Twins 7, Royals 4: Tosoni Slam Avoids 100th Loss

by Adam Peterson on Sep 28, 2011 8:08 AM EDT in Game Recaps

So close! Maybe Revere should have somersaulted on his way home.

In just under two years, no Twins player hit a grand slam at Target Field until French Resistance Fighter Rene Tosoni's first pitch blast in the sixth inning of a 7-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals. With the win, the Twins avoid their 100th loss of the season. So tonight's finale will have some meaning, hopefully the few veterans who remain standing will put forward a solid effort and prevent the first 100 loss Twins season since 1982.

On the mound, Anthony Swarzak had a decent outing, giving up two runs in just over 6 innings. But he was hit hard again, as the Royals pounded out 10 hits including 4 doubles. Swarzak helped himself all night with his command, as 69 of his 98 pitches went for strikes and six strikeouts versus zero walks. Fortunately the Royals couldn't take advantage, leaving nine runners on base on the night. Sorry for the short recap, but I'm just off a red eye flight from San Diego...

Studs

Rene Tosoni: 1-4, HR, 4 RBI. The grand slam provided key insurance runs the Twins would need later...
Chris Parmelee: 2-4, 2 R, HR. He continues to rake, hit his 4th home run and is now batting .351.
Trevor Plouffe: 3-4, R. Solid at the plate, but he committed his 12th error, no surprise it was on a throw.
Ben Revere: 1-4, RBI. Provided the two plays of the night, with a nice catch in foul territory, key to keeping the Royals off the board after back to back singles opened the 7th inning. And he lined a triple past a diving Jarrod Dyson (definitely not a vacuum cleaner last night...), but was thrown out at home plate after running through the stop sign.

Duds

None, just happy to see a win.

Tweet Comment 21 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Fun game to watch

Good to see our bats show a little pop..better late than never..And Parmelee..wow..that kids a hitting machine..this is a rough estimate but with that homer I believe he’s currently 3rd on our team with homers? I say that jokingly but I also haven’t had a chance to look at the stats..I might not be too far off

by PURPpplEATER on Sep 28, 2011 9:50 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Speaking of homers

..Almost Ben..almost

by PURPpplEATER on Sep 28, 2011 9:52 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Plouffe

Wow. What an awful throw. I wonder if there isn’t something wrong with his arm.

by wcooley on Sep 28, 2011 10:03 AM EDT reply actions

Mechanics

His arm is fine. He just spun and threw wildly. His body was not in position to make an accurate throw. He’s kind of like a power pitcher. The harder you throw, the more wild you are. His throws have been clocked between 92 and 94.

His problem at short is confidence. He doesn’t charge a ball and gets yelled at. He tries to compensate by trying too hard and he rushes a throw, throwing wildly. I’d stick him in the outfield next year. I doubt he’ll get enough confidence to become a reliable shortstop at this point.

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

by cmathewson on Sep 28, 2011 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions

2B should be fine

The throw is really easy from 2B to 1B, especially if he’s turning the pivot okay. He won’t have to charge the ball as often. There are no throws from deep in the hole. He also doesn’t have to be the “captain of the infield”.

by DJL44 on Sep 28, 2011 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe Jarrod Dyson had the proper amount of suction?

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"I am laughing right now. Am I insane?" Jessy S

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Sep 28, 2011 10:14 AM EDT reply actions

I could be wrong

But I believe a local AM talk radio show was running a contest where a fan gets to pick one player and if that player hits a slam the fan wins lots a molla.

I was listening to the pregame on that show last night and the fan picked… Rene Tosoni.

Don’t know who she is or exactly how much she won but WOW! What an insane prediction!

by Jayrome007 on Sep 28, 2011 10:21 AM EDT reply actions

Also an insane prediction

My Opening day Lineup for 2012. (note: no gambling on this)

1. Denard Span (CF)
2. Rene Tosoni (RF)
3. Joe Mauer ©
4. Chris Parmlee (1B)
5. Danny Valencia (3B)
6. Nick Swisher (2B) (His contract is up with the Yankees?)
7. Trevor Plouffe (DH)
8. Ben Revere (LF)
9. Alexi Casilla (SS)
Starting Pitcher: Carl Pavano

I'm a proud fan of the Minnesota Twins and Dallas Cowboys!
"Life is precious and time is a key element. Let’s make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own." – Harmon Killebrew
Champagne SuperTolbert Saves the day!!!

by Jessy S on Sep 28, 2011 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions

2nd base.

