Tigers defeat Twins 7-5, take over AL Central lead
by Jon Marthaler on Jun 29, 2010 12:01 AM EDT
in Game Recaps
Email
PrintTo sum up how things are going right now for the Twins: Jim Thome hit a triple, which is a miracle of the first order, and yet Minnesota still couldn't get a win.
Miguel Cabrera and Brennan Boesch hit back-to-back two-run doubles in the first inning, part of an immediate Tigers rally that saw the first six batters of the game reach base - the first via a hit batsmen, the next five by singles. Detroit led 4-0 before the game was ten minutes old, and despite Twins rallies, held on for the victory.
The Tigers got some bad news late in the game, however, as reliever Joel Zumaya went down behind the mound in obvious pain after an innocuous looking-pitch. The right-hander was described as "trembling" as he clutched his elbow. An MRI is scheduled for tomorrow, but given his reaction, it doesn't look good for the flamethrower.
Francisco Liriano took the loss for Minnesota, and has lost three consecutive starts - all part of the larger Carl Pavano-excepted slide of the Twins rotation. The four non-Pavstached starters - Liriano, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, and Nick Blackburn - have now combined to lose seven of their past eight starts, with only a miraculous rally in Philly saving the eighth for Slowey. Liriano gave up six runs on nine hits in six innings, including the four-run first, and didn't give his team a chance to win the game.
On the offensive side, Thome - who also homered and walked - was the clear Twins star, but his triple may be the offensive story. The big lefty's blast to right-center hit the edge of the scoreboard and caromed towards the right-field line, a funhouse shot that gave Thome his first triple since May 11, 2004.
If it's a goat you're after, I give you Jason Kubel, who hit into double plays in the first and third inning, turning five runners on base with less than two out into two inning-ending bouncers. (/kicks garbage can) Let's just move on.
The loss drops Minnesota out of first place for the first time since April 11; the Twins now sit a half-game out of first, one and a half games ahead of the third-place White Sox. Given the Twins' hot start, some of us assumed that the team might run away and hide at the top of the AL Central. Those dreams are shredded and dead, and it's July 1 this Thursday. Begin pennant race now.
21 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Our Twins need to find a groove
This losing streak is getting old fast.
by Arnidor on Jun 29, 2010 12:19 AM EDT reply actions
Also
If this season is a major flop. What incentive does Jim Pohlad have to invest in this team? Mmm I can taste the Marlins-like irrelevancy from here. Oh wait our minor league system isn’t that good. Damn…
by Arnidor on Jun 29, 2010 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions
So now we're in 2nd place and the underdogs again.
Excellent!
Everything is going according to plan!
"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"Now I am become Mod, the destroyer of bad words." -fischean
by less cowbell, more 'neau on Jun 29, 2010 12:59 AM EDT reply actions
I hope you're right
going by recent seasons, it’s not like the Twins know how to be a 1st place team from start to finish. Let’s just hope this season won’t require a game 163.
"You must be the dumbest SOB in the league. Everybody in the stadium knew you were going to get drilled, except you.'' - Jody Davis
On the other hand, it was KIND OF encouraging.
The fact that we managed to score 5 while making so many GIDP and avoidable outs is a good sign for our offence. Kind of.
well that's what you get when
….approximately 1.5 of your pitchers are actually pro baseball players.
Too strong
Liriano actually pitched a lot better than his numbers last night. At least one run in the first and the second-inning run should not have scored if our infield defense on the left side was tighter. His sixth-inning trouble was also defense induced. Otherwise, he made a key adjustment to they Tiger’s approach and pitched well.
The other three? Well, I’d say they need to make adjustments too. But they have track records to suggest that they’re better than this.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Liriano's woes...
I feel like he has had a lot of trouble with the first inning. Than settles down. He did that against Ubaldo and I think he did that last start as well.
Also, although the defense might not have been tight on the left side, we sure saw the advantages of this line-up with Thome in there over Valencia.
that's the issue for me
I like having Thome’s bat over Valencia but I don’t like have Cuddyer’s glove at 3B over Valencia’s…
I just don’t think Cuddyer is a thirdbaseman and now his bat has gone to sleep too…
I hope falling out of 1st place has lit a fire under the team.
"You must be the dumbest SOB in the league. Everybody in the stadium knew you were going to get drilled, except you.'' - Jody Davis
But that is like having your cake and eating it too.
