Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

End of Season

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ERA Z. Greinke 2.97 Wins Z. Greinke 16 Saves J. Mijares 15 AVG J. Mauer .326 HR J. Thome 33 SB N. Punto 20

Thoughts

It's always a good season when you're one of the eight teams vying for a World Series championship at the end of the year! We've got a big hill to climb, however, as we'll be facing off against the 109-53 Boston Red Sox in the ALDS. Hopefully our crappy bullpen won't come back to bite us in the ass as badly as it did late in the season. With a better bullpen we probably would have won 90 games.

Stats

Batting

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Player Name Team AB H HR RBI Avg OBP SLG SB CS Morneau, Justin MIN 595 170 25 109 .286 .360 .466 1 0 Thome, Jim MIN 591 156 33 95 .264 .353 .464 1 0 Kubel, Jason MIN 573 171 25 96 .298 .353 .501 1 1 Hardy, J.J. MIN 570 151 22 64 .265 .326 .418 0 1 Hudson, Orlando MIN 549 145 5 62 .264 .337 .357 12 1 Mauer, Joe MIN 537 175 29 100 .326 .397 .555 4 2 Cuddyer, Michael MIN 515 144 25 82 .280 .359 .478 5 1 Punto, Nick MIN 507 132 2 43 .260 .342 .310 20 10 Span, Denard MIN 499 150 7 49 .301 .376 .389 19 7 Repko, Jason MIN 250 48 3 13 .192 .251 .272 10 2 Casilla, Alexi MIN 130 29 1 9 .223 .284 .292 5 0 Harris, Brendan MIN 92 27 1 14 .293 .350 .424 1 0 Morales, Jose MIN 91 26 2 14 .286 .323 .374 1 1 Valencia, Danny MIN 47 11 0 2 .234 .280 .298 0 1 Parmelee, Chris MIN 28 11 1 4 .393 .414 .571 0 0 Butera, Drew MIN 24 2 0 1 .083 .214 .125 0 0 Dinkelman, Brian MIN 12 2 0 1 .167 .313 .167 0 0 Slowey, Kevin MIN 5 1 0 0 .200 .200 .200 0 0 Baker, Scott MIN 5 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Pavano, Carl MIN 5 1 0 0 .200 .200 .200 0 0 Tosoni, Rene MIN 3 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Greinke, Zack MIN 3 1 0 1 .333 .333 .667 0 0 Liriano, Francisco MIN 3 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Hughes, Luke MIN 2 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Blackburn, Nick MIN 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Rauch, Jon MIN 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Nieve, Fernando MIN 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Duensing, Brian MIN 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Tolbert, Matt MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Plouffe, Trevor MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 De Los Santos, Estarlin MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Revere, Ben MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Mijares, Jose MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Neshek, Pat MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Crain, Jesse MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Guerrier, Matt MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Perkins, Glen MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Slama, Anthony MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Manship, Jeff MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Swarzak, Anthony MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Player Name Team Starts W L ERA IP K SV CG OBA Slowey, Kevin MIN 35 11 12 4.86 196.1 140 0 2 .287 Baker, Scott MIN 30 14 5 3.66 187.0 159 0 3 .257 Pavano, Carl MIN 18 4 5 4.85 131.2 84 1 0 .273 Greinke, Zack MIN 35 16 9 2.79 219.0 208 0 2 .229 Liriano, Francisco MIN 22 7 7 4.14 130.1 119 0 0 .253 Blackburn, Nick MIN 27 13 9 4.30 161.0 75 0 2 .293 Rauch, Jon MIN 0 7 6 3.99 88.0 57 12 0 .228 Nieve, Fernando MIN 3 1 2 4.68 32.2 17 1 0 .248 Duensing, Brian MIN 5 6 6 6.00 93.0 42 1 0 .325 Mijares, Jose MIN 1 6 5 4.80 84.1 62 15 0 .271 Neshek, Pat MIN 1 1 3 3.54 86.1 76 7 0 .257 Crain, Jesse MIN 1 3 5 4.00 74.1 53 1 0 .258 Guerrier, Matt MIN 1 3 6 4.43 87.1 65 1 0 .275 Perkins, Glen MIN 0 2 1 7.94 22.2 8 0 0 .350 Slama, Anthony MIN 2 0 0 9.00 4.0 1 0 0 .389 Manship, Jeff MIN 0 0 0 0.00 0.0 0 0 0 .000 Swarzak, Anthony MIN 0 0 0 0.00 0.0 0 0 0 .000

Team MVP

Gotta be Joe Mauer. He really carrier us all season. Broke 100 RBI's for the first time in his career, hit a career high 29 homers, and hit to the tune of a .326/.397/.555 line. All while playing solid defense behind the plate. You have to think he has a shot at league MVP as well.

Team Cy Young

I'm disqualifying Greinke since he started the season with KC and made more starts with them than he did with us. In which case I'm giving it to Scott Baker. Baker posted a 14-5 win-loss record along with a very respectable ERA of 3.66 in 187 innings pitched. He walked only 29 batters all year (he made 30 starts) and struck out 159.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

In a dynasty I played, Cleveland's Nick Hagadone turned into a god and was a real strikeout king. It'll be interesting to see how he does as one of your competitors.

Congrats on winning the division! It was certainly ugly for awhile, but in the end 86-76 is pretty respectable. I think you're going to have a great deal of trouble with the BoSox however.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Playoff Match-ups

American League

Boston Red Sox (109-53) vs. Minnesota Twins (86-76)

Hitting Edge: Boston
Pitching Edge: Minnesota
Fielding Edge: Boston
Overall Edge: Boston

Seattle Mariners (88-74) vs. New York Yankees (95-68)

Hitting Edge: New York
Pitching Edge: Seattle
Fielding Edge: Seattle
Overall Edge: New York

National League

St. Louis Cardinals (90-73) vs. New York Mets (90-72)

Hitting Edge: New York
Pitching Edge: St. Louis
Fielding Edge: St. Louis
Overall Edge: St. Louis

Philadelphia Phillies (110-52) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (85-77)

Hitting Edge: Philadelphia
Pitching Edge: Philadelphia
Fielding Edge: Philadelphia
Overall Edge: Philadelphia

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Quote:

Originally Posted by CatKnight

In a dynasty I played, Cleveland's Nick Hagadone turned into a god and was a real strikeout king. It'll be interesting to see how he does as one of your competitors.

Congrats on winning the division! It was certainly ugly for awhile, but in the end 86-76 is pretty respectable. I think you're going to have a great deal of trouble with the BoSox however.

Yeah, Hagadone is looking like a future stud for the Indians right now. 86/95 rating. In his rookie season he was 7-10 with a 3.99 ERA and 177 K's in 155.2 innings :eek:. Not looking forward to seeing how good he gets in a few seasons.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Twins blow Game One in Ninth

Red Sox lead ALDS 1-0

The bullpen issues continued into the postseason. We were leading 5-3 going into the ninth with Jose Mijares coming in to close out the game. He got the first two outs without much problem, but then the Red Sox started stringing hits together, and it was all capped off with a walk-off double by Adrian Beltre, who had homered earlier in the game.

We can't afford to lose games like this. Greinke outpitched the likely Cy Young winner Beckett and we still lost. We got to Beckett for five runs and had him out of the game by the end of the fifth inning, while Greinke pitched six innings and allowed only one run.

Player of the Game - Adrian Beltre 3-5, HR, walk-off double in the bottom of the 9th inning

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Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox October 7, 2010 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E Twins (MIN) 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 9 0 Red Sox (BOS) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 6 14 1 MINNESOTA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Nick Punto (3B) 4 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 .260 Orlando Hudson (2B) 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .264 Denard Span (CF) 4 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 .301 Justin Morneau (1B) 3 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 .286 Jason Kubel (LF) 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .298 Michael Cuddyer (RF) 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .280 J.J. Hardy (SS) 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 .265 Jim Thome (DH) 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .264 Jose Morales (C) 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .286 TOTALS 33 9 4 5 0 5 7 1 2B: Justin Morneau, Orlando Hudson, Jim Thome HBP: Jose Morales GDP: Justin Morneau, Jim Thome, Nick Punto DP: Justin Morneau, Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy MINNESOTA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Zack Greinke 6.0 7 2 0 2 2 4 119 2.79 Jesse Crain 0.2 1 1 0 0 0 0 11 4.00 Matt Guerrier 1.1 1 0 1 1 1 1 19 4.43 Jose Mijares 0.2 5 0 0 3 3 1 20 4.80 TOTALS 8.2 14 3 1 6 6 6 169 BOSTON ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Jacoby Ellsbury (LF) 5 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 .310 J.D. Drew (RF) 2 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 .307 Dustin Pedroia (2B) 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .339 Kevin Youkilis (1B) 4 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 .303 David Ortiz (DH) 5 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .232 Victor Martinez (C) 5 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .303 Adrian Beltre (3B) 5 3 0 1 1 2 1 0 .299 Mike Cameron (CF) 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .268 Marco Scutaro (SS) 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .291 TOTALS 39 14 3 6 1 6 6 2 2B: Adrian Beltre, Marco Scutaro, J.D. Drew, David Ortiz HR: Adrian Beltre HBP: J.D. Drew GDP: Mike Cameron DP: Kevin Youkilis 2, Dustin Pedroia 3, Adrian Beltre, Marco Scutaro 2, Hideki Okajima E: Dustin Pedroia BOSTON ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Josh Beckett 4.1 6 2 0 5 4 3 79 2.96 Manny Delcarmen 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 4.62 Hideki Okajima 2.0 1 1 0 0 0 1 26 4.16 Daniel Bard 0.2 1 1 0 0 0 2 15 2.49 Boof Bonser 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 15 6.73 TOTALS 9.0 9 4 0 5 4 7 144 WP: Boof Bonser LP: Jose Mijares Temperature: 52F Wind: Calm Attendance: 37,400 Time: 3:21

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Twins get roughed up 12-2, trail series 2-0

Red Sox lead series 2-0

Absolutely nothing went right in this game. Liriano was out after 3.1 innings and giving up five runs, and Pavano did nothing to stem the tide by coming in and pitching an inning and letting up six runs. Meanwhile we had all we could do to get runners on base against John Lackey, who went six innings and allowed just two runs on five hits and three walks.

Things are definitely not looking good. We're really gonna have to pull something out if we're gonna get back in this series. Fortunately the series is now headed back to Minnesota for the next two games.

