Tigers Take Game 2

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SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins Podcast Live Tonight at 10:00!! Listen Live! And don’t forget that I will be holding a call-in contest, with one trivia question. First person to call-in with the correct answer gets two signed Twins rookie cards. It should be a good show!

As expected, the Tigers and Justin Verlander were able to win the night game of the day-night double header. Verlander was simply incredible. For the first seven innings, he was using pinpoint control of a fastball that ranged from 97-99 mph. He also showed a great curveball, but I was most impressed by the drop and the movement of his changeup that was 14-15 mph slower than his fastball. He kept hitters off balance really until the 8^th inning. Verlander threw nearly 130 pitches to get through eight innings. Here are some other notes from game two:

• Brian Duensing just didn’t quite have it tonight. It is not unusual for Duensing, even when he was throwing well, to give up plenty of base runners. He gave up seven hits and three walks in just 4.2 innings. He just wasn’t able to get the big outs to strand runners the way he had in other opportunities.
• I know some question the decision to go to Bobby Keppel with two outs in the 5^th inning, primarily because on his first pitch, Brandon Inge singled in two more runs to make it 5-0. I think the move to Keppel is excusable for a couple of reasons. However, with Jon Rauch having thrown 40 pitches in the first game, he was not available. If Rauch was available, then it would have made sense to go to Jesse Crain that early. I can understand that move. After the single on the first pitch, Keppel was fine.
• The Twins battled back and cut the Tigers lead to 5-4 in the top of the 8^th. Then I don’t know how to justify not bringing in Jose Mijares, who had only thrown a handful of pitches in game one, to pitch the Curtis Granderson. There is a reason that Granderson was hitting 7^th in the Tigers lineup… because he can’t hit lefties. It was just not a good matchup for Matt Guerrier, who was fine after the leadoff home run made it a 6-4 deficit.
• Orlando Cabrera went 3-4 in the game.
• Denard Span was 2-5. He added a double.
• Jason Kubel was 2-3 with his 34^th double and a sacrifice fly.
• The bottom five hitters in the lineup combined to go 2-20 with nine strikeouts. One of the hits was the Nick Punto RBI double in the top of the 9^th,that was kind of a Granderson gift.
• Jesse Crain was impressive again with a scoreless inning. He has now not given up a run in 16 appearances, since two runs in August 22^nd.
• Jim Leyland let Justin Verlander throw 130 pitches. He has thrown a ton of pitches in the last couple of months. That’s good for the future… of the Twins! The White Sox have Jake Peavy. The Royals have Zach Greinke. The Tigers… will likely lose Verlander to injury at some point in the near future. Like some of those Marlins pitchers (see AJ Burnett) from those year, Leyland is letting his top starters rip up their arms down the stretch!
• Hey, Twins fans, let’s not get too down with this loss. The goal coming into the series was to win at least three. Now that goal should be to win three. If there was a game that we felt would be most difficult, it was this one. So, I feel pretty good about where the Twins are still. Obviously I would prefer they would have won and been tied going into tomorrow, but I would also rather they be up by seven games and resting starters at this point. So, it will be fun again tomorrow night. It will be fun watching it and the JustinMorneau.com and JoeNathan.com outing at Champps in Richfield. Maybe see you there! Click here for details!

Feel free to leave your comments.

Twins Sign Miguel Sano!!

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In news that shocked me, and has me even more excited as the Twins second game against the Tigers is set to begin. I just saw a rotoworld.com report indicating that the Twins have signed Dominican SS Miguel Angel Sano with a signing bonus believed to be $3.15 million. Apparently his age, 16, is still a question mark, but the Twins made an offer that Sano signed.

This is the big name on the international market the last couple of months (until Aroldis Chapman came along, of course!). The big, strong shortstop is believed to be a tremendous prospect. Obviously it will be four to seven years before we could see him playing at Target Field, but this is a huge sign for the Twins. It shows their willingness to spend and compete with the big boys. Isn’t that really all we can ask.

Feel free to leave your comments.

What Do You Think? (Angels Edition)

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OK, I missed this last night because it was after midnight in Minnesota, but the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinched the AL West division title with a win against the Rangers.

I saw on some highlights that the team ran out to centerfield and essentially high-fived the wall where the photo of their deceased teammate Nick Adenhart is. I thought that was very cool, very touching, very respectful.

And then they showed ‘highlights’ of the players in the clubhouse, pouring beer all over Nick Adenhart’s jersey. I do get it. They were symbolically including Adenhart into their celebration, but upon further review, it is really unfortunate. I mean, Adenhart was killed early this season by a drunk driver.

