Game 19: Twins @ Cleveland
by Jesse on Apr 26, 2009 12:23 PM EDT
in Game Threads
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PrintMinnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians, Apr 26, 2009 1:05 PM EDT
Game Time: 12:05pm CDT
TV: FS-North, MLB.tv
Radio: Twins Radio Network
Know Your Enemy: Let's Go Tribe
Even at this stage of the season it's a great feeling to sweep a division rival in their house. Baseball is a strange game in that you can look like a championship team one day, and look like the Detroit Lion the next...and when you're talking about the Twins, that's a very apt comparison. For one day in Boston last week they looked like the most beatable team in all the land. The last two days? A well oiled machine.
For the 6-12 Indians this afternoon, 24-year old Aaron Laffey gets the nod. This is his third year with Cleveland, and has thus far put together a career that profiles him as a hittable, soft-tossing southpaw who induces more than his share of ground balls. Already this April he's put together a pair of not unacceptable starts, allowing just three runs in 12.1 innings; but he's allowed 16 base runners, including his six walks. In his time with the Indians he's thrown a first-pitch strike just 54.4% of the time, so hopefully the Twins stay patient. Laffey will get a lot of ground balls, which will help him out, but if the lineup can stay patient there isn't any reason they can't chase him early.
Minnesota counters with Ace of the Month Glen Perkins. Perk has been outstanding in his first three outings this spring, going eight strong in each. Across the board his numbers are better than they were in 2008: line drive percentage is low, at 15.3%; his fly-ball ratio is up, but none of them have left the yard (knock on wood); his walk rates are down. On this staff going into the season, Perkins was almost generally seen as the guy who's stuff wasn't as impressive, but he's been proving those critics (including me) wrong so far.
Lineup
Minnesota Twins @ Cleveland Indians
04/26/09 1:05 PM EDT
| Minnesota Twins | Cleveland Indians |
|---|---|
| Carlos Gomez - CF | Grady Sizemore - CF |
| Brendan Harris - 2B | Asdrubal Cabrera - 2B |
| Justin Morneau - 1B | Victor Martinez - C |
| Jason Kubel - DH | Shin-Soo Choo - DH |
| Joe Crede - 3B | Ryan Garko - 1B |
| Michael Cuddyer - RF | Jhonny Peralta - SS |
| Delmon Young - LF | Mark DeRosa - RF |
| Jose Morales - C | Tony Graffanino - 3B |
| Nick Punto - SS | Trevor Crowe - LF |
Glen "Tell Me When You're Gonna Take the Picture" Perkins
#15 / Pitcher / Minnesota Twins
6-0
200
L
L
Mar 02, 1983
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Comments
Man
Its about time they moved Cabrera iup to the #2 slot and dropped DeRosa down! Tribe fans musta been pulling their hair out.
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:12 PM EDT reply actions
Nice sliding grab by Crowe for out #2.
Lucky he and Sizemore didn’t rip each other up with their cleats.
Glen Perkins, 2nd worst in run support in the AL
Liriano is 1st.
Looks like Perkins has just been pitching his tail off.
Is Santana 1st in NL?
If so we can wonder if there is some kinda curse associated with pitchers who have pitched for the Twins…
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah,
but is first in NL in “least” amount of run support? I dont know where to look that up. I would guess he’s number one or in the top three.
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions
I saw...
…a thing that said if Slowey had Perkins’ run support last season, he would have won as many as 18 games.
by Twins Territory on Apr 26, 2009 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Is gameday rather innacurate today
or is the Home plate umpire really, really inconsistent and possibly off his rocker?
seems like a rather tight strike zone everywhere except the inside where he's been pretty generous to the pitcher?
Aren’t all home plate umps off their rocker, like a hockey goalie?
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Hey!
Young laid off of the first pitch he saw!
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:32 PM EDT reply actions
He's just a tad late on these swings....
…I wonder if he’s trying to push the ball to right or if he’s just late…
well a couple of games ago Cmath said Delmon's bat looked slow,
I’m guessing your watching the game so does it look like he’s trying to push, or is he taking home run swings?
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Not home run swings,
just swinging hard. He fouled off two outside pitches the other way, which is good if he was trying to go the other way.
Those shadows playing over the field
would reek havoc on anyone trying to keep their eye on the ball.
CLE telecast:
In which area to the Indians most need to improve?
A) Offense
B) Defense
C) Starting Pitching
D) Relief Pitching
I’m not sure what I’d pick, probably C or D?
Yeah C or D
They have the worst bullpen ERA thus far, but their starters aren’t doing the best either.
by Twins Territory on Apr 26, 2009 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Been watching MLB.tv,
and since I haven’t paid for the Premium package am stuck with the home announcers. For the first two innings the audio was fine for crowd noise, on-field noise, sound effects and background music, but the broadcasters were almost too quiet to hear. Now they’re back. At least there’s no Hawk.