Player of the Game - Jacoby Ellsbury 3-5, 3 R, HR, 3 RBI

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Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox October 8, 2010 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E Twins (MIN) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 10 1 Red Sox (BOS) 1 1 0 3 6 0 0 1 x 12 17 0 MINNESOTA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Denard Span (CF) 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 .301 Orlando Hudson (2B) 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .264 Justin Morneau (1B) 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .286 Joe Mauer (C) 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .326 Jason Kubel (LF) 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .298 Jim Thome (DH) 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .264 Michael Cuddyer (RF) 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .280 J.J. Hardy (SS) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .265 Nick Punto (3B) 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .260 TOTALS 36 10 3 2 0 2 5 0 2B: Joe Mauer, Nick Punto DP: Joe Mauer, Nick Punto, Denard Span E: Jason Kubel MINNESOTA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Francisco Liriano 3.1 8 2 2 5 5 2 74 4.14 Carl Pavano 1.0 6 0 0 6 6 1 42 4.85 Nick Blackburn 3.2 3 0 0 1 1 3 53 4.30 TOTALS 8.0 17 2 2 12 12 6 169 BOSTON ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Jacoby Ellsbury (LF) 5 3 0 3 1 3 1 0 .310 Hunter Pence (RF) 4 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .273 Dustin Pedroia (2B) 5 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .339 Kevin Youkilis (1B) 2 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 .303 Victor Martinez (C) 5 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 .303 Adrian Beltre (3B) 3 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 .299 J.D. Drew (DH) 5 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .307 Mike Cameron (CF) 5 1 0 2 1 1 1 0 .268 Marco Scutaro (SS) 4 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 .291 TOTALS 38 17 2 12 2 12 6 1 2B: Victor Martinez 2, Jacoby Ellsbury, Hunter Pence HR: Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron HBP: Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Beltre, Hunter Pence CS: Hunter Pence BOSTON ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA John Lackey 6.0 5 3 0 2 2 4 110 4.71 Boof Bonser 3.0 5 0 0 0 0 1 52 6.73 TOTALS 9.0 10 3 0 2 2 5 162 WP: John Lackey LP: Francisco Liriano SV: Boof Bonser Temperature: 42F Wind: Calm Attendance: 37,400 Time: 3:23

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Red Sox sweep Twins, advance to ALCS

Red Sox win series 3-0

We started the game strong, going up 3-0 in the second inning. But it all fell apart in the fourth when Scott Baker suddenly lost the strike zone and allowed four runs in the inning. Jon Lester managed to settle in after his rough second inning and allowed just the three runs over six innings of work while striking out six.

Our season comes to a premature end. Now it's time for us to start looking toward the off-season and figuring out what we're gonna do. It shouldn't take much for us to get over the hump and put together a serious championship contender. We do have some big free agents up this season, namely Liriano and Hardy, so we'll have to get them locked up and go from there.

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Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins October 10, 2010 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E Red Sox (BOS) 0 0 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 6 7 0 Twins (MIN) 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 0 BOSTON ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Jacoby Ellsbury (LF) 5 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .310 J.D. Drew (RF) 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 .307 Dustin Pedroia (2B) 5 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 .339 Kevin Youkilis (1B) 5 2 0 2 1 2 2 0 .303 David Ortiz (DH) 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .232 Victor Martinez (C) 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 .303 Adrian Beltre (3B) 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .299 Mike Cameron (CF) 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .268 Marco Scutaro (SS) 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 .291 TOTALS 33 7 6 6 1 5 9 1 HR: Kevin Youkilis HBP: J.D. Drew GDP: J.D. Drew BOSTON ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Jon Lester 6.0 6 2 1 3 3 6 108 5.03 Hideki Okajima 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 4.16 Jonathan Papelbon 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 12 2.69 TOTALS 9.0 6 2 1 3 3 10 141 MINNESOTA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Denard Span (CF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .301 Orlando Hudson (2B) 4 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 .264 Justin Morneau (1B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .286 Joe Mauer (C) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .326 Jason Kubel (LF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .298 Jim Thome (DH) 4 1 0 1 1 1 2 0 .264 Michael Cuddyer (RF) 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 .280 J.J. Hardy (SS) 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .265 Nick Punto (3B) 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .260 TOTALS 33 6 2 3 1 3 10 0 2B: J.J. Hardy HR: Jim Thome DP: Justin Morneau, Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy MINNESOTA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Scott Baker 3.2 5 3 0 4 4 3 80 3.66 Jon Rauch 1.1 1 2 0 0 0 2 37 3.99 Jesse Crain 2.0 1 1 1 2 2 3 30 4.00 Pat Neshek 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 28 3.54 TOTALS 9.0 7 6 1 6 6 9 175 WP: Jon Lester LP: Scott Baker SV: Jonathan Papelbon Temperature: 37F Wind: 5 MPH (right to left) Attendance: 48,678 Time: 3:17

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Red Sox win third World Series in seven Years!

It came down to an '04 World Series rematch, which the Sox again won. The Cardinals had control of the series on multiple occasions, but just couldn't get that final fourth win.

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2...enhunter4v.jpg

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

The Offseason

Resignings

2B Orlando Hudson - Released
DH Jim Thome - Released
SS J.J. Hardy - Signed 4-year extension at 6,000,000 per year (24 million total)
LF Jason Kubel - Signed a 3-year extension at 6,550,000 per year (19.65 million total)
CF Jason Repko - Awarded 1,250,000 for one year in arbitration
UTIL Nick Punto - Signed a 3-year extension at 2,700,000 per year (8.1 million total)
SP Francisco Liriano - Signed a 2-year extension at 3,500,000 per year (7 million total)
RP Pat Neshek - Awarded 1,700,000 for one year in arbitration
RP Jesse Crain - Signed a 3-year extension at 2,500,000 per year (7.5 million total)
RP Matt Guerrier - Signed a 2-year extension at 2,750,000 per year (5.5 million total)
RP Jon Rauch - Released
RP Clay Condrey - Released

Thoughts

I'm pretty happy with the way re-signings went. The one guy I wish I could have kept but just couldn't was Thome. He was asking for too many years and too much money for a guy in his 40's. I'll definitely look to re-sign him for cheaper on the free agent market, however. Most of the lower-tier, role player type guys (Punto, Crain, etc.) were willing to take paycuts or only very small raises, which helped greatly. I thought about re-signing Hudson, but I was too turned off by his sub-.700 OPS, and I decided to see what else might be out there for second baseman. If worst should come to worst I'll bring him back off the open market.

Holes to fill

Third base - Definitely a major hole on this team. Nick Punto is simply not capable of being a starting third basemen in this league. There isn't really anyone on the free agent market, so I'll have to approach this via trade. My first thought would be to swap Morneau for an equally valuable third baseman, perhaps Ryan Zimmerman. Since offensively talented first basemen in this league are a dime a dozen I should be able to find one fairly cheap on the free agent market, and it could ultimately save me some money. This is definitely a deal to look for.

Second base - There are some really good players on the free agent market at this position. The natural second basemen that pop out at me are Howie Kendrick and Rickie Weeks, but I get the feeling that they may be a little too rich for my blood. I'm also not a fan of Kendrick's lack of plate discipline and Weeks defensive ineptitude. So from there I may look at getting a guy like Ryan Theriot and moving him to second base. Other options include Dan Uggla, Derek Jeter, and Jason Bartlett.

Bullpen - The bullpen was an absolute nightmare last season and it's definitely something that needs to be addressed. There are a lot of solid bullpens arm on the market this off-season, so this shouldn't be too hard to fix. Manny Delcarmen is definitely an eye-catcher, as are Brian Fuentes, George Sherrill, and Mariano Rivera.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Twins strike series of Moves

Today we struck a series of moves that not improve our team now and for the future, but also give us a greater deal of payroll flexibility to help us make a run at a World Series next year.

The first move we made was to sign Adrian Beltre to a four-year, forty million dollar contract. Beltre is coming off a superb season in which he hit 21 home runs and drove in over 100 runs with the Boston Red Sox, while also posting an .842 OPS and playing Gold Glove defense.

After the Beltre signing we then agreed to send first baseman Justin Morneau, along with a few prospects, to San Francisco for top young left fielder Thomas Neal and reliever Sergio Romo. This trade gives us a great deal more payroll flexibility so that not only can we address our second base hole, but also use some money to bring in some relievers, and a first baseman should we so choose. However we may not have to, as we could decide to turn first base over to Chris Parmelee. Should we decide to make a signing, however, a likely target would be former Ray Carlos Pena or former Marlin Jorge Cantu.

San Francisco Giants get:

1B Justin Morneau 88 (14 million dollars per year through 2013)
CF Ben Revere 79/91
RP David Bromberg 72/87
RP Billy Bullock 71/86

Minnesota Twins get:

LF Thomas Neal 81/96
RP Sergio Romo 86

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Twins fill out roster with Hill and Huff

After losing out on a number of free agents we coveted more highly, we were able to fill our holes at first and second base via a signing and a trade.

At first base we signed Aubrey Huff to a one-year deal worth 4,650,000, which includes a team option for a second year. We chose to go for Huff after being unable to come to terms with Jorge Cantu, and passing over Carlos Pena due to his sub-.200 batting average. Huff spent last year with the Giants, hitting .278/.347/.473 for the year.

After losing out on a number of second base free agents (Uggla, Theriot, and Weeks), I started poking around on the trading block, and ultimately came to a deal to acquire Toronto's Aaron Hill for two mid-level prospects. Hill is coming off a 26 home run, .800 OPS campaign, and will be a welcome addition to the line-up, and for far less than what we would have had to pay anyone on the Free Agent market.

The two of them should combine to replace what we lost in the Morneau trade, and then some.

