Rangers 5 Twins 3 12 innings
- The Twins lost the rubber game to the Rangers last night in a tough hard fought game that had to go extra innings as the Twins went down 5-3 in 12 innings thanks to an Ian Kinsler 2 run homerun in the bottom of the 12th off R.A. Dickey. Francisco Liriano got the start for the Twins are he was pretty decent. Liriano went 6+ innings and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits along with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.33 and received a no decision. After giving up a homerun to Kinsler to start the game Liriano was awesome for the first 5 innings and then wobbled a little in the 6th and then gave up a hit and a walk to the first 2 batters in the 7th. To me its a step in the right direction because for the most part he was unhittable again. His only problem is he loses his mechanics sometime in the game and his arm slot is off. Here is an example last night in 10 pitches he threw 9 balls, but before that he was dominant. I would no way trade him because he has so much talent and if he can become more consistant with his arm slot and not letting his shoulder fly open he can be just as dominant as he was in 2006. Bobby Keppel then came on and did what he has done since he has been there and that is get people out. Keppel went 1.2 shutout innings along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era to 0.56. Keppel has really done the job since he has been here and really turned out to be the 7th inning guy for the Twins. Jose Mijares then came in and did his job striking out his only batter to lower his era down to 1.82 on the season. Matt Guerrier then came on and did a good job pitching 2 scoreless innings on 2 hits to lower his era down to 2.28 on the year. Brian Duensing then came on and took the loss, but in my mind did a good job. Duensing pitched a scoreless inning and then gave up 1 hit before being pulled. Duensing went 1.1 innings and gave up 1 hit and 1 run along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.54 and lowered his record to 0-1. R.A. Dickey then came on and faced 1 batter and lost the game on a homerun to Ian Kinsler. With the run allowed Dickey's era rose to 3.42.
- The Twins offense really did not get anything done against a good pitching game by the Texas bullpen. The Twins were only able to muster 3 runs on 7 hits and left on a terrible 10 guys on base. Nick Punto had his finest game of the year as he went 3-4 with his 1st homerun in almost a year for the Twins along with 2 singles to improve his average up to .215 on the year. Delmon Young had a nice game going 2-4 to raise his average on the year to .270 on the year. Alexi Casilla and Brendan Harris each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Twins. The main reason they lost was Denard Span, Alexi Casilla, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer went a combined 1-24 which is a .042 average. The guy who has really struggled recently is Joe Mauer who went through his first 0-6 game of his career and is in a stretch of 2-25 streak which is a .080 batting average which has saw his average drop 40 points and cost him the batting title lead. He is too good of a hitter and he is due for a 10-14 series it just depends who it is going to be against.
- Tonight, the Twins continue their roadtrip and move on to Oakland and begin a 3 game series with the A's as Twins ace Nick Blackburn gets his first start of the second half and will face Gio Gonzalez of the A's.
Rochester Wrap
Lehigh Valley 3 Rochester 2
- The Red Wings had their losing streak extended to 3 games with a tough hard fought 3-2 loss to Lehigh Valley last night. Reid Santos got the start for the Red Wings and really was pretty solid in this one. Santos went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs although only 1 of them was earned on 6 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 4.63. Reid Santos has been much better since he came off the DL and has been a very solid starter for the Wings and in my opinion should continue to make starts every 5th day for the Wings. Armando Gabino then came on for the Wings and did what he always does and that is get hitters out. Gabino went 2 shutout innings on 1 hit to lower his era to 2.97 on the season. Gabino has done all he can to prove to the Twins that he deserves a promotion up to the big club and I would have brought up Gabino up to the Twins instead of Mulvey, but that is just me. Rob Delaney came into a tie game in the 8th inning and gave up the go ahead run to take the loss and drop his record on the season to 4-1. Delaney went 1 inning and gave up 1 run on 1 hit along with a walk to raise his era on the year to 4.24. Delaney has shown that he is not ready for the Twins and he needs some more time in AAA
- The Red Wings offense did not get enough going with the bats as they were only able to muster 2 runs on 5 hits and that is not going to be enough to beat just about any team in the league. Trevor Plouffe led the offense going 2-4 at the plate with his 7th homerun of the year and his 44th rbi to bring his average up to .251. Justin Huber went 1-4 at the plate with his 14th double of the year. Danny Valencia went 1-4 at the plate with his 9th double of the year and his 18th rbi. Matt Tolbert went 1-4 at the plate with his 5th double.
- Tonight, the Red Wings begin a series with Pawtucket as Yohan Pino makes his AAA debut for Rochester.
New Britain Business
Reading 9 New Britain 1
- The Rockcats lost a blowout yesterday to Reading to snap a 3 game winning streak for the Rockcats. The Rockcats lost the game in blowout fashion by a score of 9-1 to Reading yesterday. Matt Fox got the start for the Rockcats and was not very good as he gave up 4 runs although only 1 of them was earned on 5 hits along with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts in only 4.2 innings of work to lower his era to 3.46 on the year and drop his record to 6-5. Fox had the misfortune of playing in front of a defense that committed an error that led to 3 unearned runs. Fox was decent overall though and may be going through a little bit of a deadarm period and just needs to work through it. Talk about a tired arm Carlos Gutierrez then came on and threw gas on the fire lasting 1.1 innings and giving up 4 runs on 3 hits along with 2 walks to raise his era on the year to a very bad 7.13. I would seriously consider shutting down Gutierrez because it is pretty obvious that he has nothing left in the tank and is hurting the team now more than he is helping them. Kyle Waldrop continued his recent good string of pitching performances by pitching a scoreless inning of relief on 1 hit to lower his era to 1.61. Frank Mata then came on and gave up a run on a hit to raise his era to 4.07 on the season for the Rockcats.
