Sunday, May, 30th

Twins Talk
Twins 8 (29-20) Rangers 3

• For 5 and a half innings it looked like it was going to be one of those games as the Twins were not able to touch Rangers starter CJ Wilson as they had one hit thru the first 5 innings. A Denard Span solid single and a Orlando Hudson homerun tied the score and broke the ice and before the 7th inning was over the Twins were ahead 8-2 and held on for a 8-3 victory over the Rangers yesterday. Most everyone will talk about the offensive outburst in the 6th and 7th innings by the Twins offense, but if it was not an excellent start by Twins starter Carl Pavano it would not have been possible. Pavano continued his strong start to the season by pitching his 7th quality start in his 10 starts. In this one Pavano went 7 innings and gave up only 2 runs on seven hits along with a walk and a strikeout. Pavano has been much better than I thought he would be as he has been the most consistant pitcher on the staff and take away a couple bad starts and his numbers would be awesome. Jesse Crain then came on for the 8th inning and gave up an unearned run along with a hit and a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 5.57. Brian Duensing pitched a scoreless ninth inning on a hit along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to a very good 1.77.

• For 5 innings the Twins offense was just dead, but somehow in the 6th and 7th innings it came alive and went crazy. In all the Twins scored 8 runs on 8 hits along with drawing 4 walks and leaving only 4 guys on base which is a stark improvement over other games. The Twins did commit two errors in the game which was surprising. JJ Hardy committed his 1st error and Jason Kubel committed his 2nd of the year. However, the Twins still only have 12 errors on the season so their defense has been unbelievable so far this season. The Twins were led offensively by Orlando "O-Dawg" Hudson who went 2-4 at the plate with his 3rd homerun of the season that tied the game at 2 in the 6th inning. Hudson also contributed his 10th double of the year and 3 rbi's to bring his season total up to 16 and his average up to .307. Hudson has been a one man demolition machine in this series by going 5-8 at the plate which is a .620 batting average. Orlando Hudson has been better than even I thought he would be as he has played gold glove defense and then hitting over .300 at the plate. I know its early but if he keeps this up I hope the Twins find a way to resign Hudson in the offseason he has been that good. Another good performance by JJ Hardy who went 2-4 at the plate with his 12th and 13th rbi's of the year and brought his average up to .244. Delmon Young went 1-4 at the plate with his 12th double of the year and drove in two runs to bring his rbi total up to 24. Michael Cuddyer went 1-4 at the plate with his 12th double of the year. Denard Span and Justin Morneau each contributed hits in the winning cause for the Twins.

• Tonight, the Twins finish off their series with Texas and their homestand as Scott Baker gets the ball for the Twins and will oppose Rangers starter Derek Holland. Gametime is at 7:10pm at Target Field in Minneapolis as the Twins go for the three game sweep and their 4th win in a row overall.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 6 (19-30) Durham 4

• The Red Wings got a well pitched game out of Jeff Manship and scored enough runs to get the victory over Durham last night by a score of 6-4. Jeff Manship got the start for the Red Wings and did an ok job not great, but not bad. Manship went 4 innings and gave up three runs on eight hits along with a walk and seven strikeouts to raise his era up to 4.37 on the year. Jeff Manship has been ok on the mound, but not what I am expecting out of him as he has way too much talent to be struggling in AAA. How is it possible that he can go up to the Twins and do well and then struggle in AAA. I hope that he can develop some more consistancy because the talent is there for him to take off and be contending for a spot in the rotation for the Twins in 2011. Tim Lahey then came on and was very good going two innings and only giving up a run on four hits along with two walks and a strikeout to lower his era to 6.55 and improve his record on the year to 4-1. Kyle Waldrop then came on and continued his strong start to the season as he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings on two hits along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.47. Anthony Slama then came on and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to pick up his 10th save of the year on one hit along with a walk and three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.55.

• The Red Wings had a solid night offensively as they supported good pitching to pick up the win for the Red Wings. Rochester scored 6 runs on 11 hits along with drawing 6 walks and leaving 9 guys on base. Jose Morales committed his first error of the season in the Red Wings victory. The Red Wings were led offensively by Matt Macri who went 2-4 at the plate with his 8th double of the year and his 10th rbi to bring his average up to .284. Brock Peterson went 2-4 at the plate with his 5th double to bring his average up to .243. Jason Repko went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .311 on the year. Danny Valencia went 1-3 at the plate with his 15th double and 24th rbi of the year. Matt Tolbert went 1-4 at the plate with his 10th rbi along with his 5th stolen base and 2 runs scored. Wilson Ramos, Jose Morales, and Toby Gardenhire each contributed base hits in the winning cause for the Red Wings.

• Today, the Red Wings continue their series with Durham as Deolis Guerra gets the start for Rochester. Gametime is at 4:05 in Durham as the Red Wings try to win their second straight victory over the Bulls.

New Britain Business

Portland 11 New Britain 3 (14-34)

• The Rockcats had another rough day yesterday as a close game turned into a laugher in the late innings and the Rockcats went down to Portland by the score of 11-3. After only trailing 2-0 going into the bottom of the 7th inning Portland exploded for 6 in the 7th and 3 more in the 8th to put the game away. Mike Mccardell got the start and was pretty good in this one. When Mccardell left the game there was a guy on first in a 2-0 game and took the loss to drop his record to 0-5. Mccardell went 6+ innings and gave up 3 runs on 9 hits along with a walk and three strikeouts along with a homerun to lower his era to 4.55 on the year. Michael Allen then came on and was not very good in this one. Allen only got 2 guys out and gave up 5 runs on 4 hits along with a walk to raise his era on the year to 4.09. Cole Devries made his return to AA and it was not a very good one. Devries went 1.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits along with a strikeout to raise his era on the year to a very robust 5.32.

