Tuesday, April, 27th

Twins Talk

• The Twins had yesterday off and will continue their road trip with a three game series in Detroit. The pitching matchup is Francisco Liriano for the Twins facing off against Justin Verlander of the Tigers. Gametime is at 6:10pm at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Twins are trying to continue their franchise record for consecutive series won to start a season as they have won six straight series and will attempt to this week to win their seventh straight series.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 9 (7-11) Syracuse 6

• The Red Wings salvaged the last game of the series against Syracuse in a much better playeed game than the final score would indicate with a 9-6 victory in Syracuse to win 1 out of four in the series. Jeff Manship got the start and he was good in this one. Manship went six innings and gave up three runs on eight hits along with two walks and two strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 3.48 and even up his win-loss record on the year to 2-2. Jose Lugo then came on and got hit again as he only got one out while giving up a run on three hits to bring his era up to 9.90. Matt Fox followed and went 2/3 of an inning with a walk to lower his era on the year to 2.13. Next up was Kyle Waldrop who did not have a very good day as he went one inning and gave up two runs on two hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 2.02. Anthony Slama finished the game and picked up his fifth save of the year pitching a perfect ninth along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.35.

• The Red Wings offense carried the team in this one as they scored nine runs on 13 hits along with drawing three walks in the victory. The Red Wings were led by Danny Valencia who is breaking out of a early season slump going 4-5 at the plate with his fourth and fifth doubles of the year and his sixth rbi to bring his average up to .246. Dustin Martin went 3-5 at the plate with two rbi's to bring season total up to 11 and his average up to .314. Matt Tolbert went 2-5 at the plate with his third double and first triple of the year along with his second rbi to bring his average up to .246 on the year. Brian Dinkelman went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .286. Wilson Ramos went 1-5 at the plate with his 3rd homerun and two rbi's to bring his season total up to 6. Brock Peterson went 1-2 at the plate along with two walks and his 2nd homerun of the year and two rbi's to bring his season total up to 9.

• Tonight, the Red Wings go home and begin a series with Lehigh Valley as Yoslan Herrera is scheduled to pitch for Rochester. Gametime is at 5:35 at Frontier Field in Rochester as the Red Wings try to make it two in a row.

New Britain Business

• The Rockcats had their game with Richmond rained out last night and will make it up as part of a doubleheader today. The starting pitchers in todays games are Mike Mccardell and Tyler Robertson. The first game begins at 4:05 with the second beginning about a half an our later.

Fort Myers Minutes

Palm Beach 8 Fort Myers 4 (5-12)

• The Miracle suffered a heartbreaking loss as they blew a 4-0 lead and then a 4-1 lead going into the 7th inning to lose once again. The bright spot of not only the night, but also the season has got to be the improvement and excellence from Bobby Lanigan. Lanigan continued his excellent stuff by going five innings and only giving up an unearned run on four hits along with one walk and six strikeouts to lower his era on the year to a miniscule 0.81 as he has only given up two earned runs in over 22 innings of work so far this season for the Miracle. Matt Williams then came on and was not very effective as he gave up three runs on three hits including two homeruns along with three strikeouts in two innings of work to raise his era up to 3.72. Shooter Hunt then came in and did some good, but ultimately he will look at this as a negative outing. In his first two innings of work Hunt only gave up one hit along with two strikeouts so you think thats a great outing right. Well he went out for a third inning and got tatooed in that inning as he gave up four runs on five hits. In all Hunt went three innings and gave up four runs on six hits along with three strikeouts to take the loss and move his record to 0-1 and raise his era to 6.35. However, the thing that impresses me is he has not walked a batter in 8 innings spanning three outings and that was his real problem so if he can continue not to walk people he will be just fine.

• The Miracle jumped all over Palm Beach pitching in the first inning scoring all four of their runs and you thought this is the night they are going to break out of their hitting slump. However, that is all they got and in all scored four runs on 10 hits along with taking three walks. The Miracle were led by Ramon Santana in this one as he went 2-3 with his fifth double and his sixth rbi to bring his average up to .211. The newest member of the Miracle Jonathon Goncalves went 2-4 at teh plate with his first double of the year. Chris Hermann went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .294 on the year. Deibinson Romero went 1-4 at the plate with his first triple and first two rbi's of the year. Nick Romero went 1-4 at the plate with his first homerun and third rbi of the year. Yangervis Solarte and Michael Harrington each contributed a base hit in the losing cause.

• Tonight, the Miracle begin a series in Jupiter as Brad Tippett is scheduled to pitch for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 in Jupiter.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 6 (11-7) Burlington 4

• The Snappers had quite the game with Burlington last night that was delayed by rain and then had some late inning heroics in the Snappers 6-4 win against Burlington last night. The Snappers found themselves down 3-1 going into the eighth inning and were able to score two runs in the eighth inning to tie the game. However, Burlington scored a run in bottom of the eighth to take a 4-3 lead. You would think the game would be over and against some Snapper teams you would be right, but not this one as they would not be denied scoring three runs in the top of the ninth to pick up the 6-4 victory. Miguel Munoz got the start for the Snappers and was good going six innings and giving up three runs on four hits along witha walk and eight strikeouts to raise his era to 2.75. Dakota Watts then came on and pitched one shutout inning along with a hit and a walk to lower his era to 2.25. Matthew Tone then came on and pitched 2/3 and allowed one run on no hits along with three walks and a strikeout to raise his era to 4.35. Kane Holbrooks then came on and got one out along with a hit to pick his 2nd win of the year. Steve Blevins finished the game with a perfect ninth with one strikeout to lower his era to 1.08.

• The Snappers in this one took advantage of every opprotunity they had as they put up six runs on nine hits along with taking four walks. The Snappers were led by Angel Morales who went 2-3 at the plate with his fifth double along with a walk and two stolen bases and scoring the tying run in the ninth inning. Aaron Hicks continued his torrid streak going 2-4 at the plate along with a walk and a stolen base to bring his average up to .283. Danny Rams went 1-3 at the plate with his eighth double of the year. Josmil Pinto went 1-4 with his third double of the year along with driving in Angel Morales to tie the score in the ninth inning. Anderson Hidalgo, James Beresford, and Wang Wei Lin each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Snappers.

• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Burlington as Brad Stillings is scheduled to pitch for Beloit. Gametime is at 6:30 in Burlington.

Monday, April, 26th/Travis Talks Podcast Cancelled

Twins Talk

Royals 4 Twins 3 (13-6)

• The Twins came up short yesterday in the series ending game at Kansas City in a 4-3 loss to the Royals. The Twins had many chances, but could not come through and had to settle for taking 2 out of 3 and winning their sixth straight series of the year. Kevin Slowey got the start for the Twins and he was not sharp in this one. Slowey battled through 5.1 innings even though he did not have his good stuff. Slowey went 5.1 innings and gave up four runs including a go ahead homerun by Jose Guillen on eight hits along with three walks and two strikeouts to raise his era up to 3.42 and drop his record to 2-2. Slowey has been up and down so far this year as his last start was really good and this one was so so. The only thing about his line that concerns me is his walk total as he has already walked nine guys. Compared to last year when he walked 15 guys the whole season really makes you wonder is there something mechanically that he can change to throw more strikes. Ron Mahey then came on and got two outs with a strikeout. Alex Burnett then came on and bounced back from his last rough outing to pitch two shutout innings on one hit along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.45. Burnett is a young guy as he won't be 23 until July as he will have some rough outings, but more good ones than bad as he develops.

• The Twins had their season long habit of leaving a ton of guys on base continue and for the first time it cost them a victory. The Twins had 12 hits along with drawing four walks, but were only able to push three runs across thanks to leaving twelve guys on base. The Twins were led offensively by Justin Morneau who went 2-4 at the plate with his fourth homerun along with his fifth double and rbi's 14 and 15 to bring his average up to .368. Delmon Young went 2-4 at the plate with his fourth double of the year to bring his average up to .245. Orlando Hudson went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .276 on the year. Joe Mauer went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .381 which is second best in the American League. Brendan Harris went 1-2 at the plate with his second double of the season. Jim Thome went 1-4 with his third double of the year. Michael Cuddyer and J.J. Hardy each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Twins yesterday in Kansas City.

• The Twins have today off before beginning a three game series in Detroit starting tommorrow night. Pitching matchups are as follows. Tuesday: Francisco Liriano vs Justin Verlander, Wednesday: Scott Baker vs Max Scherzer, and Thursday: Carl Pavano vs Dontrelle Willis.

Rochester Wrap

Syracuse 4 Rochester 2 (6-11) 13 innings

• The Red Wings suffered a heartbreaking loss their fourth in a row to Syracuse yesterday 4-2 in 13 innings. Ryan Mullins got the start for Rochester in this one and was very effective. Mullins went six innings and gave up a run on four hits along with one walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.12. Jose Lugo then came on and got drilled afer giving up a run on three hits along with three strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work to raise his era up to 9.31. Matt Fox then came on and got an out along with a walk to lower his era to 2.25. Next up was Anthony Slama who pitched 2.1 scoreless innings along with two walks and a strikeout to lower his era to 1.46. Rob Delaney then came on and pitched two scoreless innings on one hit along with two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.06. Tim Lahey lost the game giving up a two run homerun in the 13th to take the loss and saw his era rise to 6.92

• The Red Wings struggled offensively as they were only able to score two runs on ten hits along with drawing eight walks. They were done in by leaving 13 guys on base in this one for Rochester. The Red Wings were led by Danny Valencia who went 2-5 at the plate with his third double and fifth rbi to bring his average up to .196. Matt Tolbert went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .234. Jason Repko went 2-5 at the plate with his fourth rbi to bring his average up to .325. Trevor Plouffe, Erik Lis, Wilson Ramos, and Dustin Martin each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Red Wings.

• Today, the Red Wings finish off their series with Syracuse as Jeff Manship gets the start for Rochester. Gametime is at 11am in Syracuse.

New Britain Business

• The Rockcats had their game with Harrisburg rained out yesterday and will begin a series with Richmond tonight in New Britain with Tyler Robertson scheduled to pitch for the Rockcats.