Which although would be fun, just doesn’t work. Unless we just used Cuddyer as our off the bench guy and played Valencia out at 3rd… But I dont see that as the best solution either.
I understand and agree
It’s a situation that just doesn’t have a good answer to it.
"You must be the dumbest SOB in the league. Everybody in the stadium knew you were going to get drilled, except you.'' - Jody Davis
I think Valencia provides more value with his glove than Cuddyer does with his bat
And it’s not like Valencia can’t hit.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Two quality starts in their last 10 outings - the anatomy of a losing streak.
This rotation, save for the Pavstache, is a complete mess right now. Let’s hope it’s just a bump in the road. Starting pitching like the Twins have been getting for the past two weeks simply isn’t going to get it done. It’s that simple.
I don't think the panic button needs to be hit yet.
This is the first sustained streak of bad play this team has encountered this season, and people seem to forget that streaks like this happen every season to every team.
The team we’ve seen play on this most recent road trip is not the real Minnesota Twins. Baseball is a game all about patience. Things will bounce back, we just have to give them time.
what is troubling about this losing streak is the amount of mental errors we are seeing
mental errors and lack of W’s…
"You must be the dumbest SOB in the league. Everybody in the stadium knew you were going to get drilled, except you.'' - Jody Davis
50 RBIs
How many ribbies would Delmon have if he was batting fifth all year?
by AM. on Jun 29, 2010 8:30 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I believe Cuddyer has had the most opportunities with RISP and I believe he's hitting the worst in that situation too.
If he was hitting #5 and still hitting like this, I’d say it’d be more like 60. He is extremely better with RISP than Cuddyer has been.
Cuddyer ops w/risp: .639
Young ops w/risp: .975
I think Cuddy has had about 15 more AB’s than YOung in that situation, but look at that. Cuddyer has been awful.
Baseball reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.-Terence Mann/James Earl Jones in FoD
ah, I didn't realize Young had 50 rbi's now. I thought he was in the 40's. Ignore my first part a little bit.
I would say that he’d have mid 60’s to low 70’s minimum.
Baseball reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.-Terence Mann/James Earl Jones in FoD
What's with the bunt and infield singles?
I can’t wait for Hardy to get back. Punto looked slow and clumsy out there last night, which only exacerbates how slow and clumsy Cuddyer is on the left side. I didn’t watch the first, but according to Dick, the Santiago bunt should have been an out.
In the second inning, Santiago hit a slow roller and Punto got a late break on the ball for an infield single. The next batter, Raburn, hit a hot smash right at Punto, and, instead of just holding his ground and starting a double play, he jumped to the side and tried to backhand it. After the resulting bobble, he got only the one out with a run scoring. It was funny how much praise the announcers gave him for the acrobatic move to avoid getting in front of the ball.
Later in the game, Mauer made a perfect throw on an attempted steal and, instead of catching the ball on the bag and tagging the runner, he caught the ball behind the bag and the runner was safe.
Three of the times Santiago got on base and scored, he should have been out. On one, he was trying to sacrifice and he ended up safe.
Punto’s got good range, but he doesn’t do the little things right and, on close plays, that’s the difference between safe and out. Last night, it was the difference in the game.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
How...how how do we lose a game in which Thome gets a triple?
I wore my Thome shirt to the game. It was pretty good luck, might do it again Friday. My other shirts haven’t worked out that well…though we still lost this one. I believe I have a .500 record or below when I attend a game (and no I’m not giving up my 20 game package).
The boys really seem to be in a funk for the past month. It’s like they’re not there mentally. Either they can’t hit, pitch or field and usually it’s more than one at a time. I was surprised they scored five. We need Hardy back and to get it together. This is definitely not the Twins.
Baseball reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.-Terence Mann/James Earl Jones in FoD
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Twinkie Town
Related FanShots on Twinkie Town
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Surprise! A’s finally end the Yoenis Cespedes derby with $36 million deal for Cuban star
- The time Whitney Houston sang to Jim Bowden
- Pitchers and catchers! Mariners get early start in Arizona
- Photo: Padres fan regrets letting mother capture moment with Trevor Hoffman
- Marlins agree to unretire No. 5 for Logan Morrison, who will honor his father’s favorite player
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
