Friday, May, 28th

Twins Talk
Twins 8 (27-20) Yankees 2

• The Twins very easily could have swept the Yankees in this series, but at the end of the day have to feel fortuante to win the one game in the series. The Twins got something that a month ago would have seemed impossible a great start by Nick Blackburn and a big game out of Jason Kubel in the Twins 8-2 win against the Yankees. The Twins went 2-4 against the Yankees, but to look at the positive is that is two times as many wins as they had against New York all of last season and played them tough as they only got blown out in one of those games as they could of easily won 3 of those 4 losses. Nick Blackburn got the start in this one and was very good once again. I don't know what he took care of in Oklahoma, but since he came back he has been a different pitcher getting a lot of ground balls and just getting guys out. In the month of May he has a 5-0 record with a 2.67 era in the month of May. In this start Blackburn went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs on 9 hits along with two strikeouts to lower his era to 4.28 on the year and improve his record to a team leading 6-1 on the year. Jose Mijares then came on and continued his impressive pitching as of late pitching a scoreless inning on one hit and a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 3.00. Mijares has thrown 5.2 scoreless innings now spanning 4 outings and is quickly gaining back the trust of Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson and won't be long until he is back pitching in game deciding situations. Alex Burnett then came on and pitched a perfect ninth to lower his era to a very impressive 2.74. Burnett has been getting better and better just about every time out and he has a major league arm and as the season goes on look for him to go into more key situations as the coaching staff gains more confidence in him.

• The Twins finally got some big hits off Yankee pitching when it counted. The Twins scored 8 runs on 12 hits along with drawing 5 walks while leaving 7 guys on base. The Twins also had an error committed by Joe Mauer, his second error of the year. The Twins were led by Jason Kubel in this one as he had one of his best days of the year. Kubel went 3-4 at the plate with his fourth and fifth homeruns of the year along with his fifth double and drove in 5 runs to bring his season total up to 27 and increased his average up to .233 on the year. Jason Kubel got off to a awful start to the season and hopefully this is the beginning of a rebirth for Kubel as he is too good of a hitter to be hitting this bad. Justin Morneau went 2-2 at the plate with his 15th double of the year and his 35th rbi of the year along with bringing his average up to .377. Denard Span went 2-5 at the plate with his 10th double to bring his average up to .290. Span is in a hot streak right now going 8 for his last 14 at the plate a .571 average. Denard is too good of a hitting to be toiling in the .230's and you just knew it was a matter of time before he got his average where it belongs in the 290's to 300's. Michael Cuddyer went 1-4 at the plate with his 11th double of the year. Orlando Hudson went 1-3 at the plate with his 2nd triple along with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. Joe Mauer, JJ Hardy, and Alexi Casilla each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Twins.

• Tonight, the Twins will start a three game holiday weekend series with Texas as Kevin Slowey gets the start for the Twins and will face Colby Lewis of Texas. Gametime is at 7:10 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 4 (18-29) Durham 3

• The Red Wings got back on the winning track after not playing very well as of late as they rode the left arm of Glen Perkins and a three run top of the 7th inning to pick up a rare road win in Durham by the score of 4-3. Glen Perkins seems to have turned the corner a little bit as he has pitched two solid games in a row for the Red Wings. In this one Perkins went 5.2 innings and gave up 3 runs on only 4 hits along with 3 walks and an impressive and season high in strikeouts with 9. With the 3 runs allowed in 5.2 innings Perkins lowered his era on the year to a still bad 8.47, but he dug himself such a hole it is going to take a run of good outings to get it done. Kyle Waldrop continued his strong outings by pitching 2.1 scoreless innings to pick up his first win of the year. Waldrop went 2.1 innings and did not give up a hit only allowing a walk along with four strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.54. I know everyone wants Anthony Slama to get the call to the Twins or even Rob Delaney and they both deserve the call, but in my opinion the person that is the most deserving is Kyle Waldrop. After having shoulder surgery a few years ago he has continued to get better and better and he is having his breakout year this year. He does not throw real hard but his ball moves like crazy and I feel he would be very effective in the bullpen when you need a ground ball. So if I am Bill Smith and I have only one need in the bullpen the guy I would call up is Kyle Waldrop. Anthony Slama then came on and pitched a scoreless 9th inning on only a walk while recording a strikeout to pick up his 9th save and lower his era on the year to 1.63.

• The Red Wings struggled with Durham pitching for the first 6 innings, but figured it out in the seventh to pick up the win. The Red Wings scored 4 runs on 8 hits along with drawing 5 walks and leaving 7 guys on base in this one. The Red Wings were led in this one offensively by Jose Morales who went 2-3 at the plate with his third and fourth doubles of the year along with his fourth rbi to bring his average up to .341 on the year. Dustin Martin went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average back up to .309 on the year. Jason Repko went 1-4 at the plate with a walk along with a stolen base and two runs scored. Matt Tolbert, Brian Dinkelman, and Matt Macri each contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Red Wings.

• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Durham as Matt Fox gets the start for Rochester. Gametime is at 6:05 in Durham as the Red Wings try to build on last nights win.

