Twins 5 Astros 2
- The Twins beat the Astros last night for their 2nd straight victory last night with a very tense 5-2 win. Kevin Slowey got the start for the Twins last night and was very effective, but not quite as good as he has been in previous outings. Slowey went 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits along with an uncharacteristic 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. With the good 6 innings Slowey won his American League tying 10th win of the year on only 2 losses. Slowey had to leave after the 6th with only 90 pitches because he felt a twinge in his right side and the Twins decided instead of risking further injury it was best to get him out of the game and see what caused it. After the game last night Gardy seemed to think it was nothing serious, but he wanted to see how he was feeling when he got to the park today. Here is hoping that it is nothing serious and Slowey will be able to make his next start Thursday against the Brewers. Matt Guerrier came in the 7th in a 2-1 game and pitched a very effective inning on only 1 hit along with a strikeout to lower his era to 2.93 on the year. Jose Mijares came into the game in the 8th inning with the Twins ahead 3-1 and gave up a solo homerun to Jeff Keppinger in 2/3 of an inning to raise his era up to a still very good 2.57 on the year. With the score 3-2 Gardy decided to bring in Joe Nathan in the 8th to get Miguel Tejada and he did just that striking him out to end the inning. The Twins got 2 in the bottom of the 8th to get some cushion and Nathan got out of the 9th with no runs to pick up his 16th save of the year. With the 0 runs in 1.1 innings Nathan lowered his era to an awesome 1.69 on the year.
- The Twins ran into a great pitcher last night in Roy Oswalt for the Astros, but still found a way to get it done so you have to give them credit for that. They were able to get 5 runs and 10 hits which is saying something against a future hall of famer like Oswalt. Delmon Young led the attack for the Twins going 2-4 with his 3rd and 4th doubles of the year and 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to 21. Delmon Young has really come on for the Twins since slumping before and after the passing of his mother. In the month of June Delmon is hitting .300 with 7 rbi's in 50 June at bats. The bottom line is the more Delmon plays the better he is going to be and when Span comes back I would not take Young out of the lineup I would go back to making Carlos Gomez the 4th outfielder and going with an outfield of Young, Span, and Cuddyer. Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel also contributed 2 hits apiece for the Twins. Cuddyer added his 14th double of the year and drove in his 36th run. Kubel went 2-4 to bring his average up to .315 on the year. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Carlos Gomez, and Nick Punto added singles to contribute to the Twins victory.
- Tonight, the Twins take on the Astros in game 2 of their series as Scott Baker gets the start for the Twins.
Rochester Wrap
Rochester 2 Toledo 1
- The Red Wings continued their winning ways last night as they won their 3rd straight game with a tough 2-1 win over Toledo. Philip Humber got the start last night and had his best start of the year for the Red Wings. Humber went 7 very good innings and gave up only 1 run on 4 hits along with 1 walk and an incredible 10 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.57 on the year. I really did not see this start coming because to be all honest Humber has been very bad this season out of the Red Wings rotation. I was beginning to wonder if it would be best to put Humber in the bullpen or even to give him his release. Hopefully, it is not just a one start thing, but a start of a much better second half of the season for Humber, because the Red Wings could really use better starting pitching in the second half if they hope to stay in contention for a wild card spot. Juan Morillo came in and pitced 2 very good innings for the Red Wings. Morillo went 2 innings and gave up 0 runs on only 2 hits along with 3 strikeouts to pick up his 2nd save for the Red Wings and lowered his era to 3.16 on the year.
- The Red Wings were not able to do much better offensively than Toledo does the only difference is the Wings took advantage of their 3 hits to pick up 2 runs. The Wings broke a 1-1 tie with an Alexi Casilla rbi groundout that scored Matt Macri for what turned out to be the winning run. Alexi Casilla went 1-4 with his 10th rbi of the year. Drew Butera added his 5th double of the year in the winning cause. Matt Macri also added a base hit that led to the Wings scoring the winning run in the game.
- Tonight, the Wings take on Toledo in game 2 of their series as Brian Duensing will get the start for Rochester.
New Britain Business
New Britain 5 Bowie 4
- The Rockcats had a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of 7th so it was an easy victory right. You would be wrong as the Rockcats had to hold on for a very hard 5-4 victory over Bowie last night. Jeff Manship got the start for the Rockcats and he was excellent once again. Manship went 6.2 innings and did not give up a run on only 3 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era down to 4.28 on the year. Manship has been very good for the Rockcats the last month or so. In the month of June Manship is 2-0 with an awesome 1.35 era. To go even a little bit further Manship in his last 5 starts is 3-0 with a very good 1.83 era in those games. Manship has really turned the corner with the Rockcats and in my opinion he is ready for AAA and at age 24 he would be young for AAA, but I believe that he could do well there and if not this year for sure I expect him to start next season with Rochester. Alex Burnett got shelled last night for the Rockcats as he only got 2 outs and gave up 3 runs on only 1 hit along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to raise his era to 3.14 on the year. Anthony Slama then came in and was not much better, but found a way to get the save, his 14th of the year for the Rockcats. Slama went 1.2 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with 3 strikeouts to raise his era to 2.70 on the year.
- The Rockcats continued their recent string of good hitting as they put up 5 runs on 11 hits last night. It could of been even worse, but the Rockcats left 7 guys on base. Danny Valencia made his official return to the Cats after a bad slump at the plate as he went 3-4 with his 7th homerun of the year and his 14th double along with his 27th run batted in of the year to bring his average up to .281. Brandon Roberts also had a big game going 3-5 to bring his average up to .283 on the year. Juan Portes continued his hot streak by going 2-4 to bring his average up to .336 on the year. Portes has been the hottest Rockcat hitter in the month of June as he is hitting .383 with a homerun and 8 rbi's in 15 June games for the Rockcats. Erik Lis, Yancarlos Ortiz, and Rene Tosoni each added a hit to the winning cause for New Britain.
- The Rockcats continue their series with Bowie as Ryan Mullins gets the start for New Britain.
Fort Myers Minutes
- The Miracle are on their all star break and did not have a game last night. They will send 7 guys to the FSL all-star game in a game that will be started by Miracle starter David Bromberg. Best of luck to all of the Miracle players.
Beloit Beat
- The Snappers had their game with Quad Cities rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader tonight in Beloit. Bobby Lanigan will be the starter in the first game and Curtis Leavitt will make the start in game 2 of the doubleheader for the Snappers.
