Friday, July 17, 2009

Friday, July, 17th

Twins Talk
  • The Twins had yesterday off and will begin a 3 game series with the Rangers in Arlington as the Twins will send Glen Perkins to the mound tonight against Vicente Padilla going for the Rangers.

Rochester Wrap

Lehigh Valley 5 Rochester 4

  • The Red Wings suffered a tough loss last night to Lehigh Valley by a score of 5-4 even though they almost pulled out the game coming back from a 5-0 deficit and pulled within 5-4 and had a chance to pull it out, but couldn't quite pull it out. Jeff Manship got the start for the Red Wings and he was ok not great, but also not bad. Manship went 5 innings and gave up 5 runs although only 3 of them were earned on 6 hits along with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 4.24 and drop his record to 2-1 on the year. Manship has really done a good job since being promoted from New Britain up to Rochester. With the Rochester rotation in flux losing their top 3 starters in Brian Duensing, Kevin Mulvey, and Anthony Swarzak Manship has really stepped it up to give them quality innings and a solid start every time out. Armando Gabino then came on and continued pitching good for the Red Wings as he went 3 shutout innings on only 1 hit along with a walk to lower his era on the year to 3.07. I am shocked that Gabino did not get the promotion to the Twins when they were looking for a relief pitcher because Armando has done a very good job for the Red Wings.

  • The Red Wings really did not get a lot going on offense in this game as they were only able to score 4 runs on 7 hits. When your pitching struggles a little bit you would hope the offense would pick up the slack, but the Red Wings offense couldn't get it done in this one. Danny Valencia led the offense in this one going 3-4 with his 8th double of the year and drove in his 14th run to raise his average to .380. Dustin Martin went 1-3 with his 11th double and drove in his 31st run of the year to raise his average up to .252. Justin Huber fresh off his all-star game performance made a pinch hit appearance and hit his 13th double of the year to bring his average up to .287. Jason Pridie went 1-3 with his 4th triple of the year to bring his average up to .260. Trevor Plouffe also contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Red Wings.
  • Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Lehigh Valley and will send Philip Humber to the mound for Rochester.

New Britain Business

New Britain 5 Reading 2

  • The Rockcats pulled out a very tough game last night to Reading by a score of 5-2. Yohan Pino got the start for the Rockcats and was very good for the Cats and really has surprised me how good he has been since he has been put in the rotation for the New Britain Rockcats. Pino went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to a very good 3.19 and improved his record on the year to 5-1. Pino does not have overpowering stuff, but he still finds a way to get hitters out and how to strikeout guys so even though I don't think he is a big prospect I do think he has a chance to be a long reliever in the major league level if he continues to improve. A key about him that impresses me is he has 64 strikeouts in only 62 innings of work and that projects as he moves forward to possibly making it to AAA and maybe the majors. Alex Burnett then came into the game and did a good job like he always does by going 1.1 innings and giving up no runs on 2 hits along with a strikeout to lower his era to 2.05 on the year. Jose Lugo continued his recent string of good outings as he pitched 1.2 shutout innings along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era to a very good 3.71 on the year. Lugo has done very good the last 2 months after a rough start of the season. In June he had a very good 2.45 era in 11 games and has been even better in July with a 0.73 era in 7 games so far this month. Anthony Slama came on in the 9th and picked up his 20th save of the year by pitching a perfect 9th with 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.70.

  • The Rockcats did not get alot going offensively in this game, but they got just enough to pick up the win as they scored 5 runs on 14 hits and this game should not of been close, but the Rockcats left an unbelievable 15 guys on base. The Rockcats were led by new Rockcat Steve Singelton who made quite the impression going 3-5 with 2 doubles in his first game with the Rockcats. Toby Gardenhire had a big game going 2-3 with 3 rbi's to bring his total up to 13 and his average up to .257. Luke Hughes had a big game going 2-4 with his first homerun as a Rockcat this year and brought his average up to .333. Juan Portes went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .305. Yancarlos Ortiz had a big game going 2-4 to raise his average up to .226. Brandon Roberts went 1-5 with his 12th double of the year. Brian Dinkelman went 1-4 with his team high 23rd double of the year. Erik Lis went 1-3 with his 16th double of the year and raised his average up to a very good .321.
  • Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Reading as Matt Fox will get the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 13 Sarasota 4

  • The Miracle continued their offensive barrage last night by scoring 13 runs for the second consecutive game in a blowout over Sarasota by a score of 13-4. Michael Tarsi got the start for the Miracle and he was ok not as good as he had been in previous starts, but good enough to get the win considering the offensive show the Miracle put up last night. Tarsi went 6 innings and gave up 4 runs on 7 hits along with 2 walks and a very good 7 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 3.75 and improved his record on the year to 2-0 in 2 starts. Tarsi has done about as good of a job for the Miracle since his promotion than could be expected. Tarsi is not a huge prospect, but when he keeps the ball down he can be a very solid pitcher who will have an era in the low 3's and will continue to progress through the system not on stuff, but on control and just plain guts which he has alot of. Loek Van Mil then came on and pitched a very effective innning of relief on 2 hits along with a strikeout to lower his era to 1.85. Spencer Steedley then came on and pitched a good 8th inning to lower his era to 1.77. Blair Erickson finished the game with a solid 9th along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.45.

