Mariners 4, Twins 1
by RandBall's Stu on Jun 4, 2010 12:45 AM EDT
in Game Recaps
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PrintThe Twins had no answer for Felix Hernandez tonight, Carl Pavano made one mistake to Jose Lopez, and that was your Thursday night, as the Twins posted just one run for the third consecutive game in losing to Seattle, 4-1.
Minnesota opened the scoring in the first on a 2-out double by Joe Mauer followed by an RBI single from Justin Morneau that almost decapitated Felix Hernandez. It did not, thus ending any chance of the Twins winning this game. Hernandez allowed just three more hits through 8 innings, striking out nine and generally being Felix Hernandez. 3-game losing streaks blow, especially given the circumstances of Wednesday's defeat, but sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the opposition. King Felix was as advertised. Can we trade Brendan Harris for him?
Meanwhile, Carl Pavano had one bad inning, surrendering an RBI single to Ichiro and a 3-run home run to Lopez in the 4th, putting the game completely out of reach. Pavano did give the Twins seven innings, and anyone who says anything bad about The Pavstache is getting cut. That said, Seattle stole five bases on him, which is abysmal. Jesse Crain again pitched a competent inning of relief, if you're looking for silver linings.
As for Danny Valencia, he posted an infield single in his first at-bat, finished the game 1-for-3 and was neither a savior nor completely overwhelmed. Let's see how he handles this weekend.
No studs not named Hernandez this evening. See you Friday morning, kids.
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What a letdown that whole series was. First game was alright, despite Rauch almost blowing it. Then we go out and score 3 runs in the next 3 games. Nonetheless having to watch Tolbert bat in front of Mauer… I saw that and literally asked is this a joke?
Games like this are why I hate West Coast road trips.
The guys seem to play terrible whenever they play a series or two on the West Coast. The pitching has done their part so far on this trip by keeping the team in the game (with the exception of the 7-1 loss the other night), now it’s time for the offense to help them out and win some games.
Congrats to Valencia for his first MLB hit.
+1
It seems like the Mariners always play us tough. Plus I just have an unbridled hate/respect thing going against Ichiro. If you tried to teach a kid how to swing like him, you would ruin him. Yet he still finds ways to get on base.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. ~ Terence Mann
by John Veldhuis on Jun 4, 2010 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions
That's how they teach you to swing in Japan
"Baseball is the only major sport that appears backward in a mirror" ~George Carlin
by thewild_viking_twins on Jun 4, 2010 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions
So let me get this straight,
Our record against Seattle & Baltimore combined is 3-5. Although I do think we have a very good shot at winning our division. With that being said I also believe that without the help of the likes of Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt we are headed for a short postseason. This is our year to step up to the plate and compete with the big boys. Yeah I know we paid Joe big bucks but really they had no choice and everybody knew it. This new stadium will be packed for years to come so revenue should not be an issue. Lets go out and get an ace to complete this team.
An ace would have done little for us this series
when we score one run apiece. Not having a Lee or Oswalt may be an issue for us in the postseason, but I wouldn’t mortgage the future for a marginally better chance in the postseason. Go in with Liriano as our ace, as long as the offense is healthy and shows up we’ll have a good chance against New York, Tampa Bay, etc. If we don’t get healthy, we may have a tough time even making the postseason.
by Adam Peterson on Jun 4, 2010 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions
You can never have enough good pitching
We see pitchers duels everyday somewhere in the league. Somebody wins & somebody loses those games. Guys give up only 1 or 2 runs everyday in this league & still get the loss. Good pitching usually shuts down even the best hitting teams. (An Ace would have done little for us in this series. ) It sure the hell couldn’t have hurt.
True, you can never have enough good pitching
but the Cliff Lees and Roy Oswalts don’t come for free. They come at a high price, both in salary and in the players we give up. We can think hypothetically about what Lee would do in a Twins uniform, but we need to consider the 4-5 players we give up to get 2-3 months of his time. Or the massive contract we take on in Roy Oswalt. No thanks on either.
by Adam Peterson on Jun 4, 2010 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Isn't that the same thing?
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
No
It is expected that a Pitcher will give up a run or two. Also, It is expected that the Offence score some runs per game. If a Team had the best ERA in the league and had a record of 500. No one would say it’s because they are being out pitched. It would be a lack of scoring runs.
by b1 on Jun 4, 2010 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Semantics
Blackburn pitched poorly and we lost.
We got jobbed by an ump and we lost.
Pavs had a bad inning and we lost. That’s how I see it. Especially last night.
You can’t expect to score five runs against the best pitcher in baseball.
You can’t expect to win when you serve belt-high batting practice fastballs on the inner half to the other team’s best hitter with two on base against the league’s best pitcher. That pitch to Lopez couldn’t have been more to his liking if Pavs was his Home Run Derby pitcher.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
I'll Agree to disagree
I think the Yankee series and the Mariners series were lost due to weak hitting. Pavs gave up 4 runs, it’s hard for me to say that’s a weak outing. Could have been better, sure. We scored 1 run, that’s almost always a loss.
by b1 on Jun 4, 2010 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions
We'd need 5 aces
To survive only scoring 1 run. It’s easier to score more than one run than pitch a string of shutouts.
Resolved: we needed to score more runs and cause the opposition to score fewer runs
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
What a novel idea!
"Very cruel, as in June Nick Blackburn error is cruel twins fans" -wwgtd, via google translator
That's so crazy
It just might work!
"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
I support MNA Nurses
by less cowbell, more 'neau on Jun 4, 2010 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Season hits the one third mark!
Easy projections… rate stats are the same. Counting stats just multiply by three!
Morneau – 108 R, 207 H, 57 doubles, 36 HR, 114 RBI, 123 BB
Mauer – 6 HR, 72 RBI
Hudson – 117 R
Hardy – 9 HR, 39 RBI
Punto – 24 R, 33 RBI
Young – 15 HR, 81 RBI
Span – 105 R, 39 SB, 3 CS
Cuddyer – 21 HR, 87 RBI
Thome – 15 HR, 65 RBI
Kubel – 18 HR, 90 RBI
Team HR: 138
Pavano 15-18, 33 BB
Baker 15-12
Liriano 15-9, 198 K
Blackburn 18-6
Slowey 18-9
Rauch 39 Sv
Team record: 93-69
Boo 138 homers!!!
I want more! For the last 2/3rds of the season, I want 3/2nds effort.
Our pitching has carried us this first third. I woudn’t have called that. Let’s let the offense carry us the second third, then get both offense and defense clicking for the last third and playoffs.
This just in
Morneau is good.
If he keeps this up (big if considering past years), he’ll have arguably the best year in Twins history. The next closest would be Carew’s 1977 season.
129 R 239 H 38 2B 16 3B 14 HR 100 RBI 69 BB .388/.449/.570 which was good for a 178 OPS+ in his era.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
We should be thankful
we are still off to great start (especially when compared to previous years)
just wait, this team will, once again, hit it’s stride in late August / early September
"Baseball is the only major sport that appears backward in a mirror" ~George Carlin
by thewild_viking_twins on Jun 4, 2010 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
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