Friday, July, 31st

Twins Talk

• The Twins had yesterday off before beginning a 3 game weekend series versus the Los Angeles Angels as Nick Blackburn gets the start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Gwinnett 2 Rochester 1(49-54 8.5gb) WP: Redmond LP: Pino(1-1) Save: Valdez

Plouffe: 2-4 .245 avg Pino: 6.1 inn 2 runs 3 hits 4bb 5k 4.96 era

Martin: 1-4 SB(19)

• The Red Wings finish off their series with Gwinnett as Kevin Mulvey gets the start for Rochester.

New Britain Beat

New Britain 2(51-54 9gb) New Hamp 1 WP: Mccardell(1-1) LP: Rodriguez Save: Slama(21)

Hughes 2-4 .253 avg rbi(13) Mccardell: 5 inn 1 run 3 hits 1bb 3k 6.75 era

Portes: 2-4 .290 avg

Dinkelman: 2-3 .287 avg

• The Rockcats begin a series with Bowie tonight as Cole Devries gets the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Clearwater 2 Fort Myers 0(16-18 1gb) WP: Byrd LP: Watts Save: Schwimmer

Parmalee: 1-3 .258 avg double(18) Hirschfeld: 6 inn 0 runs 3 hits 7k 2.08 era

• Tonight the Miracle continue their series with Clearwater as Michael Tarsi gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Great Lakes 11 Beloit 10(11-21 8gb) WP: Smith LP: Pugh

A. Morales: 4-5 .243 avg double(14) rbi(35) Osterbrock: 5 inn 4 runs 7 hits 4bb 7k 5.96 era

Hanson: 3-5 .248 avg double(15) rbi(23)

Thompson: 2-6 .242 avg double(12) 3rbi(19)

Beresford: 2-6 .295 avg

• Tonight, the Snappers begin a series with Fort Wayne as Bobby Lanigan gets the start for Beloit

E-Town Tidbits

• The Twins had their game rained out yesterday and will begin a series with Burlington tonight as Tom Stuifbergen gets the start for Elizabethton.

Thursday, July, 30th

Twins Talk

Twins 3 White Sox 2 WP: Jesse Crain (2-2) LP: Contreras Save: Nathan(29)

Span 2-3(.287) rbi(37)

Casilla 2-3(.171) double(4) 2rbi's(8) Sb(7) Duensing: 5 inn 2 runs 3 hits 1bb 2k 5.09 era

Crain: 2 inn 0 runs 2 hits 6.65 era Win (3-4)

Nathan: 1 inn 0 runs 1 hit 1bb 2k save(29)


Rochester Wrap

Gwinnett 4 Rochester 1 (49-53 8.0 gb) WP: Halama LP: Santos(1-3) Save: Nunez

Plouffe: 2-4 .242 avg double(15) Santos: 7 inn 4 runs 10 hits 1bb 2k 4.16 era

Tolleson 2-4 .306 avg


New Britain Business

New Hampshire 5 New Britain 4 (50-54 9.5gb) WP: Boone LP: Fox(6-7) Save: Farquhar

Lis: 2-4 .303 avg HR(13) 2 rbi(52) Fox: 6 inn 5 runs 5 hits 3bb 3k 3.74 era

Dinkelman: 1-5 double(27)


Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 4 (16-17 1.0gb) Brevard County 2 WP: S. Arias(5-1) LP: Bowman Save: Van Mil(3)

D. Romero: 2-2 .234 avg HR(4) 2rbi(49) S. Arias: 7 inn 0 runs 5 hits 1bb 3k 1.94 era

Bigley 1-4 double(15)


Beloit Beat

Great Lakes 4 Beloit 2(11-20 7.0gb) Wp: Walter LP: Berlind(3-10) Save: St. Clair

Hicks: 2-3 .223 triple(2) 2 walks(22) SB(4) Berlind: 5 inn 4 runs 5 hits 3bb 1k 4.60 era

Morales 2-4 .232 double(13) rbi(34)



E-Town Tidbits

E-Town 0 Johnson City 0 Rained out

Sanchez traded to Giants/Trade Rumors/scenarios

Freddy Sanchez was traded to the San Francisco Giants for AA pitcher Tim Alderson a huge prospect in baseball. Before the season Alderson was ranked as the 26th best prospect in all of baseball and the 4th best prospect in the Giants organization. To me thats a huge price to pay for a singles hitter who is due 10 million the next year in a half. I know Twins fans are flipping out that the Twins did not find a way to make it happen, but the honest truth the Twins don't have a prospect in the entire organization that projects as high as Alderson not even Aaron Hicks. I am shocked that San Francisco would give up a prospect this highly regarded for Sanchez who is not going to put them over the top. Don't get me wrong Freddy Sanchez is a solid hitter who plays adequate defense, but to give up one of the top prospects in your organization for him is really outragous to me. I thought that he could be had for alot less, but when someone overpays for someone like the Giants did there is not alot you can do. I know there will be some that will rip on the Twins for not getting Sanchez even though it makes no sense since the Twins did not have the horses to get him for what Pittsburgh got from San Francisco.

The question is should the Twins make a trade and if so who should they go after. Alexi Casilla has had a good series versus the White Sox and with Mark Grudzilanek coming I really think the Twins are fine in the infield with Brendan Harris and Nick Punto doing adequately at shortstop. Offense is not the Twins problem this year and if either Grudzilanek or Casilla can do adequate the Twins are fine offensively. I would like the Twins to make a deal for a reliever and with Michael Wuertz apparently off the table there are still a few guys that could be had. John Grabow a left handed reliever from Pittsburgh would be fine. There is Joe Beimel, Dannys Baez, George Sherill and others. The question is what would we have to give up because I would not give up the world for a reliever as Jesse Crain seems better and Matt Guerrier is good. Other than that I would not make a big trade just a small one for a bullpen arm to help the team. Does anyone disagree with me if so let me know

Wednesday, July, 29th

I am back after taking a 5 day vacation from blogging and I should have plenty of stuff ahead. I plan on starting with a brief overview of the 6 days without updates in the Twins system. hope it helps to get on track with all the Twins info.

Twins Talk
Angels 6 Twins 5 10 innings Thursday WP: Fuentes LP: Crain(0-2)

Baker 5inn 2 runs 7 hits 3bb 6k 5.04 era Kubel 2-5 HR (17) 3 rbi (55)

Angels 6 Twins 3 Friday Night WP: Lackey LP: Liriano(4-10)

Liriano 5.1inn 6 runs 8 hits 2bb 3k 5.56 era Mauer 2-4 .365 avg 2hr(17) 2rbi(53)

Angels 11 Twins 5 Saturday Afternoon WP: Palmer LP: Blackburn(8-5)

Blackburn 3.2 inn 6 runs 6 hits 1bb 3.75 era Kubel 3-4 .315 avg HR(18) 3rbi(58)

Twins 10 Angels 1 Sunday Afternoon WP: Swarzak(3-3) LP: Santana

Swarzak 6.2 inn 1 run 4 hits 3bb 4k 3.74 era Morneau 2-4 .315 avg 2hr(26) 3rbi(82)

Twins 4 White Sox 3 Monday Night WP: Perkins(6-6) LP: Danks Save: Nathan(27)

Perkins 7 inn 3 runs 6 hits 1bb 3k 5.42 era Cuddyer 1-4 Hr(17) 2rbi(53)

Twins 5 White Sox 3 Tuesday Night WP: Mijares(1-2) LP: Buehrle Save: Nathan(28)

Baker 6 inn 1 run 4 hits 6k 4.86 era Punto 1-3 2rbi(23)

Rochester Wrap

Pawtucket 5 Rochester 3 Thursday WP: Cherry LP: Morillo Save: Vaquedano

Humber 6 inn 3 runs 4 hits 4bb 5k 6.16 era Macri 1-3 hr(8) 2rbi(31)

Charlotte 2 Rochester 1 10 innings Friday WP: Wassermann LP: Lahey

Santos 8 inn 0 runs 6 hits 1bb 6k 4.06 era Macri 1-4 hr(9) rbi(32)

Charlotte 7 Rochester 6 Saturday WP: Williams LP: Morillo

Pino 5 inn 5 runs 9 hits 1bb 6k 6.30 era Tolleson 2-3 .295 avg hr(4) rbi(14)

Rochester 13 Charlotte 10 Sunday WP: Jones LP: Rodriguez Save: Delaney

Mulvey 5.1 inn 8 runs 8 hits 3bb 7k 4.40 era Huber 4-5 .281 avg hr(15) 2rbi(54)

Charlotte 3 Rochester 2 Monday WP: Wassermann LP: Lahey

Manship 8 inn 2 runs 7 hits 3bb 3k 2.89 era Winfree 2-3 .285 avg double(25)

Rochester 7 Gwinnett 1 Tuesday WP: Humber LP: Bennett

Humber 7 inn 1 run 5 hits 2bb 4k 5.78 era Huber 2-5 .279 double(15) 2rbi(56)


New Britain Business

New Britain 0 Portland 0 Thursday Rained out

Connecticut 4 New Britain 2 Friday WP: English LP: Fox Save: Otero

Fox 6.1 inn 4 runs 4 hits 1bb 9k 3.51 era Dinkelman 2-3 .293 avg double(25)

Connecticut 1 New Britain 0 Saturday WP: Joaquin LP: Waldrop

Mccardell 7inn 0 runs 4 hits 2bb 6k 9.00 era Lehman 2-3 .250 avg double(7)

Connecticut 10 New Britain 6 Sunday WP: Peterson LP: Devries

Devries 4.2 inn 6 runs 7 hits 5bb 1k 4.00 era Tosoni 3-5 .277 avg double(22) rbi(54)

New Britain 0 New Hampshire Postponed Power Monday

New Hampshire 5 New Britain 1 Tuesday Game 1 WP: Perez LP: Mullins

Mullins 4.2 inn 1 earned run 6 hits 2bb 6k 4.70 era Robbins 2-3 .288 avg double(18)

New Hampshire 5 New Britain 0 Tuesday Game 2 WP: Mcleary LP: Guerra

Guerra 2 inn 5 runs 6 hits 1bb 2k 5.04 era Dinkelman 1-3 double(26)


Fort Myers Minutes

Tampa 6 Fort Myers 5 Thursday WP: Hovis LP: Erickson

Robertson 8 inn 1 run 7 hits 1bb 4k 3.73 era Soto 3-4 .300 avg 3 singles

Fort Myers 6 Tampa 3 Friday WP: Testa LP: Norton Save: H. Arias

Santos Arias 5 inn 0 runs 2 hits 1bb 3k 2.17 era Bigley 3-5 .270 avg dbl(13) trp(2) rbi(21)

Tampa 6 Fort Myers 3 Saturday WP: Zink LP: Hirschfeld

Hirschfeld 5 inn 3 runs 6 hits 2bb 4k 2.24 era Parmalee 1-4 double(17)

Brevard County 8 Fort Myers 4 Sunday WP: Merklinger LP: Tarsi

Tarsi 5 inn 3 earned runs 8 hits 2bb 3k 4.18 era Benson 2-4 .293 avg rbi(17)

Fort Myers 1 Brevard County 0 Monday WP: Bromberg LP: Rivas Save: Testa

Bromberg 6.2 inn 0 runs 8 hits 1bb 8k 2.69 era Fernandez 1-4 hr(3) rbi(17)

Brevard County 4 Fort Myers 1 Tuesday WP: Luetge LP: Robertson Save: Aguilar

Robertson 7 inn 2 earned runs 6 hits 1bb 6k 3.66 era Bigley 1-2 .264 avg double(14)


Beloit Beat

Beloit 8 Cedar Rapids 7 Thursday WP: Bulluck LP: Veras Save: Williams

Berlind 7 inn 2 runs 5 hits 1bb 4k 4.45 era Hicks: 0-4 .216 batting average

Beloit 0 Cedar Rapids 0 Friday Rained Out

Lansing 7 Beloit 3 Saturday WP: Beck LP: Osterbrock

Osterbrock 6 inn 5 runs 10 hits 3k 5.90 era Waltenbury 2-4 .261 avg 2 doubles(12) 2rbi(30)

Lansing 3 Beloit 1 Sunday WP: Holquin LP: Lanigan Save: Daly

Lanigan 6 inn 3 runs 7 hits 2bb 5k 4.88 era Harrington 1-3 double(26)

Lansing 10 Beloit 1 Monday WP: Alvarez LP: Hendricks

Hendricks 6 inn 5 earned runs 11 hits 1bb 6k 3.33 era Hicks 0-3 .212 ba walk(20)

Great Lakes 8 Beloit 5 Tuesday WP: Redding LP: Tippett Save: St. Clair

Tippett: 4.2 inn 3 earned runs 8 hits 1bb 4k 2.46 era Hicks 1-5 double(7) .211 ba


E-Town Tidbits

E-Town 8 Princeton 5 Thursday WP: Garcia LP: Shull Save: Davis

Garcia: 5 inn 4 runs 5 hits 1bb 6k 4.39 era Streich 2-5 dbl(7) hr(6) 3rbi(20)

E-Town 7 Kingsport 6 Friday WP: Kennelly LP: Hilliard Save: Carr

Sanchez: 3 inn 5 runs 6 hits 1bb 3k 4.45 era Gonzalez 2-3 .330 avg hr(5) rbi(18)

E-Town 6 Kingsport 5 Saturday WP: Ibarra LP: Needham Save: Tootle

Stuifbergen: 4.2 inn 3 runs 4 hits 3k 3.46 era Gonzalez 4-5 .355 2dbls(6) trp(1) 5rbi(23)

E-Town 6 Kingsport 3 11 innings Sunday WP: Marquez LP: Gagg

Stillings: 5.2 inn 1 earned run 5 hits 2bb 4k 3.49 era Pinto 4-5 .356 avg 2rbi(33)

Johnson City 5 E-Town 2 Monday WP: Simpson LP: Munoz

Munoz: 4 inn 4 runs 9 hits 1bb 4k 5.45 era Hidalgo 2-4 .311

Johnson City 0 E-Town 0 Rained out Tuesday

Buy or Sell?

This is a very hard column for me to write because everyone who knows me know that I am positive to a fault and sometimes it clouds my judgement when it comes to the Twins. However, the last few days I have really looked at the team as it is constructed right now and it is not a playoff team. So I figured in my head ok what do the Twins need to do to make it a playoff team. So I broke down position by position to decide if that position is good enough and at the end decide if it is feasible to go for it or wait until next year. I will share with you some of the feelings I have about certain players and certain positions. Let me know what you think.

Catcher- Joe Mauer is one of the top 2 or 3 players in the game and hits for average, hits for power, drives in runs, plays gold glove defense. The problem that nobody wants to talk about though is he is a free agent after next season and until he signs with the Twins there will be uncertainty around the Twins. Mauer will receive more money in free agency from the Yankees and Red Sox than the Twins can/should offer so he is going to take less money if he is going to stay with the Twins so Mauer can say you need to improve here and there or I won't sign. At the backup spot everyone knows that Jose Morales is better than Mike Redmond at this point in his career. That is a given, but Mauer plays 5 times a week so I have no problem letting Redmond finish out the year and retire in dignity as Jose Morales will have his opprotunity next season and 10 seasons after that. The catching position is fine.

1st Base- Justin Morneau is one of the best hitting and defensive First Baseman in the league and puts up huge numbers every year. The problem is Morneau is tied to Mauer so if Mauer went Morneau would want to go even though he has 4 years left on his contract after this year. If Mauer is signed Morneau likely will finish his career in a Twins uniform. The Twins have Michael Cuddyer and Brian Buscher as quality replacements when Morneau is the DH or gets the day off so First Base is fine.

2nd base- This is where the Twins start having problems as it is obvious that Alexi Casilla just can not get the job done offensively. I am beginning to think that the 3 good months Casilla had last year was an abberation instead of a trend. The Twins signed Mark Grudzilanek who is 39 years old and just a stop gap for the rest of the year, but the Twins need to solve this problem. In AAA you have Steve Tolleson who has come down to earth offensively and is not real great defensively. Im sorry, but I don't see a future from Tolleson as anything more than a utility guy. At AA you have Brian Dinkelman who is 26 years old and probably is better suited as a utility guy. You might have someone in Steve Singleton who just got promoted to AA. He might be the future guy, but he is atleast 2 years away from being able to contribute to the Twins. Therefore we need to look outside the organization and everyone wants Freddy Sanchez. The problem with Sanchez is not only will he make 8 million dollars which is alot for a second baseman with average defense and hardly any power, but the Twins would have to give up some quality prospects. He is signed through next year and after that then what do you do there. Reports have Pittsburgh asking for Francisco Liriano in a trade for Sanchez and even though Liriano has not been great this year he has too much talent to trade. Unless Pittsburgh comes down from that I would not make the move. who else Kelly Johnson, Dan Uggla who is awful defensively, Clint Barmes who would also cost a ton. What to do at 2nd base?

Shortstop- That is more of a trainwreck than at 2nd because Gardy is in love with Nick Punto and his 4 million dollar salary next season means he is going to be on the team. For those of you that want him in a backup role I have no problem with that, but Gardy will not let that happen he will either be starter at short or 2nd next season. Probably short because Brendan Harris has not took the ball and ran with it as his .204 average in July would say and he does not get to alot of balls that are called infield singles that a lot of shortstops would make. If you want to look for a shortstop in the organization your going to have to look a while. In AAA Trevor Plouffe has been the most disappointing player in the organization this year hitting only .247, but what has been more disaappointing is his organization high 19 errors. atleast with Punto at short he is going to make the plays. In AA Yancarlos Ortiz has been disappointing hitting only .225 with 12 errors. In Fort Myers Esterlin De Los Santos is solid, but very injury prone so you can't count on him. The future at shortstop is in A ball with Tyler Ladendorf, but he is probably atleast 3-4 years away from helping the Twins. So if you want to go outside the organization there are guys like J.J. Hardy, Yunel Escobar who would cost us a ton and there is no way the Twins are going to give up the prospects it would take to get those guys. So I think we are stuck with Nick Punto unless the Twins surprise me.

3rd base- Joe Crede has done a very nice job holding down the fort at 3rd base for the Twins this year, but if you think there is anyone the Twins will resign him you are crazy. He will want a 3 or 4 year deal and the Twins won't and shouldn't do that. Danny Valencia will be the starting 3rd baseman for the Twins next year and for the next 10 years. He will hit .290-.300 with 15-20 homeruns and drive in 90-100 runs and play good defense. Valencia is only 24 years old so he will solve our problem at third. Is he as good defensively as Joe Crede well of course not no one is but he is very steady over there and will be a good thirdbaseman and a cornerstone for the Twins future.

