Twins 7 Cubs 4
- The Twins continued their dominance in interleague play with a big victory yesterday over the Cubs in Chicago by a score of 7-4. Kevin Slowey got the start and pitched phenomenal until the 6th inning when he ran out of gas. In 6 innings Slowey gave up 3 runs on 4 hits along with 1 walk and 10 strike outs. With the 3 runs allowed Slowey raised his era to 4.23 on the year. Kevin Slowey has been very good all year giving the Twins a chance to win just about every start he has made. Slowey picked up his 9th win of the year with the excellent start yesterday which is second only to Roy Halladay in the American League. At the end of the year I look for Slowey to win 15-18 games with an Era in the mid 3's which should put him right of the middle of the Cy Young race at the end of the year. After Slowey came out it got a little bit interesting as the relievers had their struggles. After Sean Henn came in and struck out his only batter the Twins brought in Luis Ayala who gave up a run on a hit in a inning of work. Jose Mijares then came on and faced 2 batters hitting one and getting the other out. Matt Guerrier then came on and gave up a hit and Ayala's run to make it 6-4. Joe Nathan then came on in the 9th and picked up his 14th save of the year and lowered his era to 1.85.
- The Twins really jumped on Chicago pitching as they had 7 runs on 14 hits on this one. Joe Mauer led the attack in this one going 2-4 with his 13th homerun of the year along with 3 rbi's to bring his total up to 39 on the year. With the 2 hits Mauer raised his average up to .413 on the year. It should not be too long now before you start seeing Joe Mauer leading the batting title race. If he keeps on the pace he is right now Mauer will qualify for the batting title in just about a month. Brendan Harris had a big day going 3-5 with his 12th rbi of the year. With the 3 hits Harris is now hitting .294 on the year. Harris has really done well as of late so well that he has pushed Nick Punto over to second base. Jason Kubel also had a big game going 2-4 with his 10th homerun of the year and drove in his 36th run of the year as well. Delmon Young and Nick Punto also contributed 2 hits apiece for the Twins in the winning cause. After Delmon Young had 2 hits it extended his hitting streak to 7 games and raised his average to .257. In his 7 game hitting streak Young is hitting .370 along with 4 runs batted in. Nick Punto made his return to the team off the disabled list and went 2-3 witha walk to raise his average to .198 on the year. Punto seemed to get better swings then he had been getting before getting hurt. Hopefully, this is the beginning of good things to come. Justin Morneau and Joe Crede added singles while Michael Cuddyer added his 12th double of the year in the winning cause.
- Today, the Twins take on the Cubs in game 2 of the 3 game series at Wrigley with rookie Anthony Swarzak getting the start for the Twins.
Rochester Wrap
Toledo 2 Rochester 1
- The Red Wings lost another tough one last night to Toledo in a game that the Red Wings offense just could not do anything offensively as the Red Wings dropped the game by a 2-1 score. Bobby Keppel got the start for the Red Wings and was awesome in this one. Keppel pitched the Red Wings second consecutive complete game as Kevin Mulvey did it the day before. He was the tough luck loser in this one to drop his record to 2-3 on the year. Keppel went 8 strong innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits along with a walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his very good era to 2.36 on the year. If the Twins need a pitcher this season I would have no problem with the Twins calling up Keppel because he definatley has earned the chance to get back to the big leagues. I admit before the season I did not know much about Bobby Keppel except that he was a former 1st round pick. I have been pleasantly surprised as he has been by far the best reliever on the team who has gotten a chance to start now.
- As good as the Red Wings pitching was in this game that is how bad the Red Wings offense was. They were only able to push 1 run across against 2 Toledo pitchers and left 6 guys on base which is way to many in a close game. Justin Huber and Trevor Plouffe led the attack for the Red Wings with 2 hits apiece in this one. With Huber's 2 hits it raised his average up to .274 on the season and has been very solid since he joined the Wings. Plouffe with his 2 hits it raised his average to .245. Trevor Plouffe has always been a slow starter and this is no different after hitting .228 in April and .215 in May there was some concern about how he was doing. However, in June he has really turned it on as he is hitting .350 in June. You wish that he would be a little bit more consistant, but if the numbers are there at the end thats all you can ask for. Steve Tolleson, Jason Pridie, Jose Morales, and Tommy Watkins also added hits in the losing cause.
- Tonight, the Wings continue their series with Toledo as Philip Humber will get the start for Rochester.
