Friday, June, 19th

Twins Talk
Twins 5 Pirates 1

• The Twins pulled off a win in a game that Joe Mauer did not play in which is something that doesn't happen very often. The reason behind the victory is very simple and that is the pitching of Nick Blackburn. Blackburn threw his first career complete game and won his 6th game of the year on only 2 losses. In 9 innings Blackburn gave up only 1 run on 6 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.09 on the season. Blackburn had a shutout going into the 9th, but the Pirates broke up the shutout with a Adam LaRoche rbi single with 2 outs in the 9th. Blackburn has been the best Twins pitcher by far this year as he has quality starts in 10 out of his 14 starts on the year so that says how consistantly good Nick has been all year. I really think he deserves a chance to go to the all-star game if he can keep this up for another month. I always was high on Blackburn, but I did not think he was going to be this good. I think Nick Blackburn has improved the most out of any Twins pitcher from one year to another then I can recall. I expect Blackburn to continue to lead the staff as the Twins try to take over first in the division.

• The Twins did better than I thought they would do offensively against one of the better pitchers in the National League in Zack Duke. The Twins were able to put 5 runs on 10 hits in this one and it is especially impressive considering they did it without the services of Joe Mauer who was out recovering from the flu. Brendan Harris led the charge by going 3-4 in the game to raise his average up to .291 on the season. Harris has really come on since he was moved to short and got regular playing time when Nick Punto went on the disabled list. In the month of June he has been awesome hitting .323. Michael Cuddyer went 2-4 with his 10th homerun of the year and drove in his 35th run of the year. Brian Buscher went 1-3 with his 2nd homerun and 8th and 9th rbi's of the year. Nick Punto went 2-3 with his 4th double of the year to bring his average up to .218. Justin Morneau drove in his 56th run of the year with his 18th double of the year. Jason Kubel also contributed a hit in the winning cause.
• Tonight, the Twins begin a weekend series at the metrodome against Houston as Kevin Slowey gets the start and tries to pick up his 10th win of the year.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 4 Columbus 2 10 innings

• The Red Wings had to work overtime in this one as they defeated Columbus last night by a score of 4-2 in 10 innings. Going into the top of the 8th inning the Wings were behind 2-1 and all hope looked lost, but the Wings proved that they are fighters once again as they got a run in the 8th and 2 more in the 10th to pick up the big win. Anthony Swarzak made his return to Rochester and did what he has done all year with the Red Wings and with the Twins. In 7 innings Anthony gave up 2 runs on 8 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era down to a very good 2.29 era. Swarzak really does not belong in Rochester as he is a major league caliber pitcher, but since there really is not a spot for him with the Twins I was glad that he took the demotion in stride and did not let it get him down. He very easily could of come out all mad and pitched bad and that would not of helped him get back to the Twins. This is the way to get back with the big team by making them bring u back up as either a starter or a reliever. Rob Delaney came in relief and was stretched out a bit which I think is good since when Delaney is with the Twins he is going to be a middle innings guy and will need to pitch 2 or 3 innings at a time every so often. As long as Joe Nathan is with the Twins then Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama are going to have to get stretched out because not very often are they going to be expected to only go one inning so its a good thing. Delaney went 3 innings and only gave up 1 hit along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to pick up his 2nd win as a Wing and lowered his era to 3.97 on the year.

• This game should not of been this close as once again the Red Wings hit the ball, but could not get the key hits to put the game away. The Wings had 13 hits in this one, but could only push across 4 runs. They left a very high 10 guys on base in this one as they continue to struggle with that. David Winfree did not enter the game until the 8th inning, but he was by far the most important player of the game. Winfree hit a sacrafice fly in the 8th inning to tie the score and then in the 10th he hit a 2 run double to put the Wings on top for good. Winfree hit his 19th double and drove in 3 runs to bring his total up to a team high 35 on the year. Alexi Casilla and Justin Huber also contributed 2 hits apiece in the Wings victory. Steve Tolleson went 2-5 with his 8th double of the year and brought his average up to .356. Trevor Plouffe, Alejandro Machado, Dustin Martin, Tommy Watkins, Brock Peterson, and Drew Butera also contributed hits for the Wings as all 9 starters had atleast 1 hit in the game.
• Tonight, the Red Wings begin a weekend series at home with Toledo as Philip Humber gets the start for Rochester.
• Transactions: The Red Wings have promoted Jeff Christy from AA New Britain to back-up Drew Butera behind the plate.

New Britain Business

New Britain 7 Altoona 0

Altoona 4 New Britain 2

• The Rockcats split a doubleheader with Altoona last night as they won the first game 7-0 before dropping the nightcap 4-2. In the first game Matt Fox got the start for the Rockcats and was his usual awesome self. Fox went 5 innings and did not give up a run on only 3 hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to pick up his 6th win of the year and lower his era to a very good 2.45. Matt Fox does not belong in AA anymore he is dominant everytime out and if anyone deserves a chance at AAA it is Matt Fox. At 26 he is running out of time to make it to the big leagues and that is also why it is so important for Matt to get to AAA so he can keep improving and possibly be a September callup this year. I will be very surprised if after the All-Star break that Matt Fox is not called up to Rochester and Tyler Robertson is not called up to New Britain to take his place. Alex Burnett pitched the last 2 innings of the game and lowered his era to 1.38 on the season. In the second game Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Rockcats and was not real great. In 4 innings Carlos gave up 4 runs on 7 hits on 2 homeruns along with 3 walks and a strikeout. Everyone knew it was going to be an adjustment going from A ball to AA and that is exactly what Carlos is going through right now. It took Jeff Manship almost a year to take off in AA and now he is the Rockcats best pitcher. My advice is for everyone to take a chill pill because Carlos Gutierrez is too good of a pitcher to pitch like this for much longer. Pretty soon he will be throwing shutouts again and everything will be fine. Jose Lugo then came in and threw a clean 5th inning for the Rockcats to lower his era to 4.63. Anthony Slama needed some work and pitched a very good 6th inning to lower his era to 2.57. Slama seems to have gotten over the hiccup he had a couple weeks ago and is back to being the dominant pitcher we know.

