Travis Talks Minnesota Sports podcast returns tonight at 9pm

The Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast will be making its return tonight May, 17th with a very fun show. First off I will be joined by Seth Stohs of SethSpeaks.net and we will talk some minor league talk to get you ready for the Twins Minor League Weekly show tommorrow night that will be hosted by Seth and myself. Then I will have Fanatic Jack Steal on and we will discuss the Twins in depth and I am sure have a few disagreements and there is one topic that I am going to debate him on that you sure don't want to miss. So join us tonight at 9pm for the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast at http://blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk.

Monday, May, 17th

Twins Talk

Twins 6 (23-14) Yankees 3

• Seriously what are the odds that the Twins would break their 12 game losing streak to the Yankees like this. It is so surreal that the way they break this jinx is a 5 run rally in the 8th inning against Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera two of the best relievers in all of the American League. After going into the eighth trailing the Yankees 3-1 and on the verge of being 0-13 the last two years and having to answer why you can't beat the Yankees this was the most unlikely rally that i have seen in quite some time and if nothing else maybe it gives them a belief that they can win in Yankee Stadium if hopefully their is a return trip in October. In the eighth inning Denard Span worked a long at bat into a base hit to left and Orlando Hudson forced him before Chamberlain walked Joe Mauer and struck out Justin Morneau. Michael Cuddyer then hit a line drive that all weekend long the Yankee defenders were catching but Mark Teixeira dropped the ball then kicked it to load the bases for Jim Thome. However, the Yankees countered with bringing the greatest closer of my lifetime in Mariano Rivera so the game is over right well not so fast. Jim Thome had a nice at bat and layed off a tough pitch to work out a walk to bring the Twins within 3-2. Up walked Jason Kubel who has really struggled so far this year, but that all changed when he took an inside cutter and deposited it in the right field stands for a grand slam and a 6-3 Twins lead. After Jon Rauch gave up base hits to the first 2 hitters in the 9th he struck out Derek Jeter, Brett Gardner, and Mark Teixeira to pull off the miraculous win for the Twins. Nick Blackburn got the start and kept the Twins in the game with another very good outing. Blackburn went 7 innings and gave up three runs on 9 hits along with a walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his era to 4.63 and improved his record to 4-3 on the year. Brian Duensing then came on in the eighth and got two outs along with a walk to lower his era to 1.84 on the year. Matt Guerrier followed by picking up a strikeout to get out of the inning to drop his era to 2.12. Jon Rauch pitched a scorless ninth to pick up his 10th save in 11 opportunities on the year and lowered his era to 1.80.

• The Twins could not do a whole lot against Yankee spot starter Sergio Mitre, but did good against their bullpen. The Twins put up 6 runs on 9 hits along with drawing five walks and leaving six guys on base. The Twins were led by Jason Kubel with that big homerun in the 8th inning. He went 1-4 at the plate with his 3rd homerun and drove in four to bring his season total up to 15. Orlando Hudson went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .285 on the year. Denard Span went 1-5 at the plate along with his ninth stolen base of the year. Justin Morneau went 1-4 at the plate with his 9th homerun of the year and his 25th rbi. Michael Cuddyer, Jim Thome, Matt Tolbert, and Nick Punto each contributed hits in the winning cause for the Twins.

• Tonight, the Twins begin a short two game series with the Toronto Blue Jays as Kevin Slowey gets the start for the Twins vs Dana Eveland for the Blue Jays. Gametime is at 6:05 in Toronto.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 4 (15-22) Louisville 3

• Yesterday must have been the day for comeback wins for the Twins in their organization as the Red Wings pulled out a 4-3 win over Lousville. The Red Wings trailed 3-0 going into the 7th inning, but a 4 run rally got the Red Wings into the winners circle. Jeff Manship got the start and he struggled, but worked out of some jams to keep the team in the game. Manship went 5.1 innings and gave up 2 earned runs on seven hits along with four walks and five strikeouts to lower his era to 3.93. The Twins need better performances out of Jeff Manship than this because he is the first in line if there is an injury to a pitcher and performances like this are not going to get it done. That is not to say that he is pitching bad because he isn't, but there is more expected out of Manship then he is showing right now and that is because he has the potential to be a middle of the rotation starter for the Twins not a so so pitcher in AAA. So hopefully he can find himself and pitch up to his capabilities. Tim Lahey then came on and had his best performance in quite a while pitching 1.2 shutout innings with two strikeouts to pick up his 2nd win of the year and lower his era to 7.76. Rob Delaney then came on and pitched a scoreless eighth inning on a hit along with two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.68. Anthony Slama came on and pitched a perfect 9th inning to pick up his 8th save of the year and lowered his era to 1.85.

• It took until the 7th inning for the Red Wings offense to wake up from its slumber and in all scored 4 runs on 8 hits along with drawing four walks and leaving six guys on base. The more disappointing part was Trevor Plouffe committed two more errors and has 4 in the last 2 games and 8 on the season. That is something he is going to have to cleanup if he is going to make it up with the Twins. The Red Wings were led by who else offensively Dustin Martin went 2-4 at the plate to improve his average on the year to .339 a year after hitting .254 so we don't know how long this is going to last for Martin, but Red Wings fans will go along for the ride as long as it goes on. Danny Valencia went 1-4 at the plate to extend his hitting streak to a career high 20 games and is now hitting .305. Trevor Plouffe made up for his errors by going 1-2 at the plate with his 10th double of the year and his 20th rbi. Brian Dinkelman, Jose Morales, Jacque Jones, and Brock Peterson each contributed base hits in the winning cause. Jose Morales got his first start of the year behind the plate and allowed one stolen base.

• Tonight, the Red Wings finish off their series with Louisville as Matt Fox takes the ball for Rochester. Gametime is at 6:05 at Frontier Field in Rochester as they try to win their second consecutive game over the Bats of Louisville.

New Britain Business

Harrisburg 2 New Britain (7-28)

• After getting a rare win Saturday night the Rockcats returned to their former form by wasting a good pitching performance by David Bromberg and going down to Harrisburg by a score of 2-1. David Bromberg got the start and went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with four walks and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.58 and drop his record on the year to 1-2. The only thing that concerns me on a pretty solid outing was his four walks. After having control problems two years ago in Beloit, but seemed to right that ship last year in Fort Myers. However, this season he has walked a few more guys than I would like as he has walked 19 batters in just over 37 innings which is not terrible, but is a little bit much for a starting pitcher especially in the Twins organization that they stress throwing strikes. I know it is early and by the end of the season he could very easily have this issue cleaned up, but right now this should be something that he emphathizes when working in bullpen. Chris Province then came on and did very well pitching two shutout innings on one hit along with a strikeout and most importantly no walks to lower his era to 6.65. Joe Testa then came on and got an out to lower his era on the year to 6.75. Santos Arias then came out and got two outs along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 4.82.

• Just has been the problem all season the Rockcats could not score any runs as they were limited to 1 run on 7 hits along with drawing five walks and left 8 guys on base along with commiting 2 errors, one by Joe Benson, his 2nd of the year, and David Bromberg, his 1st of the year. The Rockcats were led by Joe Benson who went 1-3 at the plate with his 5th homerun of the year and his 9th rbi. Esterlin De Los Santos, Yangervis Solarte, Rene
  Tosoni, Tobey Gardenhire, Steve Singleton, Mark Dolenc, and Alex Soto each contributed a hit in the losing cause.

• The Rockcats have today off before beginning a series against Portland in Portland tommorrow night.

Fort Myers Minutes

Clearwater 9 Fort Myers 5 (16-20)

• The Miracle suffered a tough loss last night to Clearwater and it was not pretty by any sense of the word. Not only did they go through almost a two hour rain delay, but also committed 5 errors. Michael Tarsi got the start for the Miracle and was not very good in this one but was not helped out by his defense at all. Tarsi went 5 innings and gave up 7 runs although only 5 were earned on 6 hits along with three walks and two strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 4.61 and dropped his record to 2-4. Tarsi has really struggled in the month of May after getting off to a decent start in April. In April Tarsi had a 4.32 era in 5 starts, while in May his era has ballooned up to 5.06 in three May starts. Tarsi does not throw hard enough for him to not be on with his location so here is hoping that he can figure it out because once Stuifbergen gets to Fort Myers he is looking like the guy who will go to the bullpen if he doesn't improve. Tony Davis then came on and pitched two innings and gave up a run on a hit along with two walks to lower his era on the year to 4.05. Loek Van Mil continued his comeback from elbow issues to pitch one inning and give up a run on three hits along with a strikeout to raise his era to 4.50. Andrei Lobanov pitch a scoreless ninth on one hit along with two strikeouts to finish off the game.

• The Miracle had plenty of hits in this one, but were only able to score five runs even though they had 14 hits. They also drew a walk and left 8 guys on base, but they committed 5 errors a season high. The errors were committed by Chris Hermann, his 2nd of the year, Chris Cates, his 10th of the year, Dan Rohlfing, his fourth of the year, Paul Kelly, his 2nd of the year, and Nick Romero who committed his first of the year. The Miracle were led by Chris Hermann who went 3-4 at the plate with his 7th double of the year and 3 rbi's to bring his season total to 11. With the three hits Hermann is now hitting .262. Chris Cates went 3-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .202. Nathan Hanson went 2-4 at the plate with his fourth double of the year to bring his average on the year up to .250. Paul Kelly went 2-5 at the plate with his 4th rbi to bring his average up to .286. Brandon Roberts went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average on the year up to .333. Deibinson Romero and Evan Bigley each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Clearwater as they send out Liam Hendriks who is making his second start for the Miracle. Gametime is at 6:05 in Clearwater as the Miracle tries to rebound from the loss.

Beloit Beat

Wisconsin 3 Beloit 1 (22-15)

• The Snappers lost a tough game to Wisconsin yesterday and an opportunity to sweep the series against the Rattlers by going down 3-1 yesterday. They wasted a great outing by Michael Tonkin who showed what he is capable of and that he should not be overlooked with guys like Hermsen, Salcedo, and Weller in his level. Tonkin pitched 7 shutout innings on only three hits and took a no hitter into the 6th inning along with 6 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.45. Tonkin who many know is the brother in law of Twins designated hitter Jason Kubel, really showed everythign has he kept the hitters off balance and made it very hard to put the fat part of the bat on the ball. It will be interesting to see if he can build off of this start and continue pitching well for the Snappers. On the other end of the spectrum though is Ben Tootle who saw his struggles early in the season continue. Tootle gave up 3 runs on 3 hits along with a strikeout in one inning of work to raise his era on the year to 7.64 and lower his record to 0-1.

• The Snappers could not do much offensively in this one as they were only able to push one run across on 8 hits and did not draw a walk while leaving 7 guys on base while Brian Dozier committed his 5th error of the year. The Snappers were led offensively by Anderson Hidalgo who went 2-3 at the plate to bring his average up to .340 on the season. James Beresford went 1-4 at the plate along with his 4th stolen base to bring his average on the year to .235. Aaron Hicks went 1-4 at the plate to bring his average down to .272. Brian Dozier, Steve Liddle, Josmil Pinto, and Reggie Williams each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Snappers.

• The Snappers have today off before having a doubleheader tommorrow versus Kane County in Beloit.

Sunday, May, 16th

Twins Talk
Yankees 7 Twins 1 (22-14)

• I am starting to wonder what the Twins need to do to get a win against the Yankees as they Yankees extended their winning streak over the Twins to 12 games with a 7-1 victory yesterday afternoon in the Bronx. In this series the bullpen has been the problem giving up 8 runs in 6 innings in this series, while the Twins offense did not do much to help Twins starter Francisco Liriano. Liriano got the start for the Twins and was effective, but not spectacular in this game. We as Twins fans have been spoiled by Liriano thus far this season as when he gives up more than a run or two we think it is a bad start. In this one he had a quality start in that he went 6 innings and only gave up three runs on nine hits along with seven strikeouts to raise his era to 2.63 on the year and drop his record on the season to 4-2. Liriano had his 6th quality start in his 7 outings and has really become the ace of the staff. To hold that Yankee lineup to 3 runs in 6 innings I think is quite a feat. He did give up a few to many hits, but 8 of the 9 hits were singles and has yet to give up a homerun in 48.2 innings. Jesse Crain came on in the 7th and to quote fellow blogger Fanatic Jack it was a Crain Wreck. Crain got only one out and gave up three runs on two hits along with a walk to raise his era to 6.75. Ron Mahey then came on and gave up a homerun and got two outs to give up his first runs of the year to increase his era to 0.90. Jose Mijares pitched a perfect 8th inning to lower his era to 6.23.

• The Twins bats went silent in this one against Yankees starter Andy Pettitte as they managed one run on seven hits along with drawing four walks and leaving eight guys on base in this one. The Twins were led by Justin Morneau who went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .366. Joe Mauer went 1-4 at the plate with his 17th rbi of the year in the losing cause. Orlando Hudson, Brendan Harris, Alexi Casilla, and Drew Butera each contributed hits in the game against the Yankees.

• Today, the Twins try to salvage the last game of the series as they send Nick Blackburn to the mound against Yankee starter Sergio Mitre as Blackburn tries to turn in his third straight quality start for the Twins. Gametime is at 12:05 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Rochester Wrap

Louisville 12 Rochester 9 (14-22)

• The Red Wings could not build off their win Friday night as they lost again to Louisville last night by a score of 12-9 thanks to another rough outing by Glen Perkins. Perkins got the start and got shelled again, but if his defense hadn't let him down it would not have been as bad as it ended up being. Perkins went 5+ innings and gave up 7 runs on 7 hits although thanks to two errors only 4 of the 7 runs were earned along with 3 strikeouts and giving up two homeruns to drop his record on the year to 0-5 and actually lower his era to 10.08 on the year. Glen Perkins is someone I just can't figure out as he was a solid pitcher for the Twins just a couple seasons ago and now he has turned into this. In 27.2 innings of work he has given up 31 earned runs. I have heard rumblings that he is pitching hurt, but I just can't see the Twins allowing someone to keep pitching if there was something wrong with him. The bottom line is Glen Perkins is on the verge of being sent to the bullpen and possibly if that doesn't help on the edge of being without a job and this is the most unbelievable decline I have ever seen as he was a solid starter just a few short years ago and now look at him he is getting shelled in the minor leagues. Cole Devries then came on and threw gas on the fire going one inning and giving up four runs on four hits along with two walks and a strikeout to raise his era to 11.57. Jose Lugo then came in and pitched two innings and gave up a run on two hits along with three strikeouts to lower his era to 7.83 on the year. Anthony Slama pitched a perfect ninth along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 1.93.

• The Red Wings picked a good time to get the bats going even though the pitching staff imploded and did not allow them a chance to win. They did put up 9 runs on 15 hits along with drawing 4 walks and leaving 8 guys on base. They did commit two errors that hurt them, which were both by Trevor Plouffe, his 5th and 6th errors of the season. The Red Wings were led offensively by Danny Valencia who continued his red hot month of May by going 3-5 with his 12th and 13th doubles of the year and drove in three runs to bring his rbi total up to 20 and his average up to high water mark of .307. It is amazing how he has come on in May compared to April. In April he hit only .256 with an ops of .652, but in May he has been on fire hitting .388 with an ops of .922. If Valencia can keep this up it won't be long till he is up with the Twins showing what he can do. Another guy that is hot for the Red Wings is Jose Morales who in two games for Rochester is 8-9 at the plate. In this one Morales went 3-4 at the plate with his 2nd rbi to bring his average to .889. Brian Dinkelman went 3-4 at the plate also to bring his average up to .289 on the season. Brock Peterson went 2-2 at the plate with his fourth homerun and drove in two runs to bring his rbi total on the year to 15 and his average up to .243. Trevor Plouffe went 2-5 at the plate with his ninth double of the year along with his 19th rbi to bring his average up to .297. Dustin Martin went 2-5 at the plate with his 31st rbi of the year to bring his average up to .333.

• Today, the Red Wings finish off their series with Louisville as they send Jeff Manship to the mound for Rochester. Gametime is at 12:05 at Frontier Field in Rochester as the Red Wings try to bounce back.

New Britain Business

New Britain 6 (7-27) Harrisburg 0

• Last night was the highly touted debut of starting pitcher Kyle Gibson in a AA uniform and man did he not disappoint in a 6-0 win for New Britain to break a 7 game losing streak for the Rockcats over Harrisbrug. Gibson in this one was everything that we thought he could be and more. Gibson went 7.1 innings and did not give up a run on only 4 hits along with a walk and an impressive 10 strikeouts. The most impressive part of his night in my mind was of the 22 outs that he recorded only 3 of them were on fly balls. He is a groundball pitcher who will get plenty of ground balls, but what is impressive to me is he throws between 92-94 with good breaking pitches in that he is able to get strikeouts as well. Really the sky is the limit for Gibson as realistically he could be pitching for the Twins right now, but I understand why they want to take their time with him. I am curious to see if he can follow up this outing with good outings the next couple of months and possibly get the call to Rochester before the year is up. You can write it down right here and now that I predict that Kyle Gibson will start the 2011 season in a Twins uniform. Joe Testa came in relief and got two outs along with a walk to lower his era to 6.89 on the year. The rejuvanation of Testa has been something behold as in May he has pitched 8.1 scoreless innings, while in April he had a 14.73 era and appeared on his way back to Fort Myers. However, now he is one of the most consistant pitchers out of the bullpen for the Rockcats and it will be interesting to see if he can keep it going. Matt Williams pitched a scoreless ninth inning along with a strikeout to lower his era to 6.23.

• The Rockcats offense even got into the act in this one scoring 6 runs on 11 hits along with drawing 3 walks and leaving 5 guys on base. Even though they did commit an error by Esterlin De Los Santos, his 10th of the year, they still came out on top. The Rockcats were led offensively by new Rockcat Yangervis Solarte who went 2-4 at the plate with his first homerun and second double of the year and drove in his first and second runs of the year. Steve Singleton went 2-4 at the plate with his seventh double of the year and had his fifth rbi to bring his average up to .248. Juan Portes also went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .179. Ben Revere went 1-5 at the plate with his first homerun of the year and drove in two runs to bring his season total up to 10. Esterlin De Los Santos, Joe Benson, Mark Dolenc, and Tobey Gardenhire each contributed base hits in the winning cause for the Rockcats.

• Today, the Rockcats continue their series with Harrisburg as David Bromberg tries to rebound from his worst start of the season. Gametime is at 1pm in Harrisburg as the Rockcats try to win their second straight game.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 6 (16-19) Bradenton 5

• The Miracle pulled off quite a comeback coming back from a 5-0 hole going into the bottom of the 7th before scoring 6 runs in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead and holding on for the victory over Bradenton. Blake Martin got his first start of the season and working on getting more endurance so he only lasted 3 innings. He was effective in those three innings giving up a run on five hits along with two walks and a strikeout to lower his era to 3.43 on the year. It was a good start for Martin and will get some starts until Tom Stuifbergen is ready to move up to Fort Myers. Shooter Hunt then came on and if you needed a lesson on not getting to far ahead of yourself this was the game to look at. After pitching very effective lately fans were wondering why Martin was starting instead of Shooter Hunt and last night we found out why. Hunt went 2 innings and gave up four runs on no hits along with 4 walks and two strikeouts to raise his era up to 5.66 on the year. Hunt had no idea where the ball was going and it showed in this outing so we need to temper our expectations and just let him take it slow and try to put this outing behind him and just get better every day. Andrei Lobanov then came on and got the two batters that he was asked to get. Steve Blevins then came on and pitched 2 shutout innings to pick up his first FSL victory on two hits along with a walk and a strikeout. Billy Bulluck pitched the last 1.1 innings to pick up his 8th save of the year on two hits along with two strikeouts to lower his era to 2.89.

• Better late then never is the moniker that has to go to Fort Myers offense in this one as they scored 6 runs in the 7th to win. They scored 6 runs on 10 hits along drawing 3 walks and leaving 10 guys on base. The Miracle were led offensively by Evan Bigley who went 2-3 at the plate with his eigth rbi of the year to bring his average up to .219. Nathan Hanson went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .237. Brandon Roberts went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average up to .327. Nick Romero went 1-3 at the plate with his 2nd double of the year. Jair Fernandez went 1-3 at the plate with his third double of the year and his 7th and 8th rbi's of the year. Paul Kelly and Ramon Santana each contributed hits in the winning cause for the Miracle.

• Today, the Miracle begin a series with Clearwater with Michael Tarsi getting the start for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 3:05 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers as the Miracle try to win again today.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 4 (22-14) Wisconsin 3

• The Snappers won their third consecutive game yesterday afternoon and gained first place all alone with a 4-3 victory over Wisconsin. Edgar Ibarra got the start for the Snappers and did a decent job. Ibarra went five innings and gave up a run on four hits along with four walks and six strikeouts to lower his era to 3.51. Peter Kennelly got 2 outs and gave up two unearned runs along with two walks to lower his era to 6.86. Dakota Watts pitched 1.2 scoreless innings along with three walks to pick up his first win of the year and lower his era to 2.66. Matt Tone then came on and pitched a scoreless inning of relief on two hits to lower his era to 3.43. Kane Holbrooks pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his fourth save of the year on one hit along with a strikeout to lower his era to 0.83.

• The Snappers did not do a whole lot offensively, but just enough to get the win. The Snappers scored 4 runs on only 5 hits along with drawing 5 walks and leaving 7 guys on base and committing an error by Dakota Watts, his 1st of the year in the winning cause. The Snappers were led by Brian Dozier who went 1-3 with his 6th double of the year and his 14th rbi. Aaron Hicks, Anderson Hidalgo, Danny Rams, and Wang Wei Lin each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Snappers

• Today, the Snappers continue their series with Wisconsin as Michael Tonkin gets his second start for Beloit. Gametime is at 1:05 in Appleton as the Snappers try to sweep Wisconsin.

Saturday, May, 15th

Twins Talk
New York Yankees 8 Twins 4 (22-13)

• The Twins came on the short end of a tough 8-4 loss last night to the Yankees. What made it tougher was the usually effective Matt Guerrier gave up a grand slam to Alex Rodriguez that turned a Twins 4-3 lead into a Yankee 7-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. I know everyone is going to throw Gardy and Matt Guerrier under the bus for it not working out, but it was the right decision to make. I realize that A-Rod going into the at bat was 4-6 with 3 homeruns lifetime against Guerrier, but at the end of the day Guerrier is the best set up person in the bullpen. That is the kind of at bat that the Twins have Guerrier for it just so happened that A-Rod won the battle. If that situation happened 100 times I would bring in Guerrier 100 times and 90 percent of the time I really feel that Guerrier will get the job done. It is not like the Twins have a lot of choices right now with Pat Neshek on the disabled list and Jesse Crain not pitching well right now. My feelings are if you are going to get beat get beat with your best and that is Matt Guerrier so yes I am disappointed that it did not work out, but I can live with it because I believe that Gardy made the right call it just did not work out. Scott Baker got the start for the Twins and was better than his line would indicate. If I was manager I would have taken Baker out of 6 innings and not sent him out there for the 7th inning. I know that the two hits he gave up were kind of lucky, but I think he was spent after the 6th inning. In all Baker went 6+ innings and gave up 5 runs on 10 hits along with a walk and a season high 9 strikeouts to raise his era to 4.93 and lowered his record to 4-3. Brian Duensing then came on with runners on 2nd and 3rd and no out and got the first guy to pop up before intentionally walking Mark Teixeira to raise his era to 1.93. Matt Guerrier then came on and gave up the grand slam and got the two outs that followed to raise his era to 2.16. Jose Mijares came back and gave up a run on two hits to raise his era to 8.10 on the year. Alex Burnett finished the game going 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit along with a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 3.63.

• The Twins had opportunities against Yankees starter AJ Burnett especially in the early innings and could not knock him out. The Twins scored 4 runs on 9 hits along with drawing five walks including a bases loaded walk by Nick Punto along with leaving eight guys on base in this one. The Twins were led by guess who Joe Mauer who went 3-4 at the plate with his second homerun of the year and a base hit in the seventh inning that tied the game at 3 to bring his average up to .364 and his rbi total up to 16 with his 2 rbi's. Justin Morneau went 2-4 at the plate with his 9th double of the year that put the Twins up 4-3 in the 7th inning and his 24th rbi to bring his average up to .361. Jason Kubel came out of his slump a little bit going 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .224. Denard Span and Orlando Hudson each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Twins in this game against the Yankees.

• Today, the Twins send ace Francisco Liriano to the mound against Andy Pettite in a afternoon mantinee. Gametime is at 12:07 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx as the Twins try to even the series.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 13 (14-21) Louisville 4

• The Red Wings had an offensive outpouring against uber prospect Aroldis Chapman of Louisville as they romped to a 13-4 win last night at Frontier Field. Ryan Mullins got the start for Rochester and was alright once again. He was not great as he never is, but he kept the team in the game like he always does and let the offense get him some runs. Mullins went 6.2 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on nine hits along with a walk and four strikeouts to lower his era to 4.50 and improve his record to 3-2 on the year. You could make a case for the fact that Mullins has been the most consistant pitcher as they have had quite a bit of turnover with Mullins being a constant in the lineup and giving them a chance to win every time out there. Kyle Waldrop continued his good start of the season pitching the last 2.1 innings on only one hit along with two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.73. Waldrop has been the biggest surprise for me in the whole organization as he far exceeded what I felt he was capable of.

• It may be a coincidence with the arrival of Wilson Ramos and Jose Morales to the lineup for the Red Wings to have their most explosive offensive game of the season. The Red Wings in this one scored a season high 13 runs on a season high 20 hits along with drawing 6 walks to leave 10 guys on base. Dustin Martin committed an error, his 4th of the year, in the winning cause. Jose Morales knows how to make an entrance after missing the first 6 weeks of the year with wrist surgery, he went 5-5 at the plate with his first double and first rbi. Jason Repko continued his hot start to the season going 4-4 at the plate with his fourth double of the year and drove in four runs to bring his season total up to 12 and his average up to .320. Danny Valencia continued his hot May going 3-5 at the plate with his 11th double and his 17th rbi of the year to bring his average up to .295. Valencia got off to a slow start, but in May he has been crushing the ball as his .364 May average would attest to compared to his .256 April average. Just look at his OPS in April he had a .652 OPS and in May it has jumped to .846. If he keeps this up he will force his way up to Minnesota and into the Twins lineup. Jacque Jones had a good game going 2-4 at the plate with his sixth double and his sixth and seventh rbi's to bring his average up to .281. Brock Peterson went 2-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .228. Not to be outdone Red Wings top hitter Dustin Martin went 2-5 at the plate with his seventh double and drove in two runs to bring his season total up to 30 and his average up to .330. Trevor Plouffe went 1-5 at the plate with his third homerun and drove in three runs to bring his total up to 18. Wilson Ramos made his return to Rochester by going 1-5 with his second double of the year.

• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Louisville as Glen Perkins gets the start for Rochester as he tries to get on track as he brings in his 11.12 era into this start. Gametime is at 6:05 at Frontier Field in Rochester.

New Britain Business

Harrisburg 9 New Britain 3 (6-27)

• The Rockcats saw their losing streak hit seven games with a 9-3 loss last night to Harrisburg as when you think it can't get any worse for New Britain it obviously does as they have to be close to be hitting rock bottom as they try to get back to the .500 level before the end of the year. Mike Mccardell got the start for the Rockcats and was not very good in this one. Mccardell only lasted 3.2 innings in this one and gave up six runs on eight hits although only 4 of them were earned thanks in part with two Rockcat errors. Mccardell also walked two batters while striking out one to raise his era on the year to 4.70 and dropped his record to 0-4. Michael Allen then came on and pitched two innings and gave up two runs on three hits along with a walk and two strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 2.08. Santos Arias then came on and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings on two hits along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era to 5.00. Arias has to be the biggest disappointement on the entire New Britain team and possibly in the whole organization as much was expected of him and his 0-5 record and 5 era is not what most people were expecting out of Arias. Matt Williams mopped up pitching an inning and giving up one run on one hit along with a walk and two strikeouts to raise his era up to 8.10 as Williams has had a rough start to AA hitting.

• The Rockcats in this game did not do enough offensively with the pitching doing as poor as they did. The Rockcats scored 3 runs on 7 hits along with drawing only one walk and leaving six guys on base. To make matters worse New Britain committed two errors which led to two Harrisburg runs. Mike Mccardell committed his first error and Steve Singleton committed his 5th. The Rockcats were led by Ben Revere who went 3-4 at the plate with his eighth rbi of the year to bring his average up to .292. Mark Dolenc went 1-4 at the plate with his first triple of the year. Steve Singleton, Joe Benson, and Chris Parmelee each contributed hits in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Harrisburg as the Rockcats will see the much balleyood AA debut of Kyle Gibson. Gametime is at 6:05 in Harrisburg as the Rockcats try to stop their seven game losing streak in this one.

Fort Myers Minutes

Bradenton 1 Fort Myers 0 (15-19)

• The Miracle suffered a hard fought and tough loss to take 1-0 decision to first place Bradenton. The Miracle got an awesome performance by staff ace Bruce Pugh in this one, but the offense could not get any runs for him. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other team because games like this are fun to watch it just so happened that the Miracle came on the wrong end of this one as between the two teams their were only 6 hits. Bruce Pugh got the start and he was awesome throwing his best outing of the year and after getting off to a rough start has really taken the bull by the horns and is the ace of this staff along with Liam Hendriks. Pugh went 7 strong innings in this one without giving up only one hit and no runs along with one walk and an impressive 10 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 3.40. Pugh has been awesome as of late as in his last 26 innings of work he has only given up 4 runs a 1.38 era which spans 4 starts. More impressive than that in those 4 starts he has walked six batters which is very good while striking out 36 batters. I admit that I was not real high on Pugh when the season started, but he has really caught my eye and am curious to see if he can keep it going as the talent is there as he was a 19th round pick in the 2008 draft out of a small school. To look at the improvement of Pugh in April he was 1-3 with a 4.79 in four starts, while in May he is 1-1 with a 1.89 era in 3 May starts. Loek Van Mil then came on and took the loss giving up one run on a hit along with a strikeout to raise his era to 3.00 in his one inning of work.

• In pitching duels like this you are not going to get many hits and the Miracle really didn't as they mustered only four hits in this one along with drawing one walk and committing an error by Paul Kelly, his first of the year, in this one while leaving four guys on base so they did not have many chances and when they did they squandered them. The Miracle were led by Brandon Roberts who went 1-4 at the plate with his sixth stolen base of the year. Chris Hermann, Nathan Hanson, and Dan Rohlfing each contributed base hits in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Bradenton as Blake Martin makes his first start of the year for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05pm in Bradenton as the Miracle try to end their 2 game losing streak.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 5 (20-14) Wisconsin 3

Beloit 2 (21-14) Wisconsin 1

• The Snappers regained a piece of first place with a doubleheader sweep of Wisconsin in Appelton by scores of 5-3 and 2-1. In game 1 Brad Stillings got the start and was good going 5+ innings and giving up two earned runs on nine hits along with a walk and six strikeouts to lower his era to 5.04 and improved his record to 2-2. With Liam Hendriks gone and Tom Stuifbergen on the disabled list Stillings has to pick it up because you don't know what you are going to get from the young starters in Hermsen and Tonkin so it was good that he had a good start in this one. Dakota Watts then came on and got two outs one via the strikeout to lower his era on the year to 2.86. Nelson Prada then brought in closer Kane Holbrooks and he did a great job going 1.1 scoreless innings to pick up his 3rd save on only one hit along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 0.87. What is more impressive is his strikeout/walk rate. In 20.2 innings Holbrooks has only walked 3 batters while striking out an impressive 27 batters. In game 2 BJ Hermsen made his Beloit debut and was very good in this one. Hermsen went five innings and gave up a run on four hits along with two strikeouts and two walks. Hermsen's upside is so high that it will be interesting to see how he does in Beloit as he is only 20 years old. Jhon Garcia then came on and pitched 2 shutout innings on no hits along with a walk and a strikeout. Eliecer Cardenas then came on and pitched the last 3 innings to pick up his second win of the year on three hits along with two walks and four strikeouts.