Again, I am sure that the players and staff didn’t think much of it, certainly didn’t mean any disrespect to Adenhart or his family but in retrospect, I don’t think it was the right thing to do. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it is the shock of having just seen that… But I felt the need to blog on it, and I am really curious what you think about that. Please leave your comments.

1 Game, 1 Win, 1 Game Back

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The weather cooperated, and the Twins and Tigers got in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader. It took a little extra time, but the Twins got a 3-2 win in 10 innings of what was a very entertaining game. Here are some of the things I jotted down while playing hooky and watching the game with The Twins Geek and The Voice of Reason at The Big 10 in Hopkins:

• Nick Blackburn was very hittable in the early innings, but he gave up just one run as the Tigers left a ton of runners on base. Once he got through the early innings, he was excellent in the middle innings, getting all 12 batters he faced in the fourth through seventh innings. In seven innings, he gave up one run on six hits and a walk. Very solid, professional start.
• Jose Mijares got the two batters out that he faced. Jon Rauch got four outs (and another win). Am I the only one who is tired of his whining about pitches being called balls? His demonstrative disagreement with the home plate ump in each of his past two appearances is pathetic. I hope that Gardy or someone talks to him about that. That is certainly not going to get him any calls.
• I’ll mention it because it’s obviously a big story from the game. Bert Blyleven referred to the suicide squeeze play as “the element of surprise.” Well, was there really any surprise? No. I was sitting in a room and I overhead at several other tables that the squeeze was coming. It was incredibly obvious. And Roy Smalley, after the game, said that Brandon Lyon just threw a bad pitch. No, he didn’t, Punto gave it away a little bit too soon, and Lyon likely saw Alexi Casilla take off from third. A pitcher is taught to throw the ball high and tight, which he did. Punto had to bunt at the ball to try to protect Casilla, and that pitch, which was over Punto’s eyes, is impossible to hit downward.
• The rest of the sacrifice bunts, I had no problem with. I am no fan of the sacrifice bunt, at all. However, when Matt Tolbert is advancing a runner with a bunt, I am fine. When Carlos Gomez sacrificed two runners over, I completely agreed with that. I agree that often a sacrifice bunt can eliminate a big inning, and I too would prefer to get five runs than one run, in those situations, the team needed one run, and then one extra run. And, I thought they were justified in the late innings.
• When Carlos Gomez pinch ran for Jason Kubel in the top of the 8^th, I wondered about a scenario in which the game would go extra innings and Gomez would have to bat instead of Kubel (who was 2-4 on the day). However, that was the right situation, hoping for a double that Gomez would be able to score on. However, it proved to be a terrific decision in the bottom of the ninth when Denard Span, now in RF, was able to track down a line drive off of the bat of Ramon Santiago. Simply put, Jason Kubel doesn’t make that play.
• It was great to see Alexi Casilla line that double over the head of left-fielder Carlos Guillen’s head in that ninth inning. He had pinch run earlier for Jose Morales.
• Like Brett Favre on Sunday, Orlando Cabrera had his “That’s why we got him” moment with his go-ahead single in the top of the 10^th.
• The Tigers first run came on a single by Santiago off the glove of 1B Michael Cuddyer. It was almost an inning-ending double play. Cuddyer had the ball, but his 1B mitt bent back at the end and the ball bounced out. Later, Cuddyer made a great play on a bouncer, throwing to home to cut off a would-be Tigers run. I have been immensely impressed with Cuddyer’s defense at 1B.
• And yes, I did call the Curtis Granderson home run to lead off the bottom of the 10^th off of Joe Nathan. But Nathan did record his 45^th save, which is a Twins single-season record.
• Now the team’s will wait a bit before the second game of the double header starts at 6:05 central time.

SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins podcast

• Even with the rainout, we held last night’s Twins Podcast. Nick Nelson (Nick’s Twins Blog) joined me as the co-host for the show. We talked about the Tigers/Twins series, the pitching matchups, and what the rain could mean for tomorrow. We were also joined by Shaun Hagglund who is the man behind JustinMorneau.com, JoeNathan.com and more! See below for a big event. We got a phone call with several questions, and it was just a very fun show, so hopefully you enjoy it. 
• Be sure to tune in to tonight’s live podcast at 10:00 central time! First, hopefully there will be two Twins wins (or at least two Twins games) to talk about. But I will also be posing a trivia question regarding something in the Twins system at the beginning of the show. I will then take your calls. The first one with the right answer will win two Twins rookie cards autographed. So, check out the show and see if you can win a prize!

The J&J Fan Jam!