We were also able to bring back Jim Thome on a one-year deal worth 5,400,000. He will most likely split with Jason Kubel as the team's designated hitter.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

2010 Award Winners

American League

Cy Young: BOS SP Josh Beckett 22-4, 2.96 ERA, 225 IP, 50 BB, 203 K
MVP: BOS 2B Dustin Pedroia .339/.404/.505, 17 HR, 141 RBI, 219 H, 126 R
RotY: DET 2B Scott Sizemore .266/.347/.383, 11 HR, 48 RBI, 144 H, 72 R
Gold Gloves: BOS P Josh Beckett, MIN C Joe Mauer, DET 1B Miguel Cabrera, SEA 2B Matt Kata, DET 3B Brandon Inge, LAA SS Erick Aybar, NYY OF Brett Gardner, NYY OF Curtis Granderson, MIN OF Michael Cuddyer

National League

Cy Young: PHI SP Roy Halladay 17-6, 2.30 ERA, 250.2 IP, 38 BB, 199 K
MVP: PHI 1B Ryan Howard .279/.355/.571, 44 HR, 131 RBI, 166 H, 109 R
RotY: STL 3B David Freese .254/.327/.379, 12 HR, 78 RBI, 134 H, 67 R
Gold Gloves: PHI P Roy Halladay, PIT C Ryan Doumit, ATL 1B J.R. House, PIT 2B Akinori Iwamura, COL 3B Ian Stewart, PIT SS Ronny Cedeno, NYM OF Jeff Francoeur, CHC OF Kosuke Fukudome, MIL OF Ryan Braun

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Minnesota Twins Opening Day Roster

Lineup:

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Name B P AVG HR SB R RBI OBA D. Span L CF .301 7 19 87 49 .376 A. Beltre R 3B .299 21 8 105 104 .359 N. Thomas R LF .355 0 0 2 8 .444 J. Mauer L C .326 29 4 95 100 .397 J. Kubel L DH .298 25 1 79 96 .353 M. Cuddyer R RF .280 25 5 72 82 .359 A. Hill R 2B .283 26 5 83 89 .334 A. Huff L 1B .278 19 1 69 72 .347 J. Hardy R SS .265 22 0 69 64 .326

Looks pretty good to me. There's a good balance here, good balance of power vs. contact, and of lefties vs. righties. The one thing we do lack to a great deal is speed. Span is a good basestealer and could have his first 30 steal season, but besides him we don't have anyone who can steal a base in a pinch. We should be able to make up for it with the raw hitting ability of the rest of the line-up, though.

Bench:

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Name B P AVG HR SB R RBI OBA J. Repko R OF .192 3 10 28 13 .251 J. Morales S C .286 2 1 8 14 .323 N. Punto S IF .260 2 20 61 43 .342 B. Harris R IF .293 1 1 11 14 .350 J. Thome L DH .264 33 1 84 95 .353

We're much deeper to start the year than we were last year. Punto had a good season as a starter last year, but he's much better suited to come off the bench as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. Morales will continue to be Greinke's personal catcher, and Thome gives us a great pinch-hit, bench bat.

Starting Rotation:

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Name T ERA IP K W L SV Z. Greinke R 2.79 219.0 208 16 9 0 S. Baker R 3.66 187.0 159 14 5 0 K. Slowey R 4.86 196.1 140 11 12 0 F. Liriano L 4.14 130.1 119 7 7 0 N. Blackburn R 4.30 161.0 75 13 9 0

We have a very, very good starting rotation. There aren't many pitchers in the league as talented or more talented than Greinke, making him a premier #1 pitcher. The rest of the staff behind him is all very good as well. This should definitely be a strength of ours.

Bullpen:

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Name T ERA IP K W L SV S. Romo R 4.27 92.2 92 2 6 2 J. Nathan R 0.00 0.0 0 0 0 0 J. Mijares L 4.80 84.1 62 6 5 15 J. Crain R 4.00 74.1 53 3 5 1 F. Nieve R 4.68 32.2 17 1 2 1 P. Neshek R 3.54 86.1 76 1 3 7

The addition of Romo and the return of Nathan are great improvements over last year and should make at least the eighth and ninth innings tough on opposing offenses. After them, we look okay. This shouldn't be a weakness, at least.

Overall, I think we've got a very, very good team. I don't think we're a lock for the division, Cleveland looks like a good team on paper, but I think we're definitely the favorite.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

2011 Opening Day Special

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Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins April 5, 2011 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E Indians (CLE) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 5 6 0 Twins (MIN) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 12 0

Tough opening day loss. We came back to tie it in the bottom of the ninth with a Beltre RBI single, but the bullpen (surprise) lost it for us in the 10th.

Greinke picked right up where he left off last season, pitching eight innings, allowing just two runs, and striking out eight. Adrian Beltre made his presence known in his first at-bat as a Twin, homering in the top of the first inning, and then did so again when he drove in the tying run in the bottom of the ninth. Overall he went 3-5 with two RBI's and a homer. Thomas Neal also had a good start to his Twins career, going 2-5.

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CLEVELAND ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Michael Brantley (LF) 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Grady Sizemore (CF) 3 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 .333 Shin-Soo Choo (RF) 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Matt LaPorta (1B) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Carlos Santana (C) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000 Andy Marte (3B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Asdrubal Cabrera (2B) 4 2 0 2 0 0 2 1 .500 Lou Marson (DH) 3 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 .000 Ryan Theriot (SS) 4 2 0 2 1 3 0 0 .500 TOTALS 35 6 3 5 1 4 9 1 2B: Michael Brantley (1) HR: Ryan Theriot (1) HBP: Matt LaPorta GDP: Matt LaPorta DP: Matt LaPorta, Ryan Theriot, Joe Smith CLEVELAND ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Nick Hagadone 6.0 8 3 1 1 1 4 115 1.50 Joe Smith 2.2 4 0 0 1 1 1 44 3.38 Tony Sipp 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 15 0.00 TOTALS 10.0 12 3 1 2 2 6 174 MINNESOTA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Denard Span (CF) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Adrian Beltre (3B) 5 3 0 1 1 2 0 0 .600 Thomas Neal (LF) 5 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .400 Joe Mauer (C) 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Michael Cuddyer (RF) 5 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .400 Aaron Hill (2B) 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Aubrey Huff (1B) 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 .000 J.J. Hardy (SS) 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333 Jose Morales (C) 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .750 Jason Repko (P) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 Nick Punto (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 39 12 3 2 1 2 6 0 HR: Adrian Beltre (1) GDP: Adrian Beltre CS: Aubrey Huff DP: Aubrey Huff, Aaron Hill, Adrian Beltre MINNESOTA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Zack Greinke 8.0 3 2 1 2 2 8 123 2.25 Sergio Romo 1.1 2 1 0 3 3 1 38 20.25 Jose Mijares 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 0.00 TOTALS 10.0 6 3 1 5 5 9 173 WP: Tony Sipp (1-0) LP: Sergio Romo (0-1)

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April 7, 2011

Indians 3 - Twins 14

Hopefully the offense can do this all season. Span drove in five runs on two homers, Thomas Neal hit the first home-run of his Major League career, and Joe Mauer hit a home run of his own while driving in three runs.

POTG - D. Span 4-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI

April 8, 2011

Indians 3 - Twins 0

Fausto Carmona was absolutely dominant. He pitches the complete game shutout while allowing only two hits and one walk, all of which belonged to Adrian Beltre. Slowey was good as well (7 innings, two earned runs) but he wasn't good enough.

POTG - F. Carmona CG, SHO, 2 H, BB, K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 1-2
1.0 GB of Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

April 9, 2011

Red Sox 2 - Twins 5

Our first game against the Red Sox since getting swept out of the playoffs in the first round last year went well. Liriano pitched seven inning of two-run ball, and the 9-4 hitters drive in a run each.

POTG - F. Liriano 7 IP, 8 H, BB, 2 ER, 5 K

April 10, 2011

Red Sox 9 - Twins 5

We got to Beckett for four runs, but the pitching just wasn't there for us. Marco Scutaro drove in four runs out of the nine hole for the Sox, and Aubrey Huff drove in two out of the eight spot for us.

POTG - M. Scutaro 3-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI

April 11, 2011

Red Sox 2 - Twins 1

Greinke goes seven and only gives up two, but still gets pegged with a loss because we couldn't push anything across the plate.

POTG - J. Lackey 7 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, ER, 5 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 2-4
3.0 GB of Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

April 12, 2011

Twins 4 - Indians 5

This is not the way I was looking to start the season. Mijares allows the winning run to plate in the bottom of the seventh, and we can't touch Cleveland closer Tony Sipp, who goes two innings for his second save of the season.

POTG - T. Sipp 2 IP, 0 H, BB, SV

April 13, 2011

Twins 7 - Indians 5 (15 innings)

It took us 15 innings, but we were able to get the win. Blackburn pitched four innings out of the 'pen and got the win, but unfortunately he was due to start tomorrow. Uh oh.

POTG - J. Mauer 3-7, 2 2B, R, 3 RBI

April 14, 2011

Twins 0 - Indians 1

Liriano and Carmona each pitched eight shutout innings and sent the game into extras. However, the bullpen continues to be an achilles heel for me, and Sergio Romo gave up a walk-off RBI double to Andy Marte to score Shin-Soo Choo to plate the winning run in the first extra frame.

POTG - A. Marte 2-5, walk-off double in 10th inning

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 3-6
4.0 GB of Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

April 16, 2011

Twins 5 - Royals 9

Greinke gets roughed up by his former team, allowing six runs (four earned) over 4.2 innings. Brayan Pena and Jody Gerut drive in three runs a piece. Meanwhile I smack my head off a brick wall.

POTG - B. Pena 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI

April 17, 2011

Twins 4 - Royals 6

Why does my bullpen seem to only do well when we're behind in games? Baker fails to make it out of the second innings after giving up four runs in the inning, but we manage to hold them to one run the rest of the game. It obviously didn't matter, though, since my offense was nowhere to be found.

POTG - B. Butler 3-R HR

April 18, 2011

Twins 2 - Royals 11

I did not picture a 3-9 start for this team, but that's where we are. Slowey didn't make it out of the fourth inning and Fernando Nieve allowed five runs in one-third of an inning later in the game.

POTG - K. Davies 7 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 ER, 0 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 3-9
6.0 GB of Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

April 19, 2011

Twins 5 - Orioles 3

Holy cow, a win! Liriano gets his second win of the season by going six innings and holding the Orioles to three runs. Sergio Romo gets his second save, and Aaron Hill hits his second home-run - a two-run shot in the sixth.

POTG - MIN bullpen (J. Crain + J. Mijares + S. Romo) 3 IP, 0 H, BB, 0 ER, 4 K

April 20, 2011

Twins 10 - Orioles 1

Blackburn pitched eight innings of one-run ball, and the offense was firing on all cylinders. Beltre homered twice, while Hill, Mauer, and Span each homered once.

