compared to the Thunder's 10, but still managed to outscore them. Garrett Guzman walked with the bases loaded to pick up his 58th RBI in the 4th inning. In the 3rd innning, Rashad Eldridge and Trevor Plouffe both scored on wild pitches before Matt Moses singled Guzman home for his 24 RBI in 26 games. Korey Feiner picked up RBI #15 with a single in the 4th which scored Matt Allegra from 3rd.

Ft. Myers Miracle lost to the Sarasota Reds, 8-5.
The Miracle allowed 7 runs in the 8th inning to allow the Reds to come back and beat the Miracle. Armando Gabino allowed 5 of the runs and Eddie Morlan allowed 2. The comeback wasted a good start from Jay Rainville who went 5 2/3 innings and allowed just 1 run. Toby Gardenhire went 2-3 with 2 doubles and 3 runs. Juan Portes had 3 hits to go allong with his 2 RBI's. Danny Valencia, Erik Lis, and Brian Dinkelman also all drove in a run each.

Beloit Snappers beat the Wisconsin Rattlers, 2-0.
Even though the Snappers didn't get a hit until the 6th inning, they still managed to score 2 runs and beat the Rattlers in a great pitchers dual. Tyler Robertson went 7 innings of scoreless baseball and struck out 10 batters. Anthony Slama picked up his 2nd save by pitching a scoreless 9th for the Snappers. Only two Snappers recorded hits, Danny Santiesteban and Wilson Ramos. Ramos picked up RBI number 25.

GCL Twins beat the GCL Pirates, 6-4.
Danny Rams had another great day. The catcher, chosen 2nd-round of this June's draft went 4-4 with 4 RBI's. He's now hitting .526 with 6 RBI in 5 games with the Twins. Juan Richardson went 2-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases. James Beresford went 3-4 with 2 RBI's and his 2nd double of the season. Winston Marquez started the game and went 2/3 innings pitched but Rodney Gessmann picked up his 2nd win after pitching 3+ innings of relief.

Elizabethton Twins beat the Kingsport Mets, 14-0.
Mike Allen turned in another good start. The 20 year old went 6 innings of 1 hit baseball with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. There were a lot of stars on offense, but newcomer Danny Lehmann (8th round pick) went 2-5 with 5 RBI. 4 came on his first pro career home run which was also his first grand slam. Ozzie Lewis went 3-4 with 3 runs scored, 2 RBI's and his 4th home run. D.J. Romero went 1-2 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI's to go along with his 5th home run of the season. Ben Petsch went 2-3 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI. Rene Leveret went 1-4 with 3 RBI's. Estarlin De Los Santos and Eric Santiago both chipped in with two hits of their own. Rene Tosoni and Mark Dolenc both had 1 hit apiece.

Friday's Thoughts

Late night last night, I'll try to add something over the weekend.

For a game recap, Twins Territory is a good place to find out what happened. Nick & Nick also has great recaps of the games.

And Seth is the one that you can count on for minor league recaps.

Lavelle E Neal III said that Cuddyer might miss another game or two but that Torii Hunter will be in the lineup on Friday against the Angels.

Word is that Darnell McDonald is going to be recalled Friday and likely start in Right Field for Michael Cuddyer. Nothing is official yet on who he's going to replace on the roster, but the speculation is that Michael Cuddyer might go on the DL. I personally hope that we designate Ramon Ortiz for assignment, he hasn't pitched since the 6th and is unlikely going to start again for this team. I say cut ties with him now.

Sorry, but make sure to check back over the weekend. I should have something posted.

Have a great day/weekend!

Thursday's Thoughts

Twins lose game/series to Tigers

Johan Santana pitched 118 pitches in the game. He was even allowed to pitch the 8th inning even though he was already over the 100 pitch count that Ron Gardenhire is very stern about. The Venezualen, couldn't get enough run support to get the win (which is probably why he wanted to stay out there so long). He was great though. He went 8 innings and gave up just 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 7. Magglio Ordonez continued to kill the Twins. Last night he drove in all 3 Tiger runs and finished going 2-4 with his 15th home run and 36th double. Pat Neshek relieved Santana in the 9th and struck out the side on 13 pitches.

The Twins finally scored a run (or two) against the Tigers in the series. They got the first run in bizaare fashion. With the bases loaded, Andrew Miller hit Justin Morneau with a pitch which allowed Nick Punto to score from 3rd.