Shaun Hagglund came on and also talked about a big event on Wednesday night at Champps in Richfield presented by JustinMorneau.com and JoeNathan.com. Be sure to check out those blogs for the details, but it is a (primarily) free event, and there are a ton of activities that they have planned. Obviously Morneau and Nathan are a little busy in Detroit, but it will be a fun opportunity for a bunch of Twins fans to get together, watch some baseball, and more. So, if you’re able, check out www.JustinMorneau.com or www.JoeNathan.com for more details.

Twins…Tigers… Here We Go!

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On August 17^th, I wrote a blog that I called The Transition to Spoiler. In other words, that was the date when I officially thought that the Twins postseason chances were over. The Twins had a 2-4 record in a home stand against Kansas City and Cleveland. They were five games under .500 and six games behind the Tigers. I outlined several things that I thought the Twins should do over the final six weeks of the season. I thought that the Twins should put several veterans on waivers in the hopes that someone would claim them and they would be gone. I thought trying to get a Player to be Named Later of Carl Pavano would make sense. I was talking about promotions and playing time charts and all kinds of looking to 2010 topics.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is just admit being wrong. They were five games below .500 and now they are seven games above .500. They were six games behind the Tigers (and got as far as seven back), and now they are just two games back with seven to play, four against the Tigers. They lost one of their two MVP candidates for the season, and yet, they have found a way to compete and win. Maybe, just maybe, Twins bloggers and fans need to give the Twins front office and Bill Smith a little credit. They added Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay, and now the Twins bullpen has been very strong. I did like the Carl Pavano trade when it happened, but am shocked by just how good he has been, far exceeding my expectations. Orlando Cabrera, well, I’m not convinced he is adding a lot with some poor defense. His offense has actually been almost adequate the last week. Joe Mauer has continued to be Joe Mauer. Michael Cuddyer has played at the highest level in his career over the last two weeks. Denard Span missed 2+ games, but he has been vital in his return. Nick Punto has performed well in September. He was as bad as it gets offensively previous to September, and his defense had clearly taken a couple of steps backward. Suddenly in September, he has even been able to even get bunts down. We all wanted Danny Valencia to come up and play 3B. When he wasn’t, we figured Brendan Harris had to be in the lineup. Instead, Matt Tolbert was playing 3B. He is the opposite of what you would look for in a big league 3B, but he has come through with some big hits and excellent defense. Some have questioned playing Delmon Young instead of Carlos Gomez. Young has been hitting very well the last few weeks. Some bloggers may want to scream “Small Sample Size!” on several of these things. To that, my response is, “Who cares!? There are seven games left in the season, all we have left is a Small Sample!”  

Twins fans, let’s enjoy this final week.

SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins podcast

• On Sunday night’s podcast, co-host Travis Aune (Travis Talks) and I were joined to start the show by Lee Warren, who writes a Royals blog called Royal Reflections. We talked about the Twins/Royals series, some of the big players and much more. It was a very good discussion. After that, we went through the World Cup final round and showed how the Twins minor leaguers did. We spent the final 15 minutes dissecting the Twins/Tigers series, looking at the pitching matchups as we enter this series, and more.
• Again, there will be another podcast tonight at 10:00 central time. I am hoping to be joined by a Twins blogger, a Tigers blogger, and maybe even a Twins minor leaguer or two. More and more people are starting to listen live to the podcasts, and even more are listening to the Archive show, so join them and take a listen. Obviously if you have any opinions, I would love to hear them.

Twins 1, Royals 4 | Tigers 4, White Sox 8

• The Twins got to within two games of the Tigers on Friday night when they beat the Royals and the White Sox beat the Tigers. On Saturday, both teams got wins.
• Sunday was a game that, on paper, the Twins should not win. Zach Greinke is an incredible pitcher and really should be the AL Cy Young Award winner. The Twins replaced Jeff Manship in the rotation with Francisco Liriano, so the Twins were truly just hoping. Just hoping that the White Sox would help them out and beat the Tigers. And they did. The White Sox came through with an 8-4 win.
• Francisco Liriano gave up a three run homer to Yunieski Betancourt in the 2^nd innings. In just 1.2 innings, he gave up three runs on three hits. After the home run, he allowed two more base runners.
• Jeff Manship replaced Liriano and got a strikeout of Billy Butler to end the 2^nd innings. Manship went 3.1 innings and gave up just one run on one hit. He walked three and struck out five. In 26 innings with the Twins, Manship has walked 14 batters. Obviously that is not a good number. However, I think it is important to note that in 444.2 minor league innings, he has averaged just 2.4 walks per nine innings. In other words, that is something that will be corrected in time.
• It begs the question, “Who starts on Friday night against the Royals? Jeff Manship or Francisco Liriano?” No matter what happens during these next four games, the three games against the Royals will all still be immensely important.
• Orlando Cabrera went 3-5. Joe Mauer went 2-4. Both came to the plate one inning with the bases loaded with less than two outs and neither could knock in a run. That’s inexcusable. However, there is one excuse that is fair. The pitches that Greinke threw once the bases were loaded were incredible.
• Denard Span was 2-5 and is now hitting .307.
• Mauer is now hitting .370. Ichiro went 0-4 and is now hitting .352.