• The Rockcats really could not do much against Portland pitching until it was too late to make a difference. The Rockcats scored only 3 runs on only 5 hits along with drawing 6 walks and leaving 7 guys on base. The Rockcats did not help themselves as they committed an error. Yancarlos Ortiz committed his third error of the season for the Rockcats. The Rockcats were led offensively by Yangervis Solarte who went 2-4 at the plate with his 3rd homerun with the Rockcats and drove in three runs to bring his season rbi total up to 12 and his average up to .309. Rene Tosoni, Erik Lis, and Mark Dolenc each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Today, the Rockcats continue their series with Portland as Tyler Robertson gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 12:00 in Portland as the Rockcats try to get back on the winning side of things.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 3 (21-28) Brevard County 2

• The Miracle were able to come on top in a hard fought pitchers duel and got just enough hitting to pull out a 3-2 victory over Brevard County Saturday night. Adrian Salcedo got the start for Fort Myers and had a so so start, but what he did well was damage control as he gave up 10 hits but only 2 of them scored. It is pretty obvious that Salcedo is a little above his head in Fort Myers, but he has shown some moxie to not make this a total disaster. Salcedo has shown all the talent that he posseses and it is obvious that the 19 year old is going to be something special for the Twins. In a couple weeks he will go back down to either Elizabethton or Beloit and dominate like he has the potential to do. Even though his numbers do not look great he has been everything that we could have hoped he would be and the sky is the limit for Salcedo. Salcedo went 4.2 innings in this game and gave up two runs on 10 hits along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.27. Andrei Lobanov then came on and was awesome once again for the Miracle. Lobanov picked up his first win of the year as he went 2.1 scoreless innings on only two hits along with two walks and four strikeouts to lower his era to 1.59 on the year. The 20 year old from Moscow has really shown some good potential as he has been the Miracle's best reliever since he got to Fort Myers. Lobanov was scheduled to close for Elizabethton and it will be interesting to see if they continue that plan or keep him in Fort Myers he has been that good. Tony Davis then came on and pitched two shutout innings to pick up his first save on two hits along with three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.96 for the Miracle.

• The Miracle did not do much offensively in this one, but they did not need much with the good pitching out of the Miracles pitchers. The Miracle scored 3 runs on 10 hits along with drawing 4 walks and leaving 6 guys on base. Esterlin De Los Santos committed his 3rd and 4th errors since his demotion. The Miracle were led offensively by Chris Parmelee who went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .340 on the year. Chris Hermann went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .238. Nathan Hanson went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .231. Deibinson Romero went 1-4 at the plate with his second homerun of the year and his 16th rbi. Esterlin De Los Santos, Evan Bigley, and Jon Goncalves each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Miracle.

• Today, the Miracle finish off their series with Brevard County as Shooter Hunt gets a spot start for the Miracle as Brad Tippett gets back into form. Gametime is at 12:00 in Brevard County as the Miracle try to win their 2nd straight game as they try to get back into playoff contention.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 3 (26-24) Peoria 2 12 innings

• The Snappers needed 12 innings in order to stop their 8 game losing streak last night with a 3-2 victory over Peoria behind good pitching from Brad Stillings and a James Beresford rbi single in the top of 12th inning to pick up the win for the Snappers. Brad Stillings got the start for the Snappers and was very good. Stillings went 7 innings and only gave up an unearned run on one hit along with three walks and five strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 5.10. This was by far the best start of the year for Stillings who was a 7th round pick in the 2009 draft out of Kent State so the talent is there. Stillings needs to work on being a little bit more consistant on the mound, but the talent is obviously there and heres hoping that the 22 year old can pull it together and live up to his promise. Jhon Garcia then came on and pitched two shutout innings on a hit along with one walk and three strikeouts to lower his era to 2.08. Dakota Watts then came on pitched two innings to pick up the win and move his record on the year to 2-1. Watts worked two innings and gave up a run on a hit on a homerun with a walk and two strikeouts to raise his era to 2.16. Kane Holbrooks worked a scoreless inning to pick up his 6th save of the year on one hit to lower his era on the year to 1.23. Holbrooks has done enough in my opinion to deserve a promotion to Fort Myers as he has been utterly dominant as the Snappers closer and is ready for a new challenge.

• The Snappers could not get much going offensively, but got enough to pick up the win for the Snappers. The Snappers scored 3 runs on only 7 hits along with drawing 4 walks and leaving 9 guys on base. Brad Stillings committed his 1st and 2nd errors of the year in the Snappers win. The Snappers were led offensively by James Beresford who went 2-4 at the plate with the game winning single along with his 13th and 14th rbi's and 5th stolen base to bring his average up to .241. Angel Morales went 2-5 at the plate with his eighth double of the year to bring his average up to .259. Josmil Pinto went 1-4 at the plate with his 16th rbi. Aaron Hicks went 1-4 at the plate along with two walks. Daniel Santana also contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Snappers.

• Today, the Snappers continue their series with Peoria as BJ Hermsen gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 1:00pm in Peoria as the Snappers try to win their second straight game.