Outfield- The Twins have Denard Span who is a very good leadoff hitter who will hit between .290-.300, play good defense, take charge in the outfield and be a key to the future for the Twins. Michael Cuddyer is an interesting case as he is indespensible right now and has 8.5 million on his contract after this year and a 10.5 option for 2011. He is having a great year, but I can't see the Twins picking him up for 10.5 million and he is starting to get up there in age at 31 and 33 by the time his contract is due. However, he is what a Twin is all about he plays great defense, he is a leader in the clubhouse, has good power, and a cannon for an arm. I look for the Twins to sign him to an extension in the 9 million dollar range after 2010 so he can retire a Twin. Than you have Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez. The bottom line is if you don't trade one of them neither is going to develop into the kind of player they need to get to be. They show flashes, but as long as they don't get there consistant at bats they won't develop. I think Carlos Gomez should stay because of the fact in my mind he has a higher ceiling and his defense allows him to learn how to hit. The problem with trading Young is his value is at an all time low right now and the only way to raise his value is to play him so the Twins are between a rock and a hard place. Jason Kubel has developed into one of the best DH's in the League and he is signed through 2011 so after the 2010 season the Twins should negotiate with him a long term contract to have him with the Twins for a long time.

Starting Pitching- That is the problem with the Team this year as the starters have not lived up to expectations. We have plenty of Talent but look at the era's, Liriano 5.56, Baker 5.04, Slowey 4.46, Perkins 5.55, Blackburn 3.46. It was supposed to be a strength of ours and besides Blackburn all of them have underacheived this year. I think eventually they will get it going, but I would not bet on it this year. Anthony Swarzak has done a nice job filling in when first Perkins then Slowey got hurt. Kevin Mulvey, Jeff Manship, Deolis Guerra, Tyler Robertson, David Bromberg, Carlos Gutierrez and others are waiting in the wings so if these guys don't get it done there is hope for the future in our pitching.

Relief Pitching- Besides Joe Nathan, Matt Guerrier, and Jose Mijares our bullpen is a mess. Right now they have 3 long relievers in R.A. Dickey, Brian Duensing, and Bobby Keppel and the most disappointing pitcher in the organization in Jesse Crain who has an era in the 7's. Guerrier and Mijares have been pitched into the ground and the Twins will pay for it in August and September when they start getting hammered like Guerrier did last year. The Twins have some depth in the minors and the disabled list for the future. Next season they will get back Pat Neshek and Boof Bonser to injury. Anthony Slama and Rob Delaney appear like they can pitch at the next level. Alex Burnett in AA has jumped on the radar for bullpen help. The future of the relievers is good, but this year the bullpen needs a ton of help and they need it now.

Bottom Line: The Twins are a mess as they are being carried by Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Cuddyer, Guerrier, Mijares, and Nathan. When they dont have big games the Twins usually lose. To my count for the Twins to make the playoffs this year they need an upgrade at 2nd base, shortstop, 1 starting pitcher with the injury to Slowey, and 2 bullpen guys. Lets face it the Twins farm system is not what it used to be and to acquire all that help would further deplete the system and we would be paying for this division title for years to come. What I am looking for in the trade market are guys signed past this year a Freddy Sanchez if Pittsburgh lowers its demands, a Yunel Escobar, a Michael Wuertz. The biggest thing going forward is getting Joe Mauer signed because without him Target Field will be empty and Justin Morneau won't be far behind so I don't believe we should go all in this year we should try to make deals that allows us to go for it next year and the year after and so on.

Slowey out for year?

The Twins got awful news today when Kevin Slowey was unable to play catch in anticipation of his scheduled start tommorrow night with Rochester. According, to Lavelle Slowey has been shut down and sent back to Minnesota for more tests. It was revealed that Slowey has bone chips in his wrist that is causing him the problems and they were waiting until after the year to have them removed. The reason they were going to wait until after the season was because the usual recovery of something like this is 6-8 weeks just to recover and then you would need time to get the arm strength back up so if he has to have surgery he will likely have to be out for the year. Where that affects the Twins in trade talks is before the setback on Slowey the Twins were considering trading a starter to pick up a middle infielder and a reliever. That probably won't happen now and with Glen Perkins struggling so much the Twins probably don't have the starting pitching to contend. Therefore, the question has to be asked maybe we should not be a buyer and giving up quality prospects for the short term. Maybe we should hang onto our prospects and build for 2010 which means seeing if there is a market for Joe Crede, Jesse Crain, Delmon Young to possibly get young players that can help the Twins out next year. I personally would not trade those guys, but I also probably would not trade any of our quality prospects when there are so many leaks that the Twins probably wouldn't make the playoffs anyway. What I would do is go with what we got and when we fall out of contention give guys like Anthony Slama, Rob Delaney, Juan Morillo, Danny Valencia, Steve Tolleson, and Trevor Plouffe some playing time and see how they can do. I don't like to give up on a season, but Slowey has been such a good pitcher for the Twins this year that losing him hurts alot. What do you all think

Thursday, July, 23rd

Twins Talk


Athletics 16 Twins 1

• The Twins had a dreadful game yesterday and I am not going to talk too much about it or make a big deal out of it because the Twins are still only 2.5 games out of last place and it doesn't seem like Detroit or Chicago are going to run away with the division so the Twins have a shot even though they lost 16-1 to Oakland yesterday. Glen Perkins got the start for the Twins and was terrible. Perkins only lasted 1+ inning and gave up 8 runs on 6 hits along with 3 walks and a homerun to raise his era on the year to 5.55 and dropped his record on the year to 5-6. After the game Perkins reported some discomfort while warming up so the Twins are sending him to a specialist in LA today to get his shoulder looked at. That could be the reason that he has struggled so much as of late as he has given up 16 runs in his last 3 starts so hopefully it is nothing serious and he can go back to being a solid pitcher. Kevin Mulvey came in relief and was no better than Perkins. Mulvey also went 1 inning and gave up 4 runs on 6 hits. After the game the Twins optioned Mulvey back down to AAA and promoted reliever Jesse Crain. R.A. Dickey then came in and fell on the grenade so to speak as he went 4.1 innings of relief and gave up 4 runs although only 3 were earned on 5 hits along with 3 walks to raise his era on the year to 3.62. Brian Duensing then finished the game by going 1.1 scoreless innings on 1 hit along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era on the year to a still not very good 6.19.

• The Twins offense got off to a good start by scoring a run in the first, but that was all they could get. It is kind of hard to come back when you are behind 12-1 after only 2 innings. Justin Morneau led the attack going 1-2 at the plate with a walk and his 24th homerun of the year, which is one more than he had all of last year, and his 79th rbi which leads the American League to increase his average on the year to a very good .317 on the year. Denard Span after going 2-19 on the roadtrip seemed to come out of it by going 2-3 at the plate along with a walk to bring his average up to .284 on the year. Michael Cuddyer, Brian Buscher, and Alexi Casilla each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Twins.


• Tonight, the Twins begin a series with the hottest team in baseball in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as the Twins will send staff ace Scott Baker to the mound and will face Jared Weaver of the Angels.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 5 Pawtucket 0

Rochester 6 Pawtucket 1

• The Red Wings completed a sweep of a doubleheader last night against Pawtucket with a 5-0 win in the first game and followed that with a 6-1 win in the second game to pull within 7.5 games of first place Scranton/WB. Jeff Manship got the start in the first game and in a word he was awesome. Manship went 6 innings and did not give up a run on only 1 measly hit along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.38 and improved his record to 3-1. Manship has gotten better and better each start he has made with the Red Wings and has gotten to the point that it is not out of the question to consider him getting a call up to the Twins if Glen Perkins has to miss some time. He has shown good control and basically an ability to get hitters out and that is all you can ask for out of your starter. Rob Delaney then came into the 7th and pitched a scoreless inning of relief to pick up the win for the Red Wings. Delaney pitched 1 inning on 1 hit along with a walk to lower his era on the year to 4.07. In game 2 Armando Gabino got the start for the Red Wings and he did a good job for the Wings. Gabino went 4 innings and gave up 1 run on only 3 hits along with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.92. Gabino has done such a good job with the Red Wings that the next time the Twins need a solid bullpen guy they should give Armando a chance and see what he can do at the major league level. Juan Morillo then came in and went 2 shutout innings to pick up the win to move his record on the year to 4-3. Morillo went 2 innings and gave up 1 hit along with a walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.85 on the year. Sean Henn then came in and pitched a perfect inning to lower his era on the year to 1.57.

• The Red Wings did not do a whole lot in game 1 of the doubleheader, but it was enough to get it done as they scored 5 runs on 6 hits to pick up the win. Surprise Surprise Danny Valencia was the hitting star of the game going 2-3 at the plate with his 10th double and his 19th and 20th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .371 on the year. David Winfree went 1-3 at the plate with his 23rd double of the year to bring his average up to .274. Justin Huber went 1-2 at the plate with his 14th homerun of the year and his team high 52nd rbi to bring his average up to .283. Matt Tolbert and Steve Tolleson each contributed hits to the winning cause for the Red Wings. In game 2 the Red Wings got 6 runs on 8 hits. The Red Wings were led by Brock Peterson who went 2-3 at the plate with his 5th homerun of the year and his 20th and 21st rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .269. Jose Morales went 2-3 at the plate with his 13th rbi to bring his average up to .292. Steve Tolleson went 2-4 at the plate with his 13th rbi of the year to bring his average up to .294. Danny Valencia and David Winfree each contributed hits in the winning cause for the Red Wings.


• Today, the Red Wings finish their series off with Pawtucket as Philip Humber gets the start for Rochester.