Fort Myers Minutes

Palm Beach 10 Fort Myers 3 (5-11)

• The Miracle lost again to Palm Beach last night as they not only couldn't hit, but they were unable to pitch or play defense. Last night was one of those games that Manager Jake Mauer would like to throw away and come back today with a better effort. Michael Tarsi got the start for Fort Myers and was not very good in this one, but his defense did not help him out as Fort Myers had two errors which led to six unearned runs. Tarsi went five innings and gave up six runs although only two of them were earned on eight hits along with a walk and three strikeouts to actually lower his era to 4.74 and drop his record on the year to 1-2. Blake Martin then came on and gave up two unearned runs on one hit along with two walks to lower his era to 4.91. Tony Davis then came on and gave up two runs on two hits along with two walks in one inning of work to raise his era to 4.50. Billy Bulluck finished the game pitching the last inning and not giving up a run on one hit to lower his era on the year to 5.79.

• The Miracle could not get a lot going on offense either as they only scored three runs on eleven hits along with taking three walks. The problem was they left an incredible 13 guys on base in this one. An offensively challenged team like Fort Myers can not leave 13 guys on base and expect to win the game. The Miracle were led offensively by Drew Thompson who went 3-5 at the plate with his fourth double and sixth rbi of the year to bring his average up to .294. Nick Romero went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average on the season to .200. Nathan Hansen went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .130. Chris Hermann, Michael Harrington, Jair Fernandez, and Dan Rohlfing added hits in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Palm Beach as Bobby Lanigan is scheduled to pitch for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 in Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

• The Snappers had their game with Wisconsin rained out yesterday and will begin a series with Burlington tonight with Miguel Munoz scheduled to pitch for Beloit. Gametime is at 6:30 in Burlington.

• Due to an unforseen occurance I have to cancel the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast for tonight. I will be back on the air next monday May 3rd so tune in next week for another edition of the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast next Monday, May 3rd at 9pm.

Sunday, April., 25th

Twins Talk

Twins 9 (13-5) Royals 7 12 innings

• Talk about a crazy game as the Twins obviously did not play their best in a rain soaked game last night with the Royals, but still found a way to win the game in 12 innings in a 9-7 victory that clinched the Twins sixth straight series win to start the season. The Twins showed that they are very resielient as they battled back from a 5-1 deficit to pull out the win thanks to a Denard Span base hit in the 12th inning. Nick Blackburn got the start for the Twins and really was not very good for the second consecutive start against the Royals. In this one Blackburn only lasted 4.1 innings and gave up six runs on 10 hits although only five were earned to raise his era on the year to 6.84. Something tells me that Blackburn is not right with that elbow because he is not a great pitcher, but he is better than this. My take is he is probably not being totally honest about how his elbow feels as every pitch he threw was up in the strike zone. They were belt high pitches that Kansas City took advantage of and drilled. I hope the Twins talk to him and really get soem answers because he can't continue to pitch like this. Ron Mahey then came on and pitched a shutout inning on two hits along with a strikeout. He was followed by Pat Neshek who got two outs along with a strikeout. Jesse Crain then came on and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings on one hit to lower his era on the year to 7.36. Brian Duensing then came on and got two outs along with a walk to lower his era to 2.00. Matt Guerrier then came on and struggled through two innings, but found a way to escape without any runs allowed on two hits along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era to 0.79. Jon Rauch then followed in the 11th inning with the Twins up a run and gave up back to back hits to tie the score and suffer his first blown save as a Twin. He had guys on 1st and 3rd with one out, but found a way to escape more damage and give a chance to the Twins to win it in the 12th. In all Rauch went two innings and gave up a run on three hits along with a walk to increase his era to 2.00 and pick up his first win of the year.

• The Twins offensive put up quite a performance scoring nine runs on 14 hits along with drawing six walks. The run total would have been much much more, but the Twins left 13 guys on base in this one. The Twins were led by guess who Mr. MVP Joe Mauer who had his best game of the year in this one. Mauer went 5-6 at the plate with his seventh double, first triple, and drove in his 11th and 12th runs of the year. Mauer was only a homerun short of hitting for the cycle in this one. His sacrafice fly in the 12th probably was just as important as any hit he got because it put the Twins up two and less pressure on Twins closer Jon Rauch. With the five hits Mauer increased his average up to .381 on the year. Justin Morneau went 2-5 at the plate with the biggest hit of the game as he turned a 6-4 Royals lead into a 6-6 tie with a two run homerun in the 7th inning. It was his third home run of the year and had two rbi's to bring his total on the year to 13. He also added his fourth double of the year. With the two hits Morneau is now hitting .359. Michael Cuddyer went 2-4 at the plate with a walk and his fourth double along with driving in his 14th and 15 runs of the year to bring his average up to .333. Brendan Harris went 1-4 at the plate with his first double of the year. Orlando Hudson went 1-7 at the plate with his fifth double and his fifth rbi. Delmon Young went 1-5 at the dish with his third double of the season. Denard Span and Alexi Casilla each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Twins.

• Today, the Twins finish off their series with Kansas City as Kevin Slowey gets the start for the Twins against Royals pitcher Brian Bannister. Gametime is at 1:10 at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City.

Rochester Wrap

Syracuse 6 Rochester 3 (6-10)

• The Red Wings had their third straight loss to Syracuse with a 6-3 loss yesterday afternoon that they couldn't pitch effectively or get any big hits in the loss yesterday to Syracuse. Glen Perkins got the start for Rochester and was not very good once again as he only lasted 3.2 innings and gave up five runs on six hits along with three walks and four strikeouts to raise his era to 10.80 and dropped his record to 0-2. I really can't figure out why Perkins can not get AAA hitters out as he was a decent major league pitcher before this season. I don't know if its that he is so mad about being in AAA or if he is injured or what. If he wants to be traded he has got to be better because right now he is pretty much untradable and I can't see the Twins releasing him no matter how bad he does in AAA because they used a first round pick on him and he has shown something at the big leagues. Kyle Waldrop then came on and continued his early season success by going 2.1 scoreless to lower his era on the year to 0.73. Rob Delaney then came on and gave up one runs on one hit a homerun along with a walk and two strikeouts to raise his era to 6.23. Anthony Slama finished the game by pitching a perfect ninth inning to lower his era to 1.80.

• The Red Wings offense could not get it going in this one as they were only able to score three runs on twelve hits as they left 13 guys on base in this one. This was a game that the offense let get away as they should have scored way more than the three runs they scored in this one. The Red Wings were led by once again Trevor Plouffe who continued his early on success by going 3-5 to bring his average on the year up to .317. Matt Macri made his season debut going 2-3 at the plate with his first double along with two walks. Jason Repko went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .314. Danny Valencia had one of his best days of the year going 2-5 at the plate with his fourth rbi to bring his average up to .176. Brock Peterson went 1-5 at the plate with his second double of the year and his seventh rbi. Erik Lis went 1-4 at the plate with his second double and 8th rbi of the year. Matt Tolbert also contributed a bas hit in the losing cause for the Red Wings of Rochester in this game.

• Today, the Red Wings continue their series with Syracuse as Ryan Mullins is scheduled to pitch today for Rochester. Gametime is at 12:35 at Frontier Field in Rochester.

New Britain Business

Harrisburg 15 New Britain 5 (4-12)

• The Rockcats were out of the game last night in the top of the first as they gave up 6 runs in the top of the first to put the game away. Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Rockcats and was not very good in this one. Gutierrez lasted four innings and gave up eight runs on ten hits along with a walk and three strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 6.63 and drop his record to 0-1. Every starting pitcher is going to have stinkers like this every once in a while the only difference is its early in the season and he hasn't built up numbers yet so his era went through the roof. Gutierrez will be fine and I have no doubt that he will bounce back and pitch well next time around. Joe Testa then came on and was not very good either, but his defense did not help him at all as they committed three errors which led to two unearned runs. Testa went two innings and gave up three runs although only one of them were earned on four hits along with two walks and four strikeouts to lower his era to 11.05. Henry Arias then came on and got drilled in this one giving up four runs on five hits along with a walk and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work to raise his era to 9.53. Henry Arias is probably on his last leg in the organization as he gets drilled onsistantly and I would be surprised if he made it through the season as a member of the Twins organization. I hope I am wrong because you never want to see a persons dream end, but at the same time you got to admit that someone is not doing the job. Cole Devries finished the game off with 1.1 scoreless innings on three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.09.

• The Rockcats did ok offensively in this one putting up five runs and that is quite a bit for them as they have struggled with the bats all year. The Rockcats were led by Ben Revere who went 2-3 at the plate along with two walks to bring his average up to .313. This is the first time Revere has been over .300 in quite a while, but it was only a matter of time as he is such a good hitter that I really believe Ben Revere could fall out of bed and hit .300. Mark Dolenc got a start and went 2-4 at the plate with two rbi's to bring his season total up to 6 and his average up to .303. Esterlin De Los Santos went 1-3 at the plate with his third double of the year and his third rbi. Juan Portes went 1-4 at the plate with his third double. Rene Tosoni went 1-5 at the plate with his second triple of the year. Joe Benson also contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats of New Britain in this game yesterday.

• The Rockcats had their game with Harrisburg rained out and will next play Richmond Monday night in New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Palm Beach 5 Fort Myers 2 (5-10)

• The Miracle lost their second straight to Palm Beach with a tough to take 5-2 loss that saw good pitching from starter Kyle Gibson and bad relief pitching and no hitting which is becoming a norm for Jake Mauer and the Miracle. Gibson got the start for the Miracle and was good once again, but pitch count only allowed him to make it 5 innings in this one. Gibson worked five innings and gave up a run on only four hits along with three walks and four strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.49. Gibson has done everything that Twins fans have been hoping out of him and showed that he is healthy and a good high upside pitcher. Look for Gibson to be up in New Britain by midseason and possibly a member of the Twins by next season. Tony Davis then came on and gave up a run on a hit along with three walks to lower his era to 3.00. He was followed by Michael Allen who pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to keep the game tied on two walks and three strikeouts to lower his era to 6.43. Billy Bulluck then came on and got drilled in this one giving up three runs on two hits along with two walks and two strikeouts in one inning of work to pick up the loss and drop his record to 0-2 and see his era rise to 6.48.

