Friday, June, 12th

Twins Talk
Athletics 4 Twins 3

• The Twins suffered a tough loss yesterday afternoon as the Twins fell to the Athletics in the last game of the series by a score of 4-3. After building a 3-0 lead the Twins could not add to it and gave up 4 runs in the last 2 innings to get the loss. Nick Blackburn got the start in this game and was phenomenal for 7 innings. He lost in a big way in the 8th and hindsight maybe he should of been taken out after 7, but he was dominant and didn't seem to be slowing down. It was one of those things that happens sometimes. In all Blackburn went 8 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to raise his era to 3.31 on the year. Blackburn really has been the rock for the Twins staff this year and been the stopper when the Twins needed a win. Yesterday he had only given up 2 hits and no runs after 7 innings and looked like he was headed to his 6th win, but instead he ended up with his 3rd loss. The ending should not make Twins fans forget how good he was for the first 7 innings and how good he has been all year. The 9th inning was a disaster for the Twins bullpen in this one. Sean Henn came on and faced one batter and walked him on 4 pitches. Matt Guerrier then came on to hit a batter and then give up a single to bring in the winning run. That walk by Henn really set the tone for the inning and was a flare up for a bullpen that had been really pitching well lately. Hopefully, that was just an abberation and not a things to come.

• The Twins got off to a early 3-0 lead and it seemed like they just quit after that and that happens way too often. They need to keep adding on every inning and not after you get a few runs think that is enough and quit competing with the focus you need. Joe Crede put the Twins ahead early with a 3 run homerun in the 4th inning. It was Crede's 10th homerun of the year and it gave the Twins a false sense of security and that is never good because the Twins are not talented enough to take anything for granted and that seemed like what happened. At the plate Justin Morneau and Delmon Young led the attack with 2 hits each. With the 2 hits Morneau raised his average to .340 which was 4th highest in the American League. Young has really been coming on of late as his 2 hits raised his average to .252. In the last 5 games Delmon has gone 6-18 a .333 batting average. Hopefully, he can keep it up because the Twins need his offense if they are going to keep contending in the Central. Brendan Harris, Joe Mauer, and Jason Kubel each contributed hits also in the losing cause.
• Today, the Twins begin a 3 game series in Chicago with the Cubs. Kevin Slowey gets the start for the Twins as he tries to win his 9th game of the year.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 4 Toledo 0

• The Red Wings took the first game of their series last night with Toledo with a very impressive 4-0 win. Kevin Mulvey was the story of the game as he had his finest start of the year for the Red Wings. Mulvey threw a complete game shutout in this one. He went all 9 to pick up his 3rd win of the year along with his 3 losses. Mulvey went 9 innings and gave up 0 runs and scattered 7 hits along with only 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. Mulvey has been the most consistant pitcher on the staff for the Red Wings really their only consistantly good pitcher. With the 0 runs Mulvey lowered his starter low era down to 3.61. If the Twins need another starter this year it would not bother me at all to go to Mulvey because I believe he is ready to contribute to the big league team. However, I hope he doesn't take being in Rochester as a bad thing because he can continue to improve and become more consistant with his pitching.

• This game should not even of been close, but once again the Red Wings struggled to get the big hit as they once again left many runners on base. In this one they left 9 on base which is way too many. The positive though is that they pounded out 12 hits in this one, but the negative is they were only able to put across 4 runs. Jason Pridie and Dustin Martin were the stories of the offense as they each had 3 hits in this one. Pridie has been really good in June as he is hitting .306 with 7 rbi's in June to raise his average to .252. Martin has really been coming on after he went through quite a slump. Martin is now hitting a good .268 on the season. Justin Huber also contributed 2 hits in the game to bring his average up to .268. David Winfree hit his 14th double of the year and Trevor Plouffe hit his 8th. Steve Tolleson and Drew Butera also contributed hits in the game.
• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Toledo as Bobby Keppel gets the start for Rochester

New Britain Business

New Britain 7 Altoona 3

• The Rockcats completed the sweep against Altoona with a big 7-3 victory over the Curve yesterday afternoon. Cole Devries got the start for the Rockcats and was not terrible, but also not great. In this one he only lasted 4 innings and gave up 3 runs on a way too many 9 hits along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to raise his era to 3.27. Devries has been so good this season for New Britain that he is entitled a so so start. He was not terrible as he only gave up the 3 runs in the 9 hits so he made the big pitches when he needed them. Yohan Pino then came on and picked up his first win of the year by going 3 perfect innings in relief. Pino also struck out 2 batters to lower his era to 4.67 on the season. Jose Lugo then came on and pitched the last 2 innings and only gave up a hit and no runs along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.12. It was Lugo's 2nd save of the year for the Rockcats.