New Britain Business

Portland 3 New Britain 0

Portland 5 New Britain 1

• The Rockcats lost a couple tough games last night to Portland that sent them into 3rd place in the division. The Rockcats lost to Portland by 3-0 in the first game and then lost 5-1 in the second game. In game 1 the Rockcats sent Ryan Mullins to the mound and he was very solid and was the tough luck loser. Mullins went all 7 innings and gave up 3 runs on 8 hits along with 6 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 4.83 and dropped his record on the year to 6-9. Ryan Mullins has really been very consistant for the Rockcats the last couple months and has given them a chance to win just about every time out. Last night the problem was not his pitching it was the fact that the Rockcats offense could not get anything going against Portland pitching. In game 2 Frank Mata got the spot start and was very solid just like he is every time he makes a start for the Rockcats. Mata went 3.2 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.97 and dropped his record on the year to 1-3. Alex Burnett then came on and really struggled with his control. Burnett worked 2 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with a very uncharacteristic 4 walks and 1 strikeout to raise his era to 2.08. Jose Lugo then came in and was not very good for the Rockcats. Lugo went 1.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on only 2 hits along with 2 walks to raise his era on the year to 4.24. The problem with Lugo is the Rockcats have been using him too much as he has already appeared in 45 games which is on pace for a good 70 appearances which is too many for a minor leaguer.

• The Rockcats really struggled with the bats last night as they were only able to score 1 runs in 2 games and you are not going to win very many games when you score 1 run in 14 innings. In game 1 the Rockcats did not score a run on only 4 hits. The only really good thing offensively was the triple by Juan Portes which was his 3rd of the year and brought his average up to .306. Rene Tosoni, Toby Gardenhire, and Yancarlos Ortiz each contributed a hit in the losing cause. The good news in game 2 is that the Rockcats scored a run, but the bad news is they only scored 1 run on 5 hits and that was not nearly enough to get the win. Steve Singelton led the offense going 1-3 with his 5th double of the year and his 3rd rbi to bring his average down to .500. Rene Tosoni went 1-2 at the plate with his 21st double of the year to bring his average up to .283. Brian Dinkelman went 1-3 at the plate with his 24th double of the year to bring his average up to .292.
• Tonight, the Rockcats have another doubleheader with Portland and Deolis Guerra gets the start in the first game while Cole Devries gets the start in the second game.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 2 Tampa 1

• The Miracle won their 2nd consecutive game with a tough hard fought game against Tampa with a big 2-1 victory. David Bromberg got the start for the Miracle and was outstanding. Bromberg went 6.2 awesome innings and gave up 1 run on only 3 hits along with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to a very good 2.86 and improved his record on the year to 8-1. David Bromberg has been the story of the year for the Miracle after dusting off a rough 2008 season to probably being the best pitcher in the Miracle rotation. With a good fastball and good breaking pitches Bromberg will likely move through the organization fast as long as he keeps his walks down and continues to keep his strikeouts up. Spencer Steedley then came on and worked the last 2.1 scoreless innings to pick up his 6th save of the year. Steedley went 2.1 innings and gave up 1 hit and no runs along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.79.

• The Miracle did not score alot, but it was good enough to get the win for the Miracle in a tough game as they only got 2 runs on 6 hits. Nick Romero went 2-3 at the plate to raise his average to .280 on the season. Alex Soto went 1-4 with a double and his 4th rbi of the year to bring his average up to .188. Chris Parmalee went 1-3 at the plate with his 15th double of the year to bring his average up to .262. Joe Benson, and Allan De San Miguel each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Miracle.
• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Tampa as Tyler Robertson gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 2 Cedar Rapids 1 10 innings

• The Snappers won a tough hard fought game against Cedar Rapids last night by the score of 2-1 and it took 10 innings to get the job done. Brad Tippett got the start for the Snappers and boy was he good. Tippett went 8.2 innings and gave up only 1 run on only 3 hits along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.31. Tippett has been so good for Beloit that it doesn't make any sense to me why he is still in Beloit. With Fort Myers turning to a reliever to make some starts after the promotion of Mike Mccardell it makes perfect sense for the Twins to promote Brad Tippett to Fort Myers. With his 2.31 era he has done everything he can at this level and is ready for a new challenge up at Fort Myers. Billy Bulluck then came on and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to pick up his first win as a Snapper and even his record at 1-1. Bulluck went 1.1 innings along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 3.38.

• The Snappers did not get much going offensively, but it was enough to get the win as they put up 2 runs on 7 hits to pick up the win. The hitting star for the Snappers was Angel Morales who went 2-4 at the plate with his 12th double of the year to bring his average up to .232. Michael Harrington went 1-2 at the plate with his organization leading 25th double of the year to bring his average up to .236. Danny Rams went 1-4 at the plate with his 3rd homerun and 3rd rbi of the year. James Beresford, Ozzie Lewis, and Drew Thompson each contributed hits in the winning cause for the Snappers last night.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Cedar Rapids as Dan Berlind gets the start for Beloit.

E-Town Tidbits

Princeton 11 E-Town 8

• The E-Town Twins suffered a rare loss to Princeton last night in a tough hard fought 11-8 loss. Michael Munoz got the start for the Twins and was not very good for the Twins. Munoz went 3.2 innings and gave up 8 runs although only 5 were earned on 10 hits to raise his era on the year to 4.97 and lowered his record to 3-2 on the season for the Twins. Matthew Tone went 2.2 scoreless innings on 1 hit along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.57. Ramon Acosta then came in and went 2 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits to raise his era on the year to 6.75. Ben Tootle then came on and pitched a perfect inning of relief to finish the badly pitched game for the Twins last night.

• The E-Town Twins were very good offensively, but it was not enough to get the win for the Twins. Brian Dozier led the offense by going 3-5 at the plate with his 5th and 6th doubles of the year along with his 5th and 6th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .309. Josmil Pinto went 3-3 at the plate with his 2nd triple of the year and his team leading 31st rbi to bring his average up to .333. Michael Gonzalez went 2-4 at the plate with his 3rd homerun of the year and 4 rbi's to bring his season total up to 15 to bring his average up to .309. Chris Hermann went 1-5 at the plate with his 10th double of the year to bring his average up to .312 on the year. Derek Mccallum, Tobias Streich, Dan Rohlfing, and Jon Goncalves each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Twins last night.
• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with Princeton as Matire Garcia gets the start for Elizabethton.

Wednesday, July, 22nd

Twins Talk

Twins 3 Athletics 2 10 innings

• The Twins got back on the winning side after the disappointing game on Monday night with a big 3-2 10 inning victory over the A's last night. Anthony Swarzak got the start for the Twins and was very good even though it was his first start in 12 days because of the All-Star Break. Swarzak struggled with his control early on, but when he got going he was dominant. Swarzak went 7 strong innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 4.10. Swarzak has really done a good job for the Twins since Kevin Slowey was injured and has given the Twins a good chance to win just about every time out there. Swarzak has proven without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that he belongs at the major league level and he can be a very solid starting pitcher at this level that just needs to be given an opportunity. Matt Guerrier then came on and did what he alwasy does and that is get people out. Guerrier went 2 shutout innings along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to a very good 2.18. Guerrier has been so good out of the bullpen that the only thing that scares me is his 45 appearances and if he is going to run out of gas like he did last year. Joe Nathan came on in the 10th to pick up his 26th save in 28 opprotunities with a scoreless inning to lower his era to 1.21.

• The Twins did not get alot going offensively in this game thanks to good pitching out of A's starter Dallas Braden, but got just enough to get the job done. Michael Cuddyer was the hero as he hit an rbi triple in the top of the 10th that put the Twins ahead a night after the disappointment of Monday night. Joe Mauer got back to his old ways by going 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .362 to take back the AL batting title race over Ichiro. Joe Crede went 2-5 at the plate with his 12th and 13th doubles of the year to bring his average up to .239 on the season. Delmon Young went 1-4 at the plate with his 1st triple of the year. Justin Morneau also contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Twins.
• Today, the Twins finish off their series with Oakland as Glen Perkins gets the start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

• The Red Wings had their game with Pawtucket rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader today with Jeff Manship getting the start in game 1 with Philip Humber getting the start in game 2.

New Britain Business

• The Rockcats had their game with Portland rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader today with Ryan Mullins getting the start in game 1 with Cole Devries getting the start in game 2.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 7 Dunedin 6

• The Miracle snapped a tough 3 game losing streak with a tough come from behind victory over Dunedin last night by the score of 7-6. Michael Tarsi got the start for the Miracle and he was very solid in this game. Tarsi went 6.2 and gave up 3 runs on 8 hits along with 4 walks and 5 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.86. Ever since Tarsi got to the Miracle he has been very solid giving the Miracle quality innings and giving them a chance to win every time out. He is not a super prospect and probably the worst starter on the Miracle roster, but overall he has overperformed all season long and I think he will continue to do that all season long and give the Miracle a chance to possibly do something special and possibly win a FSL title. Henry Arias then came on and was not very good, but thanks to the offense was able to pick up the win to move his record on the season to 2-3. Arias went 2.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits along with a walk to raise his era on the year to 5.24. Henry Arias is one of those guys that I can't figure out because one time he will pitch very good and then the next few times after that he will get shelled. If the Miracle are going to do anything in the FSL playoffs Arias is going to have to become more consistant.