• Offensively, the Miracle did not do a whole lot scoring only two runs on five hits along with drawing three walks. The Miracle were led by guess who Yangervis Solarte went 3-4 at the plate with his fourth double of the year to bring his average up to .372 on the year and show that he should be playing everyday for the Miracle right now. Chris Hermann also contributed his fifth double of the year. Chris Cates also contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Palm Beach as Michael Tarsi is scheduled to pitch for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 at Hammonds Stadium in Fort Myers as the Miracle try to rebound.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 7 (10-7) Wisconsin 5

• The Snappers won their third consecutive game with a nice 7-5 win after blowing a 5-2 eighth inning lead that allowed Wisconsin to tie the game in the eighth inning. Dan Osterbrock got the start for Beloit and was good once again going seven innings and giving up two runs on five hits along with a walk and eight strikeouts to lower his era to 3.10. Peter Kennelly then came on and gave up three runs on two hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era up to 7.71. Steve Blevins then came on and pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up one hit along with two walks to lower his era to 1.23 even though he blew his first save of the year. Edgar Ibarra then worked the last 2/3 of an inning with a strikeout to get his first save of the year and lower his era to 3.60.

• The Snappers did well offensively in this one scoring seven runs on 13 hits along with drawing six walks. It would have been more but the Snappers left 13 guys on base in this one. The Snappers were led by Aaron Hicks who continued his unbelievable resurgence going 4-5 at the plate with his second homerun of the year and his fifth rbi to bring his average up to .268. Hicks revival has been quite remarkable as I thought he would eventually get it going, but I thought it would be a gradual thing not a hot streak like he is on. After starting out the season 1-31 Hicks in his last six games is 14-30 a .467 average to get his average back in respectable terms. Josmil Pinto also had a big game going 4-5 as well with his first and second doubles along with his first stolen base to bring his average up to .242. Tobias Streich went 2-4 with his second double of the year and brought his average up to .160. James Beresford continued his improved play going 2-5 at the plate with his fourth rbi to bring his average up to .137. Angel Morales went 1-5 at the plate with his third homerun and two rbi's to bring his season total up to 11.

• Today, the Snappers finish off their weekend series with Wisconsin as they go for the sweep. Miguel Munoz is scheduled to pitch today for the Snappers. Gametime is at 1:05 in Appleton.

Saturday, April, 24th

Ok here is the deal being a college student took presedence the last few days so I have been unable to blog. However, I am going to make up for it and talk about all the games that I didn't get to blog about before so get a cup of coffee and enjoy.



Twins Talk

Twins 6 (11-4) Indians 0

Indians 8 Twins 1 (11-5)

Twins 8 (12-5) Royals 3



Wednesday Night

• The Twins won their fifth series in a row to start the season with a dominating 6-0 victory over the Indians Wednesday Night. Francisco Liriano got the start for the Twins and was utterly dominant once again. After showing dominance in his last start against the Red Sox Liriano kept it going against the Indians. If the Twins can get this kind of performance consistantly out of Liriano the division race is over. In this one Liriano threw eight shutout innings on only six hits along with two walks and six strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.29 and picked up his 2nd win without a loss. In all Francisco Liriano has now thrown 15 consecutive scoreless innings spanning two starts. Jesse Crain then followed pitching a scoreless ninth inning on a hit and a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 9.00. It was a very important first step for Crain as he is trying to rebound from a few tough outings in a row so it was good to get back in it.

• The Twins continue to grind out pitchers as they got Indians starter David Huff out after six innings on six runs on six hits along with taking six walks. The Twins were led by Michael Cuddyer who went 2-4 at the plate with his 3rd homerun of the year along with his first triple and drove in three runs to bring his rbi total up to 13 and his average up to .344. Denard Span went 1-2 at the plate along with two walks and drove in two runs of his own to bring his total up to 6. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Brendan Harris each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Twins.

Thursday Afternoon

• The Twins dropped the final game of the three game series with a 8-1 clunker to the Indians as the Twins were unable to complete the three game sweep. Scott Baker got the start for the Twins and really was not very good in this one. Baker lasted 5.2 innings and gave up 6 runs on 10 hits along with a walk and three strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 4.81 and drop his record to 2-2. Alex Burnett then came on and was a touch wild in this one. Burnett faced four batters and only retired one of them giving up two runs on a hit along with two walks and a strikeout to raise his era to 3.37. Alex Burnett is very talented, but he is also very young and will have stinkers like this as he gains more and more experience. The future is so bright for Burnett and I don't think people should get down on him as eventually he is going to be a lights out reliever. Ron Mahey then came on and pitched a scoreless inning along with a walk. Matt Guerrier followed and like usual pitched a perfect inning along with a strikeout. Jon Rauch pitched a perfect ninth along with a strikeout to lower his era to 1.29.

• The Twins were handcuffed in this one by Indians start Mitch Talbot as they were only able to score one run on only four hits along with taking three walks. Justin Morneau led the offense going 2-2 with a walk and his tenth rbi in addition to his third double of the year to bring his average up to .357. Denard Span and Drew Butera each added a base hit in the losing cause for the Twins. In fact Butera's hit was his first major league hit so congratulations on being a real major leaguer with an average Drew hopefully one of many in your career.

Friday Night

• The Twins got back on track last night with a nice 8-3 victory over the Royals as it was a good trend setter as the Twins begin a tough 9 game roadtrip from Kansas City to Detroit and finishing up in Cleveland. Carl Pavano got the start and rebounded from his last start that he got drilled in to put up quite a performance. Pavano went 7 strong innings and gave up two runs on four hits along with five strikeouts and a David Dejesus homerun to lower his era on the year to 4.24 and raised his record to 3-1 on the year. Matt Guerrier then came on and was not real sharp but avoided major damage as he gave up a run on a hit along with a walk, but got Billy Butler to fly out to preserve the lead with runners on base. With the one run it raised Guerriers era to an outstanding 0.96. Brian Duensing pitched a scoreless inning on one hit and a strikeout to lower his era to 2.16.

• The Twins continued grinding out pitcher as they had Royals starter Gil Meche out of the game in the fourth inning as they scored eight runs on eleven hits along with drawing seven walks. Orlando Hudson led the offense going 3-4 at the plate along with a walk to bring his average up to .281. Jim Thome went 2-5 with his 3rd homerun of the year and drove in three runs to bring his total up to 8. Witht he two hits Thomes average went up to .241. Michael Cuddyer went 1-4 at the plate with his 3rd double and drove in his 14th and 15 rbi's of the year. J.J. Hardy went 1-5 with his 3rd homerun and 8th rbi. Joe Mauer went 1-5 with his sixth double of the year. Denard Span, Justin Morneau, and Jason Kubel each contributed base hits in the winning cause for the Twins.

• Tonight, the Twins try to clinch their 6th straight series win as they send Nick Blackburn to the mound against Royals starter Luke Hochevar. Gametime is at 6:10 at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 6 (6-7) Buffalo 1

Buffalo 12 Rochester 3 (6-8)

Syracuse 8 Rochester 3 (6-9)

Wednesday

• The Red Wings finished off their series with Buffalo with a big 6-1 win with some good pitching and some timely hitting. Jeff Manship got the start for the Red Wings and pitched excellent pitching six shutout innings on only four hits along with two strikeouts to bring his era down to 3.07 and improved his record to 1-2. Matt Fox then came on and gave up a run on three hits along with two strikeouts in 2 innings of work to raise his era up to 2.70. Kyle Waldrop then came on and pitched a perfect ninth inning with a strikeout to lower his era to 1.00.

• The Red Wings had a good night at the plate as they put up six runs on twelve hits along with taking two walks. The night could have gone even better if it were not for the seven guys they left on base. Trevor Plouffe led the Red Wings attack going 3-4 at the plate with his second homerun, first triple, and a single to be just a double short of the cycle in this one along with his 8th rbi. With the three hits Plouffe is now hitting .298. It was a bit of a surprise that Plouffe has started out so strong as usually he is a slow starter so it will be interesting to see if he can keep it going. Wilson Ramos went 2-3 at the plate with his second homerun and fourth rbi to bring his average up to .225. Jason Repko went 2-3 at the plate with his first triple of the year with his third rbi to bring his average up to .292 on the season. Matt Tolbert went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .235. Luke Hughes, Danny Valencia, and Brock Peterson each contributed a hit in the winning cause for Rochester.

Thursday

• The Red Wings had a bad game in the pitching department as they gave up 12 runs on 15 hits along with walking three guys. Yoslan Herrera got the start and went the first five and did an alright job giving up 2 earned runs on 7 hits along with six strikeouts to raise his era to 3.29 and dropped his record to 0-1. Jose Lugo then came on and got rocked giving up five runs on five hits along with two walks and two strikeouts in only 2/3 of an inning to bring his era up to 9.72. Rob Delaney then came on and pitched 1.1 innings and gave up three runs on two hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era to 5.87. Anthony Slama then came on and pitching a perfect eighth with a strikeout to lower his era to 2.00. Kyle Waldrop then finished the game giving up an unearned run in his inning to lower his era to 0.90.

• Offensively the Red Wings did not do much as they were only able to put up three runs on nine hits. The Red Wings were led by Jason Repko who went 2-4 at the plate to raise his average up to .321. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4 at the plate along with his fifth rbi of the year to bring his average up to .280. Erik Lis went 2-4 with his seventh rbi to raise his average up to .244. Luke Hughes went 1-4 with his eighth double of the year. Dustin Martin went 1-4 with his first double. Trevor Plouffe also added a base hit in the losing cause for Rochester.

