Crede and Mauer pace Twins to victory

by cmathewson on May 12, 2009 11:52 PM EDT in Game Recaps

The Twins beat the central division-leading Tigers 6-2 Tuesday night at the Metrodome.

Twins hitters continued their dominance of Tigers stalwart Armando Galarraga, producing two 2-run homers--by Joe Crede and Joe Mauer--reaping the rewards for their patient approach at the plate. The Twins worked out six walks on the night, and three of them came around to score. Even Carlos Gomez, coming in as a late-inning replacement for Delmon Young--worked out a nine-pitch walk off of Ryan Perry, stole second and scored on a single by Denard Span to add an insurance run in the eighth. Joe Mauer and Denard Span had two hits a piece and six different Twins scored for a balanced attack overall. The Twins had base runners in every inning but left 14 on base, so it could have been a much more lobsided score.

Kevin Slowey wiggled out of trouble through six innings, and the bullpen managed to avoid a major catastrophe to close out the win. Slowey was effectively wild, needing 98 pitches through six innings. But he benefited from two key double plays to keep the Twins on top. Jesse Crain relieved Slowey in the seventh and promptly gave up a homer to the number nine hitter (Ramon Santiago) and a walk to Curtis Granderson before being pulled in favor of Jose Mijares. Mikares, Guerrier, and Nathan combined for nine outs without allowing a baserunner and striking out three to shut the door.

All in all, it was a solid win to start the three-game series against an emerging division rival. Combine that with Kansas City getting trounced by Oakland and we'll call it a good night.

Studs:

3. Denard Span: Two hits, a run and an RBI. His only blemish was making the third out at third base in the bottom of the eighth inning with Joe Mauer at the plate. Doh!

2. Jose Mijares: Came in when the Tigers looked to rally with Jesse Crain's mistakes and he put out the fire for 1 1/3 spotless innings.

1. Joe Mauer: Two more hits, including a homer and a walk. Plus he coaxed several key outs out of a wobbly Kevin Slowey. His only out was on a ball that Clete Thomas brought back from over the left-field wall on a Web Gem. Without that play, this easily could have been a 3-3 night with two dingers and a walk.

Honorable mention: Joe Crede started the scoring with a two-run homer.

Duds:

3. Nick Punto: Another 0-3 night puts him one hit on the good side of the Mendoza line.

2. Delmon Young: An 0-3 night with a strikeout and two weak grounders to the right side. Also, a misplay in left led to a gift double to start the game.

1. Jesse Crain: 11 pitches, 4 strikes, HR, BB 0 outs, hook. He doesn't seem right since coming off the DL.

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Delmon Young

I’m really sick of Delmon Young getting all this starting time over Gomez, at least Gomez is very good on one side of the ball. Gardy can’t seem to decide to let them split time, it has to be all one or all the other. I think Gomez is in the doghouse more than we know. I don’t think Gomez is probably being disrespectful, but I think he probably has emotional, impatient outbursts that Gardenhire wants to see him quell before he gets more playing time.

That’s one theory anyway.

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane

by AdamOnFirst on May 13, 2009 1:42 AM EDT reply actions

Good God, let's hope not.

I don’t think Gomez is probably being disrespectful, but I think he probably has emotional, impatient outbursts that Gardenhire wants to see him quell before he gets more playing time.

That was the one big black eye that Tom Kelly had in my opinion. Tom kelly made maontains out of personality molehills. Remember that bad-attitude slacker David Ortiz? Yeah, what an attitude adjustment that guy needed!

If Tom Kelly’s players didn’t have the family loving pious attitudes of Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau they were “in his dog house” – unless of course they were veterans… …let’s hope Gardy doesn’t have the same hangups.

by montanatwinsfan on May 13, 2009 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions

I hope not

but it’s plausible. I find it hard to believe that Gardy and others fail to see just how bad Delmon plays left field compared to Span in LF / Gomez in CF. Also, how bad would Gomez have to disrespect the coaches to lose playing time to Delmon? Then again, maybe Delmon’s a perfect angel this season.

by Adam Peterson on May 14, 2009 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Joe Mauer

This is crazy and I know it’s been a week only. I’m not excited about his .500 batting average or his 1.4ish OPS but what really has me wondering, what’s that guy been drinking is his 4, almost 5 homers. I don’t care that they all barely made it, it’s the fact that they’ve all been opposite field and in such a short period of time that makes it ridiculous. I means seriously, what if Mauer starts turning on inside pitches and pulling them over the baggy The Twins should just offer him half ownership if he’ll play for the next ten years for the Twins.