• The Miracle did not put a whole lot on the board offensively, but were helped out by 4 Dunedin errors that led to 3 unearned runs that got them the victory. In all the Miracle scored 7 runs on only 8 hits so those errors played a big part in the game. Chris Parmalee led the offense by going 2-4 at the plate with his 14th homerun of the year and his 53rd and 54th rbi's of the year to improve his average to .258 on the year. Chris Parmalee has put together a pretty quality season as he will have 20+ homeruns and drive in close to 100 runs and hit in the .260 range. Evan Bigley went 2-5 at the plate with his 12th double of the year and his 19th rbi to bring his average up to .264. Nick Romero went 1-3 at the plate with his 9th double of the year and improved his average up to .273. Joe Benson, Deibinson Romero, and Allan De San Miguel each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Miracle.
• Tonight, the Miracle begin a series with Tampa as David Bromberg gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

• The Snappers had yesterday off and will be beginning a series with first place Cedar Rapids tonight with Brad Tippett scheduled to start for Beloit

E-Town Tidbits

Princeton 3 E-Town 2

• The E-Town Twins suffered a tough loss to swallow as they went down to Princeton last night by a score of 3-2. After tieing the score at 2 in the 5th the Twins let the game get away in the 7th where they gave up the winning run. Brad Stillings got the start for the Twins and was good once again. Stillings went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs although only 1 was earned on 4 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.97. Edgar Ibarra then came on and took the loss to drop his record to 1-2 on the year. Ibarra went 2 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 6.00. Peter Kennelly then came on and pitched a scoreless inning on a hit.

• The E-Town Twins really could not get anything going offensively as they were only able to muster 2 runs on 6 hits in the game. Josmil Pinto led the offense going 2-4 at the plate with 8th double of the year and raised his average up to .308. Reggie Williams homered in his 2nd consecutive game to bring his total up to 3 and drove in 2 runs to bring his total up to 12 and improved his average up to .269. Brian Dozier, Michael Gonzalez, and Anderson Hidalgo each contributed hits in the losing cause for the Twins last night.
• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with Princeton as Michael Munoz gets the start for Elizabethton.

Tuesday, July, 21st

Twins Talk

Athletics 14 Twins 13

• If you want to talk about a debacle last night was the epitomy of it as the Twins blew a 12-2 3rd inning lead to lose to the A's last night by the score of 14-13. You can go back to the play at the plate where Michael Cuddyer was obviously safe, but there was really really bad pitching, lack of hitting after the 3rd, and poor defense add those up and you should lose. Nick Blackburn got the start for the Twins and he was totally awful. He made it through 5 innings, but he shouldn't have. This was the worst I have seen Blackburn in a long time and because he has been so good this year I am going to give him a mulligan on this one. Blackburn went 5 innings and gave up 7 runs on 13 hits along with 2 homeruns to balloon his era to 3.46 on the year. He was getting pummeled all over the field and I kept saying get him out of there and now I know why and that is because the bullpen was no better because when Blackburn left the game he was ahead 13-7 and way in line for his 9th win of the year. Brian Duensing then came in and threw gas on the fire although not all the hits were hard hit, but they were still hits. Duensing went 1.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits along with 2 walks to raise his era on the year to 6.91. With the score 13-7 Bobby Keppel came on with the bases loaded and no outs and gave up a bloop double to Orlando Cabrera to make it 13-9 and after walking Jerry Hairston, Matt Holliday then came on and hit a grand slam to tie the score at 13. In all Keppel faced 3 batters and did not retire a batter and was charged with 3 runs on 2 hits along with a walk to raise his era to 2.25. With the game tied and Jack Cust coming up the right decision was to bring in Jose Mijares in who had dominated left handed hitters this year. Going into that at bat left handed hitters had gone 5-51 against Mijares a .098 average so the inning is over right. Wrong, Jack Cust tatooed a pitch to center field to put the A's up 14-13. Mijares went 1.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits to drop his record on the year to 0-2 on the season and his era up to 2.03. Kevin Mulvey made his major leage debut and got the last out to end the pitching portion of the game.

• I could be all negative about how the Twins only scored 1 run after the 3rd inning after scoring 12 in the first 3, but I am not going to get negative about it I am sure my counterparts in the blogosphere will do that for me. The bottom line is the Twins had some outstanding hitting performances and that should be talked about because it should help them today. Justin Morneau led the offense going 3-5 at the plate with his 22nd and 23rd homeruns and his 25th double of the year along with a career high 7 rbi's one short of the team record of 8 to bring his total to a American League high 78 on the season and brought his average up to .317. Look at his numbers this year he is hitting .317 which ranks 6th in the AL with 23 homeruns which is 2nd in the AL and 78 rbi's which are 1st in the AL. Talk about Albert Pujols winning the triple crown well Justin has just as good a chance at it as Pujols does. Jason Kubel had an awesome game as well going 3-3 at the plate and reaching all 6 times he was up with his 16th homerun of the year along with 3 walks and 4 rbi's to bring his season total up to 52 and his average up to .319 which is 5th in the American League. Michael Cuddyer also had a big game going 4-5 with his 16th homerun and 21st double of the year along with 3 runs scored and his 50th rbi to bring his average up to .276. Brendan Harris went 2-5 at the plate with his 16th double to bring his average on the year to .274. Mike Redmond went 2-5 at the plate, but had a critical double play in the 8th inning that killed a rally, to raise his average on the year to .245. Joe Mauer came off the bench and got a pinch hit single to raise his average to .361 which is 2nd in the AL 2 points behind Ichiro Suzuki. Denard Span, and Delmon Young each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Twins last night.


• Tonight, the Twins try to get back on the right track as rookie Anthony Swarzak gets his first start in 12 days for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 12 Pawtucket 5

• The Red Wings broke a 4 game losing streak in convincing fasion last night as they defeated Pawtucket by a score of 12-5. New Red Wing Yohan Pino got the start and he was decent considering not only it was his first start at AAA, but for most of the season he had been working out of the bullpen for New Britain so he is still working on getting more arm strength. Pino went 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits along with 3 strikeouts to bring his era to 4.50 on the year and improved his record to 1-0. Not a bad start for Pino at AAA and I look for him to get better and better as he gets more experience at the AAA level. I don't look at him as a major prospect, but he will be a decent AAA starter who will have an era in the high 3's and low 4's and give the Red Wings a chance to win just about every time out. Jesse Crain then came on and pitched an effective 2 innings on only 1 hit along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.55. In my opinion Jesse Crain has turned the corner in AAA and is ready to make his return to the Twins. I would give it another week or so and if he is still doing what has been doing in July I would get him up because the Twins bullpen is springing leaks all over the place and a good Jesse Crain is the guy we need. In 12 games with the Red Wings Crain is 1-0 with a 2.55 era in 17.2 innings of work. He has only given up 5 runs and most importantly has only walked 8 batters while striking out 22. Better yet in July he has only walked 3 in 12 innings of work. I know most Twins have a general dislike for Crain, but with the Twins bullpen struggling as much as they are he is worth a second chance rather than giving up a bunch of prospect for one. Tim Lahey pitched the last 2 innings and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 6.68.

• The Red Wings offense finally got it going in this game as they put up 12 runs on 17 hits in one of the finest offensive outbursts of the year. By far the offensive hero in this game was Jason Pridie who put his best performance of the year on. Pridie went 4-5 at the plate with 5 rbi's to bring his season total up to 34 and brought his average on the year up to .260. David Winfree had a big game going 3-5 at the plate with his 13th homerun and 22nd double of the year along with his 47th and 48th rbi's of the year to bring his season average up to .274. Matt Macri had a big game going 3-4 at the plate with 18th double of the year and his 29th rbi to bring his average up to .233. Steve Tolleson got back on track by going 2-3 at the plate to bring his season average up to .289. Matt Tolbert went 2-5 at the plate with his 3rd triple of the year to bring his average up to .268. Jose Morales went 2-4 at the plate with his 12th rbi and brought his average up to .289. Justin Huber went 1-4 at the plate with his 13th homerun and his 50th and 51st rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .281.


• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Pawtucket as staff ace Jeff Manship gets the start for Rochester.

New Britian Business

Portland 19 New Britain 1

• Last night was one of those days for the Rockcats where they could not get anyone out and just got blown out, but the good thing is it only counts for 1 loss and can come back tommorrow and go at it again as they fell to Portland by a score of 19-1. Mike Mccardell made his AA debut and it is a debut he would much rather just forget about as he got pummelled. Mccardell only lasted 4 innings and gave up 11 runs on 11 hits along with 2 homeruns and 3 walks and 7 strikeouts to bring his era to an unbelievable 24.75 on the year and dropped his record to 0-1. Granted the competition is going to be tougher at AA, but Mike is too good of a pitcher to pitch like that so I look for him to rebound his next few starts to get his era back into Mike Mccardell type numbers. I would not make too much of it because at the end of the year Mccardell will have his era back in the 3's right where his career numbers say it should be. Carlos Gutierrez then came on and was no better as he only lasted 1 inning and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits along with a homerun to bring his era to 7.93. It is pretty obvious that Carlos has nothing left in the tank and by keeping sending him out there you are risking injury so the best idea is for the Twins to shut him down for the year and let him rest over the winter and come back strong next spring. Jose Lugo came in and compared to the first 2 did a good job giving up 2 runs althought only 1 was earned on 1 hit along with a walk and 3 strikeouts in 2 innings to lower his era to 3.86. Alex Burnett then came in and pitched the only scoreless line of any pitcher pitching a perfect 8th inning along with a strikeout to lower his era to 1.93. Anthony Slama pitched the 9th and was not very good as he gave up 2 runs on 1 hit along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to raise his era to 2.98 on the year.

• After the pitching gave up 19 runs you were hoping the offense could match them, but unfortunately they left their hitting shoes at home as they were only able to score 1 run on only 7 hits. Steve Singelton led the offense going 2-4 at the plate with his 2nd rbi and raise his average up to .600 in 4 games with the Rockcats. Brandon Roberts went 2-4 at the plate with his 15th double and brought his average up to .300. Juan Portes, Yancarlos Ortiz, and Danny Lehman each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.