Friday Night

• The Red Wings lost their second consecutive game to Syracuse with a tough 8-3 loss as they did not pitch very good or get many timely hits in the loss in Syracuse last night for Rochester. Mike Maroth got the start and only lasted four innings and gave up four runs on five hits along with four strikeout and a homerun to raise his era on the year to a still very good 1.64. Tim Lahey then came on and got drilled as he gave up three runs on four hits along with three walks in 2.1 innings of work to raise his era up to 5.68. Matt Fox finished the game going 1.2 innings and giving up an unearned run on three hits along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era to 2.31 on the year.

• The Red Wings could not get much going offensively as they were only able to score three runs on four hits and drew one walk. Brian Dinkelman led the offense going 2-4 at the plate to raise his average up to .296. Trevor Plouffe went 1-4 at the plate with two rbi's to bring his season total up to 10. Brock Peterson also added a single in the losing cause for Rochester.

• Today, the Red Wings continue their series with Syracuse as Glen Perkins is scheduled to pitch for Rochester. Gametime is at 12:05 in Syracuse.

New Britain Business

Richmond 5 New Britain 4 (3-10)

New Britain 2 (4-10) Harrisburg 1

Harrisburg 2 New Britain 1 (4-11)

Wednesday

• The Rockcats lost a tough hardfought game in the conclusion to their series with Richmond by a score of 5-4 as Richmond scored two runs in the bottom of the 8th to take the win off reliever Cole Devries. Mike Mccardell got the start for the Rockcats and was ok going 6 innings and giving up three runs on 10 hits along with a strikeout and giving up a homerun to lower his era to 4.60. Cole Devries then came on and gave up two runs on three hits along with a walk and a strikeout in 1.1 innings of work to raise his era on the year to 3.48 and lower his record to 0-3. Chris Province then came on and got the last 2 outs to lower his era on the year to 5.79.

• Offensively, the Rockcats got quite a few hits, but were only able to turn that into four runs on 11 hits along with drawing four walks. The main problem is the Rockcats left 9 guys on base in this one. The Rockcats were led by Esterlin De Los Santos who is trying to come out of a slow start went 2-4 at the plate with 2 rbi's and brought his average up to .184 on the year. Whit Robbins went 2-4 at the plate to raise his average on the year .189. Steve Singleton went 2-4 at the plate to raise his average to .222. Yancarlos Ortiz went 2-4 to raise his average on the season to .357. Ben Revere went 2-5 to bring his average up to .243. Danny Lehman added a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats in this one.

Thursday

• The Rockcats got back on the winning side as they won a pitchers duel with Harrisburg as they got great pitching and just enough hitting to pull out a 2-1 win thanks to a Juan Portes rbi single in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. Deolis Guerra got the start for the Cats and was awesome once again going 7 strong innings and only giving up a run on only five hits along with 6 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.50. Spencer Steedley then came on and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings on two hits along with two strikeouts to lower his era to 1.54. Chris Province got the last out in the ninth to pick up his first win in the Twins organization and lowered his era to 5.59.

• The Rockcats did not get a lot of offense in this one but just enough to pull off the win as they scored two runs on seven hits along with taking two walks in the win. Ben Revere led the offense going 3-4 at the plate with his first double to bring his average up to .293. Juan Portes went 2-4 at the plate with his sixth rbi to bring his average up to .167. Mark Dolenc went 1-4 at the plate with his first double of the year. Rene Tosoni also added a base hit in the victory for the Rockcats.

Friday

• The Rockcats came on the short end of a 2-1 decision on this day one day after coming up on top of an identical 2-1 score. David Bromberg got the start and was awesome in this one. Bromberg went 7 innings and gave up a run on 4 hits along with one walk and nine strikeouts to lower his era to 1.00. Santos Arias then came on and gave up a run on three hits along with a strikeout in two innings to raise his era to 2.08 and drop his record to 0-3 for the Rockcats.

• The Rockcats sure got good pitching in this one but they were unable to score more than one run in support on only four hits and drew three walks. TheRockcats were led by Rene Tosoni who went 2-3 at the plate with his fourth rbi to bring his average up to .365. Ben Revere and Esterlin De Los Santos each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Harrisburg as Carlos Gutierrez gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 5:35pm in New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 4 (4-8) Port Charlotte 2

Fort Myers 6 (5-8) Bradenton 3

Bradenton 3 Fort Myers 1 (5-9)

Wednesday

• The Miracle got a well pitched game from Bobby Lanigan and got just enough scoring to pull off a 4-2 victory. Bobby Lanigan got the start for Fort Myers and was good once again going 6.2 innings and gave up a run on seven hits along with a walk and five strikeouts to move his record on the year to 1-1 and lowered his era to 1.04. Tony Davis then came on and went 1.2 innings and gave up a run on four hits along with a walk to lower his era to 2.35. Billy Bulluck got the last two outs one of them on a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 3.68 and his second save of the year.

• The Miracle got out of their shell offensively in this one scoring four runs on an incredible 11 hits along with drawing a walk. The Miracle were led by Chris Hermann went 2-4 at the plate with his first stolen base to bring his average up to .258. Michael Harrington went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .242. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 at the plate with his first double of the year to bring his average up to .118. Evan Bigley went 1-4 with his third double of the year. Ramon Santana went 1-4 at the plate with his fourth double and had two rbi's to bring his season total up to 5. Nick Romero, Jair Fernandez, and Chris Cates each contributed a hit in the winning cause.

Thursday

• The Miracle won their second straight and got their first win of the year against Bradenton with a 6-3 victory over the Marauders. Brad Tippett got the start and went four effective innings and allowed an unearned run on two hits along with three walks and four strikeouts. Matt Williams then came on and gave up a run on four hits along with a walk and three strikeouts in 3.1 innings to lower his era to 1.17 and pick up his first win of the year. Blake Martin finished the game and worked 1.2 innings and gave up a run on three hits along with a stikeout to lower his era to 6.00.

• The Miracle kept their offensive pace going in this one scoring 6 runs on 8 hits along with taking three walks. The Miracle were led by Evan Bigley who went 2-5 with his fourth and fifth doubles of the year along with an rbi to bring his season total up to 2. Chris Hermann went 2-5 at the plate with his 3rd double to bring his average up to .278. Drew Thompson, Michael Harrington, Nick Romero, and Deibinson Romero each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Miracle.

Friday

• The Miracle had their two game winning streak come to an end with a hard fought 3-1 loss to Bradenton last night. Bruce Pugh got the start and was much better than he had been as of late. Pugh went 6 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits along with three walks and three strikeouts to lower his record to 0-3 and his era down to 7.24. Shooter Hunt then came on and continued his strong performance as of late. In his last two outings he has thrown 5 shutout innings with zero walks and 9 strikeouts. So hopefully this is the start of big things. In this one Hunt went 2 scoreless innings with no walks and three strikeouts to lower his era to 6.48.

• The Miracle could not get much going offensively as they were only able to score one run on only four hits in this one. The Miracle were led by Chris Hermann in this one goiing 1-2 with two walks in this one along with his fourth double of the year. Evan Bigley went 1-4 at the plate with his first stolen base. Brandon Roberts on a rehab assignment went 1-3 at the plate with his first stolen base. Dan Rohlfing went 1-4 with his third double of the year.

• Tonight, the Miracle begin a weekend series with Palm Beach as staff ace Kyle Gibson gets the start for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Quad Cities 10 Beloit 9 (7-7)

Beloit 6 (8-7) Quad Cities 3

Beloit 7 (9-7) Wisconsin 2

• The Snappers suffered a heartbreaking loss to Quad Cities in this game losing 10-9 especially heartbreaking after battling back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. Brad Stillings got the start and was not good, but his defense did not help him at all as the Snappers committed two errors which led to 6 unearned runs. Stillings gave up 8 runs on 10 hits although only 2 were earned along with 2 walks and two strikeouts to raise his era to 2.08. Edgar Ibarra then came on and pitched 2.2 perfect innings along with four strikeouts to lower his era to 3.86. Peter Kennelly then came on and gave up two runs on one hit along with a walk on two strikeouts to lower his record to 0-1 and his era went up to 5.19. Steve Blevins then came on and got the last out on one hit to lower his era to 1.35 on the year.

• The Snappers offense really did their part in this one as they put up 9 runs on 15 hits along with taking three walks. The Snappers were led by Danny Rams who went 3-5 at the plate with his 5th and 6th double of the year to bring his average up to .209. Steve Liddle went 3-5 with his 3rd double and his 6th rbi to bring his average up to .327. Angel Morales went 2-5 with his fourth double and his 7th rbi to bring his average up to .267. Aaron Hicks, Brian Dozier, Michael Gonzalez, Reggie Williams, and James Beresford each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Snappers.

Thursday

• The Snappers got back on the winning side of things with a nice 6-3 win over division leading Quad Cities. Tom Stuifbergen got the start for Beloit and was good once again going 6 innings and only giving up three runs on six hits along with two walks and three strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 1.42 and improved his record to 2-0. Matt Tone then came on and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings on three hits along with a strikeout to lower his era to 3.72. Dakota Watts then came on and worked the last 1.1 innings to pick up his first save of the year along with 2 walks and three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.45.

• The Snappers did not have quite as much offense as the night before, but still did enough to pick up the win as they scored 6 runs on 11 hits along with working out 2 walks in the game. The Snappers were led by Aaron Hicks who continued his revival going 3-3 at the plate with his 2nd double and his 4th rbi to bring his average up to .208. Brian Dozier went 2-4 at the plate with his second double and his fifth rbi to bring his average up to .360 on the year. Angel Morales went 2-4 at the plate with 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to 9 and his average up to .286. Danny Rams went 1-4 at the plate with his seventh double of the year. James Beresford went 1-3 at the plate with his first double of the year for the Snappers. Steve Liddle and Lin each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Snappers.

Friday

• The Snappers extended their winning streak to two games with a hard fought 7-2 victory over Wisconsin as they used good pitching and good hitting to the win. Liam Hendriks got the start for the Snappers and had his 18 inning scoreless streak come to an end, but another very good start for him. Hendriks went 5 innings and allowed one run on one hit along with a walk and six strikeouts to bring his era up to 0.41. Ben Tootle then came on and pitched two innings and gave up a run on two hits along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 9.45. Kane Holbrooks finished the game with 2 scoreless innings of relief along with a walk and two strikeouts.