POTG - A. Beltre 2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI

September 22, 2010

Twins 15 - Orioles 0

The bats definitely got going against the O's in these last two games. Greinke pitched 8.2 innings of shutout ball before getting pulled for Crain. Everyone contributed on offense. Aubrey Huff and Cuddyer each homered twice, while Kubel and Thomas Neal each homered once. Neal, Kubel, and Cuddyer all drove in three runs.

POTG - Z. Greinke 8.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 8 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 6-9
3.0 GB of Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

First couple series were rough but we appeared to pick it up against the Orioles. Liriano and Greinke are both pitching like studs, with sub-3.00 ERA's in over 20 innings of work each. Our star rookie and centerpiece of the Morneau trade Thomas Neal is also hitting well after somewhat of a rough start. In 56 AB's he sports a line of .268/.369/.429 with 3 home-runs and nine RBI's.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

April 23, 2011

Royals 4 - Twins 10

Beltre hit his 4th home run of the year and drove in four runs to lead the offense.

POTG - A. Beltre 2-5, HR, 4 RBI

April 24, 2011

Royals 6 - Twins 5

Five of the 11 runs scored in this game were scored in the ninth inning. Unfortunately our rally fell one run short and our four-game winning streak came to an end.

POTG - K. Davies 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 ER, K

April 25, 2011

Royals 8 - Twins 5

How do we keep losing to the Royals!? The Royals! Their starting shortstop is Yunieski Betancourt, and he's the only one in the line-up hitting over .300!

POTG - J. Gerut 3-R HR

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 7-11
3.5 GB of Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

April 26, 2011

Rangers 16 - Twins 3

Our only three runs come on three separate three-run homers. One by Aubrey Huff, one by J.J. Hardy, and one by Jose Morales.

POTG - D. Gutierrez 7 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 ER, 3 K

April 27, 2011

Rangers 7 - Twins 11

Jim Thome hit his first home-run of the year and now sits two homers away from entering the prestigious 600 club.

POTG - Z. Greinke 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 ER, 8 K

April 28, 2011

Rangers 2 - Twins 3

Mauer had one of the strangest games I've ever seen. He went 1-1 with four walks and an RBI, and that RBI came from a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth to send us home with the win.

POTG - J. Mauer 1-1, 4 BB, game-winning RBI walk

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 9-12
3.5 GB of Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

April 29, 2011

Twins 5 - Blue Jays 9

Two words. Bullpen. Problems.

POTG - W. Aybar 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI

April 30, 2011

Twins 5 - Blue Jays 7

Liriano allows four runs in four innings and sends his ERA up to 3.99. The bullpen continues to cost me wins. I can't afford to let the bullpen continue to kill me like this. I need to make a move ASAP.

POTG - B. Wallace 3-R HR

May 1, 2011

Twins 3 - Blue Jays 6

Pat Neshek gives up three runs in the eighth inning to prevent a chance for us to win in extras. Ridiculous. My bullpen should not be this bad. There is actually talent in there.

POTG - A. Pierzynski game-winning 3-R home-run in 8th inning

May 2, 2011

Twins 1 - Blue Jays 4

Anibal Sanchez pitched eight shutout innings, and we were only able to score once he came out of the game for the ninth.

POTG - A. Sanchez 8 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 3 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 9-16
4.5 GB of Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

I can't believe how the beginning of this season has gone. We were supposed to win 100 games according to the projected W-L before the season started. It's now May and we haven't even broken double-digit wins. Zack Greinke is 1-3 despite a 3.24 ERA. We just can't put anything together at once. If our offense is there, the pitching isn't. If the starters are on and we get some runs, the bullpen falls apart. Fortunately the rest of the division is still struggling so we're still in it.

End of April

HTML Code:

ERA Z. Greinke 3.24 Wins S. Baker 2 Saves S. Romo 2 AVG D. Span .344 HR A. Hill 5 SB D. Span 5

Stats

Batting

HTML Code:

Player Name Team AB H HR RBI Avg OBP SLG SB CS Beltre, Adrian MIN 111 31 4 12 .279 .331 .414 0 0 Kubel, Jason MIN 99 31 2 16 .313 .343 .434 1 0 Span, Denard MIN 96 33 3 13 .344 .409 .490 5 1 Huff, Aubrey MIN 92 24 4 12 .261 .320 .457 0 2 Cuddyer, Michael MIN 91 24 3 8 .264 .330 .440 1 1 Neal, Thomas MIN 91 21 3 11 .231 .346 .352 1 1 Hill, Aaron MIN 89 21 5 13 .236 .278 .472 1 0 Hardy, J.J. MIN 84 23 5 13 .274 .358 .476 0 0 Mauer, Joe MIN 70 24 3 18 .343 .466 .571 1 0 Repko, Jason MIN 27 5 0 1 .185 .214 .259 0 0 Morales, Jose MIN 26 9 1 1 .346 .370 .538 0 0 Punto, Nick MIN 8 3 0 1 .375 .375 .625 0 0 Harris, Brendan MIN 4 3 0 0 .750 .750 1.000 0 0 Thome, Jim MIN 2 1 1 3 .500 .667 2.000 0 0 Greinke, Zack MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Baker, Scott MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Slowey, Kevin MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Liriano, Francisco MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Blackburn, Nick MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Romo, Sergio MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Nathan, Joe MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Mijares, Jose MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Crain, Jesse MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Neshek, Pat MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Nieve, Fernando MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0

Pitching

HTML Code:

Player Name Team Starts W L ERA IP K SV CG OBA Greinke, Zack MIN 6 1 3 3.24 41.2 40 0 0 .218 Baker, Scott MIN 5 2 1 5.06 26.2 20 0 0 .300 Slowey, Kevin MIN 2 0 2 4.22 10.2 5 0 0 .318 Liriano, Francisco MIN 5 2 1 3.99 29.1 23 0 0 .298 Blackburn, Nick MIN 4 2 2 4.82 28.0 14 0 0 .286 Romo, Sergio MIN 0 0 2 9.00 9.0 8 2 0 .278 Nathan, Joe MIN 0 1 0 8.68 9.1 8 0 0 .372 Mijares, Jose MIN 0 0 1 5.00 18.0 9 0 0 .278 Crain, Jesse MIN 1 0 1 2.70 16.2 7 1 0 .180 Neshek, Pat MIN 2 1 2 7.16 16.1 10 0 0 .303 Nieve, Fernando MIN 0 0 1 7.11 19.0 12 0 0 .284

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Maybe you're getting your struggles out of the way early.

Nonetheless, if there's anything you can do to save your bullpen, it has to be now or give up on 2011.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Quote:

Originally Posted by CatKnight

Maybe you're getting your struggles out of the way early.

Nonetheless, if there's anything you can do to save your bullpen, it has to be now or give up on 2011.

I'm wondering if this is just becoming a second-half team. I struggled pretty badly in the first half last year too, and the team is mostly the same (most of the pitching staff, Mauer, Kubel, Hardy, Cuddyer, Span, are all back from last year), and then came back pretty strong post-ASB. Either way, I'm gonna have to swing something for a reliever or two.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Prior to our game on May 3rd we were able to make a couple moves to help out our bullpen. The first move we made was to sign Chad Cordero (69) out of free agency. He's gonna start out in AAA, but if he puts up good numbers down there he's definitely gonna get a chance with the big club. Next, we sent AAA 3B Danny Valencia (76/78) to Baltimore in exchange for reliever Will Ohman. Ohman is making just 1.85 million through the 2012 season and is currently the owner of a 2.77 ERA in 13 games.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 3, 2011

Twins 1 - White Sox 5

Beltre is making me look like an absolute genius for signing him. He hit his fifth home-run of the year in this game, and on the season he's hitting .278/.328/.435 with five home-runs and 13 RBI's, while playing premier defense. Unfortunately, however, it isn't translating to wins on the field.

POTG - J. Peavy 7 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, ER, 6 K

May 4, 2011

Twins 4 - White Sox 1

Kubel fell a triple short of hitting for the cycle, and our bullpen managed to pitch two scoreless innings.

POTG - F. Liriano 7 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, ER, 6 K

May 5, 2011

Twins 1 - White Sox 5

Nevin Griffith allowed only one run over seven innings, and Rios helped him out by driving in three runs on two hits.

POTG - N. Griffith 7 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, ER, 4 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 10-18
4.5 GB of Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 6, 2011

Twins 0 - A's 2

Jeff Manship pitched 6.1 innings of two run ball, but we couldn't get to Brett Anderson for anything to help Manship out.

POTG - B. Anderson 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 7 K

May 7, 2011

Twins 0 - A's 5

Greinke get's outdueled by Trevor Cahill, who goes all nine innings for the shutout.

POTG - T. Cahill CG, SHO, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K

May 8, 2011

Twins 1 - A's 2

We got the short end of the stick on a great pitcher's duel between Scott Baker and Ben Sheets.

POTG - B. Sheets 7 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, ER, 6 K

May 9, 2011

Twins 4 - A's 11

At this point I really think I might be playing for a next year's draft. The first three pitchers we ran out there, Liriano, Nathan, and Crain, combined to go 2.1 innings and allow all 11 of the A's runs.

POTG - D. Braden 7 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, ER, 5 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 10-22
8.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 11, 2011

Tigers 5 - Twins 3

Our offense actually manages to get some runners on the board in the same game that our starter is able to keep us in the game, and then the bullpen allows runs in the 8th inning.

POTG - T. Neal 3-4, 2 RBI

May 12, 2011

Tigers 1 - Twins 4

We finally snap our losing streak at six or seven games.

POTG - Z. Greinke 7 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, ER, 7 K

May 13, 2011

Tigers 4 - Twins 5

A winning streak!? Preposterous! I'm not exactly sure how we did it, since Scott Baker couldn't make it through the third inning, but somehow we did.

POTG - MIN bullpen (J. Nathan + P. Neshek + S. Romo + J. Crain) 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 3 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 12-23
7.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

Well we were able to win two of three against the team leading our division, which is always good. Unfortunately we're still 11 games below .500, last place in the division, and 3.5 games back of FOURTH place. I'm trying to remain optimistic, but I don't think this year is gonna turn out the way I had hoped before the season started.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Quality dynasty, Yeah Dawg.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francoeurstein

Quality dynasty, Yeah Dawg.

Thanks, dude :).

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

May 14, 2011

White Sox 7 - Twins 5

Yet another loss. However, on the positive side, Thomas Neal seems to be coming into his own a little bit. He went 2-4 with a home run in this game, and in his last ten he's hitting .316/.381/.421. If we can get him going we should be able to start stringing some wins together.