New Britain Business

New Hampshire 8 New Britain 7 (13-33)

• The Rockcats suffered another heartbreaking loss to New Hampshire last night as the Rockcats blew a 5-4 lead going into the 7th inning and then had their rally in the bottom of the ninth come up short in a 8-7 loss to New Hampshire. Santos Arias got the start for the Rockcats in this one and was decent, but not great. Arias went 4.2 innings and gave up four runs on four hits along with two walks and two strikeouts including a homerun to raise his era on the year to 4.55. Santos Arias has been one of the biggest disappointments in the whole Twins organization. After doing very well in Fort Myers last year there was hope that Arias was on the verge of being a big time prospect, but that has not happened as he has digressed and on the verge of being demoted back to Fort Myers. Lets hope he can figure it out and figure it out soon. Michael Allen then came on and pitched 1.1 bad innings giving up three runs on three hits along with three walks and a strikeout to pick up the loss and lower his record to 1-1 on the year. With the three runs he also increased his era up to 2.61. Matt Williams followed and was actually pretty decent as he worked three innings and only gave up a solo homerun along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.09.

• The Rockcats had a good night offensively, but when the pitching staff does not get it done there is not a whole lot you can do. The Rockcats scored 7 runs on 12 hits along with drawing 4 walks and leaving 9 guys on base. The Rockcats also committed two errors in the game. Steve Singelton committed his 6th error and Juan Portes committed his 3rd error of the year. The Rockcats were led offensively by Ben Revere who went 4-4 at the plate with a walk along with his 7th double of the year to bring his average up to .329. Yangervis Solate went 2-3 at the plate with his second homerun of the year and his 4th double. He drove in three runs also to bring his season total up to 9 since his promotion and also scored 3 runs for the Rockcats. Yancarlos Ortiz went 2-4 at the plate with his 4th rbi to bring his average up to .300. Brandon Roberts, Mark Dolenc, Rene Tosoni, and Jair Fernandez each contributed a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats in this tough loss.

• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series in Portland against the Sea Dogs as Carlos Gutierrez gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 6:00pm in Portland as the Rockcats try to bounce back from last night.

Fort Myers Minutes

Brevard County 4 Fort Myers 3 (19-28)

• The Miracle lost another tough one last night to Brevard County by a score of 4-3. The Miracle took a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 7th and were unable to keep it together. Liam Hendriks got the start and was very good once again as he went the first six innings and did not give up a run on only three hits along with two walks and seven strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.70. Steve Blevins then came on and was not very good going 1.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on four hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era up to 3.75. Billy Bulluck then came on and was not very good giving up his first runs in the month of May. Bulluck went 1.1 innings and gave up a run on two hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to take the loss and drop his record to 0-3 and raise his era up 2.49.

• The Miracle could not get much going offensively in this one as they could only muster 3 runs on 6 hits along with drawing 5 walks while leaving 8 guys on base. Nick Romero also committed his 3rd error of the year. The Miracle were led offensively by Chris Parmelee who went 2-4 at the plate with his 2nd homerun with Fort Myers and his 10th rbi to bring his average up to .357. Jon Goncalves went 1-4 at the plate with his first homerun of the year and his 4th and 5th rbi's of the year. Chris Hermann went 1-4 at the plate with his 10th double of the year. Evan Bigley went 1-4 at the plate with his first triple of the year. Esterlin De Los Santos also contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Miracle in this one as they went down to Brevard County.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Brevard County as Dan Osterbrock gets the start for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 in Brevard County as the Miracle try to bounce back from the loss last night.

Beloit Beat

Quad Cities 2 Beloit 0 (25-22)

• The Snappers have seen a great chance to make the playoffs in the first half go by the wayside thanks to a 7 game losing streak that was added to 7 games with a 2-0 loss last night to Quad Cities. The Snappers just can't do it right now as if they pitch good they can't hit and when they hit they struggle pitching. In this one they got a good performance out of Michael Tonkin, but they could not get anything going offensively. Tonkin got the start and went the first 5 innings and gave up two runs on seven hits along with four walks and one strikeout to lower his era to 3.38 and dropped his record on the season to 0-2. Dakota Watts then went two innings and was utterly dominant in this one. Watts faced 6 batters and struck out 5 of them to lower his era on the year to 2.01. Tom Stuifbergen working his way back into the rotation pitched a scoreless inning on two hits along with two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.09.

• The Snappers could not do much on offense in this one as they failed to score a run on only one hit. They drew 6 walks and left 9 guys on base and in a game like this it can really hurt you leaving that many guys on base. Anderson Hidalgo went 1-3 at the plate with his 15th double of the year. Daniel Santana stole his first base of the year and Steve Liddle stole his 5th base of the year. Aaron Hicks has saw his numbers really drop in the month of May as he is only hitting .210 and striking out 35% of the time in the month of May which is way too much. It is even worse if you look at the last 10 days. In the last 10 days Hicks is hitting .158 as in 6 of his last 38 at the plate and a .256 OBP. I am still very high on Hicks as he just having a rough time, but I would like to see him come out of it very soon.

• Tonight, the Snappers begin a weekend series in Peoria as Miguel Munoz gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 6:3o in Peoria as the Snappers try to snap a 7 game losing streak and try to get back into playoff contention.

• I want to invite everyone to come to the return of the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast this Monday night at 9pm. The guests are still to be determined, but I will have a big announcement that will change the way you look at the Travis Talks blog from now on so tune in Monday night at 9pm at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk