- Last night was the Anthony Swarzak show for the Twins as they defeated the Brewers 6-2 to take the 2nd consecutive game from Milwaukee. With the win the Twins pulled within a 1/2 a game behind 2nd place Kansas City and 4.5 behind leader Detroit. The Star of the game though was Anthony Swarzak who was making his major league debut for the Twins. You could not ask for anything better than the outing he had. He went 7 innings and did not give up a run on only 5 hits. He walked 2 batters and struck out 3. Swarzak was in control the whole game not having a runner reach 3rd base the whole game. He changed speeds very well keeping the Brewers potent lineup offbalance the entire game. With his fastball going from 88-94 and no 2 pitches the same speed. Add in a good changeup and occasional slider with his good curveball it made for a good night. I have saw games of his on milb.com and he threw his curveball more so i am not sure if he just did not have a good feel for it because he did not use it much. Overall, a very good first start it will be interesting to see how he does Thursday against the Red Sox and if he does good that leaves a tough decision for what the Twins should do with Glen Perkins scheduled to come back in about a week or so.
- Offensively the Twins were led by who else the M&M boys. Joe Mauer and Justin Mourneau went a combined 5-5 with a homer and 3 rbi's. Joe Mauer let the attack going 3-3 with a walk and his 9th homerun of the year. It is very hard to figure out where his sudden power surge has come from because he had 9 homeruns all of last year in 536 at bats and already has 9 in only 77 at bats. The only thing I can think of is he is maturing and getting stronger and his doubles are now homeruns. I would really like to get you readers perspective on this. Joe Crede also homered, his 7th of the year and drove in 2 runs to bring his total to 20 on the year.
- Tonight, the Twins finish off their series with the Brewers as Scott Baker tries to get back on track for the Twins. It is an ESPN game tonight so it should be fun to hear some different announcers since the Twins are not on Sunday Night Baseball very often.
Rochester Wrap
- Rochester had another tough loss last night against Norfolk after fighting back from a 4-2 7th inning deficit and thanks to a Jason Pridie to run homerun to tie the score. Unfortunatly, it was not to be as Norfolk won it 5-4 in 10 innings. Pridie had 2 hits and his 2nd homerun of the year. With the 2 hits it brought his average up to .234 on the season. There was a Brock Peterson siting after spending the season either on the DL or on the bench Peterson got a chance yesterday and did not disappoint. Brock went 2-4 on the day so hopefully this will get him going because he has way more talent than he has showed.
- Philip Humber got the start and continued his struggles giving up 4 runs in only 5 innings of work to bring his era up to 6.12. Hopefully he can get it going because he is better than that. Ben Hendrickson got his first action of the year pitching a scoreless inning. Bobby Keppel picked up the loss going 3.2 innings and only giving up the 1 run so he was very good.
- Today, the Redwings finish off their series with Norfolk with Brian Duensing scheduled to pitch for Rochester.
New Britain Beat
- The Rockcats continued their hot streak as they moved their season high winning streak to 7 games with a 7-5 win against Binghamton. Matt Fox pitched 5.1 shutout innings for the Rockcats to lower his era to 3.48 on the season. Jose Lugo and Frank Mata combined for a inning and two thirds scoreless innings. Normally when you give a big lead to Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama it is game over. Well lets just say they were not at their best yesterday. In 2 innings between them they gave up 9 hits and 5 runs. The good news is they still won the game and outings like that do not happen very often and both will be fine and this outing will be nothing but a memory.
- Danny Valencia continues to show that he is ready to move up to AAA. Valencia went 3-4 along with a walk and 3 rbi's to bring his total to 20 on the year. With the 3 hits it brings his average up to .336 on the year. Its pretty obvious he is ready for a new challenge and I hope he gets a chance to prove it sometime this year. Another guy that is really on fire right now is Steve Tolleson who contributed 2 more hits and a rbi to bring his average up to .252. If he keeps this up it won't be long till he is in AAA. Whit Robbins also contributed 3 hits and hit his 6th homerun of the year. His batting average now sits at a very good .320.
- Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Binghamton with Jeff Manship scheduled to get the start for New Britain as they try to extend their winning streak to 8 games.
Fort Myers Minutes
- In another well pitched ballgame the Miracle won another close ballgame last night 2-1 over St. Lucie. Deolis Guerra had his best outing of the year last night going 7 strong innings and only giving up a run on only 6 hits. With the 7 strong innings it brought Guerra's era down to 5.05. It was about time for Guerra to show why everyone is so high on him because with this being his 3rd year in the fsl people want him to show the promise that he did earlier in his career. I really look for Guerra to take off now and be very good for the Miracle. Henry Arias came on in relief and pitched 2 solid innings to pick up his 2nd save of the year.
- Ben Revere continues to show why is so widely known as the top hitter in the whole Twins organization. Revere went 3-3 with his 4th and 5th doubles of the year. After the 3 hits Revere now is hitting a robust .338 after hitting .379 last year in Beloit. I really look for him to get the call up to New Britain if things keep going the way they are. Steve Singelton also contributed 2 hits for the Miracle's cause.
- Tonight, the Miracle finish the home and home series with Port Charlotte with David Bromberg getting the start for Fort Myers.
Beloit Beat
- Beloit continued its run of bad baseball as they lost another not close game this time to Wisconsin 9-1. Ramon Santana was the only bright spot as the Snappers were only able to must 5 hits on the night. Santana had 2 hits to bring his team high average up to .425 on the season. I have said it before and I will say it again that Santana is the one that should of been promoted to Fort Myers instead of Nick Romero. Nothing against Nick Romero its just I think Santana is more ready for High A pitching and after 3 years in the Midwest League it is time for Santana to move on. Angel Morales contributed a hit and the only rbi of the game, his team leading 19th rbi of the year.
- The pitching for the Snappers was once again atrocious. Bobby Lanigan after starting out good has really struggled his last few starts. Last night was no difference as he gave up 10 hits and 7 runs in only 4.2 innings. Michael Tarsi came in relief and wasn't much better giving up 2 runs in 2 innings. Curtis Leavitt was the bright spot pitching 2 shutout innings. I would like to see Leavitt get another chance in the rotation after having a decent season last year at E-town. Basically, they have tried everyone else to start I think he deserves at least a chance.
- Today, the Snappers continue their weekend series with Wisconsin and Brad Tippett is scheduled to pitch for Beloit.
