March 5, 2008

Live Game Blogging: Twins vs. Yankees

Twins win 7-5!

(Winning Pitcher): Pat Neshek (Losing Pitcher): Edwar Ramirez (Save): Oswaldo Sosa

I should have my post game thoughts up later tonight/early tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the updates.

Bottom of 9th:
Pitching change: Oswaldo Sosa in for Ricky Barrett
Morgan Ensberg flied out to Carlos Gomez in center field for the first out of the inning. Brett Gardner grounded out to second baseman Felix Molina for the second out. And Shelly Duncan hit a fastball up in the zone over the fence in left field. Chris Woodward then hit a single to left-center field to extend the inning. Before Jason Lane who represented the tying run struck out looking. Twins 7, Yankees 5

Top of 9th:
Pitching change: Ross Ohlendorf in for Chris Britton
Carlos Gomez (who has played the entire game) hit a fly ball to start the inning. Felix Molina struck out swinging. Jose Morales laced a ground ball single left field as Chris Woodward was beginning to shade him to second base and then Morales hit it his way. Randy Ruiz got jammed up and in by a 97 mph fastball before later striking out on a pitch down and away. Twins 7, Yankees 4

Bottom of 8th:
Pitching change: Ricky Barrett in for Pat Neshek
Colin Curtis grounded out to Randy Ruiz to begin the inning. Francisco Cervelli hit a hard grounder to third base, and Matt Macri made a strong throw to get him out at first. Nick Green hit a grounder up the middle, but Alexi Casilla was shading him perfectly and got him out. Twins 7, Yankees 4

Top of 8th:
Pitching change: Chris Britton in for Edwar Ramirez
Position change (Yankees): Francisco Cervelli in for Jorge Posada at catcher.

Jose Morales drew a lead-off walk to start the inning. Randy Ruiz hit a grounder to shortstop and Morales was out on the fielders choice. On the relay to first, Shelly Duncan couldn't dig it out of the dirt and Ruiz was safe. Chris Basak was then hit with a pitch to put a runner on first and second with one out. Matt Macri hit got an infield hit which was misplayed by Morgan Ensberg at third base. With the bases loaded and one out, Alejandro Machado hit a 2-run double down the first base line to put the Twins ahead. With one out and runners on second and third, Jason Pridie hit an RBI sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Macri from third. Machado stayed at second base and later stole third base while Alexi Casilla was at bat. Casilla then grounded out to second base to end the inning. Twins 7, Yankees 4

Bottom of 7th:
Pitching change: Pat Neshek in for Dennys Reyes.

Position change (Yankees): Gregory Porter in for Alex Rodriguez at DH.
Pat Neshek retired the Yankees side in order for a very quick inning. Chris Woodward, Jason Lane and Gregory Porter never had a chance. Porter struck out to end the inning. Twins 4, Yankees 4

Top of 7th:
Pitching change: Edwar Ramirez in for
Jonathan Albaladejo.
Position changes (Twins): Alejandro Machado in for Jon Knot at DH.
Position changes (Yankes): Chris Woodward in for Derek Jeter at shorstop. Nick Green in for Bernie Castro at second base. Morgan Ensberg in for Wilson Betemit at Third Base. Brett Gardner in for Melky Cabrera in Center Field.

Alejandro Machado popped out. Jason Pridie hit a single to left field to start the inning. Jason Pridie advanced to second base on a stolen base (failed hit and run, Casilla didn't swing, Pridie didn't slide and was out, however was called safe despite the fact that the umpire was right there to see it). Alexi Casilla hit a sharp single up the middle and was off of glove which allowed Pridie to score from second base. Alexi Casilla then stole second base while Carlos Gomez was at bat. With a full count, Gomez struck out. On a wild pitch, Casilla advanced to third base. Felix Molina then struck out swinging to end the inning. Twins 4, Yankees 4

Bottom of 6th:
Pitching change: Dennys Reyes in for Randy Keisler

Position change (Twins): Chris Basak in for Delmon Young in Left Field. Randy Ruiz in for Justin Morneau at First Base.
Position change (Yankees): Bernie Castro in for Robinson Cano at second base (pinch run)
Robinson Cano hit a hard single up the middle to start the inning off. Wilson Betemit hit a routine grounder to third base, but the ball got away from Felix Molina at second base, trying to start a double play. Both runners were safe. With two on and nobody out, the Yankees tried a hit & run but Alexi Casilla tapped second base and made the throw to first to get the double play, Castro advanced to third. Shelly Duncan struck out swinging to end the inning. Great job by Dennys Reyes to not allow a run to cross the plate despite the Yankees having two on and no outs. Twins 3, Yankees 4

Top of 6th:
Pitching change: Jonathan Albaladejo
in for Joba Chamberlain.
Position change (Twins): Jose Morales in for Joe Mauer (pinch run)
Position changes (Yankees): Jason Lane in for Bobby Abreu in Right Field. Shelly Duncan in for Jason Giambi at First Base. Colin Curtis in for Johnny Damon in Left Field.