I couldn’t watch this game and I couldn’t believe it when I checked the box score and saw yet another Mauer home run along with a barely missed homer before that. Sorry for the over the top Mauer love but I’m just an excited Twins fan who might be seeing the beginning of the power we’ve all been promised for years. I know, small sample size etc. but everytime I say that he has another game. It will be interesting to see how the next couple of months go for baby Jesus.

Peyton's good but have you ever heard of Jeff George?

by halfchest on May 13, 2009 3:19 AM EDT reply actions

Joe is stronger and will get stronger

Maybe one of those homers is out last year with the same swing and contact. The other three are warning-track fly balls. But the ball has a different sound off his bat and is just jumping. This is a sign of things to come, I think. He mentioned that his lower body and core strength was really improved by running in the pool, which he intends to do all the time now. Also, he’s only 25. His body is still filling out.

What if the Twins drag their feet on the signing and he does something historical, like hit .400? I think the risk is all one the Twins. I agree with Adam below, they should start negotiating now before his current pace advances beyond the “small sample size” issue.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on May 13, 2009 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions

There is some risk on Mauer

and that is the old injury bug. He isn’t exactly the man of steel. The Twins need to act now (actually they should have acted last offseason) to extend him. The closer he gets to free agency, the more the risk shifts to the Twins, and the less likely Mauer would be to trade certainty for cash. The amount of cash that will be thrown at him will be nuts, and the possibility of playing with star level players who are actually in the World Series hunt each year may just sway him if they wait too long (if they havent already)

by guinness junky on May 13, 2009 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Correct me if I'm wrong

but I seem to recall a discussion in the preseason on FSN that pointed out that despite Joe’s reputation for injuries he has played more games behind the plate than all but one other catcher in the Majors since 2005 or 06. Of course, this could be a sign that Gardy is playing Joe too often and that’s why he seems to have so many injuries.

The only stat that counts is W

by wayback on May 13, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions

He's a durable catcher

Catchers get hurt. It’s part of the package. What is remarkable is that he’s able to hit so well when he’s banged up from foul tips and stuff. That’s the main reason reason catchers don’t win batting titles. The other reason is, a lot of managers platoon catchers to save on wear and tear. So catchers who have hit well have not had enough PAs to qualify. The fact that he’s qualified for the batting title in four of his five years says a lot about his durability.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on May 13, 2009 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Mauer's homers

I don’t think Mauer is going to start turning on balls and pulling them over the rightfield wall anytime soon. The most exciting part of it for me is that he ISN’T doing that. he’s basically hitting the balls like he always has, he’s just hitting them HARDER, and what used to land in the gap as doubles are juuuuuuuust sneaking over the fence for dingers (he really has the distance on the left-field gap down to an pretty exact shave, huh>). So to me it doesn’t look like anything has changed at all with Mauer, he’s just maybe a bit stronger and those hard hit balls are going farther. Whether that’s from being a year closer to his prime (he’s just turned 26), doing a few extra bench presses, or whatever, he looks lean and powerful right now.

He’s just smoking hot right now and absolutely hammering the ball all over the place and generally hitting the ball as square as is possible, but I think it’s amazing to see that with the exact same swing, his well hit balls are going over the fence instead of landing in the gap at a noticeably higher rate so far. Could be a sample size thing, or it could Mauer just reaching his prime. At 26, he’s just entering his best years, and it’s definitely possible that we haven’t seen the full extent of his abilities yet, amazing as that idea is.

SIGN HIM NOW, PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD KEEP HIM!

by AdamOnFirst on May 13, 2009 4:20 AM EDT reply actions