Twins/Tigers – Game 1 – Monday, 6:05 Central Time

• The Twins are where we would have wanted them to be going into this four game series in Detroit. Well, we would prefer that they Twins have a five game lead going into this series, of course, but considering where they had been, this is where they need to be. That doesn’t in any way minimize just how big this series or any of the individual games are. The phrase “This one is big” now means very little because it is simply a given. They are all big, no matter what. On the podcast last night, Travis said that the first game is huge because if the Twins lose, they are three back. If they win, they are down by just one game, and that is a big difference.
• Nick Blackburn (11-11, 4.18, 1.41, .296) will be on the mound for the Twins. In two previous starts this year against the Tigers, he is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA.
• Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.14, 1.35, .268) is my choice for AL Rookie of the Year for 2009, but I hope that he has a performance on Monday night that makes that questionable. He has made three starts already against the Twins this year, and he has gone 1-2 with a 3.71 ERA. The Twins have hit .282 against him. In 17 innings, he has walked six and struck out seven Twins batters.

World Cup Update

• Team USA beat Cuba 10-5 on Sunday to claim the World Cup Championship! Congratulations to Trevor Plouffe and former Twins player Terry Tiffee on their gold medal. In the final game, Trevor Plouffe went 0-5. He had a very strong tournament which included an 11 game hitting streak.
• Canada claimed third place with a 6-2 win over Puerto Rico. Rene Tosoni went 0-2 but walked twice and was hit by a pitch.
• Australia beat The Netherlands 4-1 in the 5^th place game. Luke Hughes went 1-3 with a walk. James Beresford went 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
• Venezuela beat Chinese Taipei 6-3 in the 7^th place game.

If you have any opinions, comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments section.

Twins Cut Tigers Lead to Two

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Friday night was a big night for the Twins, and hopefully the momentum continues into Saturday! If you want to see the NFL “Expert” Pick Panelists’ picks for Week 3, click here.

SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins podcast

• On Friday night’s podcast, Seth and Travis Aune discussed the White Sox 2-0 win over the Tigers, the World Cup and the Twins minor leaguers who have played such a big role for their teams in it. And halfway through the game, the Twins finalized their 9-4 win over the Royals. There was a lot of excellent discussion on a bunch of topics. I think it has been one of the better shows, so please be sure to take a listen.
• Again tonight, I will be hosting another new episode at 10:00 central time.

Twins 9, Royals 4 | Tigers 0, White Sox 2

• The Twins got a big win over the Royals, and they got help from the White Sox who beat the Tigers 2-0. The combination means that the Twins have cut the Tigers lead to just two games.
• Carl Pavano gave up four runs in six innings. The runs were all thanks to the bat of Billy Butler who was 4-5 with his 20^th and 21^st home run and all four RBI. Pavano again bent, but didn’t break too much.
• Robinson Tejeda has been incredible in September, but he was more than a little wild in this game. He gave up six runs (5 earned) on just two hits in 4.1 innings. However, he walked seven Twins batters.
• Michael Cuddyer gave the Twins the 2-1 lead in the fourth inning with a solo home run. It was his 30^th home run, and he now has 88 RBI on the season. He was 2-4 in the game.
• In the fourth inning is when Tejeda really lost his control. Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel and Cuddyer each walked in a run. For Mauer and Kubel, it was each of their 90^th RBI of the season.
• Delmon Young continued his hot hitting since he has been in the daily lineup. He was 2-5 with an RBI triple to the left centerfield gap. Later he hit a very long home run to left field for his 9^th home run of the season.
• Good to see Denard Span back in the lineup after missing two games after being hit in the head by White Sox lefty Randy Williams. He got out the first two times he came to the plate. Then he got on base the next three times, which is great to see because we all know the value he brings at the top of the order.
• Joe Mauer walked his first three plate appearances, and you can’t help but assume that will be a trend for the final nine games. Hopefully he will accept those walks, and have confidence in teammates Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer to come through.
• Saturday, it will be Scott Baker going to the mound opposite lefty Lenny DiNardo.
• On the South Side of Chicago, the White Sox got a terrific start from Jake Peavy. He gave up six hits, but no walks, in seven shutout innings. He struck out eight.
• With Bobby Jenks out for the season, Matt Thornton will apparently be getting many/most save opportunities. He got his second save of the year last night with a scoreless ninth.
• Eddie Bonine gave the Tigers as much as they could have realistically hoped for. In 6.2 innings, he gave up just two runs, both unearned.
• The White Sox had just two hits in the entire game. But one of those hits was the difference in the game. Rookie Gordon Beckham hit his 14^th home run of the season, a two run shot that provided all of the game’s runs. Beckham was 1-2 with two walks in the game.
• On Saturday, Nate Robertson will pitch for Detroit against Freddy Garcia of the White Sox.

