Thursday, June, 4th

Twins Talk
Cleveland 10 Minnesota 1

• The Twins had their 2 game winning streak come to a crashing halt last night at the hands of Cliff Lee and the Indians as the Twins fell 10-1 at the dome last night. The most exciting part of the game was when Carlos Gomez and Cliff Lee restarted their rivalry. In the 3rd inning Gomez tried to bunt with 2 strikes and struck out and as he was walking back to the dugout Lee said something to him. Then in the 6th inning Gomez flew out to right field Lee started chirping at him again and Gomez started chirping back. Indians 1st baseman Victory Martinez had to help Gomez back towards the dugout. I think Cliff Lee is a baby that thinks he is a superstar and Carlos Gomez is too thin skinned for his own good. Back to the game Anthony Swarzak got the start for the Twins and was victimized by one rough inning. With 2 outs in the 3rd inning Cleveland hit 4 bleeders in a row to get 2 runs and then Swarzak lost concentration and gave up a 3 run homerun to Johnny Peralta. In all Swarzak lasted only 4 innings ang gave up 6 runs on 9 hits along with 3 strikeouts to drop his record on the season to 1-2. With the 6 runs allowed his era jumped to 4.76. I believe Anthony Swarzak has the stuff to be a very solid major league pitcher, I just think he needs a little more time with the mental approach to the game. After all those bleeders he should not of given in and lost his concentration. That is something he needs to work on and I believe he will. Whether he goes down to AAA or just shifts to the bullpen I really believe Anthony Swarzak has a very bright future with the Twins. RA Dickey followed Swarzak and pitched 2 shutout innings in relief to lower his era to 3.06. Luis Ayala then came on and was his usual awful self giving up 2 unearned runs in 1.2 innings on 3 hits along with 2 strikeouts. Jesse Crain came in and lets just say it was another trainwreck as he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits along with a walk and 2 strikeouts in 1.1 innings. His era on the year is now an unacceptable 7.88. I really don't know what to do with him right now because he is awful every time he comes into a game. I am not sure if he is still injured just not saying anything or if he is truly that bad now. I really hope he can get it together because he has all the talent in the world.

• The Twins did not put up much offense up against Cliff Lee as they were only able to muster a run on 7 hits in the loss. Carlos Gomez drove in the only run of the game with a rbi single to centerfield to score Jason Kubel. It was Gomez' 4th rbi of the year in the losing cause. Denard Span continued his torrid streak with 2 more hits to bring his average up to a very good .308. Joe Mauer, Brendan Harris, and Delmon Young also contributed hits in the losing cause against the Indians. With Mauer's hit he is still hitting an awesome .425 on the year in only 106 at bats.
• Today, the Twins finish their series and homestand with an afternoon game against the Indians with Scott Baker getting the call against Fausto Carmona for the Indians.

Rochester Wrap

Gwinnett 9 Rochester 1

• In a dreadful outing for the Redwings Brian Duensing got shelled and the offense could not pick up the slack in a bad 9-1 loss to Gwinnett last night in Rochester. Brian Duensing got the start for the Redwings and basically had nothing as he gave up 8 runs on 9 hits in only 4.1 innings along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. It was kind of a disappointing outing after Brian posted a 3.25 era in May and really had been pitching really well going into that start last night. Hopefully, he can put that start behind him and move on and get back to pitching quality innings. The bright spot on a bad night was Ben Hendrickson who is trying to round into form for the Redwings. Last night was his best outing as a Redwing as he went 3.1 shutout innings along with 4 hits and 3 walks along with 6 strikeouts. Tim Lahey finished the game and was once again not very good giving up a run in his 1.1 innings of work.

• The Redwings did not do much with the bats again as they were only able to muster 4 hits against 5 Gwinnett pitchers. The only bright spot was David Winfree who connected with his 9th homerun of the year and added his 26th rbi along with the homerun. Dustin Martin, Trevor Plouffe, and Drew Butera also contributed singles in the loss. The Redwings are really struggling with the bats right now and you can really tell they are missing the bat of Luke Hughes right now and that is why I think now is a perfect time to bring up Danny Valencia to the Redwings and help out with the offense. When Hughes comes back you could move him to 2nd and have Steve Tolleson move all over like he is used to doing.
• Tonight, the Redwings continue their series with Gwinnett as Jason Jones gets the start for Rochester.

