Cleveland Indians @ Minnesota Twins (April 23&24)

boblee · Post by **boblee** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:10 pm

Twins (11-7, 1 gm lead in AL Central) vs. Indians (8-7, trail Twins by 1.5 gms in AL Central)

Game 1, Monday, April 23rd 7:10 PM

Carlos Silva, RHP, (1-1) 2.00 ERA vs. Jeremy Sowers, LHP, (0-1) 5.17 ERA

Game 2, Tuesday, April 24th 7:10 PM

Johan Santan, LHP (3-1) 3.00 ERA vs. Fausto Carmona, RHP, (0-1) 6.97 ERA

---Twins are 2-3 in AL Central play. This is their first meeting with Cleveland.

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:35 pm

Anytime the Twins go up against a good hitting team, I get nervous.

They dont match up well. Good hitting teams will score 3-4 runs even against Santana.

The Twins often struggle to score 3-4 runs off of a Mark Redmond.

De Le Rosa , a 5+ ERA guy, looks like Cy Young.

Get some Boofin hitters in here.

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:56 pm

Please, please, please.....intentionally walk Hafner every AB.

Make somebody else hurt you.

ChrisK · Post by **ChrisK** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:34 pm

Not a great series in KC, losing 2 out of 3 and not looking great at the plate on Sunday (I didn't get to see the other games). Ortiz pitched well enough to win but the bats didn't pull their weight.

Isn't there anybody other than Rabe they could've brought up? And how many more starts does Ponson get? Empire's hero, Casilla, has looked good.

Based on the pitching matchups, the Twins should take this series, but they'll need to hit the boofin' ball. Help me, I'm starting to sound like packerboy!

Me and the younger sprout went and saw the second game of the Gophers doubleheader on Saturday. What a nice day for a game outside! I thought they were being wimps on Sunday scheduling the game at the dome, turns out they knew what they were doing. Apparently all of the Big 10 home games last year were in the dome.

Neutron 14 · Post by **Neutron 14** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:57 pm

Some wise, old, long in the tooth guy once posted...

See the ball.

Hit the ball.

While these overly simplistic "Dick and Jane" sentences seem too obvious to mention, I'm tired of hitters going to the plate and taking fastballs down the pipe. It's like they get a bonus for how many pitches they see. Go up there looking for a fastball you can hit. What are you waiting for? Do you like flailing at junk cause your in the hole 0-2? Boofin' stupid...

And whats with the base running errors? The Twins have always been the best at fundamentals. We can't afford NOT to be te best at fundamentals. 3B coaching is very suspect to me...

Hit the BOOFIN ball!

Go Twins!

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:18 pm

Walk 48 darn it, at least he wouldn't be scoring position right now.

EREmpireStrikesBack · Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:09 am

Casilla baby! Too bad the bullpen didn't look like they normally do or is it that they don't normally pitch Crain?

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:56 am

Twins 0-0-0-0-0-0-3-0-0-0-0-0

The bullpen gave the offense three opportunities to win the game and they had had no runs on no hits and no runners left.

9th Inning: Hunter F-7, Redmond F-3, Kubel K
10th Inning: Bartlett K, Casilla 3-U, Punto 4-3
11th Inning: Mauer BB, Cuddyer K, Morneau 6-4-3

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:46 am

Amen IS.

Silva was good, so was the bullpen.

HIT THE BOOFIN BALL.

PS. ARod now has more HRS than the Twins. Get somebody in here who can hit.

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:07 am

I fully expect to see the Twins get 9 runs on 15 hits tonight and then leave us at the alter for the next two nights against KC.

Last night I'm watching a medley of games and everytime I turn it to the DRays/Yanks game the DRays got the bases lit up on the top of my screen and somebody gets a hit. Everyone else seems to put consistant pressure on the opposing pitcher, why not the Twins?

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:17 am

The answer IS is because they are not great hitters.

Mauer is a singles hitter.

Cuddyer is inconsistent

Morneau is the best hitter we have and he is not going good right now

Hunter is ..... Hunter

Everybody else is of journeyman variety.

They only have 4 good hitters and no great hitters.

They win because they pitch so well and play good defense.

If they had any kind of consistent offense, they'd win 100 +

So how long does Punto stay #2?

Come on Gardy , change it up.

Lets go, hit the ball.

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:53 am

1. Casilla/Sizemore/Erstad/Granderson
2. Punto/Blake/Iguchi/Polanco
3. Mauer/Hafner/Thome/Sheffield
4. Cuddyer/Martinez/Konerko/Orndonez
5. Morneau/Garko/Dye/Guillen
6. Hunter/Nixon/AJ/Rodriguez
7. Redmond/Peralta/Crede/Casey
8. Kubel/Choo/Mackowiak/Monroe
9. Bartlett/Barfield/Uribe/Inge

Here's the competition: the Twins are getting killed at #2, they are outmachted at #4, #7, & #9 and where the Twins are strongest (3,5) they are just treading water with everyone else.

The 8 hole is a suck fest for everyone except DET.

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:03 am

Luckily, the guys in bold are not all on the same team.

But your point is well illustrated.

I would suggest that they try and sign another pitcher.

