Friday, May 16th

sorry for missing yesterday i had a million things to do but back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Twins Talk
Toronto 3 Minnesota 2 11innings
Minnesota 20-20 1.5 games back

• POG: Glen Perkins- There was not alot of good things that happened to the Twins yesterday afternoon but the one big thing is the continued improvement of Glen Perkins as a major league starting pitcher. Glen went 6 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 5 hits with 2 walks and a personal major league record 6 strikeouts. With the 6 innings it lowered his era to 3.75 on the season. Glen has been everything he wasn't in Rochester he is throwing strikes and getting ahead so that he can throw his good offspead pitches to get hitters out. Glen always had the talent but he was something of an anamoly who you were wondering when he was going to figure things out becuase he has a major league arm. It looks like he is finally figuring it out, however its only 2 starts so things could change but its a step in the right direction becuase his biggest problem was his control. In 12 innings pitched so far this year he has only walked 2 and thats a big improvement so hopefully he can keep it going for the Twins.
• Justin Mourneau continued his strong homestand by going 2-4 with a walk and a rbi. With the rbi it brings his season total up to 32. With the 2 hits it brought his average over .300 to a .302 clip. After a slow start Justin has really been raking it lately in the just finished 7 game homestand he hit at an amazing .444 batting average. Justin is showing why the Twins had so much faith in him to give him the biggest contract in Twins history and showing its money well spent.
• The Twins threw the ball around way too much against Toronto and thats the big reason they got swept out of the Metrodome. In the 3 games the Twins committed 3 errors but it seemed like they were all in big situations and thats so not like the Twins. Going into yesterday the Twins were ranked 14th in the American League in fielding and thats just not going to get it done. The way the Twins play baseball is to pitch and play great defense and so far this year they havent done that. Most of the errors are mental mistakes too so they can be fixed. They better get it done soon or they soon will be out of contention.
• Tonight, the Twins begin interleague play as they begin a 3 game weekend series in Colorado to take on the Rockies. Gametime is at 8:05 with Nick Blackburn getting the start vs the Rockies Ubaldo Jimenez.

Rochester Wrap

Columbus 3 Rochester 1

Rochester 17-25 11.5 games back

• POG: Francisco Liriano- Francisco coming back from Tommy John surgery keeps getting better and better each and every start. When he went down he said he had no confidence, but i think its coming back. Last night Liriano went 8 innings and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits , but the 2 most important stats from last night is he had only 1 walk and he made it through 8 innings on only 93 pitches. Its a step at a time for him and him getting his control back is a huge step. Now he can work on making better pitches to cut down on the hits and runs. But finding the strike zone is the most important thing and the fact that it seems that it is coming back is a huge deal for Francisco and every Twins fan out there because if he can get back to where he was that makes our pitching staff from good to awesome.
• Denard Span continues his torrid hitting by going 2-3 with a walk to raise his team high average up to .369 on the season. He failed to hit a Homerun in his 4 th straight game but what a stretch he is in. Whatever he learned when he was up with the Twins he is taking it back to Rochester with him and is really raking the ball right now. If he keeps hitting like this it won't be long until he is back with the Twins as the 4th outfielder.
• Rochester is really struggling right now when they pitch good they cant hit and when they hit they struggle pitching. They need to figure something out in a hurry or they will get buried before they know what happens.
• Tonight the Red Wings finish their series with Columbus in Rochester. Gametime is at 6:05 with Philip Humber getting the start.