POTG - T. Flowers 2-4, HR, 2 RBI

May 15, 2011

White Sox 2 - Twins 7

Mauer went 4-5 with two doubles and an RBI to raise his batting average to a team-leading .321. Thomas Neal had his second consecutive multi-hit game.

POTG - J. Mauer 4-5, 2 2B, RBI

May 16, 2011

White Sox 1 - Twins 11

Beltre walloped his team-leading 7th homer of the season and drove in five. On the mound, Greinke won his second consecutive start, going seven and allowing just one run while striking out four.

POTG - A. Beltre 1-3, HR, 5 RBI

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 14-24
6.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 17, 2011

Twins 2 - Rays 4

Kevin Slowey was just flatout out-pitched. Slowey allowed three runs over seven innings, but his counterpart Wade Davis held us to two runs over the same time frame.

POTG - W. Davis 7 IP, 7 H, 0 BB, 2 ER, 4 K

May 18, 2011

Twins 4 - Rays 0

Baker hurls a complete game shutout while notching 7 K's, and Aaron Hill ties Beltre for the team-lead in homers with 7.

POTG - S. Baker CG, SHO, 4 H, BB, 7 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 15-25
7.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 19, 2011

Twins 7 - Tigers 5

Liriano stymied the Tigers offense all night. Over seven innings he allowed just two runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out an impressive nine batters. He received a great deal of help from Kubel, who went 4-4 with three runs, a homer, and four RBI.

POTG - J. Kubel 4-4, 3 R, HR, 4 RBI

May 20, 2011

Twins 3 - Tigers 5

The Detroit bullpen was able to shut us out for four innings and prevent us from mounting any sort of rally.

POTG - DET bullpen (D. Schlereth + R. Perry + J. Valverde) 4 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 7 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 16-26
7.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 21, 2011

D'Backs 0 - Twins 5

Greinke goes 8.1 innings of shutout ball, striking out 11 D'Back hitters in the process. Neal goes 2-2 with two doubles and two walks to raise his season line to .276/.384/.423.

POTG - Z. Greinke 8.1 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 11 K

May 22, 2011

D'Backs 7 - Twins 5

A couple unearned runs scattered throughout the game cost us a chance of at least taking the game to extra innings.

POTG - M. Reynolds 3-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI

May 23, 2011

D'Backs 2 - Twins 5

Baker very nearly threw his second complete game shutout in a row. But as it was he allowed a run to plate with two outs in the ninth inning and instead went 8.2 innings, allowed one run, and struck out nine. Kubel cracked two homers to tie him with Aaron Hill and Adrian Beltre for the team-lead with seven.

POTG - S. Baker 8.2 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, ER, 9 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 18-27
7.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 25, 2011

A's 6 - Twins 0

Braden pitched a complete game shutout against us, with Michael Cuddyer being our only batter to reach base multiple times.

POTG - D. Braden CG, SHO, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K

May 26, 2011

A's 3 - Twins 4

For once it was the other team's bullpen failing them. We were able to score two in the ninth to tie it, and then walked-off with the win in the 10th when Adrian Beltre hit an RBI-infield-single to third with two outs.

POTG - A. Beltre 2-5, game-winning RBI infield 1B in 10th inning

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 19-28
8.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

We're on a pretty good run lately. We've taken at least a split in every series we've played since being swept by the A's in Oakland from 5/6 to 5/9. If Detroit wasn't 8-2 in their last ten and 14-6 in their last 20 games we might have actually made up some ground. I think a lot of it has to do with Neal adjusting to the majors. He started the season rough, but in his last ten games he's hitting .387/.548/.710 with two homers and five RBI's.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

I agree with Franc. Quality dynasty - I came home tonight looking forward to seeing how your team was doing.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Quote:

Originally Posted by CatKnight

I agree with Franc. Quality dynasty - I came home tonight looking forward to seeing how your team was doing.

Thanks :). Hope I'm not going too fast for you guys, I just can't help it, haha.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

May 27, 2011

Twins 5 - Red Sox 4

Slowey pitched seven innings of two-run ball while striking out nine.

POTG - K. Slowey 7 IP, 4 H, BB, 2 ER, 9 K

May 28, 2011

Twins 6 - Red Sox 1

Scott Baker throws another complete game. He didn't allow the Red Sox to score until J.D. Drew hit a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth. Neal cracked his 7th homer of the year, tying him with Aaron Hill, Adrian Beltre, and Jason Kubel for the team lead.

POTG - S. Baker CG, 3 H, 0 BB, ER, 7 K

May 29, 2011

Twins 7 - Red Sox 3

We rallied to win by scoring all seven of our runs between the 7th and 9th innings. From the leadoff spot, Span went 3-5 with three runs, two RBI, and a steal, to lead the offense.

POTG - D. Span 3-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, SB

May 30, 2011

Twins 1 - Red Sox 3

The killing blow was Mike Cameron's three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to start, and for all purposes, end the scoring by either team.

POTG - M. Cameron 1-3, game-winning 3-R HR in 8th inning

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 22-29
8.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 31, 2011

Mariners 6 - Twins 3

Zack Greinke missed his start due to some strained ribs, so Will Ohman started in his place, and he did not fare too well. He lasted just two innings and gave up two runs, and the next two relievers, Nieve and Neshek, were equally inept, allowing a combined four runs over four innings.

POTG - F. Hernandez 6.2 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 2 ER, 4 K

June 1, 2011

Mariners 0 - Twins 3

Thank God for Zack Greinke. He made the start against Cliff Lee and was able to outperform him. Lee went seven and allowed just two earned runs, but Greinke did an even better job of holding the offense at bay by throwing a complete game shutout.

POTG - Z. Greinke CG, SHO, 5 H, BB, 9 K

June 2, 2011

Mariners 8 - Twins 5

Slowey allowed five runs to plate in just two innings of work. The bullpen was able to hold it together reasonably well, but we just weren't able to make up for Slowey's poor start.

POTG - J. Vargas 7 IP, 2 H, 6 BB, ER, K

June 3, 2011

Mariners 5 - Twins 4

Despite a strong effort by Scott Baker (7 IP, 3 ER), we were not able to secure a tie of the series.

POTG - S. Baker 7 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 ER, 4 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 23-32
8.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

It would've been nice to come away with at least a series split from the Mariners. Despite playing reasonably well lately we have made up virtually no ground on the Detroit Tigers. That tells me that if we're gonna make a serious run at this we need to go on a massive tear.

HTML Code:

ERA Z. Greinke 2.55 Wins Z. Greinke 5 Saves J. Mijares 4 AVG D. Span .311 HR 3 tied 7 SB D. Span 10

Stats

Batting

HTML Code:

Player Name Team AB H HR RBI Avg OBP SLG SB CS Span, Denard MIN 225 70 3 20 .311 .372 .436 10 3 Beltre, Adrian MIN 221 56 7 29 .253 .311 .385 3 1 Hill, Aaron MIN 202 51 7 21 .252 .285 .441 2 0 Cuddyer, Michael MIN 201 54 4 19 .269 .333 .388 4 1 Huff, Aubrey MIN 200 50 6 25 .250 .302 .405 0 2 Kubel, Jason MIN 192 57 7 33 .297 .344 .448 1 0 Neal, Thomas MIN 186 51 7 23 .274 .391 .430 1 1 Mauer, Joe MIN 161 48 5 28 .298 .401 .466 1 0 Hardy, J.J. MIN 150 33 6 17 .220 .300 .380 0 0 Morales, Jose MIN 54 20 1 5 .370 .424 .481 0 0 Repko, Jason MIN 36 6 0 1 .167 .250 .222 1 0 Thome, Jim MIN 24 3 1 3 .125 .192 .250 0 0 Harris, Brendan MIN 22 5 0 2 .227 .292 .273 0 0 Punto, Nick MIN 21 4 0 2 .190 .346 .286 3 0 Greinke, Zack MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Slowey, Kevin MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Baker, Scott MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Liriano, Francisco MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Blackburn, Nick MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Mijares, Jose MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Romo, Sergio MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Crain, Jesse MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Neshek, Pat MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Nieve, Fernando MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Ohman, Will MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0

Pitching

HTML Code:

Player Name Team Starts W L ERA IP K SV CG OBA Greinke, Zack MIN 12 5 4 2.55 84.2 82 0 1 .210 Slowey, Kevin MIN 6 1 4 4.68 32.2 27 0 0 .281 Baker, Scott MIN 12 5 3 3.63 74.1 58 0 2 .249 Liriano, Francisco MIN 11 4 4 5.06 58.2 46 0 0 .298 Blackburn, Nick MIN 9 3 5 4.66 58.0 22 0 0 .276 Mijares, Jose MIN 0 1 1 4.38 24.2 11 4 0 .276 Romo, Sergio MIN 0 0 3 4.55 27.2 29 2 0 .269 Crain, Jesse MIN 1 2 3 2.67 33.2 20 1 0 .217 Neshek, Pat MIN 2 1 2 6.19 32.0 25 0 0 .273 Nieve, Fernando MIN 0 0 1 5.50 36.0 26 0 0 .301 Ohman, Will MIN 1 1 1 3.57 17.2 15 1 0 .225

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

2011 Minnesota Twins Draft Review

Round #1 - 1B Kevin Watson (65/85) - Strong bat, low health risk
Round #2 - CF Alex Dixon (63/79) - Unexpected power for a CF
Round #3 - SP Victor Zubiri (56/77) - Great fastball, good control of his pitches, low health risk
Round #4 - SP Juan Lizardi (57/76) - Being switched to RF due to solid potential with bat
Round #5 - C Derek Coelker (53/75) - Projects as an excellent defensive catcher
Round #6 - RP Peter Skernswell (47/71) - Very healthy, gyroball specialist

Another solid draft for us. We brought in some potentially very good bats and some solid arms. I think Watson could be ready by next season, and I'm really not sold on Parmelee as the first baseman of the future (he's 23 years old and in AA). He had very good numbers in his last two years of high school and his one year of college. I'm very, very excited about what he could become.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Good Job so far

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

June 4, 2011

Indians 6 - Twins 2

Fausto Carmona continued his habit of being completely abhorrent against us, or just making us look silly. This time he made us look silly, allowing one run over seven innings on five hits.