Joe Mauer hit a double to left center field. Justin Morneau then hit a fly out to center field, and Jose Morales tried to advance to third base and Melky Cabrera threw him out by a mile. With two out, Delmon Young hit a sharp single to right field. Matt Macri struck out swinging to end the inning. Twins 3, Yankees 4

Bottom of 5th:
Position changes:
Alexi Casilla in for Matt Tolbert at Shortstop. Jason Pridie in for Garrett Jones in Right Field. Matt Macri in for Brian Buscher at Third Base. Felix Molina in for Brendan Harris at Second Base.
Alex Rodriguez hit a deep fly ball just short of the center field warning track, but it was hauled in by Carlos Gomez. Alexi Casilla made a great dig and a phenomenal throw to first base to just get Giambi out by a foot. Casilla was off-balance on one foot to make the play. Jorge Posada hit a soft grounder to Justin Morneau at first base to end the inning. Twins 3, Yankees 4

Top of 5th:
Brian Buscher hit a hard single to right field to begin the inning. Jon Knot struck out looking on an inside fastball. Garrett Jones crushed a home run to deep (deep) right field, also scoring Buscher. Matt Tolbert was hit on the back of his ankle, on the very next pitch. Carlos Gomez hit a shallow fly ball which almost dropped but Melky Cabrera made a nice running catch. Tolbert retreated to first base before Cabrera's throw reached the base. With two out and a runner on first, Brendan Harris hit a grounder up the middle and Tolbert was out at second on a fielders choice. Twins 3, Yankees 4

Bottom of 4th:
Pitching change: Randy Keisler in for Julio DePaula
Melk Cabrera struck out swinging to start the inning. Johnny Damon hit a ground ball to Brendan Harris for the second out. And Derek Jeter hit a hard grounder under Brendan Harris' glove for a base hit. Jeter latter advanced to second base on a wild pitch that got away from Joe Mauer. Bobby Abreu then hit a fly out to center field for the third out. Twins 1, Yankees 4

Top of 4th:
Pitching change: Joba Chamberlain in for Heath Phillips

Brendan Harris got ahead 3-1 before grounding out to second base. Joe Mauer hit a chopper to first base. On a full count, Justin Morneau drew a walk. Delmon Young hit a ground ball to third base to end the inning. Side note: Joba Chamberlain threw 18 pitches in the inning, 11 of which were counted for balls. He definitely was working on his off-speed stuff and only threw a couple fastballs. Twins 1, Yankees 4

Bottom of 3rd:
Pitching change: Julio DePaula in for Kevin Slowey

Julio DePaula allowed a single to Jason Giambi on the first pitch. DePaula later balked, allowing Giambi to advance to second. Jorge Posada got behind 0-2 before hitting a fly out to right field on a 3-2 count. Robinson Cano hit an RBI single, but was tagged out trying to advance to second base. It looked as if Carlos Gomez attempted to throw it home, but Justin Morneau cut it off and tossed it to Matt Tolbert at second base to tag Cano out at second. Wilson Betemit struck out to end the inning. Twins 1, Yankees 4


Top of 3rd:
Pitching change: Heath Phillips for Ian Kennedy

Phillips got Garrett Jones out right away. Matt Tolbert struck out swinging. Carlos Gomez hit a broken bat grounder to shortstop and was out by a few feet at first to end the 1-2-3 inning. Twins 1, Yankees 3

Bottom of 2nd:
Delmon Young scared viewers (and himself). After Jorge Posada hit a fly ball to the left field warning track, the sun made him lose track of the ball and it scared him when he hit his glove. But bottom line, he made the out. Robinson Cano hit a double over Carlos Gomez's head, after Gomez made a bad cut on the ball, however he probably wouldn't have gotten it had he made a perfect jump on it anyways, the ball kept carrying. Robinson Cano scored as Wilson Betemit hit a double off of the center field wall. Gomez made a nice play getting it back into the infield. Slowey struck out Melky Cabrera swinging. Slowey then threw a wild pitch to the backstop which allowed Betemit to advance to third base. Johnny Damon hit a single up the middle, despite an attempted dive by Brendan Harris, Betemit scored from third. Damon then stole second base. Slowey then walked Derek Jeter in a good at bat by Jeter. With runners at first and second, Bobby Abreu hit a single to center field and Gomez made a wild throw to home plate and it went wide of the plate, allowing Damon to score from second base and Abreu to advance to second base. With runners on third and second, Alex Rodriguez struck out swinging for the third out. Phew. Twins 1, Yankees 3

Top of 2nd:
Justin Morneau Hit a flyout to Melky Cabrera in center field. Delmon Young hit a home run to deep center field on a 3-1 count. One word... WOW. Brian Buscher hit a hard line drive to right field, however Jason Giambi made a great jumping grab. Jon Knot hit a grounder to shortstop to end the inning.
Twins 1, Yankees 0

Bottom of 1st:
Kevin Slowey had a solid first inning. He gave up a single to Derek Jeter and then Bobby Abreu hit a forceout to second base. He made Rodriguez look silly on a few swings before eventually walking him in a very good at bat. Jason Giambi struck out looking for the third out. Slowey pitched very well in this inning. Twins 0, Yankees 0

Top of 1st:
Carlos Gomez almost beat out a bunt to first, but a barehanded throw by Wilson Betemit got him by a half step. Brendan Harris hit a single to left. Joe Mauer hit a 3-4-1 double play to end the inning. Twins 0, Yankees 0

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