• Today, the Rockcats continue their series with Portland as they partake in a doubleheader today with Ryan Mullins getting the start in the first game while Frank Mata gets the start in the 2nd game.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 6 Dunedin 3

• The Miracle got back on the winning side after a 2 game losing streak dropped them to 3 games behind first place Charlotte by defeating Dunedin last night by a score of 6-3 in the final game of the series. Steve Hirschfeld got the start for the Miracle and was good once again. Hirschfeld went 5 shutout innings on only 4 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.02 and improve his record to 4-4. After getting off to a slow start when he joined the rotation Hirschfeld has really picked it up the last few starts and has put up a pretty good season and he is probably going to be the leader of the staff going into the FSL playoffs and give them a chance to win a championship. Blair Erickson then came on and gave up no runs on a hit along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts in 1.2 innings to lower his era on the year to 3.27. Joe Testa then came into the game and had his first struggle since joining the Miracle. Testa worked 1.1 innings and gave up 3 runs although only 2 of them were earned on 3 hits along with 1 walk and 1 strikeout to raise his era on the year to a very good 1.29. Loek Van Mil finished the game with a scoreless inning along with 1 strikeout to pick up his 2nd save of the year and lower his era down to 1.71.

• The Miracle offense did not do alot, but enough to pick up the victory for the Miracle as they scored 6 runs on 9 hits. Ben Revere led the offense going 2-4 at the plate with his 4th triple of the year and 37th rbi to bring his average up to .310. Revere has probably been the hottest player on the team after going through a slump. In his last 6 games he is 12-28 which is a .429 average. Revere is back where he belongs and I expect his numbers to stay on this line for quite a while he is that good of a hitter. Esterlin De Los Santos went 2-3 at the plate with his 6th double of the year to bring his average up to .301. Jair Fernandez went 1-4 at the plate with his 10th double of the year and his 15th rbi. Evan Bigley went 1-4 at the plate with his 11th double and drove in his 17th and 18th runs of the year. Chris Parmalee, Joe Benson, and Mark Dolenc each contributed hits in the winning cause for the Miracle.


• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Dunedin as Michael Tarsi gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Dayton 6 Beloit 3

• The Snappers suffered their 3rd straight loss last night in a tough hard fought game with Dayton by the score of 6-3. Liam Hendricks got the start for the Snappers and was very good once again. Hendricks went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on 6 hits along with a walk and 8 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.96. Hendricks has been everything the Snappers could of expected and more when he was called up from E-Town and if he can keep up what he he is doing now which I think he can then I think Hendricks will be in Fort Myers next spring. Matt Williams then came on and was not very good taking the loss to drop his record on the year to 1-2. Williams went 1 inning and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits along with a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 2.76 on the year. Billy Bulluck then came on and gave up his first runs as a professional. Bulluck went 1 inning and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits along with 1 walk and 1 strikeout to raise his era on the season to 4.50. Bulluck is going to be a big time closing prospect for the Twins the big thing is how he rebounds from getting hit a little bit will tell the story, but I am very confident he will come back good.

• The Snappers really could not get much going against Dayton pitching last night as they were only able to muster 3 runs on 7 hits. The Snappers were led by Ozzie Lewis who went 3-3 at the plate with his 13th and 14th doubles of the year to improve his average up to .275. Michael Harrington went 1-4 at the plate with his 4th homerun of the year and his 31st and 32nd rbi's and brought his average up to .234. Nathan Hanson went 1-3 at the plate with his 14th double to bring his average up to .240. Aaron Hicks went 1-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .231. Drew Thompson also added a hit in the losing cause for the Snappers.


• The Snappers have today off before they begin a weekend series at home versus Cedar Rapids.

E-Town Tidbits

E-Town 6 Burlington 4 13 innings

• The E-Town Twins pulled out the last game of their series with Burlington needing 13 innings to get the job done by a score of 6-4. Tom Stuifbergen got the start for the Twins and was very good in this one. Stuifbergen went 5 shutout innings on only 3 hits along with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.16. Tony Davis then came on and gave up no runs on 1 hit in 2 innings of work along with 4 strikeouts to lower his era to 9.00. Matthew Tone then came in and wasn't very good. He went 1 inning and gave up 3 runs on only 2 hits along with a walk to raise his era on the year to 3.18. Kyle Carr then came on and wasn't very good either as he went 1 inning and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with 2 walks and a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 1.35. Kane Holbrooks did a phenomenal job holding down the fort going 3 shutout innings on only 1 hit along with 1 walk and 1 strikeout to lower his era on the year to 3.68. Ben Tootle then came on and picked up his 1st professional save as he went 1 inning and gave up 2 hits, but got out of it.

• The E-Town Twins offense did not do alot in this game, but found a way to get the job done and pick up the victory. The Twins had 6 runs on 10 hits and should of won the game in 9 innings, but left 9 guys on base. Anderson Hidalgo led the way going 2-5 at the plate with his 5th double and 11th rbi to bring his average up to .343. Michael Gonzalez went 2-3 at the plate to improve his average up to .301 on the year. Reggie Williams went 2-6 at the plate with his 5th double and the go ahead 2 run homerun in the 13th inning to bring his total up to 2 and his rbis up to 10 and his average up to .266. Jon Goncalves went 1-6 at the plate with his 3rd double of the year. Derek Mccallum, Paul Klingsberg, and Dan Rohlfing each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Twins.


• Tonight, the Twins start a series with Princeton as prized first round pick Matt Bashore is scheduled to pitch for Elizabethton

Monday, July, 20th

Twins Talk

Rangers 5 Twins 3 12 innings

• The Twins lost the rubber game to the Rangers last night in a tough hard fought game that had to go extra innings as the Twins went down 5-3 in 12 innings thanks to an Ian Kinsler 2 run homerun in the bottom of the 12th off R.A. Dickey. Francisco Liriano got the start for the Twins are he was pretty decent. Liriano went 6+ innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits along with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.33 and received a no decision. After giving up a homerun to Kinsler to start the game Liriano was awesome for the first 5 innings and then wobbled a little in the 6th and then gave up a hit and a walk to the first 2 batters in the 7th. To me its a step in the right direction because for the most part he was unhittable again. His only problem is he loses his mechanics sometime in the game and his arm slot is off. Here is an example last night in 10 pitches he threw 9 balls, but before that he was dominant. I would no way trade him because he has so much talent and if he can become more consistant with his arm slot and not letting his shoulder fly open he can be just as dominant as he was in 2006. Bobby Keppel then came on and did what he has done since he has been there and that is get people out. Keppel went 1.2 shutout innings along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era to 0.56. Keppel has really done the job since he has been here and really turned out to be the 7th inning guy for the Twins. Jose Mijares then came in and did his job striking out his only batter to lower his era down to 1.82 on the season. Matt Guerrier then came on and did a good job pitching 2 scoreless innings on 2 hits to lower his era down to 2.28 on the year. Brian Duensing then came on and took the loss, but in my mind did a good job. Duensing pitched a scoreless inning and then gave up 1 hit before being pulled. Duensing went 1.1 innings and gave up 1 hit and 1 run along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.54 and lowered his record to 0-1. R.A. Dickey then came on and faced 1 batter and lost the game on a homerun to Ian Kinsler. With the run allowed Dickey's era rose to 3.42.

• The Twins offense really did not get anything done against a good pitching game by the Texas bullpen. The Twins were only able to muster 3 runs on 7 hits and left on a terrible 10 guys on base. Nick Punto had his finest game of the year as he went 3-4 with his 1st homerun in almost a year for the Twins along with 2 singles to improve his average up to .215 on the year. Delmon Young had a nice game going 2-4 to raise his average on the year to .270 on the year. Alexi Casilla and Brendan Harris each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Twins. The main reason they lost was Denard Span, Alexi Casilla, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer went a combined 1-24 which is a .042 average. The guy who has really struggled recently is Joe Mauer who went through his first 0-6 game of his career and is in a stretch of 2-25 streak which is a .080 batting average which has saw his average drop 40 points and cost him the batting title lead. He is too good of a hitter and he is due for a 10-14 series it just depends who it is going to be against.


• Tonight, the Twins continue their roadtrip and move on to Oakland and begin a 3 game series with the A's as Twins ace Nick Blackburn gets his first start of the second half and will face Gio Gonzalez of the A's.

Rochester Wrap

Lehigh Valley 3 Rochester 2

• The Red Wings had their losing streak extended to 3 games with a tough hard fought 3-2 loss to Lehigh Valley last night. Reid Santos got the start for the Red Wings and really was pretty solid in this one. Santos went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs although only 1 of them was earned on 6 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 4.63. Reid Santos has been much better since he came off the DL and has been a very solid starter for the Wings and in my opinion should continue to make starts every 5th day for the Wings. Armando Gabino then came on for the Wings and did what he always does and that is get hitters out. Gabino went 2 shutout innings on 1 hit to lower his era to 2.97 on the season. Gabino has done all he can to prove to the Twins that he deserves a promotion up to the big club and I would have brought up Gabino up to the Twins instead of Mulvey, but that is just me. Rob Delaney came into a tie game in the 8th inning and gave up the go ahead run to take the loss and drop his record on the season to 4-1. Delaney went 1 inning and gave up 1 run on 1 hit along with a walk to raise his era on the year to 4.24. Delaney has shown that he is not ready for the Twins and he needs some more time in AAA

• The Red Wings offense did not get enough going with the bats as they were only able to muster 2 runs on 5 hits and that is not going to be enough to beat just about any team in the league. Trevor Plouffe led the offense going 2-4 at the plate with his 7th homerun of the year and his 44th rbi to bring his average up to .251. Justin Huber went 1-4 at the plate with his 14th double of the year. Danny Valencia went 1-4 at the plate with his 9th double of the year and his 18th rbi. Matt Tolbert went 1-4 at the plate with his 5th double.
• Tonight, the Red Wings begin a series with Pawtucket as Yohan Pino makes his AAA debut for Rochester.