World Cup Update

• Team USA beat The Netherlands 8-2. For the first time in the tournament, Trevor Plouffe and Terry Tiffee were not in the lineup. They will both be in the lineup on Sunday!
• Puerto Rico beat Australia 4-2. Nelvin Fuentes got the one batter he faced out. For Australia, Brad Tippett gave up no runs on two hits and a walk in two innings. Matt Williams gave up a hit and a walk in his inning, but no runs. Luke Hughes and James Beresford were each 0-3 with a walk.
• Venezuela beat Chinese Taipei 6-4.
• Cuba beat Canada 5-1. Rene Tosoni went 0-3 with a walk.

If you have any opinions, comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments section.

Friday Notes and Week 3 Picks

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Good Morning, and Happy Friday to you!

SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins podcast

• On last night’s podcast, I spent the first part of the show updating on the World Cup, and dissected the weekend pitching matchups. Then John Bonnes, The Twins Geek, came on and we talked about various Twins topics. Next, Lee Warren, of the Royals blog Royals Reflections, came on and gave us a few things to watch for this weekend.
• Finally, Twins relief pitching prospect Alex Burnett called in and we had a great discussion. He talked about his transition from starting to being a reliever, from the Florida State League to the Eastern League, the difference between pitching in the 8^th inning and the 9^th inning, the Arizona Fall League and more.  
• Again tonight, I will be hosting another new episode at 10:00 central time.

Twins / Royals, Tigers / White Sox

The Tigers beat/swept Cleveland with a 6-5 win for Justin Verlander. That puts the Twins three games behind the Tigers with ten games left, four against the Tigers. Here are the pitching matchups for the weekend series:

Friday

• Carl Pavano versus Robinson Tejeda. Pavano has been as good as we could have expected when he was acquired from Cleveland. But he has not been good against the Royals this year. In five starts, he has gone 2-3 with a 6.75 ERA, and Royals hitters have hit .306 against him. Tejeda has been incredible this year. He is 4-1 with a 2.94 ERA on the season. However, he only recently was put into the Royals starting staff. Check out these September numbers. In four starts, he is 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA, a 0.85 WHIP, and hitters have hit .117 off of him. In August, hitters hit .087. Right handed hitters this year, are hitting .103 against him.
• Eddie Bonine versus Jake Peavy. Bonine will be making his third start for the Tigers this year (9^th appearance). Peavy will be making his second start for the White Sox.

Saturday

• Scott Baker versus Lenny DiNardo. Baker has been the Twins best starter this year. However, he has gone a combined ten innings over his last start, and hasn’t made it through the sixth inning. He will need to step it up over his final two starts of the year. DiNardo came to the Royals this year after being let go by the A’s. He has made just three starts, and is 0-1 with an 8.22 ERA. However, he is left-handed, and the Twins haven’t seen much of him, so who knows what to expect.
• Nate Robertson versus Freddy Garcia. Robertson has been awful this year for the Tigers (exception, his start last week against the Twins). Garcia will be making his eighth start for the White Sox this year. He has gone six or more innings in his past six starts. His last start went eight innings against the Royals.  

Sunday      

• Francisco Liriano versus Zach Greinke. Not a good matchup for the Twins. The Twins are going to just try to piece together a pitching performance. They can hope to get three decent innings from Liriano, but then the entire bullpen will likely be ready to come in. Don’t be surprised if we see a lot of Jeff Manship and Armando Gabino in this game if it doesn’t start out well. Greinke, simply put, has been the best pitcher  in baseball all year. He is 15-8 with a 2.08 ERA. In 216.1 innings, he has struck out 229 and walked just 47. Inexplicably, this will be his first start against the Twins this season. All due respect to Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez, but Greinke should be the AL Cy Young Award winner.
• Edwin Jackson versus Daniel Hudson. Jackson is 13-7 with a 3.25 ERA. He went seven shutout innings in his last start. Hudson got the loss in his first big league start last week, against the Twins. Hopefully his different delivery will keep the Tigers bats off balance.