• The Rockcats brought their hitting shoes to the park yesterday by jumping on Altoona pitching for 5 runs in the bottom of the 2nd. In all the Rockcats scored 7 runs on 9 hits to take advantage of every opprotunity. Juan Portes and Erik Lis led the charge with 3 hits apiece in this one. Portes went 3-4 with his 11th double of the year and 3 rbi's to bring his season total up to 19. Portes is now hitting a very impressive .322 on the year. Lis went 3-4 with his 9th double of the year and his 28th rbi of the year to bring his average up to .286. Danny Valencia added his 9th double of the year late in teh game. Hopefully, that is the start of Valencia's return to good hitting after a horrible slump that started end of May and has continued into June. The slump has dropped his average from .341 to .282. Wilson Ramos and Yancarlos Ortiz each contributed rbi hits in the game also.
• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a weekend series with Bowie with Matt Fox on the mound for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Daytona 6 Fort Myers 4

• The Miracle suffered a tough loss last night to Daytona by a score of 6-4 in the opener of the weekend series. Tyler Robertson was on the mound for the Miracle and was so so in this one. He had been pitching so good as of late that it surprised me that he had a poor start. Robertson went 5 innings and gave up 6 runs on 10 hits along with a walk and 4 strikeouts to raise his era to 3.88. He also took the loss in the game to drop his record to 3-3 on the year. Even though Tyler was not at his best yesterday it should not take from the outing he has had of late. Those are the outings I am going to look at because they show the true Tyler Robertson and I think this start was just an anamoly and he will be good next time out. Santos Arias came in relief and did a good job like ususal throwing 2 shutout innings on only 2 hits along with 2 strikeouts. With the 0 runs allowed Santos lowered his era to a very good 2.48 on the season. Blair Erickson came on and pitched a clean 8th inning on 1 hit along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.95 on the season. I think Erickson is ready for AA and it would not surprise me if him and Spencer Steedley get the call to AA after the All-Star game.

• The Miracle had the same problems that Rochester had in this one as they had 11 hits, but were only able to score 4 runs. That was caused by 9 guys left on base in this one. At the plate Deibinson Romero and Nick Romero each had 3 hits apiece to pace the Miracle. Deibinson has really rebounded from his big slump. He went 3-5 with 2nd homerun and 2 rbi's to bring his total on the year up to 29. Deibinson is now hitting .227 on the year. Nick Romero went 3-4 to bring his average up to .302 on the year. Chris Parmalee connected on his 2nd homerun in as many days and his 8th homerun of the year and drove in his 32nd run of the year along with his 9th double. Ben Revere, Allan De San Miguel, and Chris Cates also contributed hits in the game.
• Tonight, the Miracle try to clinch the first half title with a little help from Charlotte. Deolis Guerra will get the start for the Miracle in a possible clincing game as they take on Daytona once again.

Beloit Beat

Burlington 4 Beloit 1

Beloit 4 Burlington 3

• The Snappers split a doubleheader with Burlington last night as they try to get out of last place before the end of the first half. In the first game Michael Tarsi made the first start of the season and pitched very well going 5.1 innings and only giving up 3 hits and no runs along with a walk and 7 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.95 on the year. Matt Williams then came on to nail it down but thanks to some errors he could not do that as he went 1.2 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with 3 walks to lower his era to 1.52. Danny Rondon came on in the 8th and was not very good giving up 3 runs on 6 hits along with a strikeout to raise his era to 5.73. These are the types of games the Snappers have lost all year long. Hopefully, in the second half some of these games will go the other way and the Snappers will win them. In the Second game Curtis Leavitt made his first start of the year and did alright giving up 3 runs on 3 hits in 3 innings of work along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Bruce Pugh then came on and was great pitching 2 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.35. Steve Blevins then came on and pitched the last 2 innings to pick up his first save as he had 4 strikeouts as well in those 2 innings. Blevins has really pitched well as of late lowering his era to 4.o2 on the year.

• The Snappers continue to have a hard time scoring runs as they were only able to score 5 runs combined in the 2 games. In the first game they only mustered 7 hits and 1 run. Michael Harrington and Nathan Hanson were the big hitters in the game. Harrington went 3-4 to raise his average up to .253 which is saying something after the dreadful start he got off to. Hanson went 2-4 with his 17th rbi of the year and raised his average to .243. Jon Waltenbury and Angel Morales added hits in the losing cause. In the second game the Snappers did more with the bats as they had 4 runs in this one. Drew Thompson had his 4th double of the year. Ramon Santana added his 12th double of the year along with his 25th and 26th rbi's of the year. Ozzie Lewis hit his 5th homerun of the year and drove in his 22nd and 23rd runs of the game. Nathan Hanson, Jon Waltenbury, and Angel Morales contributed hits in the winning cause as the Snappers salvaged a split in the doubleheader.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Burlington with Dan Berlind getting the start for Beloit