POTG - F. Carmona 7 IP, 5 H, BB, ER, K

June 5, 2011

Indians 1 - Twins 6

Kubel hit two jacks in the game. Meanwhile Nick Blackburn was masterful, allowing just one run over seven innings while striking out six.

POTG - J. Kubel 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI

June 6, 2011

Indians 1 - Twins 7

Greinke pitched seven innings of one-run ball and earned his sixth win of the season.

POTG - Z. Greinke 7 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, ER, 7 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 25-33
7.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

June 8, 2011

Twins 10 - Royals 8

Neal collected three hits in four at-bats in the game, including a home-run, to raise his season batting average to .278. He has to be the leading candidate for AL RotY right now!

POTG - T. Neal 3-4, BB, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI

June 9, 2011

Twins 5 - Royals 4

Baker allows just two earned runs (as well as an additional unearned run) over seven innings while striking out eight. We were able to rally in the top of the ninth for three runs to earn the win!

POTG - S. Baker 7 IP, 6 H, BB, 2 ER, 8 K

June 10, 2011

Twins 2 - Royals 16

This was just an ugly game - plain and simple. Every one of our pitchers who appeared in this game, save Sergio Romo, allowed at least three runs. The first two to appear, starter Liriano and long-reliever Nieve, allowed five runs each. Coupled with the fact that the offense was absent and this was a bad, bad loss.

POTG - A. Gordon 2-4, BB, 3 R, HR, 5 RBI

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 27-34
8.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

June 11, 2011

Twins 5 - Cubs 6 (in extras)

Romo allowed four runs in the bottom of the eighth to allow the Cubs to tie the game, which they would eventually go on to win in extras, via a Delmon Young bases-loaded single.

POTG - D. Young 4-5, BB, R, 2 RBI, game-winning hit in 10th inning

June 12, 2011

Twins 0 - White Sox 3

Greinke got his fifth loss of the season, in spite of allowing only one run over seven innings while striking out a season-high 11 batters. We were held to three hits over the entire game by the tandem of Matt Garza and Mariano Rivera.

POTG - M. Garza 8 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 6 K

June 13, 2011

Twins 6 - Cubs 3

We avoided the sweep by scoring four of our six runs between the 7th and 9th innings. Mauer and Beltre each homered and drove in two runs, and the bullpen turned in four shutout innings.

POTG - MIN bullpen (P. Neshek, S. Romo, J. Mijares) 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 7 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 28-36
9.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

I've really been playing pretty well lately. Unfortunately so have the teams I've been playing, so I've actually lost ground in the division standings despite going 11-9 in my last 20 games. My projected W-L is still at 87-75, and if all teams finished according to their projected W-L that would place me in the Wild Card spot in the playoffs, even still.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

With my second draft in the books and the amount of trades I've made moving prospects around, I figured now might be a good time to do a prospects list! This list is based on my personal opinions/feeling of the players in question, not so much their ratings or anything like that. Anyways, the top 5 Minnesota Twins prospects!

Minnesota Twins Top 5 Prospects

#1 - SP Efrain Solando (64/92)

Solando was my #1 pick in the 2010 draft, drafted at #21 overall. The 17 year-old righty has improved quite a bit since being drafted just over one year ago. His overall/peak has gone from 54/89 or so on draft day to 62/94. All his pitching vitals (control, power, movement) sit in the low 60's, with his endurance at an even 80. He is virtually no injury risk whatsoever, with his health rating at 86, and sports three nasty pitches - a fastball rated at 60 and clocked in the low 90's, a slider rated at 58, and a sinker at 64. This season in rookie ball he has made 7 starts and has a 2-4 record and a 3.79 ERA.

#2 - SP Victor Zubiri (67/85)

Drafted just a couple weeks ago in the third round at #82 overall Zubiri is already showing plenty of promise in the minor leagues. In two rookie league starts he is 0-0, but has a very impressive 1.35 ERA. Although he sports good power and movement (65 and 66 ratings respectively), his control and endurance are what makes him great, as his endurance is rated at 87 and his control already a ML-quality 77. He already has two ML-caliber pitches in his fastball and his two-seamer, rated at 80 and 75. His other two pitches, a curve and a foshball are works in progress, but should come along as good secondary pitches.

#3 - 1B Kevin Watson (65/85)

Watson, our first pick at #22 overall in the draft a couple weeks ago, is a guy I am extremely high on. He looks like he's capable of developing into a player very similar to that of former Twin star Justin Morneau. He lacks the fielding aptitude of Justin, but the hitting capability is definitely there. His batting ratings are: 68 contact, 71 power, 65 speed, and 69 eye. All of those but speed should develop nicely and I think he'll become something around the likes of a .300/.400/.550 guy with 25-30 homers and 100 RBI's. In two games of rookie ball he is 2-7 with a double, two RBI, and a walk, for a line of .286/.375/.429.

#4 - SS Miguel Sano (59/90)

The 17 year-old Sano possesses loads of potential in a way very similar to that of Hanley Ramirez when he was in the minors. Great offensive potential (63 contact, 70 power, 73 speed, 63 eye), especially in the power and speed department, but sub-par defense (67 arm, 59 range, 72 fielding). As a 16 year old in rookie-ball last season he only posted a .666 OPS, and so far this season he has been even worse and has posted just a .601 OPS, and that, along with injury concerns, is why his stock has dropped to me and why he is not higher on this list.

#5 - 1B Chris Parmelee (79/86)

Not really sure Parmelee can be considered a prospect anymore at 23 years old, and that is the main reason he's at the bottom of this list. He's put up excellent numbers in the minors the past couple seasons, posting a line of .347/.438/.571 with 18 homers and 93 RBI's in A-ball last season, and prior to being promoted to AAA was hitting at .385/.486/.706 in AA this season. However, due to a lack of contact ability (73 rating in contact), I fear he may ultimately become a quad-A and/or TTO player, not that there's anything wrong with that. He is also a liability defensively and a chronic health risk, and I'd be fairly surprised if he reached his 86 peak at this point. Obviously I'm not too high on this guy.

Other notable prospects

RF Oswaldo Arcia (65/83)
CF Max Kepler (62/83)
3B Jason McDaniell (54/81)
SP Adrian Salcedo (68/79)
RP Alex Burnett (73/78)

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Enjoying this, good team to build with in a competitive division.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

June 15, 2011

Pirates 9 - Twins 8 (in extras)

We had to put together a six-run ninth just to get the game into extras, but unfortunately we were not able to capitalize on that rally and still lost the game.

POTG - B. Lincoln 7 IP, 3 H, BB, 2 ER, 8 K

June 16, 2011

Pirates 2 - Twins 12

We were able to avenge our extra-inning loss with a big win in game two of the series. Liriano allowed just two runs over seven innings and struck out 10, while Mauer homered and drove in four runs on three hits, and Thomas Neal walked five times in five AB's.

POTG - F. Liriano 7 IP, 2 ER, 10 K

June 17, 2011

Pirates 0 - Twins 11

Aubrey Huff homered and drove in six runs in the game, while on the mound Greinke had one of his typical starts. Complete game shut-out, eight hits, walk, six K's.

POTG - A. Huff 5-5, 2 R, HR, 6 RBI

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 30-37
10.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

We continue to play well, but unfortunately so are the Tigers, and we just keep falling further and further behind in spite of the wins we're getting.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Twins trade Nathan and Hill, trim almost 16 mil in Payroll

Today we were able to agree to two separate trades. The first sends 2B Aaron Hill and 3B Jason McDaniell to the A's in exchange for young second baseman Jemile Weeks. The second will send Joe Nathan to New York for $750,000.

Although Hill had hit nine home runs for us, which is impressive as a second baseman, his OPS was hovering around the .720 mark and he was simply not getting on-base at an acceptable rate. Weeks is rated at 80/86 at 24 years old and has more of what we look for in a second baseman. Contact, speed, eye, solid defense, and as mentioned before, this frees up a lot of money. The move makes sense for the A's, too. They're 42-24 and five games up in the AL West and could use a proven, veteran guy at second base, as opposed to a younger, untested guy like Weeks.

Nathan was languishing in AAA due to his 8.10 ERA in 13 innings in the majors. This was something I could simply not deal with when he was one of the highest paid players on the team (11.25 million through the end of the year), so I decided to get what I could for him, and the cash was the best offer I could get for him.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

June 18, 2011

Twins 14 - Phillies 1

The bats seem to be coming to life this month. Jemile Weeks went 2-6 with three runs scored in his Twins and Major League debut. Mauer and Hardy each hit their eighth home run of the year, and Thomas Neal continues to display excellent plate discipline by drawing three walks in this game, along with two hits.

POTG - K. Slowey 7 IP, 6 H, BB, ER, 7 K

June 19, 2011

Twins 11 - Phillies 10

The Phillies mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring seven runs in the inning, but they fell just short. Thomas Neal completely carried the offense, going 3-5 with three runs, two homers, and an astounding eight runs driven in. Baker also pitched a solid game, allowing three earned runs over seven innings of work.

POTG - T. Neal 3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI

June 20, 2011

Twins 5 - Phillies 8

Jemile scratched out three hits and an RBI in his 3rd major league game, but unfortunately our pitchers didn't show up to play today. Liriano allowed five runs in six innings, while Ohman allowed three runs in 1.1 innings of relief.

POTG - R. Oswalt 7 IP, 8 H, BB, 3 ER, K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 32-38
11.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

June 21, 2010

Twins 5 - Marlins 7

We allowed six runs in the first five innings of the game. We managed to mount a small rally in the last few innings, but were unable to make up the early hole we dug ourselves into.

POTG - H. Ramirez 2-4, BB, R, HR, 3 RBI

June 22, 2011

Twins 9 - Marlins 0

Greinke throws his third complete game shutout of the season, striking out eight in the process, and lowering his ERA to an MLB-best 2.01. Huff, Beltre, and Span all homered in support of Greinke.

POTG - Z. Greinke CG, SHO, 7 H, BB, 8 K

June 23, 2010

Twins 2 - Marlins 7

Our only two runs came on a J.J. Hardy two-run homer in the top of the 6th inning. Meanwhile their line-up was getting hits left and right, amassing a total of 11 in the game. Which included two homeruns for Cameron Maybin, a triple for Hanley Ramirez, and doubles by Brian Barden, Bryan Peterson, and Hector Luna.