• The Snappers got enough offense in this one to get another win as they scored seven runs on nine hits along with taking five walks. The Snappers were led offensively by Reggie Williams who went 2-3 at the plate with his first double and had 4 rbi's to bring his season total to 4 to bring his average up to .154. Brian Dozier went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .364. Steve Liddle went 1-4 at the plate with his fourth double and his 8th and 9th rbi's. Aaron Hicks, Lin, and James Beresford each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Snappers.

• Today, the Snappers continue their series with Wisconsin as Dan Osterbrock gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 12:05 in Appleton

Wednesday, April, 21st

Twins Talk
Twins 5 (10-4) Indians 1

• The Twins got back on the right track after losing Sunday to the Royals as they try to win their franchise best fifth straight series to start the season with a 5-1 victory over the Indians thanks to good Kevin Slowey pitching and taking advantage of some errors by Cleveland. Kevin Slowey got the start and had by far his best outing of the 2010 season. Slowey went eight innings and gave up a run on only five hits along with a season high nine strikeouts without a walk. With the one run allowed Slowey lowered his era on the year to 2.45 and improved his record to 2-1. Kevin Slowey in his last start had problems getting on the same page with Joe Mauer, but had no problems in this start as he showed the pitcher we got used to seeing the last couple years in that he will hit his spots and miss more bats than you would think out of a pitcher who does not have overpowering stuff. Brian Duensing then came on and pitched a perfect ninth inning to secure the win for the Twins and put them a win away from winning another series.

• To be all honest, Justin Masterson did a good job of handcuffing the Twins hitters as the Twins only had six hits. However, as the Twins have shown early is they are a very opportunistic offensive club as they took advantage of two Cleveland errors to score five runs and take five walks so that Masterson was out of there after only four innings. Those kind of performances used to be only out of New York and Boston, but the Twins have many professional hitters that will work the count and get the opposing pitchers pitch count up to get to the other teams bullpen early. Justin Morneau broke out of a 2-9 series against Kansas City in which he left a ton of guys on base. In this one Morneau went 2-3 with a walk along with his second double and his ninth rbi of the year. The only time he got out is when he hit a towering flyball to right field that I thought was going to be gone and it just did not carry at all. After the two hits Morneau is hitting .340 on the year. Denard Span and Orlando Hudson are doing their jobs at the top of the lineup as they got on base four out of their seven plate appearances. On the year Span's OBP is .385 and Hudson's is .381 which are both very good as they are getting on base and setting the table for guys like Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, and Kubel. If they keep that rate up they are going to score a ton of runs. Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Twins.

• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with the Indians as the Twins send Francisco Liriano to the mound as he tries to build off his excellent last start. He will be opposed by fellow lefty David Huff for the Indians who is 1-1 with a very good 1.80 era in two starts. Gametime is at 7:10 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 4 (5-7) Pawtucket 3

• The Red Wings finished their series with Pawtucket on a high note as they got the victory last night 4-3 thanks to a Trevor Plouffe rbi single that scored Matt Tolbert with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. The hit capped off a comeback for the Red Wings who were trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Ryan Mullins got the start for the Wings and went five innings and gave up three runs on five hits along with three walks and three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 6.75. Tim Lahey then came on and pitched two scoreless innings on only one hit along with three strikeouts to lower his era to 4.35. Rob Delaney then came on and pitched a scoreless 8th inning to pick up the victory and move his record to 2-1. With the scoreless inning it moved Delaney's era down to 2.84. Anthony Slama pitched a scoreless ninth although he did leave the bases loaded to pick up his fourth save of the year and bring his era down to 2.25 in the early season for the Red Wings.

• The Red Wings did not do a whole lot against Pawtucket pitching in this one, but did just enough as they scored four runs on six hits along with taking an unbelievable nine walks to pick up the victory. Jacque Jones led the offense going 1-2 at the plate with his third double before having to be pulled for a pinch runner in the fifth inning because of a leg injury so here is hoping it is nothing series and Jacque is back in the lineup very soon. With the one hit Jones is now hitting a very good .308. Brock Peterson went 1-3 at the plate with his fourth and fifth rbi's of the year. Plouffe, Brian Dinkelman, Dustin Martin, and Matt Tolbert added base hits in the winning cause for the Red Wings while Danny Valencia added his first stolen base of the year for the Wings.

• Tonight, the Red Wings begin a series with Buffalo as Jeff Manship is scheduled to pitch for Rochester. Gametime is at 5:35 at Frontier Field in Rochester.

New Britain Business

Richmond 4 New Britain 1 (3-9)

• The Rockcats continued their streak of having good starting pitching, but not scoring enough runs as they suffered their second consecutive loss to Richmond as the Cats wasted a good outing by starter Tyler Robertson in a 4-1 loss to Richmond. Tyler Robertson got the start for New Britain and was very good throwing five shutout innings, but received a no decision. Robertson went five innings and did not give up a run on only four hits along with a walk and four strikeouts to lower his era to 3.09. Spencer Steedly then came on and gave up two runs on one hit along with two walks and a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 1.80 and drop his record to 1-1. Henry Arias then came on and gave up two runs on two hits along with two walks in an inning of work to raise his era to 4.50. Joe Testa finished the game for Rockcat pitchers going the last inning and not giving up a run on two hits along with a strikeout to lower his era to 13.50.

• The Rockcats could not get anything going offensively in this one as Richmond pitchers held New Britain to only one run on only four hits along with drawing one walk. The Rockcats were led offensively by backup catcher Alexander Soto who went 2-2 at the plate along with a walk to bring his average up to .222. Soto has not gotten much of a chance to play so far so hopefully this gets him some more playing time because he is a talented guy and all he needs is a chance. Ben Revere and Toby Gardenhire were the only other guys that were able to get into the hitting column as they each had one hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Tonight, the Rockcats finish off their series with Richmond and hope to avoid the three game sweep as Michael Mccardell gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 6:05pm in Richmond.

Fort Myers Minutes

Port Charlotte 7 Fort Myers 6 (3-8) 10 innings

• The Miracle suffered another heartbreaking loss last night to Charlotte as they blew a 6-4 lead going into the eighth inning as they would allow Charlotte to tie the game in the eighth and beat the Miracle in the tenth. Michael Tarsi got the start for the Miracle and honestly was not very good in this one as he gave up four runs on four hits along with four walks and a strikeout in only four innings of work to raise his era on the year to 5.14. Shooter Hunt then came on and had his most encouraging outing of the year for the Miracle. Hunt went three innings and did not give up a run on no hits and most importantly did not walk a batter along with six strikeouts to lower his era to 8.53. The outing by Hunt was the most noteworthy thing in the Twins organization probably all season so far as Shooter Hunt has the talent to possibly be a number one pitcher at the big league level if he can fix his wildness. I am really pulling for him as he is a really nice guy and he can change the future of the Twins if he can get the wildness under control and just throw the ball as he has that good of stuff. Michael Allen then came on and gave up three runs on three hits along with three walks and three strikeouts to raise his era to 8.44 along with picking up his first loss of the year and moving his record to 0-1. Billy Bulluck then came on and got the last two outs in the tenth inning and now his era is at 4.05.

• Offensively, the Miracle did an alright job as they were able to put up six runs which is more than they usually do on nine hits along with taking seven walks. Offensively, the Miracle were led by Chris Cates who went 2-5 at the plate with his first double of the year and drove in his first, second, and third runs of the year to bring his average up to .226. Yangervis Solarte went 2-4 at the plate with his third double of the year to bring his average up to .371. Ramon Santana went 2-5 at the plate with his third rbi to bring his average up to .225. Drew Thompson, Paul Kelly, and Evan Bigley each contributed a hit in the losing cause for Fort Myers.

• Tonight, the Miracle finish off their series with Port Charlotte as Bobby Lanigan is scheduled to pitch for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Quad Cities 5 Beloit 3 (7-6)

• The Snappers had their season high four game winning streak come to an end last night as they lost a tough 5-3 contest to Quad Cites in Beloit. Miguel Munoz got the start for Beloit and went only 3.2 innings and gave up two runs on five hits along with an unacceptable five walks and five strikeouts to raise his era to 1.98. Kane Holbrooks then came on and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings on only one hit along with a walk and three strikeouts. Dakota Watts then came in and was not very good. Watts pitched one inning and gave up three runs on three hits along with two walks and a strikeout to pick up the loss and drop his record to 0-1. With the three runs allowed it increased Watts era on the year to still a very good 2.79. Ben Tootle then came in and pitched a shutout inning of relief on one hit along with a strikeout and no walks as walks have been his undoing this year. With the no runs allowed Tootle's era is down to 11.57. Matt Tone then pitched the ninth inning and pitched a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era to 4.50.

• Offensively, the Snappers continued their struggles offensively as they were only able to score two runs on four hits. The Snappers were led by Aaron Hicks who is 5-10 in his last three games after starting the season out 1-31. In this one Hicks went 2-4 with his second stolen base of the year to bring his average up to .146 on the year. That sounds bad but just a few days ago he was at .032 so it is a step in the right direction. Brian Dozier went 1-4 at the plate with his third rbi of the year. Steve Liddle went 1-4 with his fifth rbi of the year. Angel Morales went 0-2 with his sixth rbi of the year for the Snappers in a losing cause for Beloit.

• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Quad Cities as Brad Stillings is scheduled to pitch for Beloit. Gametime is at 6:30 in Beloit.