New Britain Business
Bowie 2 New Britain 1
- The Rockcats suffered a tough loss to take as they pitched very well and battled on offense, but the old adage is true that good pitching beats good hitting as the Rockcats lost last night to Bowie by a score of 2-1. Matt Fox got the start for the Rockcats and did not dissapoint in this one. Fox went 7 innings and only gave up 1 run on 4 hits along with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts to lower his era to an awesome 2.64 on the year. Matt Fox has been by far the best pitcher for the Rockcats this year and really has done everything he can do at the AA level and at age 26 probably needs a new challenge. I really think now is the time for Matt to get the call to AAA and see what he is made of. If he struggles then you know what you got, but if he flourishes maybe you consider him for a long man spot in the bullpen for the Twins next season. If they don't give him the opprotunity it would be too bad because after everything Matt has gone through he definately deserves the shot. Alex Burnett then came in the game and had his first struggle since his promotion as he gave up a run on 3 hits in his 2 innings of work along with a walk. With the run allowed Burnett had his era raised to 1.93. I really think when Anthony Slama gets the call to Rochester that Alex Burnett is going to be ready to take his spot and be the closer for the Rockcats.
- As hard as they battled in this game it was not enough as the Rockcats could only push across 1 run in this game on 8 hits. The 8 guys left on base really hurt the cause because when you are facing good pitchers every opprotunity counts. Brian Dinkelman and Erik Lis led the offense for the Rockcats. Dinkelman delivered his 15th double of the year. Lis hit his 10th double in the losing cause. Dinkelman also added his 34th rbi of the year and brought his average down to .313 on the year. Danny Valencia saw his struggles continue as he went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts which is so un Danny Valencia like. In his last 10 games Valencia is 4-39 which is only a .103 batting average and has brought his average from .343 down to .277. Like all great hitters Danny will come out of it, just of matter of when. Juan Portes, Whit Robbins, Wilson Ramos, Jeff Christy, Matt Moses, and Yancarlos Ortiz also contributed hits in the loss.
- Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Bowie as Carlos Gutierrez gets his first home start of the year for New Britain.
Fort Myers Minutes
Daytona 6 Fort Myers 1
- The Miracle suffered their second consecutive loss to Daytona last night with a rough outing by the Miracle in a 6-1 loss. What made it so disappointing was they committed 4 errors which led to 3 unearned runs for Daytona. Deolis Guerra got the start for the Miracle and was not real great, but also was not helped out by his defense. Guerra went 4 innings and gave up 6 runs on 6 hits even though only 3 were earned along with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. To point out though that 2 of the 4 errors were by Guerra himself. With the tough outing Guerra's record drops to 4-6 and raised his era to 4.41 on the year. It was disappointing because he had been pitching so much better as of late and to have a start like this makes you feel like back to the drawing board. I have so much hope in Guerra that when he has a start like this it makes it all the more disapointing. Hopefully, next time out he will be much better and put this start behind him. A positive in the game was the outing by Loek Van Mil who pitched 2 shutout innings and has not given up a run in 8 innings of work since his activation from the disabled list. Spencer Steedley then came on and pitched a clean 7th to lower his ridiculus era to 0.63 on the year. Henry Arias then came on in the 8th and pitched a clean inning to lower his era to 5.54 on the year.
- The Miracle continued their recent string of not much hitting as they were only able to push 1 run across in this one. Evan Bigley was the hitting star of the game by going 2-4 to raise his average up to a very good .295. Steve Singelton had a big night hitting his 2nd homerun of the year and driving in his 23rd run of the year. Ben Revere, Chris Parmalee, and Chris Cates added singles in the losing cause.
- Tonight, the Miracle try to clinch the First half title with a win over Daytona as Mike Mccardell gets the start for Fort Myers.
Beloit Beat
Beloit 10 Burlington 5
- The Snappers continued their strong play as of late with a very impressive 10-5 victory for Burlington last night. Dan Berlind got the start last night for the Snappers and pitched pretty good as he went 7 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on 4 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.93 and get him his 2nd win of the year. Dan Berlind has really been pitching very well lately and even a start he did not pitch his best he still kept the offense in the game so they could break out and give him his 2nd win of the year. Blake Martin then came on and pitched 2 shutout innings on 1 hit along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.19.
- The Snappers offense finally exploded after struggling through a tough stretch where they could not get many runs. Last night runs were not a problem as they put 10 runs on 14 hits in a laugher. James Beresford and Ozzie Lewis led the attack in this one with 3 hits apiece to pace the Snappers. Beresford went 3-5 with 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to 24 and raised his average back over 300 at .304. Ozzie Lewis went 3-5 with his 24th rbi and 2 runs scored and brought his average up to .298 on the year. Nathan Hanson had a big game going 2-4 with his 9th double and 2 runs scored to bring his average up to .252. Drew Thompson also added his 5th double of the year in the winning cause. Ramon Santana added a hit and his 27th rbi. Jon Waltenbury had a hit and 2 rbi's to bring his total up to 22 and Alex Soto also drove in 2 runs to bring his total up to 24. Juan Richardson and Dominic De Osa also contributed hits to the Snappers win. A game like this hopefully will get the Snappers going offensively as the pitching has been doing better they just need the offense to pick up the slack.
As you can see Im a bit behind once again and probably won't bring the next installment of my Prospect List until tommorrow so check back then.
