Tolleson Promoted to Rochester

Steve Tolleson was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings today to help out with Luke Hughes being slowed with back spasms. Congratulations to Tolleson who has rebounded from a horrible start to hit .258 for New Britain

Friday, May, 29th

Twins Talk

• The Twins had to settle for a split in the 4 game series with the Red Sox as they ran into Josh Beckett who was phenomenal. The Twins came on the wrong end of a 3-1 Red Sox win thanks to 2 Jason Varitek homeruns. The most interesting part of yesterday's game was in the 7th inning both catchers and both managers got thrown out of the game by the same umpire. It all started with Boston up 2-1 in the 7th with a man on 3rd with 1 out and Sean Henn was pitching and gave up a short fly ball to right field and Jason Kubel came up firing and replays showed that they got the runner at the plate. However, the umpire called him safe and Mike Redmond questioned it and was quickly tossed. Ron Gardenhire then came unglued and got tossed for the 2nd time in the series. In the bottom half of the inning Jason Varitek thought the ump was squeezing him so he argued and was quickly tossed and manager Terry Francona quickly followed him. That overshadowed another very good performance out of rookie Anthony Swarzak who gave the Twins a chance to win and was the tough luck loser. In 6+ innings Swarzak gave up 3 runs on 5 hits along with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts. Going into the 7th inning he had only given up 1 run and ran out of gas in the 7th. With that said in 2 starts he has only given up 3 runs for a era of 2.08 on the season. Jesse Crain came in relief and got an out for the Twins. Sean Henn then came in and got 2 outs to get out of the 7th. Luis Ayala had another strong outing for the Twins working the last 2 innings and giving up no runs on a hit to lower his era to 4.37. I was all set to release Ayala when Glen Perkins comes back from the disabled list, but now I am not too sure what the Twins should do when Perkins comes back.

• The Twins were handcuffed by a very solid outing by Boston ace Josh Beckett as the Twins were only able to muster 5 hits in the game. Joe Crede did the only damage they were able to do against Beckett as he hit his 9th homerun of the season for the Twins in the 2nd inning. Brendan Harris had another solid performace going 2-3 at the plate to bring his average up to .274 on the season. With Nick Punto and Matt Tolbert struggling with the bat I look for Harris to keep getting more and more playing time if he continues to hit like he has. Justin Morneau and Matt Tolbert joined Crede and Harris with hits on a day that they were not able to muster much offense. With the hit Morneau is now hitting .342 on the season which is 5th best in the American League.
• Tonight, the Twins start their short 3 game road trip in Tampa Bay against the Rays. Scott Baker gets the start for the Twins tonight against Rays pitcher James Shields.

Rochester Wrap

Durham 8 Rochester 7

• The Red Wings continue to show the heart that everyone wants to see out of their team coming back from a 7-3 deficit to pull within 8-7, but thats were the comeback ended as the Red Wings fell to Durham 8-7 yesterday. Philip Humber got the start yesterday for the Red Wings and was not very good again yesterday. In 4 innings Humber gave up 4 runs on 8 hits along with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. With the 4 runs allowed Humber's era is now 6.52 on the season. I don't know what to do with Humber because he is really struggling at Rochester. I don't know if the right choice is sending him to the bullpen or just giving him his release. You really do not want to release a guy with the arm of Humber's but you need to do something. Bobby Keppel came in relief and was not much better going 3 innings and gving up 3 runs on 4 hits along with a walk and a strikeout. Armando Gabino finished the game by going the last 2 innings and only giving up an unearned run along with 3 walks and a strikeout.

• The Redwings had another good offensive game as they put up 7 runs on 12 hits even though it was not enough. Dustin Martin led the attack for the Red Wings with 2 hits and his 2nd triple of the year along with his 15th and 16th rbi's of the year. Justin Huber had 1 hit and 3 rbi's to bring his season total up to 18 on the season. Jason Pridie, Alexi Casilla, Jose Morales, Martin, and David Winfree all contributed 2 hits for the Red Wings. With his 2 hits Alexi Casilla is now hitting .316 on the season along with 6 stolen bases. With Matt Tolbert really struggling with the bat with the Twins I really think now is the time for the Twins to bring back Casilla and giving him another chance with the Twins.
• Tonight, the Red Wings begin a weekend series in Lehigh Valley to take on the Iron Pigs. Brian Duensing gets the start tonight for Rochester.