Tuesday, April, 20th

Twins Talk

• The Twins had yesterday off and will finish off their opening homestand with a series against the Cleveland Indians. In tonight's game the Twins will start Kevin Slowey who will try to rebound from a shaky last start and will by opposed by Indians starter Justin Masterson. Gametime is at 7:10 tonight at Target Field in Minnesota

Rochester Wrap

Pawtucket 9 Rochester 8 (4-7)

• On one hand the Red Wings lost their second consecutive game to Pawtucket and got a bad start from starter Glen Perkins. On the other hand they rebounded from a 9-1 deficit to pull within 9-8 and had opprotunites to tie the game, but it was not to be in a 9-8 loss to Pawtucket last night. You hear all the time about the fact that the Twins want to deal Glen Perkins, but the way he is pitching right now there is no way you can trade him because you would be getting 0.25 cents on the dollar because he is way better than the way he is pitching. In this on Perkins only lasted 3.1 innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits along with three strikeouts. To be fair to Perkins though the Red Wings committed two errors which led to two unearned runs on Perkins. The five earned runs raised his era to 9.95 and lowered his record to 0-1. Jose Lugo then came on and really struggled as well giving up two runs on two hits along with four strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work to increas his era on the year to 4.70. Kyle Waldrop then came on and continued his strong early season success as he pitched two perfect innings along with a strikeout to lower his era to 1.13. Anthony Slama pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning along with a strikeout to lower his era to 2.57.

• Offensively, the Red Wings showed a lot of composure to keep their cool when they fell behind 9-1 and keep battling. Even though they did not get the win they did some good things offensively as they scored a season high eight runs on ten hits and took five walks to give themselves a chance to win the game. Dustin Martin led the offense for the Wings going 2-3 with his third homerun and drove in his fifth, sixth, and seventh rbi's to bring his average up to .417. Danny Valencia broke out of a early season slump by going 2-4 with his second double of the year to bring his average up to .188. Luke Hughes went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .286. Brian Dinkelman went 1-5 at the plate with his first homerun along with two rbi's to bring his season total to four. Jason Repko went 1-3 with his first homerun in the loss.

• Tonight, the Red Wings finish off their series with Pawtucket as Jeff Manship gets the start for Rochester. Gametime is at 5:35 at Frontier Field.

New Britain Business

Richmond 4 New Britain 3 (3-8)

• The Rockcats had their three game winning streak come to an end last night with a tough 4-3 loss to Richmond. Carlos Gutierrez got the start for New Britain and was betrayed by his defense as Richmond scored two unearned runs. However, to be fair one of the two errors was by Gutierrez himself so part of the carnage needs to go on him. Gutierrez went six innings and gave up three runs although only one of them was earned on four hits along with a walk and four strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.60. Santos Arias then came on and worked two innings and gave up a run on three hits along with a walk and two strikeouts to take the loss and drop his record to 0-2 and raise his era to 1.35.

• Offensively, the Rockcats continue to struggle as they were only able to put up three runs on seven hits and took four walks while leaving eight guys on base. The hitting star for the Rockcats was obviously Rene Tosoni who went 4-4 at the plate with his first homerun of the year along with two single and his third double. Tosoni was only a triple short of hitting for the cycle in this. Tosoni has been relegated to dh duty with a torn rotator cuff so hopefully he can keep it up offensively. Whit Robbins went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .167. Mark Dolenc also contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Richmond as Tyler Robertson is scheduled to pitch for New Britain. Gametime is 6:05 in Richmond.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 3 (3-7) Port Charlotte 2 10 innings

• The Miracle got back on the right side of things winning in a pitchers duel 3-2 behind the strong outing by Kyle Gibson and a key hit in the tenth inning. Kyle Gibson got the start and was good once again. After starting out the season with a rough first outing Gibson has come back and been excellent his last two starts. In this start Gibson went seven innings and gave up two runs on seven hits along with a walk and five strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.70. I have a ton of confidence in Gibson and fully expect him to be in New Britain sometime this summer and up with the Twins sometime in 2011. Matt Williams then came on and was dominant striking out the side in his inning of work. Blake Martin then pitched two shutout innings on two hits along with three strikeouts to pick up his first victory of the year and lower his era to 6.14.

• The Miracle continued their season long slump offensively in this one as they were only able to put up three runs on eight hits and drew two walks. With the score tied at two going into the tenth the Miracle won the game on a Drew Thompson rbi double after Chris Cates got a basehit and Yangervis Solarte had walked with one out in the tenth. The Miracle were led by Drew Thompson who went 2-5 with his third double and his fourth rbi to bring his average on the year up to .323. Dan Rohlfing went 1-4 at the plate with his first and second rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .143. Yangervis Solarte, Ramon Santana, Evan Bigley, and Chris Cates each contributed a hit each in the winning cause. Paul Kelly returned to the lineup after missing a few games with a sprained ankle and went 1-3 at the plate with a walk to bring his average up to .438.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Port Charlotte as Michaeal Tarsi tries to build off his last start as he gets the start for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 in Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 1 (7-5) Clinton 0

• The Snappers won their season high fourth game in a row yesterday with a hard fought pitchers duel that Beloit came on top of 1-0. The Snappers pitching staff completed their second straight shutout and only allowed one run in the three game series. Dan Osterbrock got a start in this one and was equally as good as Tom Stuifbergen and Liam Hendriks had been the last two games. Osterbrock went 6.1 innings and only gave up three hits along with two walks and six strikeouts to bring his era on the year to 3.38. Peter Kennelly then came on and worked 1.2 innings of shutout ball along with two strikeouts to lower his era to 4.50. Steve Blevins worked the ninth inning to pick up his fourth save of the young season. Blevins went one inning and gave up no runs along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era to 1.42.

• The Snappers struggled on offense in this one as they were only able to get a run on only four hits. Really the only hitting star and boy was it a dousy was the return of Aaron Hicks after struggling mightily the first eleven games the real Aaron Hicks stood up. In this one Hicks went 2-3 at the plate with his first double of the year. The two hits doubled his season total and got his average up to .108. Hicks I think will keep getting hits as he comes out of this slump as he shows people once again who he is and for those who doubted him shame on you. Angel Morales went 1-3 at the plate with his second homerun and fifth rbi of the year to bring his average up to .263. Steve Liddle added the other hit in the winning cause for the Snappers.

• Tonight, the Snappers begin a series with Quad Cities as Miguel Munoz gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 6:30 in Beloit.

Monday, April, 19th

Twins Talk
Royals 10 Twins 5 (9-4)

• The Twins could not complete the three game sweep over the Royals as the pitching staff let the team down and on offense they left too many guys on base to win. Carl Pavano had been so good the first two starts of the year that you knew one of these stinkers was coming because that is what Carl Pavano is all about. He will look good for 3-4 starts and then he will have a stinker which is the reason his era is so high. However, in my mind I will put up with the 1 out of 4 bad starts if he keeps making the three out of four good ones. Carl Pavano started and like I said he was not very good in this one as he gave up seven runs on a bad eleven hits including a three run homerun by Royals second baseman Alberto Callaspo. Pavano only lasted 3.1 innings and dropped his record to 2-1 on the year and raised his era to 4.96 after starting the day at 1.38. The bright spot of the day for the Twins had to be the outing out of rookie Alex Burnett who was just recalled after Jose Mijares went on the disabled list with an elbow strain. Burnett pitched 2.2 innings of shutout ball and allowed the offense to get back in the game for a while. Burnett only gave up two hits along with four strikeouts on the day. Ron Mahey then follwed and he was very good as well for the Twins. Mahey went two scoreless innings on only one hit along with three strikeouts. Jesse Crain followed and was not very good giving up a three run shot also to Callaspo to put the game out of reach. In Crain's one inning of work he gave up three runs on two hits along with a walk to balloon his era to a hefty 10.80. Overall the bullpen saw some encouraging things out of Burnett and Mahey as they both appear to be in line with sizeable roles with the Twins with Mahey taking over for Mijares and Burnett possibly taking over Crain's role if he keeps it up.

• Yesterday, the theme for the Twins were missed opprotunities as they left eleven guys on base and in fact had the bases loaded three times and without any runs scoring. Joe Mauer appears on one of his hot streaks after going 0-7 to start this series finished 5-9 to go 5-16 in the series. Mauer in this one went 3-4 at the plate to raise his average on the year to .378. Denard Span is rebounding after a slow start and went 2-5 with his fourth double to bring his average up to .245 and his on base percentage is sitting at a very good .377. Talking about on base percentage Orlando Hudson went 0-2 at the plate, but walked three times to bring his on base percentage up to .356. Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, and Brendan Harris each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Twins.

• The Twins have today off before finishing off their homestand with a three game series with the Cleveland Indians Tuesday night at Target Field.

Rochester Wrap

Pawtucket 6 Rochester 3 (4-6)

• The Red Wings had a real chance to win this game and get back to .500, but their defense would not allow it as they committed a season high four errors which led to four Pawtucket unearned runs. Mike Maroth got the start for Rochester and was good enough to throw the shutout, but his defense let him down and gave up three unearned runs. Maroth went 3.2 innings and gave up three runs on five hits along with four strikeouts and has still not given up an earned run this season. Tim Lahey then came on and was not very good giving up two runs on three hits in 2.1 innings of work to bring his era up to 5.40. Matt Fox then came in and threw two shutout innings along with two walks and a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 2.25. Rob Delaney then came on in the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning on one hit to lower his era to 3.38.

• In this one the Red Wings were not able to solve the Pawtucket pitching staff as they were only able to get three runs on six hits against five Pawtucket pitchers. Dustin Martin led the offense going 2-3 at the plate with his second homerun of the year to bring his average up to .381. Dustin Martin was a guy many did not expect much of and he has really forced his way onto the field in the early going. Hopefully he can keep it going as he has quite a bit of talent. Wilson Ramos went 1-4 with his first homerun and first and second rbi's to bring his average up to .212. Luke Hughes went 1-4 with his seventh double on the young year to bring his average up to .258. Matt Tolbert and Jacque Jones each contributed a base hit in the losing cause.

• Today, the Red Wings continue their series with Pawtucket as Glen Perkins gets the start for Rochester. Gametime is at 5:35 at Frontier Field.

