Saturday, May 17th

Twins Talk
Minnesota 4 Colordao 2
Minnesota 21-20 0.5 games back

• POG: Delmon Young- Delmon really snapped out of his slump in a big way by going 3-4 on the night with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. With the 2 hits it raises Delmon's average to .276 on the year. Delmon has struggled with power still searching for his first homerun of the year, but he is hitting .276 and that is a respectable average. Jim Souhan in the Star Tribune said yesterday that all he is a singles hitter and even if he is that i have no problem with that its not like he is making alot of money. However, I don't think he is going to stay a singles hitter i look for him to develop his power this season we just need to be patient. I look for him to end up hitting 15-20 HR's and I think he will hit alot of doubles and if the people ahead of him get on he will have alot of rbi's by the end of the year. Some guys just start off slow and mash the ball after that and thats what i think Delmon Young is and we should all stop worrying.
• Nick Blackburn continued his strong season by going 7 solid innings and only giving up 2 runs on 6 hits along with 5 strikeouts without a walk. With the 7 innings it lowered his Era to 3.77 on the season. Nick is just a solid middle of the rotation starter and has been everything we have been expecting and more.
• Justin Mourneau continued his recent hot string by going 2-4 with a walk to raise his average to .307 on the season. Justin got off to a slow start but has really been raking the ball of late to bring his average over .300 on the season.
• Tonight, the Twins take on the Rockies in game 2 of their series in Colorado. Gametime is at 7:05 with Livan Hernandez(6-1 3.93) getting the start for the Twins vs Rookie Greg Reynolds(0-1 6.35) getting the start for the Rockies.

Rochester Wrap

Columbus 5 Rochester 4

Rochester 17-26 12.0 games back

• POG: Philip Humber- Philip had his best start of the year by far by going 6.2 innings and only giving up 3 runs on 6 hits along with 3 walks and 1 strikeout. With the 3 runs allowed it lowers his ERA to a still bad 5.09 on the season. This was a start Philip really needed not only for the team but also for his own psyche. He had really been struggling to throw strikes and get batters out. Granted it was not a great start but it was a good one as he kept the Red Wings in the ballgame and thats all you can ask from a pitcher. I'll be honest i was expecting more out of him this year. I thought him being the 2nd year out from Tommy John surgery he would really take off and that obviously hasn't happened. He is right where he belongs in AAA and hopefully can keep working to possibly get a September callup with the Twins because they need to see him up here because after this year he will be out of options and they need to figure out if he can help them next year or if they should try to trade them instead of getting nothing in return.
• Brian Buscher had another outstanding game going 2-4 with his 6th homerun of the young season along with 2 rbi's and 2 runs scored to pace the Red Wings. With the 2 hits it raised Brian's average up to a very good .325 on the season. I know Brian is very disappointed today which ill explain in a minute but all he can do is keep hitting and wait for his chance to get back to the big leagues and when he gets there do enough so he won't have to go back.
• After the game Last Night it was announced that Twins infielder Matt Tolbert was put on the DL with a torn ligament in his thumb and the Twins purchased the contract of Howie Clark to replace him. Ill admit my first thought was Howie Who? The more i thought about it the more it irritates me not only because i think there are more deserving people to be in the majors and he is not even good he doesn't belong on a AAA team let alone a major league one. The major reason it irritates me is he is everything the Twins are not about. In case you didn't know this Howie Clark was named in the Mitchell Report for taking illegal steriods. He is not the type of guy that i want with the Twins he cheated to keep his spot. I know I know he won't play much but really do you want to send that message to the kids watching the Twins that its ok to take steroids it will allow you to make it to the majors I know i don't.
• Tonight, the Red Wings begin a series with their bitter rivals from Syracuse. Gametime is at 6:00pm with Danny Graves getting another start for the Red Wings

New Britain Business

New Britain 20-19 5.0 games back

• New Britain had their game rained out and is playing a day night doubleheader today in response to a earlier rainout with Portland in New Britain. Game 1 with start at 12:05 with Ryan Mullins getting the start. Game 2 is at 5:35pm with Anthony Swarzak getting the start for the Rock Cats

Fort Myers Musings

Tampa 3 Fort Myers 2 11 innings

Fort Myers 26-15 First Place

• POG: Cole Devries- Cole had by far his best start of the season and it is something that has been a long time coming. Cole went 7 innings and only gave up a run on only 4 hits along with only 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. With the 1 run allowed it lowered Cole's era to 4.56 on the season. It was a really good sign for Cole that he was able to shut down that lineup like that and shows that he belongs at that level and hopefully next time he can follow it up with a better start.
• Brian Dinkelman was one of the few Miracle hitters that could solve the very good Tampa pitching. Brian went 2-4 with a walk and a doulbe also. With the 2 hits it raises Brian's average to a very good .324 on the season. I think him and Valencia will be battling for the team lead in average all season long.
• The Miracle's bullpen struggled getting anybody out yesterday. In 4 innings of work they allowed 2 runs and 3 hits along with 4 walks to blow the game. Its pretty obvious there is an A team part of the bullpen with Delaney, Slama, Vais, and Lugo being apart of the A team and everyone else on the B team.
• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Tampa in Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 with Jeff Manship getting the start for the Miracle.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 6 Peoria 3

Beloit 20-20 8.5 games back

• POG: Brian Kirwan- Brian continued the recent strong pitching performances by the Snappers starting pitchers. Brian went 6 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 8 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. With the 2 runs Brian lowered his era to a very respectable 3.68 on the season. Brian has been very consistant all year long keeping his era in the 3's and has continued to find a way to get people out. I would probably say he has been the most consistant pitcher on the staff and if he keeps it going he will have a high quality season and possibly a promotion to Fort Myers.
• Joe Benson had a outstanding game overall going 3-4 with a single, a double, and a triple all he needed for the cycle was a homerun. He also had an outfield assist in the outfield along with a run scored. It was by far the most complete game of the season for Joe and he needs to show more consistancy to hold off the hard charging Ben Revere as starting center fielder for the Snappers.
• Ben Revere is so consistant going 2-5 with a run scored to pace the Snappers 11 hit assault. With the 2 hits it brings Ben's average back to where it was when they began the day at .397 on the season. Seems like every game Ben is 2-5 with atleast a run scored and most of the time a stolen base. My view on him though is not push him too hard he just graduated high school last year so let him dominate the Midwest league this year and move him up to Fort Myers next year.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their weekend series with Peoria in Beloit. Gametime is at 6:30 again with Santos Arias getting the start for the Snappers