New Britain Business

Reading 9 New Britain 1

• The Rockcats lost a blowout yesterday to Reading to snap a 3 game winning streak for the Rockcats. The Rockcats lost the game in blowout fashion by a score of 9-1 to Reading yesterday. Matt Fox got the start for the Rockcats and was not very good as he gave up 4 runs although only 1 of them was earned on 5 hits along with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts in only 4.2 innings of work to lower his era to 3.46 on the year and drop his record to 6-5. Fox had the misfortune of playing in front of a defense that committed an error that led to 3 unearned runs. Fox was decent overall though and may be going through a little bit of a deadarm period and just needs to work through it. Talk about a tired arm Carlos Gutierrez then came on and threw gas on the fire lasting 1.1 innings and giving up 4 runs on 3 hits along with 2 walks to raise his era on the year to a very bad 7.13. I would seriously consider shutting down Gutierrez because it is pretty obvious that he has nothing left in the tank and is hurting the team now more than he is helping them. Kyle Waldrop continued his recent good string of pitching performances by pitching a scoreless inning of relief on 1 hit to lower his era to 1.61. Frank Mata then came on and gave up a run on a hit to raise his era to 4.07 on the season for the Rockcats.

• The Rockcats really could not get anything going against Reading pitching as they only could muster 1 run on 7 hits. Rene Tosoni led the offense going 3-4 at the plate to raise his average on the year to .285. Tosoni has really opened some eyes in the Twins front office by hitting for a good average and then also with good production to the point that he is probably untouchable in trade talks right now. Luke Hughes went 2-4 with his 2nd homerun of the year and his 11th rbi with the Rockcats to raise his average up to .304. Brandon Roberts and Steve Singelton also contributed a hit each in the losing cause for the Rockcats.
• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with Portland as new Rockcat Mike Mccardell makes his AA debut for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Dunedin 6 Fort Myers 2

• The Miracle suffered their 3rd straight loss yesterday afternoon at the hands of Dunedin by the score of 6-2 to drop 3.5 games out of first place. Spot Starter Santos Arias got the start for the Miracle and did a pretty solid job under the circumstances. Arias went 4 innings and only gave up 1 run on 4 hits along with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.38. Arias was very solid again for the Miracle and with Mike Mccardell moving to AA the Miracle need a starter and I would not be surprised if Arias got a shot for the Miracle. You need to remember that Arias made quite a few starts last year with Beloit and did a good job. Late Round draft pick Dakota Watts then came on and lets just say it was not a good first impression for the Miracle. Watts went 1.2 innings and gave up 4 runs on 3 hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to take the loss for the Miracle. Spencer Steedley then came on and pitched 2.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era to 1.88 on the season. Loek Van Mil finished the game with 1 scoreless inning on a hit along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.78.

• The Miracle really could not take advantage of their multiple chances they had in the game as they had 9 hits, but could only score 2 runs thanks to leaving 8 guys on base for the game. Ben Revere led the offense going 2-5 to raise his average on the year to a very good .310. Rene Leveret went 2-4 to raise his average on the year to a very good .294. Nick Romero went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .272 on the season. Juan Richardson went 1-3 with his 1st double of the year and his 6th rbi to bring his average up to .228 on the year. Chris Parmalee and Alex Soto each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Miracle.
• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Dunedin as Steve Hirschfeld gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Dayton 6 Beloit 4

• The Snappers lost their 2nd straight game after a 3 game winning streak with a tough 6-4 loss to Dayton last night. Bobby Lanigan got the start for the Snappers and really he was not very good. Lanigan lasted 3 innings and gave up 6 runs on 8 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 4.91 and drop his record on the year to 7-6. As good as Lanigan was in June he has been equally as bad in July going 0-2 with a 7.36 era in 3 starts. I don't know if it is a dead arm or just getting some balls up, but Lanigan needs to pick it up down the stretch for the Snappers. Steve Blevins then came on for the Snappers and did an outstanding job keeping them in the game. Blevins went 3 shutout innings on only 1 hit along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.33. Matt Williams finished the game for the Snappers and pitched 2 perfect innings along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the season to 2.40 on the season for the Snappers.

• The Snappers had enough hits but could not bunch them together to score enough runs as they put up 11 hits, but were only able to score 4 runs thanks to leaving 11 guys on base in the game and you are not going to win too many games when you leave that many on base. Jon Waltenbury led the attack going 3-3 at the plate with his 10th double and 4th homerun of the year along with his 27th rbi. Aaron Hicks had probably his best day with the Snappers as he went 2-5 with his 6th double of the year and his 14th rbi to bring his average up to .230 on the year. James Beresford went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .302 on the season. Ramon Santana, Ozzie Lewis, Danny Rams, and Drew Thompson each contributed hits in the losing cause for the Snappers during this game.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Dayton as Liam Hendricks gets the start for Beloit.

E-Town Tidbits

E-Town 9 Burlington 2

• The Twins got back on the winning track with a blowout win over Burlington last night by a score of 9-2. Angelo Sanchez got the start for the Twins and was very good in this one. Sanchez went 5 innings and only gave up 1 run on 1 hit along with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.29 and improve his record on the year to a very good 3-0. Ramon Acosta then came in and worked 2 innings and gave up an unearned run on 2 hits along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 5.40. Peter Kennelly then came in and pitched 1 shutout inning on 1 hit along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to keep his era at 0.00. 3rd round pick Ben Tootle came on in the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning on 1 hit in his professional debut. Tootle is going to be a good pitcher for the Twins this summer and many other seasons in the future so it is good to get his feet wet.

• The E-Town Twins were all over Burlington pitching last night as they put up 9 runs on 11 hits last night. Anderson Hidalgo led the attack going 3-4 at the plate with his 2nd homerun of the year and his 9th and 10th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .338. Derek Mccallum went 2-4 with his 3rd triple of the year and his 15th and 16th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .284. Jon Goncalves went 2-3 at the plate to bring his average up to .267. Michael Gonzalez went 1-5 at the plate with his 2nd homerun of the year and 4 rbi's to bring his season total up to 11 and his average up to .286. Josmil Pinto, Tobias Streich, and Herbert Lara each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Twins.
• Today, the E-Town Twins finish off their series with Burlington as Tom Stuifbergen gets the start for Elizabethton.

Sunday, July, 19th

Twins Talk
Twins 4 Rangers 1

• The Twins won their 3rd consecutive game of the year and their 2nd straight win against the Rangers since the break by planning good old Twins ball with good pitching, good defense and timely hits with 3 stolen bases put in. Scott Baker got the start for the Twins and put together probably his finest start of the year for the Twins. Baker went 8 strong innings and only gave up a solo homerun to Nelson Cruz on 6 hits along with 2 walks and an impressive 8 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.10 and improved his record on the year to 8-7. That was an impressive start to the second half for Baker who was in control the whole game. Like Bert Byleven said on the telecast last night it is going to come down to Baker and Liriano to decide if we make the playoffs this year or not. If those guys can be ace's like we know they can be the Twins will be right there at the end battling for a playoffs spot. However, with them both sitting with an era in the 5's that is not good enough and hopefully last night was the start of good things for Baker and tonight maybe Liriano can follow suit. Joe Nathan came on in the ninth and shut the Rangers down for his 25th save in 27 chances and lowered his era to a very good 1.24 which is amazing. Nathan has not given up a run since May 15th which is over 2 months. This will go down as one of the greatest seasons by a closer in Twins history.

• The Twins offense did not get a lot going in this game, but just enough to pick up the win as they put up 4 runs on 8 hits. Michael Cuddyer led the offense going 2-4 with his 20th double of the year and his 15th homerun along with his 48th and 49th rbi's to bring his average up to .272. Cuddyer has really rebounded this year after an injury plagued season last year to put up very solid numbers and if he keeps it up he will be back to typical Michael Cuddyer numbers of 20-25 homeruns and 90-100 rbi's which is very good along with his defense. Carlos Gomez continued his recent hot streak as he went 2-4 with his 21st rbi of the year and improved his average up to .247. In his last 5 games is where he has really improved by going 9-15 which is a .600 average with 9 rbi's and 3 runs scored. If Gomez is turning the corner that totally changes the Twins lineup and makes it way more potent. A good Carlos Gomez makes it less necessary to make a deal for a middle infielder that can hit because when he is good Carlos Gomez is such a difference maker. Justin Morneau had a big game going 2-4 with his 71st rbi of the year and improved his average up to .317. Nick Punto went 1-3 with his 5th double of the year. Alexi Casilla also contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Twins last night.
• Tonight, the Twins finish off their series with Texas as they try to finish off the sweep as Francisco Liriano gets the ball for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Lehigh Valley 7 Rochester 5