ChrisK · Post by **ChrisK** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:34 am

Keep in mind that three of the Twins starters are out, Luis Castillo, Rondell White and Jeff Cirillo. And realistically, Morneau is their cleanup hitter and Cuddyer their no.5 hitter, despite where Gardy puts them in the lineup.

Despite that there's no question that the bats are struggling, particularly against lefties. Who's out there that they could pick up?

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:49 am

I dont think that those guys would make a difference. Rondell had one hit when he was healthy, which is a big issue with him theses days.

They need a hitter. They have passed up so many opportunities to sign one over the last few years, they arent going to find one in April.

This should have been addressed off season the last 2 years.

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:09 am

I know some guys are injured, put in Scottie Pods at #1, move Erstad to #2, and slide Iguchi to #8 and the Sox get even deeper, eesh!

Put in Castillo for Casilla and the equation in the #1 hole doesn't change.

Insert Cirillo and White and the Twins get older & slower yet their power numbers stay the same.

PB is right, there isn't anything out there now, that ship sailed before the spring training beacon was lit up.

Go get a Dye like free agent, he was making around 7mil/year the season he helped the Sox win a title. Dye's probably making more than that now in year three of the deal but I believe there have been and will be guys the Twins never even give a look.

boblee · Post by **boblee** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:35 am

Available Right handed Hitters...

David Bell
Phil Nevin
Vinny Castilla (Recently Retired)
Brian Jordan
Joe Randa (Recently Retired)
Jose Vizciano
Chris Widger
Bernie Williams

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:02 pm

Hey , what about Brett Boone?

Impressive list boblee. Lest sign em all.

They would fit right in.

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:28 pm

Jose Canseco is available.

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:25 pm

Allright, enough of this negativity.

Lets go Twins.

Hang on to first place. Beat the Tribe tonight. Lets go Johan and lets start HITTING THE BOOFING BALL.

We're gonna win Twins, we're gonna score...da da da da da and watch that baseball soar,

Crack open a cold one , shout a hip horay, we're gonna beat the Indians later today.

da da da da da ,...da, da, da, da, .......

Irishmans Shanty · Post by **Irishmans Shanty** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:35 pm

My mandate for four wins to close out the month is still for the taking.

goldy313 · Post by **goldy313** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:46 pm

I disagree with Mauer, I think he is a great hitter. By your logic PB one of the greatest hitters of all time in Rod Carew isn't a great hitter either, in 19 seasons Carew only hit 92 HR's and never hit more than 14 in any season. Even the Georgia Peach Ty Cobb rarely hit the ball over the fence but he is one of baseballs greatest hitters. The fact is Mauer is not a #3 hitter and wouldn't be on almost any team but the weak hitting Twins, because he hits #3 here he's judged on par with other 3-4-5 hitters, not leadoff or #2 guys like he really is. Like you've preached many times if the Twins would get a hitter then Mauer could be bumped up to #2 giving the Twins a nice line up in Castillo-Mauer-Player X-Morneau-Cuddy-Hunter, then Mauers lack of power would be a non issue.

As for the matter at hand the Twins 2-5 record against AL Central teams is a bit concerning.

boblee · Post by **boblee** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:05 pm

You might think of something like this...

1. Mauer C
2. Casilla 2B
3. Morneau 1B
4. Hunter CF
5. Cuddyer RF
6. Kubel DH
7. White LF
8. Punto 3B
9. Bartlett SS

packerboy · Post by **packerboy** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:52 am

packerboy wrote:Anytime the Twins go up against a good hitting team, I get nervous.

They dont match up well. Good hitting teams will score 3-4 runs even against Santana.

The Twins often struggle to score 3-4 runs off of a Mark Redmond.

De Le Rosa , a 5+ ERA guy, looks like Cy Young.

Get some Boofin hitters in here.

As a famous Minnhock poster once posted " Just like I said".

1-11 was the Cleveland starters record in his last 12 decisions before last nigh. 1 and Boofin 11.

Sanatana makes a mistake and it lands 435 ft away. If you make a mistake to Mauer its a flair to left that falls in.

Goldy, in packerboy's world , a great hitter is one who hits for average and power. So ,IMO , Mauer is not a great hitter. He is a very good hitter.

Knowlzee · Post by **Knowlzee** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:36 am

Today Joe Mauer is a VERY good hitter,....and on his way to becoming a great hitter.

He is not a leadoff, or #2 hitter,....he is a #3 hitter all the way. Actually, one of the best in baseball,.....possibly on his way to becoming the best. Although, not a leadoff/#2 hitter, he is a good enough athlete that he could also do that with the best of them,....because he has speed, can bunt, works the count, hits to all fields, knows how to move runners along, and is phenomenally smart,.....and only 24 years old. Not bad for a guy 6 1/2 feet tall. How many leadoff/#2 guys are 6 1/2 feet tall?

He is an ideal #3 hitter, because he can do the above,.....and hit with average. And have patience, his power will come, too. He is only 24, and catches, too.

We have no idea what a wonderful ballpalyer we have,....and such a humble, down to earth, nice guy. Enjoy him, we are so fortunate to be able to watch him play every night.

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Cleveland Indians @ Minnesota Twins (April 23&24)

Cleveland Indians @ Minnesota Twins (April 23&24)

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