New Britain Business

New Britain 4 (3-7) Harrisburg 3

• The Rockcats continued their winning ways yesterday with a 4-3 victory over Harrisburg to win their third straight victory. David Bromberg got the start and once again proved that he is a man among boys and the ace of this pitching staff. Bromberg went six innings and gave up a run on only two hits along with a walk and six strikeouts to lower his miniscule era on the year to 0.82. Joe Testa then came on and gave up a run on a hit along with two walks and a strikeout in 2/3 of an inning to bring his era up to 16.62. Chris Province then came on and pitched the last 2.1 innings to pick up his second save of the year and gave up a run on two hits along with a walk and two strikeouts to bring his era to 6.23.

• In a pitchers duel the Rockcats got just enough offense as they put up four runs on seven hits along with drawing four walks. The Cats were led by Rene Tosoni who went 3-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .364. Mark Dolenc went 1-4 at the plate with his third and fourth rbi's of the year. Chris Parmelee, Juan Portes, and Yancarlos Ortiz each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Rockcats.

• Today, the Rockcats continue their roadtrip as they travel to a new Eastern League city in Richmond as Carlos Gutierrez gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 6:05 in Richmond.

Fort Myers Minutes

• The Miracle had their game with Palm Beach rained out last night and will begin a series against Port Charlotte as staff ace Kyle Gibson gets the start. Gametime is at 6:05pm in Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 3 (6-5) Clinton 0

• The Snappers saw their early season success continue with a mastpiece by Liam Hendriks and Edgar Ibarra in a 3-0 victory over Clinton yesterday. Liam Hendriks got the start for Beloit and was awesome going six shutout innings on only four hits along with eight strikeouts. Hendriks has now not given up a run in 17 innings so far this year. Edgar Ibarra then came on and did wonderful pitching three shutout innings to pick up his second win of the year. Ibarra went three innings and gave up no runs along with three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.40.

• In a pitchers duel like this it is not about how many hits or runs you get its about when you get them because all they needed was one run on this day, but they were able to get three runs on five hits. Anderson Hidalgo led the way going 3-3 at the plate to bring his average up to .435 on the year. Brian Dozier went 1-4 at the plate with his second rbi of the year. Steve Liddle went 0-4 with his fourth rbi. Angel Morales also added a base hit in the winning cause for Beloit.

• Today, the Snappers have an early morning game with Clinton as Dan Osterbrock is scheduled to pitch. Gametime is at 11am in Beloit

• Don't forget to join me tonight for the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast tonight at 9pm. I have a starstudded guest lineup this week and you don't want to miss this show. I have Aaron Gleeman of http://aarongleeman.com and http://nbcsports.com. After Gleeman I will have the Twins Geek John Bonnes on and we will talk everything Twins as I havent had him on in quite a while so it will be nice talking to John again so don't miss tonights show. http://blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk

Sunday, April, 18th

Twins Talk
Twins 6 (9-3) Royals 5

• The Twins continued their hot start with their fourth consecutive series win which is the first time in Twins history they were able to accomplish this. This one was not as pretty as Friday night as Nick Blackburn struggled, but the offense bailed him out in a 6-5 Twins victory yesterday afternoon at sun splashed Target Field. Nick Blackburn got the start, but was not very effective in this one. Blackburn made it five innings and gave up five runs on seven hits including two Rick Ankiel homeruns along with a walk and three strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 6.05. Brian Duensing then came on and did a very good job throwing two shutout innings on a hit along with a strikeout to pick up his second win along with no defeats. With the two shutout innings Duensings era is at 2.84. Matt Guerrier then came in and pitched a scoreless 8th inning on a walk. Jon Rauch finished the game in the ninth even though like usual he put guys on base. In his inning he gave up a hit and a walk along with a game ending strikeout. It was his sixth save in six attempts to lead the American League. With the shutout inning Rauch's era on the year is now sitting at 1.50 so far.

• Offensively the Twins continue to score runs in bunches as they put up six runs on nine hits and took five walks and have taken 21 walks in the last three games. The Twins were led by Orlando Hudson who stepped to the plate in the seventh inning in a 5-5 tie and belted a homerun off the facing of the upperdeck to put the Twins up 6-5. Hudson went 2-3 with a walk. He hit his first homerun of the year and rounded the bases as quick as he could as not to show up the other time. With the two hits Hudson is now hitting .280 on the year. Joe Mauer broke out of a 0-10 streak by going 2-4 with his ninth and tenth rbi's of the year and brought his average back up to .341. J.J. Hardy went 1-4 at the plate with his first double of the year. Justin Morneau went 1-3 with his rare and i mean rare first triple of the year.

• The Twins have been stung by the injury bug lately. To start out with Nick Punto has missed the last couple games with a groin injury, but he should be back on Tuesday. Jose Mijares has a elbow strain and was put on the disabled list with Alex Burnett returning to the Twins after spending one day in Rochester. Pat Neshek had a cortisone shot in his pitching middle finger and the Twins will know by Tuesday whether he can come back or if they need to put him on the disabled list. Finally, Nick Blackburn was suffering with discomfort in the back of the forearm so he will be pushed back a day to get this taken care of.

• Today, the Twins try to complete a three game sweep with the Royals as Carl Pavano tries to build off two good start for the Twins going against Royals pitcher Luke Hochevar. Gametime is at 1:10 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 6 (4-5) Pawtucket 5

• The Red Wings had their home opener yesterday and pulled out a 6-5 victory thanks to a Luke Hughes rbi double in the bottom of the 8th to win the game for the Wings. Yoslan Herrera got the start for Rochester and was very good once again. Herrera went five innings and gave up two runs on four hits along with two walks and three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.12. Kyle Waldrop then came on and had a rough outing for the Wings. Waldrop gave up two runs on three hits in one inning of work to raise his era to 1.50. Jose Lugo then came on and faced two batters and got both of them out. Rob Delaney then came on and gave up a run on a hit along with a walk and a strikeout to pick up the win. Delaney is now 1-1 and saw his era run up to 4.15 on the young season. Anthony Slama pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his third save of the year. In his inning he gave up one hit along with a strikeout to lower his era to 3.00

• The Red Wings continued their success offensively as they put up six runs on nine hits along with drawing eight walks in this game. The Wings were led by Luke Hughes who went 3-4 at the plate with that game winning double along with his fourth, fifth, and sixth doubles of the year and drove in four runs to bring his season total to four. With the three hits Hughes is now hitting .250 as Luke Hughes appears to be coming out of a early inning hitting slump. Dustin Martin went 1-3 at the plate with his first triple of the year and brought his average up to .333. Brian Dinkelman, Trevor Plouffe, Wilson Ramos, and Erik Lis each contributed a hit apiece in the winning cause.

• Today, the Red Wings continue their series with Pawtucket as Mike Maroth gets the start for Rochester. Gametime is at 12:05 at Frontier Field.

New Britain Business

New Britain 5 (2-7) Harrisburg 3

• Break up the Rockcats as they won their second consecutive game over Harrisburg after losing their first seven as they got good pitching from Deolis Guerra and timely hitting in a 5-3 Cats win. Deolis Guerra got the start in this one and really rebounded from a tough start his first time through the rotation. In this start Guerra went six innings and only gave up two runs on six hits along with four strikeouts to pick up his first win of the year and lowered his era to 4.91 on the year. Cole Devries then came on and pitched three innings and gave up a run on a hit along with a walk and two strikeouts to pick up his first save of the year and lower his era to 2.00 on the year.

• The Rockcats really came out of their hitting slump with a season high 15 hits and scored five runs. It would have been more if not for the nine guys left on base in this game. Offensively the Twins were led by Joe Benson in this one as he went 2-5 with his first homerun and second rbi along with his third and fourth stolen bases to bring his average up to .276. Mark Dolenc went 2-4 with his first homerun of the year and his first and second rbi's of the year. Steve Singleton went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .286. Rene Tosoni went 2-5 to bring his average up to .310 on the season. Juan Portes went 2-5 with his 2nd double of the year to bring his average up to .152. Esterlin De Los Santos went 2-4 at the plate along with his second double to bring average up to .179. Danny Lehman went 2-3 at the plate and is now hitting .409 on the young season.

• Today, the Rockcats continue their series with Harrisburg as David Bromberg gets the start for New Britain as they try to extend their winning streak to three games. Gametime is at 2:05 in Harrisburg.

Fort Myers Minutes

Palm Beach 7 Fort Myers 2 (2-7)

• The Miracle suffered their third straight loss last night to Palm Beach and are in danger of going into last place after a 7-2 loss last night. Bruce Pugh got the start for the Miracle and was not real great in this one. Pugh worked 4.2 innings and gave up six runs on seven hits along with two walks and five strikeouts to pick up the loss and drop his record to 0-2 and raised his era to 9.39. Tony Davis then came on and worked 2.1 innings and gave up no runs on one hit along with two walks and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.50. Shooter Hunt then came on and saw his control issues continue as he worked one inning and gave up a run on a hit with two walks and two strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 16.20.

• The Miracle continued their season long hitting slump as they were only able to score two runs on nine hits and drew two walks. The Miracle were led by Yangervis Solarte who continued his early season start going 2-4 with his third rbi of the year and brought his average up to .370. Ramon Santana went 2-4 to bring his average up to .194 after getting off to a slow start. Chris Cates is another guy who got off to a slow start, but is coming around as last night he went 2-4 to bring his average up to .174. Chris Hermann went 1-4 at the plate with his second double of the year. Drew Thompson and Jair Fernandez also contributed a base hit each.

• Tonight, the Miracle finish off their series with Palm Beach and try to salvage a game as they send out ace Kyle Gibson to the mound. Gametime is at 4:05pm in Palm Beach.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 4 (5-5) Clinton 3 11 innings

• The Snappers won their second consecutive game with a eleven inning 4-3 victory over Clinton thanks to Aaron Hicks heads up baserunning. Hicks led off with a walk and then stole second and went to third on the throw and scored on a wild pitch. Tom Stuifbergen got the start and was excellent once again. Stuifbergen went six innings without giving up a run on five hits along with two walks and seven strikeouts. Ben Tootle then came on and got drilled again. In one inning Tootle gave up three runs on two hits along with three walks and a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 14.73. Dakota Watts then came on and pitched two shutout innings on one hit along with a strikeout. Matt Tone then came and pitched two shutout innings on no hits along with two walks and a strikeout to pick up his first win of the year to lower his era to 5.14.