  • The Miracle offense continue to impress as of late as they have scored a crazy 26 runs in the last 2 games. In this one the Miracle were led by Mark Dolenc who went 3-5 at the plate to raise his average up to .292 on the year. Esterlin De Los Santos had a big game going 2-6 at the plate with his 1st homerun of the year and drove in 4 runs to bring his total up to 12 and brought his average up to .308. Ben Revere is continuing his recent hot streak going 2-5 at the plate with 2 rbi's to bring his total up to 36 and his average up to .308. Joe Benson went 2-6 with his 4th homerun of the year to bring his rbi total up to 16 and his average up to .301. Nick Romero went 2-4 with his 2nd triple of the year and his 21st rbi to bring his average up to .279. Chris Cates went 2-5 to bring his average up to .259. Chris Parmalee had a big game going 1-4 with his 12th homerun of the year and 3 rbi's to bring his total up to 50. Evan Bigley went 1-6 at the plate along with his 10th double of the year. Juan Richardson also contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Miracle.
  • Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Sarasota as David Bromberg gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 9 Burlington 1

  • The Snappers won their second consecutive game by blowing out Burlington for the 2nd consecutive night this time by a score of 9-1. Brad Tippett got the start for the Snappers and was once again marvelous. Tippett went 7 shutout innings on only 4 hits along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.43 and improve his record on the year to 8-3. I seriously can not believe that Tippett is still in Beloit because he has put up the kind of season that begs for a promotion to Fort Myers and I believe he is ready to be promoted so I hope the Twins don't wait much longer before promoting Tippett to Fort Myers because he is obviously ready. Thomas Wright then came on and was not very good once again. In 1 inning of work Wright gave up 1 run on 1 hit along with 2 walks and 1 strikeout to raise his era to 9.58. Makes you wonder how long the Twins are going to stick with Wright who has really struggled all year for the Snappers and if they will send him down to E-Town or if they will simply choose to release him. Billy Bulluck continued his good string since his callup to Beloit by pitching another scoreless inning on 1 hit.

  • The Snappers continued their recent string of hitting by scoring 9 runs for the second consecutive game. James Beresford led the attack in this one going 4-5 at the plate with his 24th rbi to raise his average on the year to .304. Danny Rams went 2-4 with his 2nd homerun of the year and his 2nd in 2 days along with his 2nd rbi to bring his average up to .333. Tyler Ladendorf had a big game going 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .250 after getting off to a 1-8 start. Drew Thompson had a big game going 2-4 with his 13th and 14th rbi's to bring his average up to .214. Aaron Hicks had a nice game going 1-3 with 3 rbi's to bring his total up to 12 and raise his average up to .219 and brought his walk total up to 17 walks which has brought his OBP up to .359 although he is hitting only .219 and that won't last so the fact that he takes walks is a huge thing. Ramon Santana, Michael Harrington, and Jeff Lanning each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Snappers.
  • Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Burlington as Dan Berlind gets the start for Beloit.

E-Town Tidbits

Danville 4 E-Town 3 13 innings

  • The E-Town Twins did something that they have not done very much this year and that is lose. The Twins dropped their record to 18-5 with a tough 13 inning 4-3 loss to Danville. Brad Stillings got the start for the Twins and did an ok job going 5.2 innings and giving up only 3 runs although only 2 of them were earned on 8 hits along with 2 walks and an impressive 8 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 4.86. Tony Davis then came on and bounced back after a couple tough outings to go 1.1 innings of shutout relief on 2 hits along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 10.64. 21st round pick Peter Kennelly made his professional debut last night by pitching 1 shutout innings along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Matthew Tone then came on and was good once again as he lowered his era to 0.87 after pitching 2 perfect innings along with 3 strikeouts. Kane Holbrooks then came on and did some good things but in the end he gave up a run so he took the loss to drop his record to 1-1. Holbrooks went 2.2 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his era to 4.63 on the year.

  • After being strong all season long the Twins offense really let the team down as they were only able to muster 3 runs on 10 hits. Brian Dozier led the way going 3-6 with his 2nd double of the year to bring his average up to .357. Josmil Pinto had another big game going 2-5 with his 6th and 7th doubles of the year and his 30th rbi to bring his average up to .317. With Ladendorf and Rams gone from the team the Twins are really counting on Pinto, Hermann, and Dozier to carry the load offensively. Dan Rohlfing went 2-5 with his 4th double of the year to bring his average up to .227. Paul Klingsberg went 1-3 at the plate with his 3rd double to raise his average to .297. Chris Hermann and Michael Gonzalez each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Twins last night.
  • Tonight, the E-Town Twins continue their series with Danville as they will send Edgar Ibarra to the mound for Elizabethton.