The Twins offensively weren't that bad as a whole. Of course the 7-9 hitters weren't going to be big contributors (they very rarely are) but they (Jeff Cirillo/Garret Jones, Lew Ford, Nick Punto) went a combined 2-10 which is actually not that bad for them, so that means the top of the order and the "meat of the order" needs to step up. Well Luis Castillo and Jason Bartlett did their parts. Both got on base twice and neither were driven home. Bartlett even stole 2 bases in the contest to try and advance into scoring positon.

The good: Michael Cuddyer went 4-4 to raise his average from .281-289.
The Bad: Torii Hunter had to leave the game after coming up lame while running through 1st base.
The Ugly: The "M&M Boys", Justin Morneau & Joe Mauer, went a combined 1-9 with 4 K's and 11 men left on base. OUCH! They'll never be able to live up to the M&M boys of the 60's (Roger Marris-Mickey Mantle), especially when they play like this. Lew Ford left 7 on base, but I don't/haven't expect much from him.

This is another disappointing loss on behalf of the Twins offense. Terry Ryan needs to make a move by the deadline if the Twins want to remain at all in this thing. This is/was a very important series and with the Tigers already beating the Twins in the series by at least 1 game (if not 2), the Twins aren't going to make up any games while the offense puts up 3 runs in two games against 2 pitchers who are either average at best or inexperienced.

Scotty Baker will try to do what the rest of the Twins starters have all done since the All-Star break, pitch well. He goes against the 10-1 Jeremy Bonderman in an Thursday afternoon game at the Dome. The game (which starts at 12 o'clock) will be televised on FSN. Should be a good game (for the Tigers). Ughh.

The Birthday Boy's Injury Update

Torii Hunter, who celebrated his 32nd birthday by going 0-2 at the plate and left the game injured in the 4th inning. He was running through 1st base on a fielders choice, when he hit the baggie he immediately reached for his left hammstring and was taken out of the game. He was replaced by Jason Kubel. As of right now, he's listed as day-to-day with a "mild left hamstring strain." I think he's listed as doubtful right now for today's game, but they'll probably make a decision when he arrives at the ballpark in the morning.

With no off day until next Thursday, I think the Twins should rest him against in the Tiger finale and at least 1 game vs the Angels. He's likely going to be the Twins everyday DH on the days he does play until his hamstring is well enough for him to run.

Minor League Notes

Rochester Red Wings lost to the Syracuse Chiefs, 5-4.
Brian Duensing pitched 6 strong innings in what looked like might be his 7th win of the season, wrong. He was relieved by Julio DePaula who gave up a game-tying home run in the 7th. Bobby Korecky lost the game in the 10th inning on a throwing error on a throw which allowed the Chiefs to score and win the game. Denard Span went 3-4 with a run scored. Alexi Casilla went 2-4 with his 19th RBI. And Matt Tolbert went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI's.

New Britain Rock Cats beat the Connecticut Defenders, 13-6.
Brandon Roberts has been on fire since May, especially in July. So far this month he is hitting .390. And Wednesday he kept adding to it, he went 4-5 with a triple and an RBI. Felix Molina had 3 hits and an RBI. Brock Peterson had an RBI, as did Trevor Plouffe and Rashad Eldridge. Matt Allegra had 4 RBI's and his first triple of the season. Korey Feiner went 3-4 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI's. Great day at the plate for the Rock Cats. Jose Mijares picked up his 4th win of the season in relief for Kyle Walrdop and Danny Powers.

Ft. Myers Miracle beat the Vero Beach Devil Rays, 10-2.
Jeff Manship has been impressive, and Wednesday wasn't anything different. The 22 year old Righty went 8 innings and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits while walking just 1 and striking out 8. Adam Hawes pitched an inning of scoreless relief. Danny Valencia, Brian Dinkleman, Steven Tolleson, and Eddie Ovalle all hit HR's in the contest. Valencia finished with 2 RBI's, as did Ovalle. Dinkleman had just the one RBI and Tolleson had 3. Erik Lis also chipped in with 2 runs batted in.

Beloit Snappers vs. the Wisconsin Rattlers.
Postponed due to rain.

GCL Twins beat the GCL Orioles, 4-3.
Danny Berlind let in 2 runs in 5 innings while striking out 8. Significance? Because Berlind went the previous 20 innings without giving up a run. 2 runs in 25 innings is very impressive for any rookie. James Beresford had 2 hits which lead the Twins. But the story of the game was that both Yangervis Solarte & Alexander Soto both stole home plate in the top of the 8th to lead the Twins to victory. Danny Rams went 0-3 with two K's. Ben Revere got the night off.