POTG - N. Robertson 7 IP, 7 H, BB, 2 ER, 2 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 33-40
12.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

June 25, 2011

Cardinals 2 - Twins 8

Aubrey Huff was able to give us three hits and three RBI out of the nine hole, while Nieve made the spot start and allowed just one run over 5.2 IP.

POTG - A. Huff 3-4, 3 RBI

June 26, 2011

Cardinals 6 - Twins 5

Wainwright shut us down pretty well, allowing only two runs over seven innings, while striking out seven. We still managed to have the lead going into the ninth inning, however, but an error led to three unearned runs and another mark in the loss column for us.

POTG - A. Wainwright 7 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 7 K

June 27, 2011

Cardinals 3 - Twins 6

Liriano pitched a solid game in earning his sixth win of the season. He allowed three runs over six innings while notching five strikeouts.

POTG - J. Mauer 1-2, 2 BB, 2 R, HR, RBI

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 35-41
12.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

June 28, 2011

White Sox 4 - Twins 3 (in extras)

Slowey pitched very well, allowing only three runs over seven innings. Unfortunately he got virtually no run support and we lost in extras.

POTG - K. Slowey 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 5 K

June 29, 2011

White Sox 3 - Twins 5

I'm not exactly sure how we won this game, but we did. Our starter lasted only five innings, and we actually got fewer hits than the White Sox, but we still managed to eke it out.

POTG - T. Neal 2-2, 2 BB, R, RBI

June 30, 2011

White Sox 0 - Twins 3

It was Scott Baker's turn to pitch a complete game shutout this time. In his shutout Baker gave up only four hits, walked one, and struck out eight.

POTG - S. Baker CG, SHO, 4 H, BB, 8 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 37-42
12.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

That month was basically completely frustrating. We played our best month at 15-12, but due to the Tigers playing absurbly well and going 20-8 we actually lost several games in the standings. Our pythagorean W-L tells us we should be 44-35 instead of 37-42, which, while incredibly frustrating, is also encouraging. The bats finally seem to be coming alive lately, and the pitchers are starting to pitch like I expected them to at the start of the season. Although there is still the matter of that troublesome bullpen....

HTML Code:

ERA Z. Greinke 2.01 Wins S. Baker 8 Saves J. Mijares 8 AVG D. Span .306 HR J. Kubel 12 SB D. Span 11

Stats

Batting

HTML Code:

Player Name Team AB H HR RBI Avg OBP SLG SB CS Beltre, Adrian MIN 322 81 11 48 .252 .302 .407 3 1 Span, Denard MIN 307 94 5 32 .306 .375 .443 11 3 Huff, Aubrey MIN 297 80 10 43 .269 .310 .428 0 2 Cuddyer, Michael MIN 275 76 4 27 .276 .339 .375 4 1 Kubel, Jason MIN 264 80 12 51 .303 .356 .504 1 0 Neal, Thomas MIN 254 76 10 40 .299 .432 .476 1 1 Mauer, Joe MIN 242 72 10 44 .298 .403 .492 1 0 Hardy, J.J. MIN 236 60 9 32 .254 .332 .403 1 0 Morales, Jose MIN 69 22 1 5 .319 .382 .406 0 0 Weeks, Jemile MIN 54 11 0 3 .204 .283 .259 1 0 Thome, Jim MIN 30 5 1 3 .167 .286 .300 0 0 Punto, Nick MIN 26 7 0 4 .269 .387 .346 3 0 Harris, Brendan MIN 22 5 0 2 .227 .292 .273 0 0 Parmelee, Chris MIN 15 2 0 1 .133 .188 .200 0 0 Slowey, Kevin MIN 8 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Greinke, Zack MIN 6 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Baker, Scott MIN 3 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Liriano, Francisco MIN 1 1 0 1 1.000 1.000 2.000 0 0 Blackburn, Nick MIN 1 0 0 0 .000 .500 .000 0 0 Neshek, Pat MIN 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Ohman, Will MIN 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Nieve, Fernando MIN 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Mijares, Jose MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Romo, Sergio MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 Crain, Jesse MIN 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0

Pitching

HTML Code:

Player Name Team Starts W L ERA IP K SV CG OBA Slowey, Kevin MIN 12 4 5 5.21 65.2 48 0 0 .281 Greinke, Zack MIN 16 8 5 2.01 116.2 114 0 3 .210 Baker, Scott MIN 17 7 3 3.54 106.2 85 0 3 .241 Liriano, Francisco MIN 16 6 7 5.36 87.1 70 0 0 .281 Blackburn, Nick MIN 12 4 6 4.16 75.2 33 0 0 .269 Neshek, Pat MIN 2 2 2 5.06 48.0 35 0 0 .268 Ohman, Will MIN 2 1 2 5.13 26.1 24 1 0 .277 Nieve, Fernando MIN 0 1 1 5.44 48.0 38 0 0 .315 Mijares, Jose MIN 0 1 3 3.57 35.1 17 8 0 .255 Romo, Sergio MIN 0 1 4 5.10 42.1 45 3 0 .258 Crain, Jesse MIN 1 2 3 2.76 45.2 27 1 0 .225

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

July 2, 2011

Twins 1 - Mariners 0

An incredibly well pitched game on both sides. Felix Hernandez's one mistake was giving up a solo homer to Aubrey Huff in the 5th inning. Liriano pitched eight innings of shutout ball before turning it over to Jose Mijares for Mijares' 9th save of the season.

POTG - F. Liriano 8 IP, 3 H, 5 BB, 0 ER, 7 K

July 3, 2011

Twins 3 - Mariners 4

Mauer fell a home-run short of hitting for the cycle in the loss. Nick Blackburn pitched seven innings of three run ball, but the ever-unreliable Romo blew it in the ninth (again).

POTG - N. Blackburn 7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 K

July 4, 2011

Twins 9 - Mariners 4

We weren't able to put the game away until we scored five runs in the ninth inning, but Greinke still secured his 9th win of the season anyways. Greinke pitched seven innings, allowed only two runs, and struck out five.

POTG - Z. Greinke 7 IP, 6 H, BB, 2 ER, 5 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 39-43
14.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

July 5, 2011

Twins 8 - Rangers 7

Slowey lasted only 3.2 innings before giving up six runs and getting pulled, but fortunately Ohman and Nieve were able to shut down the Rangers the rest of the game and hold them to just one run over the final 5.1 innings.

POTG - F. Nieve 4 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, ER, 3 K

July 6, 2011

Twins 9 - Rangers 4

It appears as if Michael Cuddyer is finally starting to hit for some power. Over his last ten games he has a .500 slugging percent, which is good for 108 points better than his season slugging percent. I've been toying with the idea of selling off some expiring contracts at the deadline, and if Cuddyer keeps this up he could net me a good player or two.

POTG - M. Cuddyer 3-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, 2B

July 7, 2011

Twins 9 - Rangers 6

Holy hell - a sweep! I think this might be our first sweep all season! Neal continued his stellar rookie season, going 2-3 with a homer, two RBI, three walks, and two runs scored. Sergio Romo actually made the start in this game and pitched five scoreless innings, gave up only three hits, no walks, and struck out seven. Maybe a switch to the rotation is in order for Mr. Romo....

POTG - S. Romo 5 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 7 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 42-43
12.0 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

July 9, 2011

Twins 4 - White Sox 2

Greinke drops his ERA to an even 2.00 with this seven inning, one-run performance. He also earned his 10th win of the season. Michael Cuddyer also hit his second home-run in the last three games, and raised his OPS to .751.

POTG - Z. Greinke 7 IP, 8 H, BB, ER, 8 K

July 10, 2011

Twins 3 - White Sox 6

Kevin Slowey continues to struggle, this time allowing six runs in 5.1 innings. His ERA balloons to 6.03 after this start. If we're gonna stay in this at all, Slowey either needs to start throwing the ball like he can, or we need to get him out of town.

POTG - J. Peavy 7 IP, 6 H, BB, 2 ER, 5 K

July 11, 2011

Twins 2 - White Sox 4

Scott Baker allowed four runs over 6.2 innings, but that was not nearly enough when running into a red-hot Nevin Griffith. Griffith went seven innings, gave up five hits and one walk, and allowed just a single run.

POTG - N. Griffith 7 IP, 5 H, BB, ER, K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 43-45
11.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

We've started July off very well with a 6-3 record. We've managed to shave a couple games off the Tigers lead, and hopefully we're beginning a run and we'll at least be able to get in the race for the division. It's awesome to see Cuddyer's bat start to come alive. It's highly likely that I shop him and other expiring contracts (Kevin Slowey, Aubrey Huff, namely) and see what I can get in return, and the fact that he's starting to hit for some power will greatly improve what I can get in return for him.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

AL extends All-Star Game winning Streak

The AL just keeps tacking on wins to their All-Star Game winning streak. All of the AL's runs came in the fourth inning, with Tigers OF Wilkin Ramirez, Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez, and ChiSox second baseman getting the RBI's. Joe Mauer started at catcher for the AL and got a hit, a walk, and scored a run. Greinke was the starting pitcher for the AL and went 2 innings, gave up two hits, a run, and struck out two on 37 pitches.