Morales
continues to look good with the bat!
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:44 PM EDT reply actions
He's got a week left.
Mauer is back Friday and he’ll be gone.
by Twins Territory on Apr 26, 2009 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Atta boy, Punto. DP.
This is how Laffey is going to survive in baseball. It’s his 7th DP of the season, and he’s only pitching in his 15th inning.
Is he the Indians pitcher who recently got 6 in one game?
by Twins Territory on Apr 26, 2009 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe he's channeling
his inner Rick Anderson.
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes
Gordon just commented on how he got 6 last time out and 5 in a row in 5 innings.
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions
What about Perkins' pitch counts?
Despite the fact that he has posted great numbers, he seems to throw a lot of pitches each time out and put a fair number of people on base. Doesn’t that bode poorly over the course of a season?
I say as they score again…
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions
That's alright, good choice to dink around with Choo.
At best he cuts at a bad pitch and grounds into a DP, at worst…he walks.
Now we need that double play.
Yup,
Perkins picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue.
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions
The Indians
are one of the best hitting teams against left-handed pitching.
by Twins Territory on Apr 26, 2009 2:06 PM EDT reply actions
Gordon and Morris
Just fielded a question about Morales’ future and speculated that he’ll be Mauer’s backup next year if Redmond doesn’t come back…is it likely that Redmond is done? He is getting pretty old…
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions
less boring than an FCC dude anyway...
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Red Dog is 38 this year. He might decide to hang 'em up at anytime.
I think a lot will depend on how he performs this year. If he feels he’s lost something, and his numbers reflect that, he could call it quits. He’s had a good career.
But at the same time, I think he’s the kind of guy whose skills aren’t going anywhere. Good contact hitter, good game caller, ok arm. Those things could serve him well for another five years. Not sure I’d want him around for another five years with the catchers in our system, though.
I’d agree with Gordon and Morris, if they said Morales could be the backup in ’10. If not then, ’11 for sure.
Yep. More than likely.
Logjam.
If Redmond wants to continue his career, I don’t think it’ll be with the Twins past this year. Maybe next at a stretch.
Or maybe Morales can work himself into decent tradebait
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions
After all
he’s 1-16 at catching stealers…ouch!
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions
He'd need playing time for that.
And considering his age, even having a terrific year in AAA wouldn’t give him much appeal. He’d work as an added incentive for the right team, from an offensive standpoint, but he couldn’t be the centerpiece.
He's started in four of the last six games
Here are his lines over those games:
4/19: 2-3 1R 1 RBI
4/22: 0-3
4/24: 2-4 1 RBI
4/26: 4-4 1R
Total in four games in the last week: 8-14 3R 2 RBI
If he keeps hitting like that, it’s going to be tough for the Twins to let him go. He’s really not that old for a catching prospect. He made his major league debut at 24. He’s 26 now. He could be very valuable. Consider what the Twins gave up to get Drew Butera.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
If the Twins are in the position to trade veterans at the break
I look for them to trade Red Dog rather than Morales. Morales is the back-up of the imeditate future, until Ramos is ready.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
One way or another, this is Redmond's last year with the Twins
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
C'mon Perk
Gotta shut ’em down here, and then the offense has to put at least one run on the board. Pick away!
Bases JUICED BABY!!
Laffey’s getting pulled, but we need to put up a couple of runs here. Let’s go BATS.
Sipp has got to be a little nervous huh?
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 3:13 PM EDT reply actions
What I find more annoying,
is that sometimes Gordon seems really dumb about the game of baseball. It’s one thing to not be very smart overall – no big deal. To be THE play by play guy, and a major league announcer for what 20+ years and be kinda dumb about the game you’re calling? that is annoying.
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions
OK, Morales on,
Buscher pinching… 3 balls and counting…
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 3:57 PM EDT reply actions
Thanks much
Been a longtime DTFCer and a longtime lurker here, but finally joined the TT fun.
Let’s go Span!
Ball 4!
Span, its time to be a hero! Do it for all the little homeless, crippled orphans out there who are counting on you!!!!!!!!!!
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 3:58 PM EDT reply actions
Am I the only one here, or is this game already over and we are just a little behind out here in Montana?
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 3:59 PM EDT reply actions
No, You're Live
It’s great to have a bench this year, and I can’t even how Gardy’s using it this year.
Ouch.
Oh well,
it was a good series anyway. 2 of 3 in Cleveland.
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 4:04 PM EDT reply actions
When your 2-6 hitters go 1 for 18
you deserve to lose the game.
by montanatwinsfan on Apr 26, 2009 4:07 PM EDT reply actions
We just don't have great right-handed sticks
That’s why we struggle against lefties. Kubel and Morneau (and soon Mauer) are some of our best hitters against lefties, but they’re not as good against lefties as righties.
Down on the farm, probably the best right-handed batter is Valencia. Hope he can make it here by next year, cause we really need him.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
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