 World Cup Update

• Team USA beat Cuba 5-3. Trevor Plouffe went 1-4 with a walk. Terry Tiffee was 1-4 with his fourth homer and two RBI.
• Puerto Rico beat Chinese Taipei 8-2.
• Canada beat The Netherlands 11-5. Rene Tosoni went 1-4 with a walk.
• Venezuela beat Australia 11-5. James Beresford and Luke Hughes were each 1-5.
• On Saturday the fourth place teams in the two pools play (for 7^th place), the third place teams in each pool play (for 5^th place), and the second place team in each pool play (for third place).
• Finally on Sunday, the first place teams in each pool will play for the World Cup championship.

 If you have any opinions, comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments section. 

NFL “Expert” Picks (Week 3)

The Twins will be playing the Royals this weekend. The Tigers are playing the White Sox in Chicago. It’s a big baseball weekend! The NFL is looking to Week 3 of its schedule. Below you will find our panel’s picks for this week’s games. Again, at any point you would like know more about our panelists or take a look at the standings, click on our FB Picks ’09 page.

I understand that posting the picks on this main page has created a situation where the formatting of this page is compromised. So I have posted the picks on the Archive page, which you can see here.

Thursday Morning Notes

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Good morning! Another nice Twins win. A sweep of the White Sox… in Chicago. Another Tigers win. Ten games to go. Twins have won nine of their last ten. If they can do that the rest of the season, they will win the division… probably. Here are some more thoughts, which will hopefully create some discussion. 

SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins podcast

• On last night’s podcast, I was joined by Bill Ferris. Bill has been blogging on The Detroit Tigers at The Detroit Tigers Weblog since 2001! We spent the first part of the show talking about Wednesday night’s Tigers destruction of the Cleveland Indians, 11-3.We talked about the pennant race, last weekend’s Twins/Tigers series, and much more including his thoughts on Tigers legendary announcer Ernie Harwell who, despite his recent news, is still an inspiration to everyone around him. Again, you can download the podcast online or to your i-Pod.
• Tonight at 10:00 central time, there will be a new show, and I already have a couple of confirmed guests. One of the guests will be one of the Twins better prospects, so be sure to tune in for that. The Twins have an off day, but we will have a lot to talk about. The Tigers and Indians series finale. The upcoming Twins/Royals series, and the Tigers/White Sox series, and much more.  

 Twins 8, White Sox 6

• For the second straight night, the Twins were able to hold on for an 8-6 win over the Chicago White Sox. Again, the Twins jumped out to a quick lead. Going into the bottom of the 4^th, the Twins held a 5-0 lead. The White Sox cut the lead to 5-4, then added to their lead, then let the lead be cut in half late, but then held on.
• Brian Duensing went until there were two outs in the bottom of the fourth before allowing a run. It was the first run he had allowed in 17 innings. He went 5.2 innings and gave up four runs (3 earned) on nine hits and improved to 5-1.
• Bloggers speak so frequently of the term “Small Sample Size.” When talking about what the Twins needed to do over the last few weeks to succeed, I have said the same thing. You know basically what you are going to get from Mauer, Kubel, Cuddyer and Span (when he is able to get back in the lineup). But any production from the likes of Orlando Cabrera, Nick Punto, Matt Tolbert and Delmon Young, is a bonus that the team needs to take a step forward.

1.  
   1. Orlando Cabrera had an excellent series against his former teammates. He was 5-12 with a triple, a homer, six runs scored and five RBI.
   2. Matt Tolbert had two hits on Monday and the solo home run on Tuesday.
   3. Nick Punto went 4-10 with two walks, a double, four runs scored, four RBI and three stolen bases.
   4. Delmon Young went 5-8 over the last two games.

• Jesse Crain got one out and did not allow a run. He has now not allowed a run in his last 14 games which covers 14 innings.
• Joe Mauer went 1-4 to end the game hitting .371. Ichiro went 2-4 and is hitting .355.
• The Twins now get to enjoy an off day.
• The Twins remain 2.5 games behind the Tigers, who beat Cleveland 11-3 last night. Carlos Guillen had a big game. He was 3-4 with a walk, his eighth double, his 10^th and 11^th home runs and four RBI. Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with a walk, his 31^st home runs and three RBI. Rick Porcello got his 14^th win, giving up one run in five innings. The Tigers play today, throwing Justin Verlander.