Elizabethton Twins beat the Bristol White Sox, 3-1. (Game 1)
David Bromberg went 4.1 innings of 1 run ball, he also recorded 7 strikeouts in the no-decision. He was relieved by Bradley Tippert who picked up the win while pitching 1 2/3 innings with 2 K's. Blair Erickson picked up his 2nd save of the season. Greg Yersich had two hits and a run scored. The only RBI was by Matthew Lawman. The other runs were from errors.

Elizabethton Twins beat the Bristol White Sox, 11-3. (Game 2)
Michael McCardell made the trip to E-Town (from the Twins GCL team) to start game 2 of the doubleheader. He was impressive in his first start for the Appy League Twins. He went 5 innings and gave up just 1 run on 3 hits, he also had 9 whiffs. Ozzie Lewis was the hero at the plate, the left fielder went 2-3 with 5 RBI's and his 3rd HR of the season. Rene Tosoni went deep for his first HR of the season. Rookie Danny Lehmann went 1-4 with an RBI in his season debute. Wesley Connor and fellow dutchman to Ludovicus Van Mil, went 2-2 with 2 walks, a double, his 2nd home run of the season and 8th & 9th RBI's of the season. D.J. Romero went 3-4 with 2 runs scored.

Wednesday's Thoughts

Twins lost to Tigers, 1-0.

Matt Garza couldn't get a single run of support on Tuesday. He lost a great pitchers dual against Nate Robertson on an unearned run. Matt Garza was pitching great. He was mixing in a great curveball and slider and later worked in a very good changeup. After giving up a leadoff double to Curtis Granderson, he was in cruise control until the 6th inning. The inning started off with an error to Jason Bartlett who bobbled a ground ball off the bat of Brandon Inge. Curtis Granderson had a 2-2 count and Garza delivered a changeup (at least) 3 inches above his knee, but it was called a ball. With first base open after a wild pitch, Garza ends up walking Granderson to get to Placido Polanco. On the 2nd pitch, he poped a bunt up left of home plate and it was caught by Joe Mauer. With out one, Gary Sheffield came up to bat and the first pitch was a curveball about 3 inches below the knee, but it was called a strike (if you haven't noticed yet or if you didn't get to see it, the umpire was very inconsistant with his calls. he didn't know where the strike zone was). Garza then gets Sheffield to fly out to Jason Tyner at the warning track. Next Magglio Ordonez came up and delivered on an 0-2 pitch with a single under the diving Nick Punto at 3rd. The run was not charged to Garza (because the runner that scored reached on the error at the begining of the inning). He then got Carlos Guillen to fly out to end the inning.

That's it, just one pitch, just one slider that he left over the plate decided this game. Just one run. I'm not really surprised that we were shutout, because Robertson and the Tigers are always very hard to beat and he always pitches well against us. I guess I'm just disappointed in our lineup for not getting a sinlge run.

Many probably want to blame Jason Bartlett for the loss, which I guess is understandable, I mean he did give up the error. But if you blame Bart, you also need to blame the umpire who missed that 3rd strike to Curtis Granderson (which would've ended the inning with Gary Sheffield's fly out), and you also need to blame the "meat of the order" (Mauer, Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau & Torii Hunter) that went a combined 1-13 with a walk, 5 K's and 5 men left on base.

I'm very disappointed in the Twins offense right now. Matt Garza, Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek all pitched great for the Twins. And we couldn't get just 1 run to force at least OT, not one, zero, zilch, nada. Pathetic.

The Twins will send Johan Santana (who beat the Tigers last time he saw them) to the mound against Andrew Miller (who we beat up pretty good in his last go around with the Twins). I'm not so sure about this one. Yeah we beat him up and yeah Johan pitched well against them last time; but Andrew Miller is a lefty and we seem to be using chop sticks against lefties this season, so I'm not sure what to expect tonight against the Tigers.

Other News

• Former Twins prospect/pitcher J.D. Durbin aka "The Real Deal" finally had a good start. He went 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 3 and walking 2 in his first win for t he Philadelphia Phillies. He did it against a good offense of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

• Another former Twin is making news too. The Brewers announced that Grant Balfour has been recalled from AAA with Ben Sheets likely to miss 4-6 weeks with a finger injury. Balfour was 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA with 5 saves for the Nashville Sounds (Brewers AAA affilitate). He had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. He later had surgery on his right shoulder to repair a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum. He signed with the Reds in January 2006 (after the Twins non-tendered him) and then he was claimed off waivers by the Brewers in Octoboer 2006. He looks to be 100% recovered from his surgeries and he should be able to help the Brewers retain their 1st place status in the NL Central.

