Results tagged ‘ brewers ’
Dust in the wind.
Hey. Hey, you. Think you can name every MLB team in a minute? Well, Dr.
Overly-Confident, try this on for size. My personal
best is a solid, like, 12 because I type like someone who’s never seen a
keyboard before. Also, they don’t take answers like “A’s” or
“D-Backs” or “I hate the White Sox.”
So, that game last night … not something I want to see ever
again. We’d been doing so well (except for that game against the Brewers, agh!) as of late,
and it was good t get some wins on the road. What went wrong? Well,
plenty of things were to blame, such as …
Fielding:
In their return to American League play, the Twins offense went silent
and the club’s defense was what manager Ron Gardenhire called
“sloppy” as they suffered a 4-2 loss to the Royals in the series
opener at Kauffman Stadium.
“We’ve
been playing pretty good and we just had a clunker tonight defensively where we
just didn’t make enough plays out there,” Gardenhire said.
The Royal’s pitcher, Hochevar:
“But, I think more than anything, we got shut down
by a young man who threw the ball really, really well against us.” [Gardy said]
Trying
yet again to move two games over the .500 mark — something they have yet to do
this season — the Twins saw their attempt foiled by Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar as they fell back to 39-39 on the
season.
Hochevar held the club scoreless for seven
innings, limiting it to just two hits over that span.
And Blackburn:
Blackburn (6-4) was able to hold it at that
mark until the sixth inning, even pitching out of a bases-loaded situation in
the fifth. But he started the sixth by giving up back-to-back solo home runs to
Albert Callaspo
and Miguel Olivo,
allowing Kansas City
to take a three-run lead.
“I
was a little off early. My mechanics didn’t feel great but I felt like I made a
pretty good adjustment late,” Blackburn said. “The two home runs were
just bad pitches. I don’t blame it on anything but missed spots. Our pitch
selection was good, I just failed to execute two pitches.”
So gross. But, along with the
bad – the very, very, very … VERY bad – a glorious two-run “morneaumer” (see what I
did there?? EHH??) was able to cut the Royals‘ lead in half:
Justin
Morneau hit a
two-run homer off left-hander John Bale in the eighth to pull the club within two, but by that
time it was just too little, too late.
I like how whoever wrote that article had to put everything in
the most depressing way possible. The term “too little, too
late” is something you use when describing a marriage failing.
Anyway, like Gardy said, our defense is slop-tacular. I couldn’t even handle how badly we caught, threw, missed opportunities for outs, etc.
And although I was trying to make peace with Buscher and his shenanigans, I just can’t. He was TRULY awful last night. Crede, fix that back of yours, stat.
Also, WTF Delmon and Denard?? You were doing the Texas Two-Step out there, practically knocking each other out of the way to nab any fly ball. I mean there’s one thing to backup the catch just in case, but WHOA. No more stepping on each other’s toes, literally.
And Cuddyer’s error? AY! Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that was his first of the year last night. So what’s the deal with our outfielders? Would Gomez or Kubel have helped the situation any more? This guy seems to think he has the answer, and I agree except for the Young being the DH thing. That’s just … scary.
On to the game tonight, 7:10 in KC. Hopefully we won’t be total jokes out there again.
Let’s get Denarded in here!
AHHHH DENARD IS BACK! Pregame, Span told FSN he was looking forward to contributing in Milwaukee after the frustration of being on the DL. Hopefully all will be well and we can get a few very nice hits out of him.
1B: MORNEAU
2B: TOLBERT
3B: CREDE
SS: HARRIS
RF: CUDDYER
CF: SPAN
LF: KUBEL
C: MAUER
PITCHING:
- BAKER
Not too shab.
Baker told that new guy on FSN … the one who looks like Anthony LaPanta Jr. … that today is the day to represent the pitching staff in the batter’s box. Hope so, because Blackburn and Liriano were, at best, questionable.
Good luck, boys!
POST-GAME UPDATE:
FINAL: 6-4, Twins
… and get Denarded we did. Mr. Span, might I kindly offer you my hand in marriage? Or perhaps, at the very least, a batch of cookies? Because today, instead of playing like an over-stimulated kindergartner with all the paper and finger-paint you can handle and a king-size candybar freshly in your tum-tum, you held back and played deliberately and patiently. There was no over-eager Span trying to prove himself, just good playing. A beautiful triple sealed the deal, and well as superb defense. You, sir, are a class-act.
And oh, Joe Crede, all my dreams came true with our homer today. No, it was not a grand slam as you’re skillfully executed before, but a very nice solo home run at just the nick of time, taking and keeping us ahead of the Brewers. You, my little ginger-snap, are truly a gentleman.