- The Rockcats really could not get anything going against Reading pitching as they only could muster 1 run on 7 hits. Rene Tosoni led the offense going 3-4 at the plate to raise his average on the year to .285. Tosoni has really opened some eyes in the Twins front office by hitting for a good average and then also with good production to the point that he is probably untouchable in trade talks right now. Luke Hughes went 2-4 with his 2nd homerun of the year and his 11th rbi with the Rockcats to raise his average up to .304. Brandon Roberts and Steve Singelton also contributed a hit each in the losing cause for the Rockcats.
- Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with Portland as new Rockcat Mike Mccardell makes his AA debut for New Britain.
Fort Myers Minutes
Dunedin 6 Fort Myers 2
- The Miracle suffered their 3rd straight loss yesterday afternoon at the hands of Dunedin by the score of 6-2 to drop 3.5 games out of first place. Spot Starter Santos Arias got the start for the Miracle and did a pretty solid job under the circumstances. Arias went 4 innings and only gave up 1 run on 4 hits along with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.38. Arias was very solid again for the Miracle and with Mike Mccardell moving to AA the Miracle need a starter and I would not be surprised if Arias got a shot for the Miracle. You need to remember that Arias made quite a few starts last year with Beloit and did a good job. Late Round draft pick Dakota Watts then came on and lets just say it was not a good first impression for the Miracle. Watts went 1.2 innings and gave up 4 runs on 3 hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to take the loss for the Miracle. Spencer Steedley then came on and pitched 2.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era to 1.88 on the season. Loek Van Mil finished the game with 1 scoreless inning on a hit along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.78.
- The Miracle really could not take advantage of their multiple chances they had in the game as they had 9 hits, but could only score 2 runs thanks to leaving 8 guys on base for the game. Ben Revere led the offense going 2-5 to raise his average on the year to a very good .310. Rene Leveret went 2-4 to raise his average on the year to a very good .294. Nick Romero went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .272 on the season. Juan Richardson went 1-3 with his 1st double of the year and his 6th rbi to bring his average up to .228 on the year. Chris Parmalee and Alex Soto each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Miracle.
- Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Dunedin as Steve Hirschfeld gets the start for Fort Myers.
Beloit Beat
Dayton 6 Beloit 4
- The Snappers lost their 2nd straight game after a 3 game winning streak with a tough 6-4 loss to Dayton last night. Bobby Lanigan got the start for the Snappers and really he was not very good. Lanigan lasted 3 innings and gave up 6 runs on 8 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 4.91 and drop his record on the year to 7-6. As good as Lanigan was in June he has been equally as bad in July going 0-2 with a 7.36 era in 3 starts. I don't know if it is a dead arm or just getting some balls up, but Lanigan needs to pick it up down the stretch for the Snappers. Steve Blevins then came on for the Snappers and did an outstanding job keeping them in the game. Blevins went 3 shutout innings on only 1 hit along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.33. Matt Williams finished the game for the Snappers and pitched 2 perfect innings along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the season to 2.40 on the season for the Snappers.
- The Snappers had enough hits but could not bunch them together to score enough runs as they put up 11 hits, but were only able to score 4 runs thanks to leaving 11 guys on base in the game and you are not going to win too many games when you leave that many on base. Jon Waltenbury led the attack going 3-3 at the plate with his 10th double and 4th homerun of the year along with his 27th rbi. Aaron Hicks had probably his best day with the Snappers as he went 2-5 with his 6th double of the year and his 14th rbi to bring his average up to .230 on the year. James Beresford went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .302 on the season. Ramon Santana, Ozzie Lewis, Danny Rams, and Drew Thompson each contributed hits in the losing cause for the Snappers during this game.
- Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Dayton as Liam Hendricks gets the start for Beloit.
E-Town Tidbits
E-Town 9 Burlington 2
- The Twins got back on the winning track with a blowout win over Burlington last night by a score of 9-2. Angelo Sanchez got the start for the Twins and was very good in this one. Sanchez went 5 innings and only gave up 1 run on 1 hit along with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.29 and improve his record on the year to a very good 3-0. Ramon Acosta then came in and worked 2 innings and gave up an unearned run on 2 hits along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 5.40. Peter Kennelly then came in and pitched 1 shutout inning on 1 hit along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to keep his era at 0.00. 3rd round pick Ben Tootle came on in the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning on 1 hit in his professional debut. Tootle is going to be a good pitcher for the Twins this summer and many other seasons in the future so it is good to get his feet wet.
- The E-Town Twins were all over Burlington pitching last night as they put up 9 runs on 11 hits last night. Anderson Hidalgo led the attack going 3-4 at the plate with his 2nd homerun of the year and his 9th and 10th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .338. Derek Mccallum went 2-4 with his 3rd triple of the year and his 15th and 16th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .284. Jon Goncalves went 2-3 at the plate to bring his average up to .267. Michael Gonzalez went 1-5 at the plate with his 2nd homerun of the year and 4 rbi's to bring his season total up to 11 and his average up to .286. Josmil Pinto, Tobias Streich, and Herbert Lara each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Twins.
- Today, the E-Town Twins finish off their series with Burlington as Tom Stuifbergen gets the start for Elizabethton.