• Offensively in game 1 the Snappers scored 5 runs on 9 hits along with drawing one walk and leaving six guys on base while Steve Liddle committed his second error of the year in this one. The Snappers were led by Danny Rams who went 2-3 at the plate with his first homerun of the year and his 4th and 5th rbi's to bring his average up to .227. Brian Dozier also went 2-3 at the plate with his fifth double of the year to bring his average up to .283 on the year. Anderson Hidalgo went 1-2 at the plate with his ninth double to bring his average up to .321. Aaron Hicks, James Beresford, Steve Liddle, and Angel Morales each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Snappers. In game 2 their was not much offense as the Snappers only mustered 2 runs on 7 hits along with drawing three walks and leaving four guys on base and committing an error by BJ Hermsen, his first of the year, in the winning cause. The Snappers were led by Josmil Pinto who went 2-4 with his second homerun of the year and his sixth double along with his 11th and 12th rbi's to bring his average up to .239. Anderson Hidalgo went 2-4 at the plate also to bring his average on the year to .330. James Beresford, Steve Liddle, and Reggie Williams each contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Snappers.

• Today, the Snappers continue their series with Wisconsin as Edgar Ibarra gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 1:05 in Appleton.

Friday, May, 14

I am back after a stressful week with finals I am finally done with school so I will consistantly be bringing new information to the site along with bringing a new edition of the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast on Monday night at 9pm. Also don't forget to join myself and Seth Stohs on the Twins Minor League weekly podcast Tuesday night at 10pm. So for today I will be coming back with my game recaps. I also have a few other things that I am working on that I will bring the next few days so make Travis Talks a part of your morning reading.



Twins Talk

• The Twins had yesterday off and will begin a big seven game roadtrip with a ever interesting series in the Bronx against the Yankees. The Twins went 0-10 against the Bronx Bombers last year and will want to prove that this year the Twins have a better team and can beat the Yankees. Twins ace Francisco Liriano gets the start for the Twins and will face AJ Burnett for the Yankees with gametime at 6:05 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Rochester Wrap

Indianapolis 8 Rochester 3 (13-21)

• The Red Wings came on the shortend of a tough 8-3 loss to Indianapolis to drop their record on the year to 13-21. Once again the Red Wings got bad pitching and could not hit in this one to fall 6 games out of first. Deolis Guerra made his first AAA start in this one and was so so. Guerra only laster 4+ innings and gave up two earned runs on eight hits along with a walk and three strikeouts. On paper it does not look that bad as he only gave up two earned runs. The problem was he was only able to make it 4+ innings and that is not going to be good enough. Also the 8 hits that he allowed are a few to many, but I think it was a good building block start. The bottom line is Deolis Guerra is only 21 years old and won't turn 22 until next April so he is very young for AAA. He could spend three years in AAA and still be young for the major leagues. I think people need to keep that in mind when they are judging his numbers. I really think the future is bright for Guerra and wouldn't surprise me to see him in a Twins uniform sometime in 2011. Jose Lugo then came on and went one inning and gave up one run on no hits along with two walks to raise his era to 8.14. Tim Lahey then came on and did what he usually does and that is give up runs. Lahey went one inning and gave up two runs on three hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era up to 8.28. At 28 years old and still struggling in AAA you have to wonder how many more chances that the Twins will give him. Rob Delaney then came on and had his first rough outing in quite a while as he worked one inning and gave up two runs on three hits including a homerun along with a strikeout to raise his era to 3.86. Anthony Slama worked a perfect 8th inning to lower his era on the year to 2.01.

• Offensively, the Red Wings were only able to put up three runs on seven hits along with taking two walks and leaving nine guys on base. Dustin Martin like usual led the offense for the Red Wings going 2-4 at the plate with his 28th rbi to bring his average up to .327 on the season. Brian Dinkelman went 1-4 at the plate with his 8th double of the year. Danny Valencia went 1-4 with his 10th double of the year. Jason Repko, Trevor Plouffe, and Matt Macri each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Red Wings in this game.

• The Red Wings tonight begin a homestand with Louisville as Ryan Mullins gets the start for Rochester with first pitch at 6:05 at Frontier Field in Rochester.

New Britain Business

Harrisburg 3 New Britain 1 (6-26)

• The Rockcats have seen their miserable start to the season careen out of control as they are now 20 games under .500. This is turning out to be a historically bad season in New Britain. It is all the more shocking with quite a bit of the Twins top prospects in New Britain. Last night they saw a all too often occurance where their starter had a good outing thwarted thanks to awful hitting. Last night the person that was the victim was Tyler Robertson who had a very good start, but took the loss to drop his record on the year to 0-2. Robertson went 5.2 innings and gave up two runs on seven hits along with two walks and five strikeouts to lower his era to 3.86. Chris Province then came on and pitched the last 2.1 innings and gave up a run on a hit along with a walk to bring his era down to 7.32 on the year.

• Offensively, the Rockcats could only muster a run on five hits along with drawing one walk along leaving four guys on base and committing an error by Yancarlos Ortiz, his second of the year. The Rockcats were led by Joe Benson who went 2-3 at the plate wiht his first triple of the year to bring his average up to .208. After getting off to a really bad start offensively Benson has really gotten it going as of late and his tools are awesome and by seasons end I expect him to put up the numbers that we all expected him at the start of the season. Yangervis Solarte made his AA debut by going 1-3 at the plate with his first double. Ben Revere went 1-4 at the plate with his seventh rbi of the year. Steve Singleton also added a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.

• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Harrisburg as Mike Mccardell gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 6pm in Harrisburg.

Fort Myers Minutes

Tampa 6 Fort Myers 2 (15-18)

• The Miracle had their two game winning streak come to an end with a 6-2 loss to Tampa last night. The Miracle have been playing some really good ball lately to get back in the FSL South division race with a roster that is less than talented then some of their other division champion rosters. In this one Dan Osterbrock got the start and struggled in this one. Osterbrock went 5.1 innings and gave up 6 runs on 11 hits along with 6 strikeouts to raise his era to 5.56 on the year. Osterbrock is not blessed with a very good fastball so he relies on his breaking balls to trick the other team and when his off speed pitches are not on he will get drilled and in this one that is exactly what happened as he dropped his record to 0-2. Andrei Lobanov made his Miracle debut and pitched 1.2 shutout innings on two hits along with two strikeouts. Steve Blevins then came on and made his FSL debut as he pitched a perfect 8th inning.

• Offensively, the Miracle did not do much offensively as they only mustered two runs on six hits along with drawing one walk and leaving four guys on base in this one as they also commited two errors, Drew Thompson commited his ninth and Dan Rohlfing committed his third in this one. The Miracle were led by Brandon Roberts who went 1-4 with his second double and his eighth rbi. Dan Rohlfing went 1-4 at the plate with his 6th double. Paul Kelly, Chris Cates, Drew Thompson, and Michael Harrington each contibuted hits in the losing cause for the Miracle.

• Tonight, the Miracle begin a series with first place Bradenton as Bruce Pugh gets the start for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6pm in Bradenton.

Beloit Beat

Wisconsin 3 Beloit 0 (19-14)

• The Snappers suffered a hard fought loss to Wisconsin last night by a score of 3-0 and waste a good pitching performance by Miguel Munoz. Munoz got the start and went 5.2 innings and gave up two earned runs on eight hits along wtih two walks and five strikeouts to lower his era to 3.89 and dropped his record to 0-2 on the year. Munoz has been one of the most consistant pitchers on the Snappers with his 3.89 era, but has nothing to show for it except two losses. Matt Tone then came on and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings on two hits along with four strikeouts to lower his era to 3.60 on the year. Matt Tone, a 14th round draft pick in 2009, has been everything that the Twins were expecting out of him as he has 25 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. If he can get the walk total down he can be a very big piece to the puzzle going forward as he has a nice fastball and good breaking pitches so he is worth keeping an eye on.

• Offensively, the Snappers did nothing as they were shutout on only five hits along with drawing five walks and leaving 11 guys on base and committing three errors, by Tobias Streich,his 3rd, Miguel Munoz,his 1st, and Brian Dozier, his 4th. The Snappers were led offensively by James Beresford who continued his hot streak by going 3-4 at the plate to bring his average up to .245. Beresford in his last 10 games is hitting .406 along with hitting .378 in the month of May after hitting .164 in April. Steve Liddle went 1-2 at the plate with his fifth double of the year along with drawing two walks. Angel Morales went 1-3 with his 7th double of the year. Aaron Hicks went 0-4 with a walk and three strikeouts to lower his average to .282 and drop his average in May to .256 after hitting .299 in April. Hicks has been very streaky this season and we should hope that he develops a little more consistancy going forward and striking out a little less. Last year he had 55 strikeouts in 251 at bats for a rate of one strikeout every 4.6 at bats which is a little high but not terrible. This year so far Hicks has struck out 33 times in 110 at bats an alarming 3.3 at bats. Meaning he is striking out one more time a game this year compared to last year. However, to counteract that last year he walked 40 times in 251 at bats a rate of 6.3 at bats. This year Hicks has walked 24 times in 110 at bats a rate of 4.6 at bats. What does all this mean on one hand you want him to strikeout less, but at the same time if he keeps this walk rate up he will be ok as his .407 on base percentage this year will attest to.

• Tonight, the Snappers have a double header with Wisconsin as Brad Stillings gets the start in game 1. New Snapper BJ Hermsen gets his first Snapper appearance as he gets the start in game 2. Game 1 gametime is at 5:05 with game 2 about a half an hour later in Appleton.

The Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast on temporary hiatus until May 17th

I was going to try to juggle everything with school and the blog and the podcast, but have decided to take a temporary hiatus from the podcast. The next new Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast will be Monday, May 17th, but I will have some blog entries the next two weeks but am unable to bring new material so I want to thank everyone who has listened to me and tune back on the 17th. I will still be on the Tuesday night podcast with Seth Stohs tommorrow night so check us out at http://blogtalkradio.com/twinsminorleagueweekly.

To my readers

I just want to forewarn everyone that it is finals week coming up and my writing will be sporatic in the next week. I will have another edition of the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast tonight at 9pm. I don't have any guests confirmed yet, but I will have that show no matter what so follow me over to blog talk radio at http://blogtalkradio.com/travistwinstalk. Then tommorrow night I will return to the Twins Minor League Weekly show with my cohost Seth Stohs tommorrow night at 10. You can find that show every Tuesday night with Seth and myself at http://blogtalkradio.com/twinsminorleagueweekly. I finish school next Tuesday, May, 11th and after that I will be bringing you something on this blog every day so just be patient with me and enjoy a good week and I will talk to you when I talk to you. Thanks for understanding.

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