New Britain

Binghamton 7 New Britain 6 11 innings

New Britain 20-19 4.5 games back

• POG: Erik Lis- Erik continued his hot streak by going 4-5 with 2 doubles a rbi and a run scored. With the 4 hits it brings Erik's average up to a nice .292 on the season. He has been very hot of late going 10 for his last 20 a .500 average in his last 5 games. Erik struggled early on this season but he is really raking it of late and being the hitter that we have all seen and enjoyed. Erik probably projects as a DH in the Majors but with that stick i really think the future is bright for Lis and if he can develop a little more power with that sweet swing of his the sky is the limit.
• Errol Simonitch made his first start of the year and really struggled coming off his arm injury. Errol made it 5 innings and gave up 5 runs on 8 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. It was only Errol's first start of the year so it could be a coincidence but he needs to pitch better than that to stay in the Rock Cats rotation especially with the good job Yohan Pino was doing. My guess is it probably won't be long before Pino is back in the rotation and Simonitch is in the bullpen for the Rock Cats.
• Luke Hughes made his return to the Rock Cats lineup after being out for 8 days because of that hamstring injury. What does he do when he comes back his first at bat he went deep for his 10th homerun of the season and extended his hitting streak to a really good 17 games. He played as the Dh yesterday so hopefully we can get him in the field because if he can show he's healty and continue to hit he will be with Rochester before the end of the month in my opinion.
• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with Portand in New Britain. Gametime is at 5:35 with ace Ryan Mullins on the mound for the Rock Cats as they try to snap their 4 game losing streak.

Fort Myers Musings

Fort Myers 6 Tampa 5 10 innings

Fort Myers 26-14 First Place

• POG; Tyler Robertson- Tyler had his most dominant start in quite a while last night its just too bad he got a no decision. Tyler went 7 innings and only gave up 6 hits and 3 runs with no walks and an awesome 9 strikeouts. With the good 7 innings it brought his ERA down to 3.53. With the 9 strikeouts it brought his team high strikeout total up to 45. Tyler had really been struggling with getting his fastball over for a strike which made his slider not as effective. They would not swing at the slider because he couldnt get the fastball over for a strike. Last night he did a much better job getting that first pitch fastball over so they would chase that devastating slider. It is a good start for him to build on for his next start.
• Robert Delaney had probably his worst outing of the season going an inning and giving up the lead in a 4-3 game. He allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and was bailed out by the Miracle hitting. Robert is probably the best closer in the FSL and games like this are few and far between so im not too worried about it and think he will come out firing next time.
• Daniel Berg had another solid game off the bench going 2-3 and scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. What we have found out about him is he is very flexible who is not going to hurt you no matter where he plays. He is the type of utility man that all good teams seem to have. On other teams he could start at many different positions and do a good job.
• This Morning the Miracle continue their series with Tampa in Fort Myers. Gametime is at 9:35 am with Cole Devries getting the start for the Miracle.

Beloit Beat

Clinton 4 Beloit 2

Beloit 19-20 8.5 games back

• POG: Ben Revere- Ben continues to rake the ball since his callup from EST and has pretty much taken over the leadoff spot in the lineup and is in center field just about every game. Last night he went 2-5 with a double, a run scored and a stolen base his 10th of the season. With the 2 hits it raises Ben's average to a crazy .397 on the season. This is unbelieveable that a year ago he is playing high school baseball and now he is dominating a league that is known as a tough hitting league with all the good pitching. There is some talk now about maybe sending him up to Fort Myers. I think its a bit soon for that i would let him finish the season in Beloit and if he continues to hit like this have him start next season in Fort Myers when he is more ready.
• Daniel Berlind was ok not great but not horrible. His biggest problem was his control he threw too many pitches to make it late into the game. Daniel went 4.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits along with a walk. With the 3 runs it raises his era to 3.62 on the season. Daniel is very hit and miss and when he can throw strikes he is tough to hit so hopefully he can learn from this game and come out better next time.
• Steven Hirchfeld continues to pitch very well out of the Snappers bullpen. Steve went 3.2 innings in relief of Berlind and only gave up 1 hit and no runs while striking out 2 on the game. With the outing it dropped his era to a minischule 0.73 on the season. He has done everything the Snappers have needed him to do start,relieve it hasnt mattered and i think he will continue to dominate for the Snappers all season long.
• Tonight, the Snappers begin a series with Peoria in Beloit. Gametime is at 6:30 with Brian Kirwan getting the start for the Snappers.