World Cup Update

• Canada beat Venezuela 9-2. Rene Tosoni was 2-4 with his fifth double, third triple, two runs scored and two RBI.
• Australia beat The Netherlands 5-2. Tom Stuifbergen started for the Netherlands team. He threw five shutout innings. He gave up two hits and walked two. Liam Hendriks started for Australia. He threw six shutout innings, allowing two hits, walking none and striking out four. Matt Williams got the final four outs to record the win. Luke Hughes was the offensive hero for Australia. He went 2-4 with his third and fourth home runs and four RBI. James Beresford was 1-4.
• Team USA beat Puerto Rico 3-0. Trevor Plouffe went 0-5.
• Cuba beat Chinese Taipei 8-0.
• On Thursday, USA plays against Cuba, Taipei takes on Puerto Rico, Canada plays The Netherlands and Venezuela plays Australia.
• On Friday, Cuba plays Canada, Venezuela plays Taipei, Australia plays Puerto Rico, and The Netherlands plays Team USA.
• Then on Saturday the fourth place teams in the two pools play (for 7^th place), the third place teams in each pool play (for 5^th place), and the second place team in each pool play (for third place).
• Finally on Sunday, the first place teams in each pool will play for the World Cup championship.

If you have any opinions, comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments section.

Wednesday Morning Notes

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Good morning! After another fun podcast last night, some other projects, an oil change, a meeting, and some other stuff, I passed out. So, I got up early this morning and put together a few thoughts for you to discuss. But if there are other topics, please feel free to bring them up in the Comments. And please be sure to check out several of the other Twins blogs that I have linked to on the left side of this page for more. Have a great day!

SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins podcast

• No guests on the show last night, but had two people (including Fanatic Jack!) call in and talked about last night’s Twins win. The conversation went all over the place, but was all related to the Twins, so hopefully it makes for some good listening!! Check it out and let me know what you think. Tonight at 10, there will be another show. I already have one guest confirmed, and hoping for a second.

Twins 8, White Sox 6

• The Twins went into US Cellular last night and outslugged the Chicago White Sox on their way to an 8-6 win. The Twins hit four home runs. Orlando Cabrera hit a two run homer in the first inning to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. With the game tied at five, Michael Cuddyer led off the sixth inning with a long home run, his 29^th of the season. A couple batters later, Matt Tolbert hit his second homer of the year. It hit the top of the wall in left field, just avoiding the glove of Carlos Quentin. Then in the 8^th inning, Jason Kubel hit his 24^th home run to give the Twins a 8-5 lead.
• Jeff Manship walked the first batter he faced in the first inning. Scott Podsednik stole second. Manship then got the next three outs, but Podsednik did score to cut the lead to 3-1. Manship had a 1-2-3 second inning and really looked good. Then came the third inning. Alex Rios hit a home run. Then a single. Then Gordon Beckham hit an 0-2 hanging curve for his 13^th homer. It gave the White Sox a 4-3 lead. Two hard hit balls later, Manship was replaced by Francisco Liriano. The lefty went the next 2.1 innings. He gave up a run on a hit and two walks. Jesse Crain came in to the game with runners on 1^st and 3^rd and got out of the inning. He then threw another perfect inning. Jose Mijares pitched a scoreless seventh. Matt Guerrier’s first pitch of the 8^th inning was deposited well into the left field bleachers by Paul Konerko. It cut the lead to 8-6. Guerrier had to work hard, but got out of the 8^th inning with that same lead. Joe Nathan came in and threw a 1-2-3 ninth for his 43^rd save of the year.
• Jesse Crain improved to 7-4 and is as good as we have ever seen him.
• Michael Cuddyer, in addition to his 29^th homer, had a single and his 34^th double. Jason Kubel added his 33^rd double. Delmon Young was 2-3 with a sacrifice fly. Joe Mauer had an RBI double in the fifth that gave the Twins a 5-4 lead.
• Tonight, Brian Duensing will make the start for the Twins opposite Mark Buehrle. Duensing has made two starts and two relief appearances against the White Sox this year. He is 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 17.1 innings. This will be Buehrle’s 41^st career start against the Twins. He is 23-15 with a 4.00 Era. He has already made five starts against the Twins this year. He has gone 2-2 with a 5.28 ERA.
• The Tigers beat Cleveland 3-1 last night behind a strong pitching performance from Edwin Jackson. Aaron Laffey was nearly as good, but a 3^rd inning solo home run to Ryan Raburn meant he got the loss. Tonight, it will be Rick Porcello for the Tigers and Justin Masterson for Cleveland.       

Who Starts Sunday?

The Twins talker for today probably has to be who makes the start for the Twins on Sunday against the Royals in Kansas City. Jeff Manship’s name was written in, in pencil, for that start, but with his performance last night, we do need to ask if there is a better option for the Twins. It would be easy to say Francisco Liriano, but I’m not certain that’s necessary true. Are there even any other options? Armando Gabino, maybe? Where have you gone, Yohan Pino? I think the right thing is probably to start Liriano, but to have both Manship and Gabino, and Keppel and everyone ready to go. What do you think? Who provides the Twins with the best chance to win?