• ESPN writer, Keith Law, said that the Twins will be "Strategic buyers" at the deadline and a name he said is a possibility is Scott Hatteberg (1B/DH) of the Reds.

• Make sure to check out Seth Stoh's site as he answered many questions about the Minnesota Twins organization (inluding mine). He gave great, thoughtout answers. I appreciate that he took the time to do that.

Minor League Notes

Rochester Red Wings beat the Syracus Chiefs, 1-0.
Kevin Slowey pitched a complete game shutout in just his 2nd game back with the Red Wings since he was demoted on July 5th. He threw 103 pitches (72 strikes) with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. He lowered his ERA from 1.79-1.59. The only run of the game came off the bat of Alexi Casilla who hit a leadoff HR to start the game. It was his 2nd HR of the season and his 18th RBI. Jose Morales had 2 hits. Besides them, the rest of the batters went 0-22.

New Britain Rock Cats beat the Connecticut Defenders, 11-3.
The Aussie, Josh Hill has really struggled as of late, on Tuesday, he pitched 5 scoreless innings to pick up his first win with the Rock Cats this season. He struck out 6 batters while walking just 2. He won the game in part of the Rock Cats ability to give him plenty of run support. David Winfree was the only starter to not get a hit. 5 different players had 2 or more hits. Matt Moses had 2 hits a run scored and a run driven in. Luke Hughes had two hits and 2 RBI's. Kyle Geiger had 2 hits and a run. Garrett Guzman went 2-4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI's which came off of his 10th HR of the season. Trevor Plouffe had a great day at the plate, he went 3-4 with 3 runs scored, his 25th double and his 36th RBI.

Ft. Myers Miracle beat the Vero Beach Devil Rays, 6-4.
Starter Oswaldo Sosa got enough run support for the 2nd straight start and held the Rays to just 2 runs on 6 hits while walking 2 and striking out 1. Reliever Armando Gabino went 1.1 innings and gave up 1 run. Eddie Morlan gave up a HR in the top of the 9th but still got his 13th save of the season. Danny Valencia & Chris Woodward both hit their 3rd HR of the season for the Miracle. Woodward finished with 1 2 RBI's and Valencia finished with 2 hits and 3 RBI's. Luis Ugueto hit 2 doubles. Erik Lis had 2 hits including his 2nd double and 50th RBI. Juan Portes had 3 runs with 2 hits. And Brian Dinkleman had a double, a single, and a run scored.

Beloit Snappers beat the Wisconsin Rattlers, 4-3.
Starter Matthew Fox went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs and struck out 4 batters. Jose Lugo continues his struggles and walked 3 batters without getting an out. Matt Williams went 2 scoreless innings and got out of the 6th with only giving up 1 inherited run (charged to Lugo). Jesus Carnevales went 1 inning. And Rochester (MN) native, Aaron Craig went 1 innings and picked up his 3rd win of the season. The win came on a bases loaded walk to Chris Parmelee which scored Yancarlos Ortiz from 3rd. The first run came from Dan Berg who hit his 3rd home run to center field. The next run came from Matt Betsill who homered for his 1st time of the season to right field. The next run was made possible by Joe Benson. He walked to lead off the inning and then stole 2nd base to only be later batted in on a Wilson Ramos single.

GCL Twins beat the GCL Red Sox, 15-4.
Talk about late inning run support. In just his second game of the season, Errol Simonitsch pitched 3 scoreless innnings and struck out 5 with no outs. He still hasn't allowed a run or a walk in both games and has only given up 2 combined hits. Jose Acosta pitched 3 innings to pick up his 2nd win of the season. The first 6 batters in the order all had 2 hits each. Jeanfred Brito had two hits and scored twice. Ben Revere had 2 hits and hit his 6th triple and scored 3 times. Yangervis Solarte had two hits, 2 runs, a triple and 3 RBI's. Danny Rams hit his first triple of the season, he too had 2 hits. Angel Morales and Alexander Soto also had 2 hits apiece. Morales had a double and an RBI; Soto had a HR, a double, and 2 RBI's.

Elizabethton Twins vs. Bristol White Sox
Game postponed due to rain.