And also, seriously, I wish we played by AL rules sometimes so I could see the pitching staff batting some more. BAKER at the plate?? AHAHHA. I loved it. Bert and Dicky B were so proud when he could “make contact.” Baker, Guerrier, and Nathan were a great combo, keeping lots of Brewer runs off the board.
Feels good to take the series – on the ROAD! – and have Denard back.
Milwaukee Boo-ers.
Milwaukee: Algonquin for “TWINS WIN!”
TWINS @ BREWERS
23 JUNE, 7:05 PM
1B: MORNEAU
2B: PUNTO
3B: CREDE
SS: HARRIS
RF: CUDDYER
CF: GOMEZ
LF: YOUNG
C: MAUER
PITCHING:
- LIRIANO
- DICKEY
- GUERRIER
- NATHAN
PRE-GAME:
Twins-Brewer game time is like effing Christmas to me. For the next three nights, I will answer no phone calls nor allow any distraction until I see the final score. Oh wait, that’s like every night now that I moved back in … I’m so very lonely!
I love Ron Coomer, but MAN his head is one giant sphere.
Kubel is still sick, and Span is still out, but Cuddyer is back in business.
I love these tourism commercials for Wyoming and South Dakota, because ther’re like, “LOOK! Out state has stuff to do with your family that is endlessly entertaining!” when really all they have is Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and an effing corn palace. (Before you angrily comment about how I’m an ignorant a-hole, remember that I was raised in Montana and rural Minnesota.)
Video of a young Joe Mauer at tee-ball. I was in tee-ball too … I bet he never almost got kicked off the team!*
TOP O’ THE FIRST:
Gomez is first in the order?? Then Harris, then Joeyburns? Oh … alright.
There looks like a ton of Twins fans in the stands behind home. I SHOULD be there.
With the bases loaded, Joe Crede cranked a double, sending in three runners and making me all a-twitter.
BOTTOM O’ THE FIRST (3-0, Twins):
Oooh, Prince Fielder struck out by a slightly struggling Liriano.
JESUS H, Corey “FleshBeard” Hart is 6’6″?!
Oh, God. Bases loaded, Cameron to the plate, and we let two run it in. Waaahhhhgaaaawd! Let’s get the f out of this inning without any further scoring, LIRIANO.
Crede gets the catch, and HOLY GOD HOORAY this inning is over.
TOP O’ THE SECOND (3-2, Twins):
Oh, my. Harris hits a nice one right after Gomez and sends him in for another run. All this with two outs – daaaang.
BOTTOM O’ THE SECOND (4-2, Twins):
Apparently Miller Park got flooded a few days ago? Not too surprising considering the ridiculous amount of storms in the midwest this weekend.
P.S. This is a terribly exciting game – no sarcasm fo’ reals.
AAAGHH! Crede narrowly misses a hit, Young can’t quite get on top of it, and another run for the Brewers. Also, EFFING LIRIANOOOO!
Okay, walks Braun with two outs … here we go, Liriano, up to your same old BS. At least the inning ends with Morneau retiring Fielder. Heaven forbid we PITCH LIKE A MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM WOULD.
TOP O’ THE THIRD (4-3, Twins):
Hardy gets his fourth error of the year, fumbling the ball and letting Crede get to second. I normally would gloat, but please, it was an error and that sucks for any good player.
YOUNG HITS IT JUUUUST DOWN THE LEFT FOUL LINE! Cuddyer scores and Crede moves to third! I am having three simultaneous heart-attacks.
I totally forgot about the NL/AL pitchers batting/designated hitter business in these inter-league games and almost shat when I saw Liriano at the plate. And he bats about as well as he pitches.
TWO more runs or the Twins, care of the illustrious Carlos Gomez!
BOTTOM O’ THE THIRD (7-3, Twins):
Crede gets his second error of the year in a situation much like Hart’s last inning. Aww.
TOP O’ THE FOURTH (7-3, Twins):
Oh. My. Stars. Dick Bremer. At Noah’s Ark. SHIRTLESS. I need an adult!
Suppan drops an almost straight-up pop fly from Morneau. No worries, because Morneau hits a nice one to deep right.
I think the name of this game should be “taking advantage of errors” night.
BOTTOM O’ THE FOURTH (7-3, Twins)
TOP O’ THE FIFTH (7-3, Twins):
Liriano on first – bahahaaa!
BOTTOM O’ THE FIFTH (7-3, Twins)
TOP O’ THE SIXTH (7-3, Twins):
Dicky B: ”Hey, we just had a 1-2-3 inning!”