• Offensively, the Rockcats had a good offensive game in the first game as they put up 7 runs on 9 hits. Brandon Roberts, Juan Portes, and Yancarlos Ortiz led the attack in the game with 2 hits apiece. Roberts also added 2 rbi's to bring his total up to 22. Rene Tosoni added his 10th double and his 34th and 35th rbi's of the year. Brian Dinkelman added his 16th double and 35th rbi of the year in the game. Danny Valencia also added his 13th double in the winning cause for the Rockcats. In the second game the Rockcats could not get anything going against Altoona pitching as they could only muster 2 runs on 4 hits in the game. Danny Valencia seems to be coming out of his slump as he had 2 more hits in the second game after a hit in the first. Valencia is too good of a hitter for this slump to go on much longer. Hopefully, he can keep it going because right now their is a wide open spot at third at Rochester and it is calling Danny's name. Yancarlos Ortiz went 1-1 with 2 rbi's and 2 walks to bring his rbi total up to 15 on the year. Juan Portes also added his 13th double of the year to the Rockcats in the losing cause.
• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with Bowie as staff ace Jeff Manship gets the start for New Britain.
• Transactions: In a cooresponding move to losing Jeff Christy to Rochester, New Britain called up Catcher Allan De San Miguel from Fort Myers to back up starter Danny Lehman.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 7 Dunedin 2

• First off I want to congratulate the Fort Myers Miracle for clinching the first half FSL South Title for the 2nd consecutive year. Going into the game the Miracle needed a victory over a Dunedin and a Charlotte loss against Lakeland. Lakeland defeated Charlotte so all the Miracle needed to clinch was a victory over Dunedin and that is exactly what they did with a big 7-2 victory over Dunedin. Mike Mccardell got the start for the Miracle and was very good once again. Mccardell went 5 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with 5 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.84 on the year. Santos Arias then came in and pitched 2 shutout innings and his 4th victory of the year. In 2 innings Arias gave up 2 hits along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to a very good 2.08 on the year. Spencer Steedley then came in and pitched a solid inning of work in what may be his final outing with the Miracle. Steedley went 1 perfect inning to lower his era to 0.84 on the year. Blair Erickson then pitched a good ninth on 2 strikeouts to get the win for the Miracle.

• The Miracle continued their recent string of good hitting as they put up 7 runs on 12 hits to get the win. Ben Revere continued his hot streak after coming off the slump. Revere went 2-4 with his 26th rbi of the year and brought his average up to .325 on the year. Steve Singelton continued his recent string by gong 2-5 with his 27th and 28th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .251 on the year. Singelton got off to a bad start, but has really come on in the month of June as he is hitting .298 for the month. Deibinson Romero went 2-5 to bring his average up to .236. Evan Bigley added his 5th double of the year, Chris Parmalee added his 11th double, Mark Dolenc add his 12th double, and Allan De San Miguel with his 1st double of the year with the Miracle. Danny Berg and Chris Cates also contributed hits in the winning cause.
• The Miracle are off until Monday for the All Star break before beginning a series with Jupiter on Monday.
• Transactions: After losing C Allan De San Miguel to New Britain, Fort Myers called up C Juan Richardson to backup starter Jair Fernandez

Beloit Beat

Beloit 3 Quad Cities 2

• The Snappers continued their recent string of better play as the Snappers defeated Quad Cities last night by a score of 3-2. Dan Osterbrock got the start for the Snappers and was good once again. Osterbrock went 7 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 6 hits along with 7 strikeouts to lower his era to 4.90 on the year. Osterbrock has done alot better after a rough start to the season. In June Osterbrock is 2-0 with a very very good 1.66 era in 4 starts in June. Looks like after a bad couple of months Dan has made the necessary adjustments and is the pitcher we thought he would be this season at Beloit. Matt Williams then came into the game and pitched 2 shutout innings to pick up his first win of the year and lowered his era down to 2.o2 on the year.

• The Snappers could not get alot of done offensively, but it was enough to pick up the victory for the Snappers. Michael Harrington led the offense going 3-4 with his 20th and 21st doubles of the year. Harrington has really come on after a slow start to bring his average up to .238 which is 60 points higher than what he was hitting about 2 months ago so by the end of the year he will be hitting in the 260's. Ozzie Lewis also had a big game going 2-4 with his 27th and 28th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .301 on the year. Ramon Santana, Jon Waltenbury, and Nathan Hanson each added singles to contribute to the big Snappers win last night.
• Tonight, the Snappers will take on Quad Cities in game 2 of their 4 game series as they send Bobby Lanigan to the mound for Beloit.