The Twins continued their absolute tear tonight against the Kansas City Royals as they pounded out twenty hits scoring nineteen runs. They even managed to do so against former Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke. Greinke lasted just four innings giving up eight earned runs on eight hits while somehow managing to strike out seven. Francisco Liriano on the other hand returned to form giving up just three hits in seven innings with six strike outs. Liriano improved to 9-7 on the season and lowered his season ERA to 3.35.
Offensively the Twins were absolutely unstoppable. They filled the stat shit early and often as five Twins hitters had at least two hits with Thome being the only starter without one. Joe Mauer made up for some lost time going 5-for-5 driving in 7 RBIs. Mauer hit his sixth homer of the year and falling just a triple shy of the cycle.
Danny Valencia was matching Mauer’s cycle attempt as he needed just a triple for the cycle. Valencia was 4-for-4 with his first career grand slam, four RBIs and two doubles. Delmon Young went 4-for-6 with an RBI and a pair of doubles as he continues his torrid pace. Delmon is hitting .410 in the month of July with five home runs, 23 RBIs and nine doubles. Young has pushed his average all the way up to .324 compared to .263 two months ago.
The Twins are in a much needed easy part of their schedule as they took three out of four from the Orioles, three against the Royals and then three against the struggling Mariners. The Twins are starting to do what they were supposed to do and really need to do which is beat the teams they’re supposed to beat. The month of August is a little more difficult for the Twins as they’ll face off with the White Sox for six, the Angels, the red hot Texas Rangers, and the Tampa Bay Rays.
In semi unrelated news Matt Garza, who was part of the trade that brought Delmon Young to the Twins from the Rays, no-hit the Detroit Tigers for the first time in franchise history.
In an absolute slug fest that started off with the Twins taking a three-run lead in the first quickly turned into what looked like a lopsided loss for the Twins. The Phillies matched the Twins three runs in the bottom half of the first then added four more in the second and another in the third.
When it seemed all was lost and the Twins were destined to lose the series in blowout fashion that scraped together five runs in the ninth to tie the game at nine. Drew Butera gave the Twins the lead in the tenth inning with his first career home run but the celebration was short lives as Ross Gload homered with two outs in the bottom of the tenth.
But in the eleventh the Twins would seal the deal scoring three runs thanks to an infield single by Delmon Young and a two-run scoring double by Matt Tolbert. Jon Rauch pitched two innings for the first time this year picking up the win and he also laid down a sacrifice in the eleventh that put the Twins in position to take the lead.
This marked the second time in two games a Twins starter lasted just an 1 and 2/3 innings. Slowey allowed seven runs on seven hits inflating his ERA to 4.58. On Friday Nick Blackburn gave up eight runs on six hits in his 1 and 2/3 innings.
There were nine home runs in today’s game including homers by Jim Thome (6), Joe Mauer (3), Justin Morneau (14), and Drew Butera (1).
Up Next: Carl Pavano (7-6, 3.92 ERA) takes the hill as the Twins looks to win the series with the Phillies at 12:10 PM but will face the daunting task of doing so against Roy Halladay (8-5, 2.36 ERA).
In 2009 Scott Baker was tabbed as the opening day starter but was unable to see it through as he ended up on the DL prior to the start. In 2010 he was tabbed once again and this time he made it, but disappointed. Baker struggled from the start with his command and confidence in his stuff. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings giving up four runs on five hits. Baker also walked three and struck out three.
Offensively the Twins lacked any of the firepower most were looking for. The normally patient and always-on-base Denard Span went a disappointing 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. The only real positive came from the very impressive looking Delmon Young. Delmon looked to be in the best shape of his career after dropping almost 30 pounds this off-season.
Young crushed a two-run homer in the 2nd inning off of Angels’ ace Jered Weaver. Delmon ended the night going 2-for-4 with a HR and a stolen base. This is what the Twins were hoping to see from Delmon since the beginning: a little speed and a lot of power.