Berty B: “No way!”
BOTTOM O’ THE SIXTH (7-3, Twins):
R. A. DICKEY UP IN THIS MOTHA-EFFAAAAA! With a 1-2-3 inning, nonetheless.
TOP O’ THE SEVENTH (7-3, Twins)
This is becoming exceedingly uninteresting.
BOTTOM O’ THE SEVENTH (7-3, Twins)
TOP O’ THE EIGHTH (7-3, Twins):
Dickey had been pulled out of the game. Teehee.
Looks like Morales is pinch hitting – well done, since he gets a single, despite looking like he’s still in high school. Adorable!
BOTTOM O’ THE EIGHTH (7-3, Twins):
Guerrier steps in. Note what comes up when you do a Google Image Search for “Guerrier.”
TOP O’ THE NINTH (7-3, Twins)
BOTTOM O’ THE NINTH (7-3, Twins):
Mr. Joe Nathan is on the mound.
And with the strikeout of Cameron, the Twins are victorious over the Brewers tonight. Good, because I was falling asleep.
FINAL: 7-3, Twins
POST-GAME:
AAAAHHH! CARLOS GOMEZ ON CAMERA! He’s better at English than I thought (they never interview him!), and I gotta love that accent. He seems to really be literally and figuratively stepping up to the plate (ho ho ho, how droll, Neubs!), and his enthusiasm and want to show the Twins that he’s worth something shows through.
VERDICT:
Well … errors abounded, which we made and the ones we didn’t, we took advantage of them. Liriano is a problem. Crede and Young had some nice hits. Man, it was exciting at first, but then around the fourth I could barely pay attention. BUT, a win is a win, especially against the Brewers. Love it, and hope we can carry on with the wins against the Crew, because I enjoy talking serious shiz to their fans.
* I tossed a bat at a kid … in the dugout … accidentally.
All my exes live in Texas.
Again, there are just no words:
- Twins lost 4-1 against the Houston Ast-holes, putting us below 500. AGAIN.
- As I was listening to the old timey talkity-box today, AKA the radio (because apparently it’s 1925 in my world), I was happy to hear one of the announcers praise the underrated fielding abilities of Joe Crede and the overall greatness of the Twins‘ defense, which is actually #1 in the AL.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa WHOA?:
The 32-year-old Jason Kubel left Sunday’s series finale against the Astros after the third inning with flu-like symptoms, manager Ron Gardenhire said following the Twins’ 4-1 loss.
- Excuse me, might I be flabbergasted yet AGAIN today? Yes? OH GREAT!:
First baseman Justin Morneau was out of the Twins’ lineup for the first time in nearly two years on Sunday, given what manager Ron Gardenhire called “a general day off.”
“We’ve got to get him through these things, and we’re not going to get in a situation where this drags on,” Gardenhire said of Morneau’s soreness. “We’ll see where he’s at on Tuesday. Hopefully, he’ll be fine.”
- And in other heart-crushing news, Span is getting a healthy dose of Rochester Monday to help him rehab and get back in the game after his trouble with an inner-ear infection that was making the outfielder go through dizzy spells. It’s a bummer to have him down there, but he’s really got to shake it off before he can come back and be effective. If only he could make it to Milwaukee …
Teehee! Bunt-head! I’m an 8-year-old!
Get out your brooms …
Before the third game against the SAWX tonight, I need to touch on this weekend’s satisfying sweep of the Brewers.
“I heard the crowd start to yell, ‘Brewers, Brewers‘ and then I heard the Minnesota Twins fans start coming back,” Swarzak said. “I threw that strike in there, and they went crazy. That was a good feeling. I’ll never forget the roar of the crowd as long as I live.” Many of the Twins (21-23) won’t forget this night either, considering the performance that Swarzak delivered. With a group of 16 family members and friends from his home town of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., including his mom and stepfather, in the crowd, he retired 16 of the first 20 batters he faced and scattered just five hits over the course of his seven innings. He struck out threeBrewers (26-17) and walked two while throwing 98 pitches in his seven innings. Mauer also was the catalyst for the club being able to take a 3-0 lead in the third. The first Twins run scored on Mauer‘s RBI single that he was able to hit through the hole to left field with runners on first and second. A throwing error by left fielder RyanBraun on the play allowed a second run to score and Mauer to advance to third. He then scored on Morneau‘s sac fly to left. Joe Crede added a solo home run in the fourth, his seventh of the season and his sixth in his past 19 games. Crede then drove in the Twins’ last run with an RBI grounder in the seventh.
Hey Brew Crew: nice work.
8:23
mlblogsminnice
Recent Comments