• The Snappers had an ok offensive night as they scored four runs on seven hits along with drawing a walk. Offensively they were led by Aaron Hicks who went 1-4 at the plate with his first homerun of the year and his second rbi along with his first stolen base. Hicks is now 2-34 on the year after the hit and hopefully this is what it is going to be the start of a revival because he is way too talented for the slump to continue. Angel Morales is another guy trying to come out of a slump went 1-4 with his first homerun of the year and his third and fourth rbi's to bring his average up to .258. Tobias Streich went 1-4 at the plate with his first triple of the year. Brian Dozier went 1-5 at the plate with his first triple of the year to bring his average to .371. Steve Liddle, Michael Gonzalez, Anderson Hidalgo, and Josmil Pinto each contributed a hit also in the winning cause.

• Today, the Snappers continue their series with Clinton as staff ace Liam Hendricks gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 2pm in Beloit.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0

With the 2010 NFL draft less than a week away I thought it was time to update my mock draft and see if anyone disagrees. Let me know what you think as you don't have to agree with my picks. The Vikings pick 30th and could go in a few different directions in this one. So either leave a comment in the comment box or shoot me an email at travis_aune@yahoo.com.

1. St. Louis Rams- Sam Bradford QB Oklahoma

2. Detroit Lions- Ndamukong Suh DT Nebraska

3. Tampa Bay Bucs- Gerald Mccoy DT Oklahoma

4. Washington Redskins- Russell Okung OT Oklahoma St.

5. Kansas City Chiefs- Bryan Bulaga OT Iowa

6. Seattle Seahawks- Trent Williams OT Oklahoma

7. Cleveland Browns- Eric Berry S Tennessee

8. Oakland Raiders- Bruce Campbell OT Maryland

9. Buffalo Bills- Anthony Davis OT Rutgers

10. Jacksonville Jaguars- C.J. Spiller RB Clemson

11. Denver Broncos- Rolando Mcclain LB Alabama

12. Miami Dolphins- Dan Williams DT Tennessee

13. San Francisco 49ers- Joe Haden CB Florida

14. Seattle Seahawks- Derrick Morgan DE Georgia Tech

15. New York Giants- Mike Iupati OG Idaho

16. Tennessee Titans- Jason Pierre-Paul DE S. Florida

17. San Francisco 49ers- Jimmy Clausen QB Notre Dame

18. Pittsburgh Steelers- Maurkice Pouncey OL Florida

19. Atlanta Falcolns- Brandon Graham DE Michigan

20. Houston Texans- Kyle Wilson CB Boise State

21. Cincinnati Bengals- Dez Bryant WR Oklahoma St.

22. New England Patriots- Sergio Kindle DE Texas

23. Green Bay Packers- Charles Brown OT USC

24. Philadelphia Eagles- Earl Thomas S Texas

25. Baltimore Ravens- Demaryius Thomas WR Georgia Tech

26. Arizona Cardinals- Jermaine Gresham TE Oklahoma

27. Dallas Cowboys- Taylor Mays S USC

28. San Diego Chargers- Ryan Matthews RB Fresno State

29. New York Jets- Eversen Griffen DE USC

30. Minnesota Vikings- Kareem Jackson CB Alabama

31. Indianapolis Colts- Jared Odrick DT Penn State

32. New Orleans Saints- Sean Weatherspoon LB Missouri

Saturday, April 17th

Twins Talk

Twins 10 (8-3) Royals 3

• The Twins won their second consecutive game last night as Scott Baker outdueled reigning Cy Young award pitcher Zack Grienke by a score of 10-3. Scott Baker got the start and was very good for his second consecutive start after struggling on opening night. Baker went 7 strong innings and only gave up two runs on seven hits along with six strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.37 and up his record to 2-1. If you would have told me that Scott Baker would look more like the Cy Young Award winner than Zack Grienke I would have called you a liar. However, that is exactly what Baker did is outpitch Zack Grienke and if you have been reading my blog for a long time you know that I am a big Scott Baker fan so I am so glad that he is pitching so well. With the score going into the 8th inning being 5-2 the Twins brought in eigth inning reliever Matt Guerrier and he did not disappoint as he threw a shutout inning. After the Twins tacked on five more runs in the eighth inning the Twins turned to long man Brian Duensing to pitch the ninth. Duensing gave up a run on two hits along with a strikeout to raise his era on the year to 4.15 for the Twins.

• On offense the thing that has impressed me the most this season is their patience at the plate as they took nine Kansas City walks after walking seven times on Thursday. They also hit the ball well as they scored ten runs on eleven hits. They left ten guys on base again so that just shows you how much talent they have offensively as they could have scored 20 runs if they would have executed. The Twins were led by Orlando Hudson who went 2-3 at the plate with his fourth double and his second and third rbi's to bring his average up to .255. Denard Span went 2-3 at the plate and has now reaches base 13 out of his last 20 plate appearances to raise his average to .225. Michael Cuddyer went 2-5 at the plate with his second double and three rbi's to bring his total up to nine. With the two hits Cuddyer is now hitting .348. J.J. Hardy went 2-5 with his fifth and sixth rbi's and brought his average up to .267. Brendan Harris went 2-3 to bring his average up to .250. Stop the presses Joe Mauer is 0-10 the last 2 and a half games.

• Today, the Twins continue their series with Kansas City as Nick Blackburn gets the start for the Twins and Gil Meche starts for the Royals. Gametime is at 12:10 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 1 Lehigh Valley 1 Suspended

• The Red Wings had their game against Lehigh Valley suspended in the second inning and will be made up at a later date.


• Today, the Red Wings have their home opener as they welcome in Pawtucket as Yoslan Herrera gets the start for Rochester. Gametime is at 3:05 in Rochester

New Britain Business

New Britain 2 (1-7) Harrisburg 1

• Someone break up the Rockcats as they finally got onto the winning side of things. The Rockcats sat through a two and a half hour rain delay to pull out a 2-1 victory over Harrisburg last night. The pitching matchup of Tyler Robertson vs Stephen Strasburg never materialized as both were lifted after the second inning because of a rain delay. Robertson worked two innings and gave up a run on two hits along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 5.40. After the rain delay Henry Arias came on to pitch and had his best outing of the year. Arias went three shutout innings and gave up two hits along with a strikeout. Spencer Steedley then came on and worked 3.1 scoreless innings on two hits along with four strikeouts to pick his first win of the year. Chris Province got the last two outs to pick up his first save in the Twins organization and lowered his era to 7.11 on the year.

• The Rockcats offense took a step back in this one as they were only able to put two runs on the board on only seven hits. However, the biggest hit came long before the end of the game and it may not be a big deal for the Rockcats but I am sure it brought a smile to the face of Juan Portes. If Portes never makes it to the bigs and if Strasburg becomes as good as some are saying he will be then that will be a day Juan Portes never forgets. In the second inning of a 1-0 Harrisburg lead Juan Portes came up with a runner aboard and smashed a Strasburg fastball for an rbi double. Steve Singleton led the offense going 2-4 with his third double and first triple of the year to bring his average up to .250. Joe Benson went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .250 as well. Rene Tosoni went 1-3 at the plate with his first triple of the year.

• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Harrisburg as Deolis Guerra tries to rebound from a so so start the first time around. Gametime is at 6:00 in Harrisburg.

Fort Myers Minutes

Palm Beach 4 Fort Myers 2 10inn (2-5)

• The Miracle suffered another tough to take loss last night as they took a 2-1 lead going into the ninth inning against their good closer Billy Bulluck. You would think that would be game over and a win for the Miracle right. Well you would be wrong as Bulluck gave up a run in the ninth and then two more in the 10th in a 4-2 Palm Beach victory over the Fort Myers Miracle last night. On a more positive note Brad Tippett made his first start of the year for the Miracle and was very good. Tippett went 4.1 innings and gave up one run on four hits along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year t0 5.40. Matt Williams also made his season debut in this one and worked 3.1 innings and did not give up a run on only four hits along with a walk and three strikeouts. Billy Bulluck then came on and like I said earlier he did not have a good day as he went 2 innings and gave up three runs on five hits along with two walks and two strikeouts to pick up the loss and raised his era to 4.50. Billy Bulluck is a good relief prospect and I am not too concerned about him as he will have outings like this few and far between.

• The Miracle offense continued their struggles offensively as they were only able to score two runs on seven hits. The Miracle were led by Michael Harrington who went 2-4 with his first and second doubles to bring his average up to .273. Chris Hermann broke out of a little slump by going 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .217. Ramon Santana added his third double of the year.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Palm Beach as Bruce Pugh gets the start for the Miracle. Gametime is at 6:05 in Palm Beach.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 6 (4-5) Kane County 0

• The Snappers turned a good pitching performance by Brad Stillings and some late power to turn it into a nice 6-0 win for the Snappers over Kane County. Brad Stillings got the start and did very well once again as this was his second consecutive good start for the Snappers. Stillings went 4.2 shutout innings on only four hits along with two walks and four strikeouts to lower his era to a minute 0.93. Kane Holbrooks then came in and pitched three shutout innings to even his record at one. Holbrooks only gave up one hit along with four strikeouts. When Steve Blevins came into the game in the eighth inning it was a 1-0 game so he earned his third save of the year. Blevins worked 1.1 innings and gave up a hit along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.69.

• For eight innings it looked like another ho hum bad hitting night for the Snappers, but Michael Gonzalez and Josmil Pinto hit homeruns in the ninth inning to put the game away and making the Snappers feel better about their offense. Brian Dozier continued his early season success by going 3-5 with his first double to bring his average up to .400. Danny Rams went 2-4 with his fourth double of the year and brought his average up to .214. Angel Morales went 2-4 with his 3rd double to bring his average up to .259. Then of course Gonzalez homered in his second consecutive game and his third overall, while Pinto added his first of the year.

• The Snappers begin a series today with Clinton as Tom Stuifbergen tries to build off his last start. Gametime is at 4pm in Beloit