Twins Win 6-4 to Avoid Sweep as Francisco Liriano Out-Pitches Cliff Lee
by Jesse on Aug 27, 2010 9:07 AM EDT
in Game Threads
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PrintTwins take advantage of mistakes as Francisco Liriano shines.
That, my friends, is how you beat Cliff Lee. On the rare occasions that he allows more than one base runner per inning, if he should then leave a fat changeup in your wheelhouse and you give it a ride, that's going to help. Delmon Young played pepper with the Twins bullpen in left-center field in the top of the second inning last night with two men on, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead on his 16th bomb of the season. Michael Cuddyer would turn on an inside fastball one inning later for a two-run double. And that would be enough.
Jim Thome made it 6-0 on a solo shot in the sixth, which was after the Twins had chased Lee but at least constituted one run against the Texas bullpen on the series. Liriano would cruise through the middle innings, and only ran into real trouble in the seventh when he faced more than four hitters in an inning for the first time in the game. Six Rangers came to bat and two scored, leaving the blemish on Liriano's line.
Vladimir Guerrero launched a two-run shot in the eighth off Matt Guerrier to make it 6-4 (really, did anyone seriously think Guerrero was done, because that was just silly), but Jesse Crain stopped the bleeding by coming in and striking out Bengie Molina on four straight sliders.
Yes. Jesse Crain. Four straight sliders.
A perfect ninth by Matt Capps sealed the win, and the Twins turn it around in the last game of the series to avoid the four-game sweep. This was a great series from a baseball fan's perspective, because even though the Twins only took this one game they weren't outclassed. They just got beat, and there's a difference. Congrats to the Rangers, who finally look like they have the talent it takes for October on all sides of the ball.
Hopefully, next time, the Twins come out on top. Notes, studs and duds after the jump.
Also, don't miss Stu's post below the recap!
- Jason Kubel made a nice diving/sliding catch to end the first inning. It wasn't graceful, but if he biffed it Rangers would have jumped out to a 1-0 lead, changing the course of the game.
- Liriano went for the throat last night, notching first-pitch strikes in 20 of his 27 batters faced.
- Par for the course: Liriano threw one changeup to left-handed hitters, going almost exclusively fastball (21) - slider (15).
- Not par for the course: Liriano threw more changeups (28) than fastballs (25) to right-handed hitters. The slider came out nine times.
- The Rangers were 0-for-7 against Liriano's slider in-play.
- Right-handed hitters did the damage against Lee last night, apart from Thome's homer. Lefties were just 2-for-10 on balls in play; righties 5-for-11, including three hits off Lee's slider.
- The Twins did an amazing job to NOT chase a lot of Lee's offerings, swinging and missing at just four balls outside of the strike zone.
Studs
Francisco Liriano: 7 IP, 5 H, 6 K, 1 BB, 2 R, .199 WPA
Delmon Young: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, .175 WPA
Michael Cuddyer: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R, .189 WPA
Jason Kubel: 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, .023 WPA
Matt Capps: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, .103 WPA
Matt Guerrier: 0.2 IP, HR, 2 H, BB, -.051 WPA
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The game recap must be incorrect
I know this because Souhan told me Liriano wasn’t a big game pitcher like Cliff Lee.
by DJL44 on Aug 27, 2010 9:56 AM EDT reply actions 7 recs
The assault on Cliff Lee's Cy Young award has begun in earnest.
Francisco Liriano deals the latest blow, further consolidating his advantage on the FIP and xFIP fronts. Jered Weaver joins the fray with a blistering SIERA assault, and a motley crew of scrappy warriors—Buchholz, Cahill, Hernandez, Price, Wilson, Sabathia, Pavano, Gonzalez, and others—continue a relentless bombardment with traditional weapons (ERA, W). It’s a free-for-all folks.
I don't think Cliff has an inside track on the Cy
His early work gave him the edge, but his flat last three starts give many others a leg up. Sabathia, Price, Cahill and Felix should all be in there.
by Alexi Casilla All-Star on Aug 27, 2010 10:26 AM EDT reply actions
I would imagine
that it is Sabathia’s to lose at this point.
He's 5th, 15th, 12th, and 18th in ERA, FIP, xFIP, and SIERA (in the AL)
I don’t really think that many people vote just on wins anymore, and that’s pretty much what you have to do if you’re going to vote for CC at this point. Not saying he won’t win it, but I think it has yet to be won. The thing is, right now almost every relevant Cy category has a different leader, who in turn has major flaws.
Clear as mud
I think Felix is the leader though just due to the 30 extra innings pitched.
How about Duensing? Don’t look now but he’s climbing the leaderboard in several obscure metrics (Adjusted pitching runs 6th, Adj P Wins – 7th, Base-out runs saved – 10th). I don’t think he has a chance but he has 7 more starts remaining. If he pitches 130 innings and has a 12-3 record with a 2.4 ERA does he get any consideration?
I love the suggestion
Thing is, he seems to be out-performing the advanced metrics, and I just don’t expect him to keep pitching 2.40 ERA ball. An starter/reliever hybrid would be fun. He’s hoping he goes on a tear to make it interesting.
I've thought of Duensing, but
I think his only shot would have been if he had 20 saves from the 1st half instead of just a bunch of scoreless innings.
The last paragraph is spot on
This really was a well-played series through and through. Even though we lost three of four, this win made it all worth it. Like you said, we just got beat early on, nothing to cast any serious doubts on the team’s capabilities.
After this one, I am laughing at just how distraught I was when Lee went to Texas weeks ago. Granted our staff was in the Baker/Slowey/Blackburn slouch from hell, so I figured we absolutely needed him to go all the way. Things change fast in a few weeks.
And this win completed a perfect day for me. My second day at work was MUCH better than the first, but I needed my boys to avoid the sweep to complete the day. Glad it worked out.
by MarshalltheIrish on Aug 27, 2010 10:45 AM EDT reply actions
I'd still take him in a heartbeat
Though thank goodness for Duensing.
Oh me too
Even though the belief was we’d deal a block of players for just a rental, we had nothing to lose as far as the prospects (at least with Ramos). The only question would have been what pitcher we might have had to deal, and if that had been Duensing, well….that’d be regrettable. Glad he’s emerged at the right time.
by MarshalltheIrish on Aug 27, 2010 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Not to nit pick but I believe Crain was throwing sliders.
Jesse Crain stopped the bleeding by coming in and striking out Bengie Molina on four straight curveballs
Who is John Galt?
Yes, they were sliders
And they were all strikes, except the ump (who had a particularly bad night) called the first strike a ball.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Crain's curve is in the mid 70s, his slider is in the mid 80s
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
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