World Cup Update

• Cuba beat Australia 2-1. Both James Beresford and Luke Hughes were 0-4. Beresford did have the lone RBI.
• Canada beat Puerto Rico 3-0. Rene Tosoni was 1-4 with a walk, his fourth double and two RBI. Nelvin Fuentes went 1.2 scoreless innings for Puerto Rico. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out two.
• The Netherlands beat Chinese Taipei 11-2. Former Twins pitching prospect Alexander Smit gave up one run on four hits and two walks in six innings for the win. He struck out six.
• Team USA beat Venezuela 6-3. Trevor Plouffe was 1-4 with an RBI. Terry Tiffee was 2-4 with two RBI.  

If you have any opinions, comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments section.

Tuesday Morning Notes

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Good morning! Although there were two blog postings yesterday, I thought a quick morning blog would be a good idea, just to wrap a bunch of things together. 

SethSpeaks.net NIGHTLY Minnesota Twins podcast

• Cory Hepola, Sports anchor for WROC-TV in Rochester, NY, called in and talked to us about the firing of Stan Cliburn yesterday. We also talked about Trevor Plouffe, his walk-off home run against Australia and his season with the Red Wings. Finally, it was fun to get a perspective from someone in New York on the Yankees, the MVP race (which most seem to believe is between Joe Mauer, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira).
• Travis Aune (Travis Talks) and I spent the rest of the show dissecting last night’s Twins/White Sox game, and looked ahead to tonight’s Game 2 matchup between Jeff Manship and John Danks. We ended by quickly going through several baseball topics including Angel Villalona, Aroldis Chapman, Milton Bradley and more.
• Tonight at 10:00, I will be hosting another show as I will be each night the next two weeks. I am attempting to line up at least one guest each night, so check it out, ask questions in the chat room, or even feel free to call in and state an opinion or comment, or ask a question.

Twins 7, White Sox 0

• Key story was the performance of Nick Blackburn. Starting pitching is always incredibly important and Blackburn came up big with seven shutout innings. He mixed in eight hits, but he didn’t hurt himself with walks. Like Carl Pavano against the Tigers this year, Blackburn just seems to pitch well against the White Sox.
• Daniel Hudson looked a little nervous in his first big league start. That could be seen in his four walks in five innings. But I think anyone could also see why he has pitched at four levels this year. He gave up just four hits. And just one of the three runs he allowed was earned. His delivery is different, and even Joe Mauer clearly struggled to identify where the pitch was coming from.
• The little guys struck again. Matt Tolbert was 2-5. Nick Punto was 2-2 with two walks and two stolen bases. Orlando Cabrera had two hits, drove in two runs and scored three runs. Getting production of any kind from these three players will be important.  
• Joe Mauer went 1-4 and his batting average dropped to .373. Ichiro and the Mariners did not play, so he stays at .355.
• Tonight, Jeff Manship will make his fourth big league start for the Twins. His first start came against the White Sox, and he gave up just one run over five innings. He’s struggled in his two most recent starts though, so he will have to battle tonight to keep the Twins in the game. He will face off against lefty John Danks, who has been very good in September.
• The Detroit Tigers had the day off on Monday before starting a three game series in Cleveland tonight. So the Twins are just 2.5 games back heading into play today.

World Cup Update

• I highlighted yesterday that Trevor Plouffe hit the walk-off, two out home run for Team USA in their 4-3 win against Australia, but a couple of other things should be pointed out.
• First, Plouffe was 2-5 in the game with two RBI.
• Luke Hughes went 3-4 in the game for Australia. He hit his fifth double, stole his second base, and something Twins fans should note, he also committed just his first error at 3B.
• James Beresford went 0-3.
• By the way, Team USA is the #1 seed in Pool G in the third round. I got a note from Tom Stuifbergen this morning, just to remind me that The Netherlands are the #1 seed in Pool F going into the third round.

NFL “Expert” Picks

            I think it is fair to say that after a fairly easy Week1 of NFL game picks, our panel struggled a little more with the Week 2 picks. Well, except for Shooter Hunt. The Twins pitching prospect correctly picked 13 out of 16 games for the best showing of the week. Dan Slowey went 12-4. Steve Singleton, Nick Nelson and Jack Michaels each went 11-5. As a group (of 34), we went 8-6-2 for the week. If you’d like to see the up-to-date standings (which are led by Shooter Hunt as well), or our game picks, click here to see our Picks Page 2009.

If you have any opinions, comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments section.