Lehigh Valley 6 Rochester 3

• The Red Wings had tough afternoon as they were swept in a doubleheader by Lehigh Valley by scores of 7-5 in the first game and 6-3 in the second game. In game 1 Philip Humber got the start and wasn't very good once again. Humber only lasted 3.2 innings and gave up 6 runs on 7 hits along with 2 walks and a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 6.28 and lower his record on the year to 4-7. I really don't know what to do with him because he has been horrible all year and the Red Wings really don't have anyone on the roster that can take his spot. To me the only thing that makes any sense is to give up on him and give him his release and bring someone up from AA to take his spot. Jesse Crain continued his improvment out of the pen for the Wings last night by going 1.1 scoreless innings on 1 hit along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.87. It is not quite time yet but i would give it 2 to 3 more weeks before we see Jesse Crain back in a Twins uniform if he continues to improve like he is. Juan Morillo then came on and gave up a run on 2 hits along with 2 strikeouts to raise his era to 3.00 on the year. The most important part of his line though yesterday was no walks and that is something you can build on. In game 2 Jason Jones got the start for the Red Wings and he was no better than Humber. Jones went just 4 innings and gave up 6 runs although only 5 of them were earned on 6 hits along with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 6.60 and lower his record on the year to a pathetic 2-10. I would seriously consider sending Jones either to the bullpen or back down to AA to see if he can get the kinks worked out because it obviously is not working status Quo righ now. Tim Lahey then came on and pitched a shutout 5th inning on 1 hit along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 6.52. After a really rough start of the season Lahey has done a solid job in July as his era is 1.29 in 5 games and 7 innings pitched. I am glad the Twins did not give up on Lahey as now he is one of the best pitchers for the Red Wings out of the bullpen. Sean Henn then came on in the 6th and pitched a shutout inning along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.63.

• In game 1 the Red Wings put up some good offensive numbers, but thanks to bad pitching it would not be enough even though they put up 5 runs on 7 hits. Matt Macri led the offense going 2-3 with a run scored to raise his average on the year to .228. Danny Valencia went 1-3 with his 4th homerun of the year and his 15th rbi since coming over to Rochester and improved his average to .378. David Winfree went 1-3 with his 11th homerun of the year and his 44th and 45th rbi's of the year. Brock Peterson went 1-3 with his 10th double of the year and also scored a run. Trevor Plouffe and Matt Tolbert each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Red Wings. In game 2 the Red Wings were only able to muster 3 runs on 6 hits and it is tough to win a game when you only get 6 hits. Danny Valencia continued his hot streak since coming to the Red Wings by going 2-3 with his 5th homerun and drove in his 16th and 17th runs of the year with the Red Wings to increase his average up to .388. Jose Morales made his return to the Red Wings and went 1-3 with his 5th double of the year and improved his average up to .274. Brock Peterson went 1-2 with his 11th double of the year and improved his average up to .267. David Winfree went 1-3 with his 12th homerun of the year and his 46th rbi which is 2nd to only Justin Huber. Matt Tolbert also added a single in the losing cause for the Red Wings.
• Today, the Red Wings continue their series with Lehigh Valley as Reid Santos is scheduled to pitch for Rochester.

New Britain Business

New Britain 11 Reading 3

• The Rockcats exploded offensively last night as they won their 3rd straight from Reading to pull within 5 games of first place Connecticut. Deolis Guerra got the start for the Rockcats and was solid in this game. Guerra went 6.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.06 and improved his record since his promotion to 2-0. Guerra has been good in 2 of his 3 starts so his era is misleading because you take that bad start out and he would have a very nice era. I really look for him to have a very good 2nd half with the Rockcats and show the promise that we have all been waiting for out of him. Kyle Waldrop then came on and did an outstanding job out of the bullpen. Waldrop went 2-2 innings and gave up no runs on 2 hits along with a walk to lower his era on the year to 1.69 on the year. Waldrop after missing all of last season because of arm problems has really had nice bouncback season with Fort Myers and now New Britain and has really reestablished himself as a possible bullpen arm for the Twins.

• The Rockcat offense really came alive in this one as they put up 11 runs on the board on 14 hits to pick up the win. Brandon Roberts was the hitting star in this game as he went 4-6 with his 14th double of the year to improve his average up to .297. Steve Singelton had another big game for the Rockcats going 3-5 with his 4th double and his 1st rbi as a Rockcat. In 3 games with New Britain Singelton is 9-14 at the plate with 4 doubles which is very very impressive. Toby Gardenhire went 2-4 with his 7th double and 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to 15 and his season average up to .263. Juan Portes went 1-4 with his 5th homerun of the year and drove in his 35th run to increase his average up to .306. Erik Lis went 1-2 with 2 walks and his 12th homerun of the year and 3 rbi's to bring his season total up to 50 and his average up to .321. His power surge is unbelievable as he has hit 6 homeruns in his last 7 games and drove in 12 runs in that span. Rene Tosoni went 1-4 with his 20th double and 53rd rbi of the year. Luke Hughes and Allan De San Miguel each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Rockcats.
• Today, the Rockcats continue their series with Reading as Matt Fox gets the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Dunedin 4 Fort Myers 2

• The Miracle lost their 2nd consecutive game last night in a hard fought 4-2 loss to Dunedin as they fell 3 games out of first with the loss. Tyler Robertson got the start for the Miracle and he was ok in this one not great, but also not terrible. Robertson went 7 innings and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits along with a way to many 4 walks and 5 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 3.95 and dropped his record on the season to 5-6. I don't know if it is because of getting passed over twice for promotions or if he is just in a rut but Tyler has not pitched very good his last couple starts. I truly expect Robertson to bounce back and show the Twins that they made a mistake in passing him up and being the pitcher we all know he can be and will be as he moves through the organization. We all need to keep in mind that he is only 21 years old and he is way young for the FSL and when he starts next season at New Britain he will be way young for that league as well. Joe Testa then came in and was dominant once again as he pitched 2 scoreless innings on 1 hit along with 3 strikeouts. Testa still has not given up an earned run in 12.2 innings of work thus far this year.

• The Miracle really could not get anything going against Dunedin pitching as they only got 2 runs on 10 hits. The problem was the Miracle left 9 guys on base or they probably could of won this game. Evan Bigley led the offense going 3-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .260 on the year. Chris Parmalee went 2-4 with his 13th homerun and his 51st and 52nd rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .258. Parmalee is having a pretty good season in Fort Myers where he will probably end up with 20+ homeruns and atleast 80 rbi's which is a very good year at the pitching heavy FSL. Ben Revere went 2-5 at the plate to improve his average up to .308 on the year. Esterlin De Los Santos, Jair Fernandez, and Chris Cates each contributed a hit apiece in the loss last night for the Miracle.
• Today, the Miracle continue their series with Dunedin as they will do a bullpen game with Santos Arias scheduled to start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Dayton 6 Beloit 4

• The Snappers had their 3 game winning streak come to an end last night with a tough loss to Dayton by a score of 6-4. Dan Osterbrock got the start for Beloit and did so so in the game. Osterbrock went 6.1 innings and gave up 5 runs although only 4 of them were earned on 7 hits along with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 5.79 and lowered his record on the year to 4-8. After putting together a good month of June, Osterbrock has really struggled in July. In June Osterbrock put an 2.28 era in 5 starts. However, in July in 3 starts Osterbrock has a 10.93 era so I don't know what the problem is, but he needs to get it going because he has been one of the biggest disappointments in the whole Twins organization after dominating at E-Town last year. Bruce Pugh then came in and gave up a run on 2 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts in 1.2 innings to raise his era to 4.03 on the season.

• The Snapper offense did not get the job done as they put up some solid offensive numbers as they put up 4 runs on 7 hits, but when the pitching struggles like they did the offense needs to pick up the slack and couldn't do that last night. Ramon Santana led the offense going 2-3 with his 19th double and 7th homerun of the year along with 2 rbi's to bring his team leading total up to 51 and improved his average up to .299. Drew Thompson went 2-4 with his 15th rbi of the year and improved his average up to .228. Thompson has really stepped it up as of late going 6-12 with a double and 3 rbi's in his last 3 games. Aaron Hicks went 1-5 at the plate with his 1st homerun as a member of the Snappers and his 13th rbi. Ozzie Lewis and Tyler Ladendorf each contributed hits in the losing cause for the Snappers.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Dayton as Bobby Lanigan gets the start for Beloit.

E-Town Tidbits

E-Town 4 Burlington 3

• The E-Town Twins got back on the winning side last night after enduring a tough 2 game losing streak by beating Burlington last night by the score of 4-3. Matire Garcia got the start for the Twins and was ok and the biggest thing was he only walked 1 batter after walking 20 in his first 4 starts. Garcia went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.74 and improved his record on the season to 3-0. First Round pick Matt Bashore made his debut out of the Twins pen and pitched 2 shutout innings on 3 hits along with 2 strikeouts. With all the innings he pitched for Indiana it would not surprise me if he came out of the bullpen this summer for the Twins to protect his innings and next spring start out in the starting rotation for Beloit. Kyle Carr then came on and pitched 2 good innings to pick up his 4th save of the year and giving up an unearned run on 1 hit along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 0.95.

• The E-Town Twins offense did not get a lot going, but just enough to pick up the win last night as they scored 4 runs on only 7 hits. Derek Mccallum led the offense by going 2-3 with his 7th double of the year to improve his average up to .275. Brian Dozier went 1-4 with his 4th double and also drove in his 4th run of the year. Tobias Streich went 1-3 with his 5th homerun of the year and his 17th rbi. Jon Goncalves went 1-3 with his 2nd homerun of the year and his 6th rbi. Michael Gonzalez and Reggie Williams each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Twins.
• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with Burlington as Angelo Sanchez is scheduled to pitch for Elizabethton.