New Britain Business

New Britain 2 Connecticut 1

• The Rockcats found a way to claw out another victory with no longer first Place Connecticut. They put 2 runs on the board in the top of the 9th to pull out a 2-1 victory over the Defenders. Jeff Manship got the start and it was one of his better outings of the year as he went 6.1 innings and only gave up a run on only 5 hits along with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. With the 1 run allowed Manship lowered his era to a decent 4.94 on the year. Jeff Manship has been underperforming this year as he is way too good of a pitcher to have an era in the 5's so it was nice that he is starting to piece it together. In his last 3 starts he has a 2.13 era more like the stuff that we were expecting out of Manship this season. I really expect him to have a big second half and be the ace we all thought he would be going into the season. Alex Burnett made his Snappers debut by helping Manship get through the 7th inning by striking out the 2 hitters he faced. Jose Lugo pitched a clean bottom of the 8th to pick up his 3rd win of the year. Anthony Slama closed the door in the bottom of the 9th to pick up his 12th save of the year. Slama has lowered his era to a still very good 2.73 after struggling a little bit.

• The Rockcats did not hit at all in this one and were very lucky that the pitchers kept them in the game. The Rockcats were only able to get 2 hits in this one, but the reason they were able to steal this one was because the Defenders helped out the Rockcats by walking 8 batters and hitting another one along with a wildpitch. The only Rockcat hitters that were able to get a hit were Brian Dinkelman and pinch hitter in the 9th Wilson Ramos. The Rockcats offense needs to pick it up because the strength of this team is their hitting and if they don't hit they won't win too many games.
• This Morning, the Rockcats finish off their series with Connecticut with Jay Rainville getting the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Clearwater 2 Fort Myers 1

• The Miracle saw their season high 2 game losing streak extend to 3 games as they lost a nailbiter to Clearwater 2-1. Deolis Guerra got the start for the Miracle and did not disappoint as he continued his strong string of starts. In this one he went 7 innings and only gave up 2 runs on a 2 run homerun in the top of first on only 4 hits along with 3 walks, all in the first inning, and struck out 4 to lower his era to 4.25 on the year. Along with that in his last 4 starts he has an awesome 1.79 era which shows that things are starting to come together for Deolis and would not surprise me at all if he doesn't get promoted to AA in the near future, because I definately think he is ready for the challenge. Kyle Waldrop came in relief and did a good job pitched 2 scoreless innings to drop his era down to 3.72 on the year. It will be interesting with Gutierrez gone who will take his spot will it be Kyle Waldrop or Steve Hirschfeld because they both are starting prospects and they both need to start.

• The Miracle continued their hitting slump as they were only able to collect 6 hits in the game. Suprise Suprise Ben Revere was the Catalyst for the Miracle in this one as he went 2-4 to raise his average to a still awesome .344 on the year. Besides him the Miracle really were not able to get anything going as Steve Singelton, Danny Berg, Deibinson Romero, and Danny Lehman all contributed 1 hit each to the attack. The Miracle have really struggled to score runs of late and as good as their pitching has been they can't do it themselves and need the offense to pick it up if they want to win the 1st half title.
• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Clearwater as Glen Perkins gets a rehab start for the Twins and gets the start for Fort Myers in this one.

Beloit Beat

Peoria 3 Beloit 2

Peoria 2 Beloit 1

• The Snappers lost a couple heartbreakers yesterday to Peoria. First they finised the suspended game from Tuesday and lost a tough 3-2 game. Following that they lost an equally tough loss to swallow 2-1. In the first game Dan Osterbrock started the game tuesday night and went the first 1.1 innings and gave up a run before the rain ended the game. Last night Michael Tarsi continued the game and was very effective going 4.2 innings without giving up a run on only 3 hits along with a walk and 5 strikeouts. He lowered his era to a much better 3.09 on the season. Danny Rondon and Joe Testa finished the game and coughed up a 2-1 8th inning lead which led to the loss. Rondon got the loss and moved his record to 2-3 on the year.
• In the nightcap Bobby Lanigan got the start and was very good once again. Lanigan went 6 innings in the 7 inning game so it was a complete game. In this one he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Lanigan has been very inconsistant this year so heres to hoping he will get some consistancy in his pitching from here on out.

• The Snappers continue to struggle with the bat as they were only able to get 3 runs in the 2 games. Michael Harrington was probably the best of the bunch last night going 3-3 in the first game with his 18th double and 2nd homeruns of the year. Ozzie Lewis, Jeff Lanning, Dominic De La Osa, and Ramon Santana each got 1 hit apiece combined in the 2 games as the Snappers were only able to get 9 hits combined in the 2 games. The Snappers are really struggling with the bats right now and until they start hitting better it is going to continue to be long days for the Snappers. I believe though that it is a matter of time before the guys bust out because there are too many great hitters on this team and when they bust out it will be for a while.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Peoria as Brad Tippett gets the start for Beloit