New Britain Business

New Britain 7 Trenton 2

• The Rockcats got back on the winning side of things after a short 2 game losing streak in Trenton with a nice 7-2 victory over the Thunder yesterday afternoon. Matt Fox was the story of the game compiling a very solid outing throwing 7 shutout innings for the Rockcats on only 5 hits along with no walks and 3 strikeouts for Fox. With the 7 shutout innings it lowered Matt Fox's era to a very good 3.00 on the season. Fox and Cole Devries have been the most consistant starters for the Rockcats and have given them a chance just about every night. I will admit I was not expecting much out of Fox this year and he has way surpassed what I was expecting out of him. Frank Mata came in relief of Fox and was not too good once again. He gave up 2 hits and 2 runs along with 2 walks without retiring a batter. He then gave way to Jose Lugo who pitched a scoreless 8th inning to maintain the Rockcats lead. Rob Delaney then came in to finish off the game with a very good 9th inning. Delaney has really rebounded after a couple rough outings for the Rockcats and is ready to move up to Rochester.

• At the plate the Rockcats continued their offensive splurge as they were able to get 7 runs on 8 hits. They were led by Steve Tolleson and Brian Dinkelman each with 2 hits apiece. Tolleson continued his recent role going 2-5 with his 9th and 10th doubles of the year. Tolleson has brought his average up from .140 to now .258 on the season. I was ready to write him off after the first 5 weeks of the season, but in the month of May he has really come on hitting .315 with a .407 obp which is very good. Brian Dinkelman had another good game for the Rockcats going 2-5 with his 30th rbi of the year. With the 2 hits his average is now an unbelievable .340 on the season. Rene Tosoni also had a big game with his 2nd triple and 3 rbi's to bring his total up to 25 on the season.
• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with Binghamton in New Britain with Jeff Manship getting the start for the Rockcats.

Fort Myers Minutes

Tampa 8 Fort Myers 3

• Last night was a game the Miracle would just as soon forget as they fell to Tampa 8-3. What was even more unbelievable was the Miracle committed 8 errors in one of the most crazy defensive games I have seen. Carlos Gutierrez committed 2 on his own. Gutierrez had probably his poorest start as a professional only lasting 3.2 innings and giving up 5 hits and 7 runs although only 1 of them was earned. He also walked a season high 5 batters including 4 guys in the first. His era rose to 1.09 on the year so I think you can just forget about this outing and move forward with him as the ace for the Miracle. Spencer Steedley came in relief and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings. Henry Arias then came in and gave up a run on 2 hits to bring his era up to 6.75 on the year. Loek Van Mil made his season debut and was a little shaky but good going 2 innings and not giving up a run on 3 hits. Santos Arias finished it off with a scoreless inning to end the madness on a weird night.

• It was a very quiet night for the Miracle at the plate as they were only able to muster 6 hits at the plate. They were led by you guessed it Ben Revere who went 2-3 with his 20th stolen base of the year. With the 2 hits Revere is now hitting .343 on the year. I really believe that Ben Revere is ready for AA and it would not surprise me in the least if he gets the promotion after the all star game to go up to New Britain. Steve Singelton had a good game as he had a hit and drove in 2 runs to bring his total on the year up to 20. Chris Parmelee, Nick Romero, and Jair Fernandez all contributed a hit apiece to the Miracles cause in the losing effort.
• Today, the Miracle finish off their series with Tampa in a early morning game with Deolis Guerra gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 4 South Bend 2

• The Snappers finally got back on the winning track with a good formula of good pitching a few timely hits and playing good defense. The Snappers stopped their 3 game losing streak with a 4-2 win over South Bend. The key to the game was the pitching of Bobby Lanigan who was awesome last night. Lanigan went 7 innings and did not give up a run on only 2 hits along with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. With the 0 runs allowed Lanigan dropped his era to a still too high 5.76 on the season. Bobby Lanigan has been so up and down this season where he will have an outing like this and then next time he will get shelled. Hopeully this is the start of a good streak of games for him because the Snappers really need him to become more consistant if they are going to make a run for the playoffs in the season's second half. Curtis Leavitt came in relief and struggled giving up 2 runs on 3 hits in only 1.2 innings along with a walk. Joe Testa came in and got the last out of the game although he walked 2 batters before he got that last strikeout and preserve the Snappers win. It was the 3rd save of the year for Testa.

• The Snappers really had a solid night at the plate for a change as they put up 11 hits against South Bend pitchers. They were led by Jon Waltenbury who went 3-4 with his 7th double of the year. Angel Morales and Jeff Lanning also had big nights with 2 hits apiece. Morales also drove in his team leading 21st run to bring his average up to .220 on the season. Hopefully this is a start of some good things for Morales because the Snappers need Angel Morales to be a big hitter for them. Michael Harrington also had a double his organization high 16th double of the year. Harrington also drove in 2 runs for the Snappers as they finally broke out of a year long funk.
• Tonight, the Snappers welcome in first place Kane County to Beloit. Brad Tippett is scheduled to pitch tonight for Beloit