The Twins hope to rebound tonight as Nick Blackburn faces off against Joe Saunders at 9:05 CT.
Minnesota Sports Blog
The addition of long time Twins killer Jim Thome is a puzzling one. Though it’s fairly low risk at a $1.5 million one-year deal, you have to question the motivation behind it. The Twins already have a powerful, left handed slugger in Jason Kubel. Kubel obviously lacks the experience and career numbers of Thome, but Kubel’s career seems to be on the rise while Thome’s numbers are on the decline. Thome will also turn 40 this year while Kubel will be turning just 28. Gardy has said Thome will serve as more than just a bench player for the Twins filling for DH or even an occasional first base.
This signing follows the unfortunate trend of the Twins organization of signing players who are clearly on the decline of their career. Another key question of this signing is why sign Thome at all when we still have question marks in the rotation, bullpen and third base?
The Twins solved their outfield surplus trading away Carlos Gomez for JJ Hardy this off-season but now find themselves in a similar situation with finding time for Kubel as well as Thome. Kubel has expressed his interest in playing more outfield which creates an additional problem with finding time for Delmon Young.
Delmon and Kubel are about equal when it comes to fielding so there won’t be a huge issue there. The issue comes from playing time and plate appearances. Time and consistency are huge in baseball and dividing that time up between a few players and positions will only complicate things.
Jim Thome 2009 Stats
| G | AB | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | SLG % |
| 124 | 362 | 23 | 77 | 69 | 123 | .249 | .481 |
Jason Kubel 2009 Stats
| G | AB | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | SLG % |
| 146 | 514 | 28 | 103 | 56 | 106 | .300 | .539 |
Minnesota Sports Blog
It was announced just last week that all eight of the Twins’ arbitration-eligible players filed for arbitration and now the Twins announced they have signed all eight. For some unknown reason the Twins have decided to once again bring back Jesse Crain and his sterling relief effort. You can’t just let that kind of talent and reliability test the market. Crain gave up 27 earned runs in ’09 in just 51 and 2/3 innings posting a 4.70 ERA.
Pat Neshek is set to give the Twins’ bullpen some much needed help after missing the entire ’09 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Neshek was huge for the Twins in ’06/’07 posting a 2.19 ERA in ’06 and a 2.94 in ’07 with 127 strikeouts in 107 and 1/3 innings.
The list of eight includes:
The list of eight cost the Minnesota Twins $25.33 million while still trying to figure out how to sign Joe Mauer. Mauer is owed $12.5 million for the 2010 season after which he can become a free agent if the Twins fail to get a deal done.
Minnesota Sports Blog
The Minnesota Twins now find themselves in a tie for first place in the central with the Detroit Tigers. The Twins defeated the Kansas City Royals this afternoon after a strong start from Nick Blackburn on short rest. The Twins were able to score four runs against likely Cy Young winner Zack Greinke.
Delmon Young came through again with a three-run double in the 6th inning. The Royals answered with four of their own until the bottom of the 8th brought a game winning solo home run for Michael Cuddyer. That 5-4 lead would hold as Joe Nathan nailed down save number 47 on the season.
So with the victory in hand the Twins had all eyes on the scoreboard. Detroit lost to the Chicago White Sox after a very strong start by Freddy Garcia who lasted 7+ innings giving up just the one run. The final score was 5-1 and now the Minnesota Twins find themselves in a position to win the division outright or at least a playoff game on Tuesday to decide the winner.
The Star Tribune has reported that Carl Pavano (13-12) will start for the Twins on three days rest Sunday. He will take on Luke Hochevar who is 7-12 this season. Detroit will have their ace Justin Verlander take the hill on Sunday against the White Sox. If both teams lose tomorrow there will be a one game playoff at the Metrodome on Tuesday. If one team loses and the other wins, the winner will be the division champions.
Star Tribune
Minnesota Sports Blog
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