Monday, April 13, 2009

Game #8 - Ugliness

The Twins' bats came alive against Toronto on Monday night, knocking out 13 hits and scoring 6 runs. Unfortunately, the pitching let the Twins down, and they surrendered 19 Toronto hits in a 8-6 loss. After the Twins rallied to take a 6-3 lead in the 5th inning, the Blue Jays scored 5 unanswered runs.

Kevin Slowey was shaky in his second start, going 5.1 innings and giving up a staggering 13 hits and 5 runs. Matt Guerrier gave up 1 run in his 1 inning. Craig Breslow struck out the only man he faced, but Luis Ayala was shaky again in taking the loss, going 1 inning and surrendering 4 hits and 2 runs, including Travis Snider's 2-run home run which broke the tie. R.A. Dickey pitched the final 1.1 innings, and was un-scored-upon.

Toronto's hitting hero was Snider with his 2 HR. He is now 8-11 in his career against the Twins with 3 HR. Lyle Overbay was 2-5 with 3 RBI. Aaron Hill, Alex Rios, and Scott Rolen each had 3 hits, and each Toronto starter except Marco Scutaro had at least 2 hits.

For the Twins, Jason Kubel was 2-5 with a homer and 2RBI. Denard Span, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer each had 2 hits, and Nick Punto had a 2-run single in the 2nd inning.

The Twins have now lost 10 straight to Toronto dating to the 2007 season.

Tomorrow, Glen Perkins will be on the bump for the Twins against rookie Ricky Romero.

Elsewhere in the AL Central:
  • Chicago White Sox 10, Detroit 6 - Carlos Quentin homered twice, and Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko each hit their 300th homers back-to-back to pace Chicago. Gavin Floyd struggled but got the win, giving up 6 runs in 5 innings. Zach Miner followed-up his solid first start for Detroit with a clunker, allowing 9 hits and 8 runs in 3.1 innings. Dye and Quentin were each 3-5 (Quentin also had 4 RBI), and Konerko went 4-5 with 4 RBI.
  • Kansas City 4, Cleveland 2 - The Indians dropped to 1-6 in losing to Kansas City. Zack Greinke is now 2-0 and has not allowed a run after going 5 shutout innings for KC, striking out 9. Joakim Soria picked up his 4th save. Fausto Carmona was better today for Cleveland than in his first start, but he still surrendered 4 runs in 5 IP. The Indians left a staggering 27 men on base.

Around the Minors:

  • AAA - Rochester 5, Pawtucket 3 - The Red Wings are now 4-1, as Mike Gosling picked up his second win out of the bullpen, and Jose Mijares finished up for his first save of the season.
  • AA - Portland 10, New Britain 6 - The Rock Cats dropped to 1-4 as they were spanked by Portland. New Britain battled back to erase a 4-run deficit and forced a 4-4 tie before Portland scored 3 runs in each of the 7th and 8th innings off Robert Delaney and Frank Mata. Wilson Ramos was 2-4 with 3 RBI for the Rock Cats, and Juan Portes homered.
  • High A - Charlotte 5, Ft. Myers 3 - The Miracle lost its first game of the season, dropping to 3-1. Joe Benson went 2-4 to improve to .412 on the season. The bullpen (Santos Arias, Spencer Steedley, Steve Hirschfield, and Kyle Waldrop) threw 5 scoreless innings.
  • Low A - Beloit and the Quad Cities were postponed

Legnedary Phillies' broadcaster Harry Kalas died Monday while preparing for a game against the Washington Nationals. He was 73, and had been with the Phillies since 1971. His voice was also heard on NFL Films presentations, Campbell's "Chunky Soup" commercials, and was the voice of one of my faves as a kid, "Alcoa Presents...Fantastic Finishes" bits during NFL games. His distinctive sound was much-imitated by the ESPN crowd. His talent was there as well, winning the Ford Frick Award and earning enshrinement in the broadcasters' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never really hid the fact that he was a fan of the team for which he was broadcasting, and he'll be sorely missed. The quality of this video is poor, but it's a great depiction of "Harry the K" as the Phillies' biggest fan. Another of the great baseball announcers passes on. RIP.

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych also died on Monday accidentally at the age of 54. He was the 1976 AL Rookie of the Year, going 19-9 with a 2.34 ERA. He was quite the character, talking to the baseball, grooming the mound with his hands during the game, etc., but had a youthful exuberance for the game which was contagious. His career washed-out at age 25 due to injuries, and he ended up going just 10-10 after his great rookie season. In 5 seasons, all with Detroit, Fidrych went 29-29 with a 3.10 career ERA. RIP.

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