HTML Code:

American League American League at National League National League July 13, 2011 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E American League (AL) 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 1 National League (NL) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 1 AMERICAN LEAGUE ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Ryan Sweeney (CF) 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .366 Milton Bradley (RF) 4 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 .279 Wilkin Ramirez (LF) 3 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .321 Elijah Dukes (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .298 Joe Mauer (C) 3 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 .306 Mark Teixeira (1B) 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .286 Alex Rodriguez (3B) 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .290 Gordon Beckham (2B) 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .268 Alexei Ramirez (SS) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .284 Zack Greinke (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Chris Carter (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .294 Jordan Walden (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Nick Markakis (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .272 Felix Hernandez (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Kevin Youkilis (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .280 Dan Wheeler (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Matt Thornton (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Chris Davis (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .283 Rafael Soriano (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 32 6 2 3 0 3 12 0 HBP: Alex Rodriguez GDP: Alex Rodriguez DP: Mark Teixeira, Gordon Beckham, Alex Rodriguez E: Milton Bradley ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Zack Greinke 2.0 2 0 0 1 1 2 37 2.00 Jordan Walden 2.0 2 1 0 0 0 1 31 3.81 Felix Hernandez 2.0 1 1 0 0 0 1 34 2.83 Dan Wheeler 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 1.13 Matt Thornton 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 17 2.08 Rafael Soriano 1.0 2 0 0 1 1 2 23 2.48 TOTALS 9.0 8 2 0 2 2 7 156 NATIONAL LEAGUE ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Dexter Fowler (CF) 4 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .324 Hanley Ramirez (SS) 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .326 Adrian Gonzalez (P) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .289 Mark Reynolds (P) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .253 Ryan Zimmerman (3B) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .352 Albert Pujols (1B) 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .332 Brian McCann (C) 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .295 Jay Bruce (RF) 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .279 Matt Holliday (LF) 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .329 Todd Frazier (2B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .286 Tim Lincecum (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Joey Votto (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .345 Chris Carpenter (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .026 Aaron Miller (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .207 David Wright (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .312 Matt Garza (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .212 Lance Berkman (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .254 James McDonald (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Jesse Carlson (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Andrew McCutchen (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .277 TOTALS 34 8 2 2 0 2 7 0 2B: Brian McCann GDP: Matt Holliday DP: Albert Pujols, Todd Frazier, Ryan Zimmerman E: Brian McCann ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Tim Lincecum 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 5 37 3.06 Chris Carpenter 1.0 4 0 0 3 3 0 33 2.39 Aaron Miller 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 12 2.65 Matt Garza 2.0 1 1 0 0 0 2 29 3.64 James McDonald 1.2 1 1 0 0 0 2 29 2.20 Jesse Carlson 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2.63 TOTALS 9.0 6 2 0 3 3 12 146 WP: Jordan Walden LP: Chris Carpenter SV: Rafael Soriano Temperature: 82F Wind: Calm Attendance: 48,500 Time: 2:59

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

League-Wide Standings at the Half

American League

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/2...enhunter1r.jpg

National League

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/6...eenhunter2.jpg

Wild Card

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8...enhunter3t.jpg

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Minnesota Twins ASB Review

High points

Zack Greinke is having a legendary season and is the run-away favorite for AL Cy Young. He is 10-5 with a 2.00 ERA, 127 K's to 22 BB's in 130.2 IP, and a BAA of just .215. We haven't seen an ERA number like that since Pedro was in his prime with the Red Sox in the late 90's and early 00's.
Greinke's ranks in the AL/MLB:

ERA 1/1
K's 1/3
Wins 3/3
IP 1/1
R/9IP 1/2
BB/9IP 1/3
BAA 1/7 (only pitcher in the AL in the top 10)
OOBP 1/1
OOPS 1/1
OSLG% 2/2
H/9IP (only pitcher in the AL in the top 10).

Thomas Neal's phenomenal rookie season. He is hitting .303/.449/.478 with 11 homers, 44 RBI, 49 runs, and 68 walks, which is good for 4th in baseball. He has been one of the team's top two hitters for the better portion of the season, and is running away with the RotY.

Low points

We've been in fourth place or lower the better part of the season.
We're below .500.
The only guys that are hitting are Mauer, Neal, Span, and Kubel.
We have virtually no shot at winning the division.
Kevin Slowey's ERA is over 6.
We only have an outside shot at the playoffs.

Thoughts

Suffice it to say that this is not where I thought we'd be at this stage of the season. I had envisioned a much more successful season than this. I thought we'd be running away with the division at this point, but instead the division is running away from us. It's not all bad, though. Greinke is having a phenomenally exciting season, and we do still have a shot at the Wild Card. We're gonna have to make some moves to get there, though. Right now the most likely thing to happen will be me trading Kevin Slowey for an outfielder (Travis Snider of the Jays and Hunter Pence of the Red Sox are the two guys we're looking at), and then I'll flip Cuddyer and perhaps some other pieces for a starter to replace Slowey (Trevor Cahill of Oakland, Brad Lincoln of Pittsburgh, and even guys like Mat Latos of San Diego and Michael Ynoa of Oakland have been discussed in more complex trade packages.).

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Twins send Cuddyer, prospects, to Atlanta for ace Hanson; swap Slowey for Pence to replace Cuddyer

Today we agreed to a move that even I didn't see coming. We sent Michael Cuddyer 81 (9.5 mil through end of season), Oswaldo Arcia 65/83, Max Kepler 63/79, and our #1 prospect Efrain Solando 64/92, along with $7,000,000 to the Atlanta Braves for Tommy Hanson 89. The trade makes a lot of sense for both sides. The Braves are not even remotely in contention and they were able to use Hanson and their financial flexibility to pick up a couple B/B- prospects and an A prospect. On the flip-side, we still have fascinations of making a run at the Tigers for the AL Central, and even if we are unable to do that we're only five or so games back of the Mariners for the Wild Card.

This trade gives us one of the strongest 1-2-3's in the league with Greinke, Hanson, and Baker. All of them sport ERA's under 4.00, have over 110 innings pitched on the season, and combine for a 24-13 win-loss record.

After we completed the Hanson trade we swapped our struggling starting pitcher, Kevin Slowey 89, for Boston's struggling starting outfielder, Hunter Pence 86. Slowey had an ERA over 6.00 and was gonna be due a pretty fair raise at the end of the season. Pence is signed through 2013 at a modest 5.2 per season, and on the season he was hitting a measly (by corner outfielder standards) .266/.314/.418.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

July 16, 2011

Angels 4 - Twins 12

Hunter Pence homered and drove in three runs in his first game as a Twinkie. Meanwhile, on the mound, Liriano was baffling hitters the whole game. Liriano went seven, allowed only two runs, and struck out seven.

POTG - F. Liriano 7 IP, 8 H, BB, 2 ER, 7 K

July 17, 2011

Angels 6 - Twins 7

Greinke didn't have his best start, allowing five runs in 5.2 innings to the Angels, but we managed to win in spite of that. The (literally) killing blow came when Jemile Weeks sent a Fernando Rodney fastball into the seats with two outs in the ninth inning with two men on for the three-run walk-off home-run.

POTG - J. Weeks 2-5, walk-off 3-R HR

July 18, 2011

Angels 0 - Twins 2 (in extras)

Tommy Hanson pitched 8.1 shutout innings in his Twins debut, but this game to extras to resolve and he was unfortunately unable to get the 'W'. This game also ended in walk-off fashion, only this time it was recently acquired Hunter Pence hitting the walk-off two-run bomb in the bottom of the 10th inning.

POTG - H. Pence 1-4, walk-off 2-R HR

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 46-45
9.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
4.0 GB of New York Yankees for first place in AL Wild Card
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

July 19, 2011

Orioles 1 - Twins 6

Baker pitched six innings of one-run ball on 105 pitches, earning his eighth win of the season. At the plate Kubel hit his team-leading 15th home-run of the season off Orioles starter Brandon Erbe.

POTG - S. Baker 6 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, ER, 4 K

July 20, 2011

Orioles 10 - Twins 6

Our winning streak comes to an end at four games. Liriano went six innings but allowed six earned runs, and the bullpen couldn't do much to stop the bleeding, allowing three runs of their own.

POTG - N. Markakis 2-4, HR, 3 RBI

July 21, 2011

Orioles 3 - Twins 4

We improve our W-L in the month of July to 11-4 with this win. Blackburn goes seven innings without allowing an earned run (he did allow one unearned run). Jose Morales contributed on offense by knocking home two runs and scoring two runs.

POTG - N. Blackburn 7 IP, 4 H, BB, 0 ER, 2 K

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Minnesota Twins 48-46
7.5 GB of Detroit Tigers for first place in AL Central
3.5 GB of New York Yankees for first place in AL Wild Card
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thoughts

We're making a run! We're 11-4 in July, 7-3 in our last ten games (Tigers are 2-8) and 14-6 in our last 20 games (Tigers are 9-11). We have a big four-game series up next against the Yankees in the Bronx. Due to the magnitude of this series I'm going to cover it a little more in-depth and closely than I would if I were 16 games back, or what have you.

Re: Minnesota - The Mauer Years

Greinke shuts Yank's Down!

We get off to a fast start in the series with Greinke pitching the opener. Greinke went eight innings and allowed no runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out nine. After Greinke's time was done Jose Mijares came in and pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save of the season. Hunter Pence hit his third homer since coming over from the Red Sox to power the offense.

Burnett pitched a solid game in his own right, six innings, three runs, two K's, but that's rarely good enough when going toe-to-toe with a pitcher of Greinke's caliber.

Game two of this four-gamer will feature recently acquired Twins starter Tommy Hanson facing off against Yankees rookie Jeremy Bleich. The 23 year-old rookie left-hander Bleich is 4-2 in ten starts with a 3.70 ERA for the Yankees this season.

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Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees July 22, 2011 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E Twins (MIN) 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 0 Yankees (NYY) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 MINNESOTA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Denard Span (CF) 4 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 .301 Jemile Weeks (2B) 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .306 Hunter Pence (RF) 3 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 .261 Thomas Neal (LF) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300 Jason Kubel (DH) 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .298 Adrian Beltre (3B) 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .252 Aubrey Huff (1B) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .265 J.J. Hardy (SS) 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .265 Jose Morales (C) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .258 TOTALS 34 8 2 3 1 3 5 0 2B: Denard Span (24), Jason Kubel (19) 3B: Thomas Neal (1) HR: Hunter Pence (11) GDP: J.J. Hardy DP: Adrian Beltre, Thomas Neal MINNESOTA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA Zack Greinke 8.0 5 2 0 0 0 9 120 2.12 Jose Mijares 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 3.73 TOTALS 9.0 6 2 0 0 0 9 129 NEW YORK ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg Brett Gardner (LF) 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .225 Curtis Granderson (CF) 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .204 Alex Rodriguez (3B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .285 Mark Teixeira (1B) 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .286 Jesus Montero (DH) 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .268 Nick Swisher (RF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .204 Jeff Baker (2B) 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .282 Francisco Cervelli (C) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .228 Ramiro Pena (SS) 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .252 TOTALS 31 6 2 0 0 0 9 0 2B: Curtis Granderson (14) DP: Mark Teixeira, Jeff Baker, Alex Rodriguez E: Mark Teixeira NEW YORK ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA A.J. Burnett 6.0 7 2 1 3 3 2 89 5.26 Joe Nathan 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 30 4.50 Royce Ring 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 16 5.24 TOTALS 9.0 8 2 1 3 3 5 135 WP: Zack Greinke (11-5) LP: A.J. Burnett (8-6) SV: Jose Mijares (11)