2nd base. Jesus…

"I learned something yesterday. No use in having rules if there's no punishment for breaking them. You'll be fine if you bite down on the trigger. Enjoy your breakfast."

by John_Locke on Sep 28, 2011 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

That's like Manny at short

The method to Jessy S’s madness.

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

by cmathewson on Sep 28, 2011 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't see..any method...at all...sir...

Jessy S preparing his lineup predictions

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"I am laughing right now. Am I insane?" Jessy S

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Sep 28, 2011 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions

I know it's a auto-format thing, but I love that Joe Mauer is copyrighted

by ColossusOfRhode on Sep 28, 2011 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Copyrighted 2011 at Twinkie Town USA

by Jessy S on Sep 28, 2011 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Tough

I see Jessy S’s opening lineup and I cringe (aside from the one outsider).

Please, God, don’t let that be the Twins’ opening lineup. Please. I’ve never been one to pray for sporting events or for teams or whatever, but that is a terrifying major league lineup.

I’ve never been for making a lot of moves in the offseason. I think the teams that move a lot of players are usually not as successful as the teams who develop talent. And, by success, I don’t mean winning world championships. As we’ve discussed here, it takes a lot of talent, money and luck to win in the postseason. But, winning division titles is possible. A wildcard entry would be fine, too.

That opening day lineup is nothing like a playoff team. If our best pitcher is Carl Pavano, we’re screwed. How old is he? He’s close to my age because I remember him when we were in high school in Connecticut. He’s younger than I am but he’s definitely not, like 29 or something. Aside from Pavano, Casilla, Tosoni and Plouffe suck. I mean, I’m just so sick of these guys — their weak at-bats, their inferior fielding abilities, their lazy attitude.

Seriously, I’m a downer. It’s the last day of the season that I desperately want to end. I could handle it if we were 81-81 or even 75-87 or something. Heck, I could handle 20 games under .500. But, this? A hundred losses in the weakest division in baseball? Heads better roll. Gardy should be on the firing squad. Smith should be out. Clearly the talent scouts don’t know what they’re doing and that seems to have started when Smith took over. I mean, Span is a talented ballplayer who Ryan found. I don’t see anything like that in Tosoni (hitting) or in Plouffe (fielding) or in Revere (throwing). Tampa’s starters are all homegrown. It’s possible.

And the bullpen that Smith gave up for the bullpen he got — it’s nuts. Dumatrait. There are so many lousy relief pitchers out there, actually that you can’t even get to Matt Capps.

If our opening day lineup is like those listed above, we’ll lose a lot more than 100 next year. Let’s hope for some real change this offseason.

by Teo12345 on Sep 28, 2011 1:30 PM EDT reply actions

The pitching staff is top priority

This group of pitchers is so far from being a championship caliber pitching staff that it must be the #1 priority to develop one. Bill Smith should be looking for pitching everywhere he can find it. The waiver claim on Esmerling Vazquez is part of that but it sure isn’t the end of it.

by DJL44 on Sep 28, 2011 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions

For the record

I approve of Ben Revere blowing off Steve Liddle to go for the IPHR. That’s the only way he’s going to get a big league homerun and the games don’t matter at this point… so go for it, Benny!

by ColossusOfRhode on Sep 28, 2011 1:54 PM EDT reply actions

Was not exactly a close play at the plate...

Let loose the hogs of war!
Dogs of war..
Whatever farm animal of war, Lana...

by darren004 on Sep 28, 2011 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions

That's kinda of gambling on a bad throw

Like in the recent Redsox game, where Saltalamachia simply didn’t catch the ball or otherwise the runner would have been out at home.

At this point in the season, I could care less that he went for it and failed.

by twinscrazy_german on Sep 28, 2011 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly...

There was a similar play at the Giants game last night, only Gillaspie tripped coming around third. He still managed to get up and beat the throw home because the Rockies missed the cutoff man.

If the game counted for anything (and/or if the Twins were down at the time), I might have been annoyed. But given the situation, I was entertained and rooting for the kid.

by ColossusOfRhode on Sep 28, 2011 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't approve

It took us out of an inning with our number three hitter coming up. There was no chance—NONE—that he would score on the play. And I’m surprised he didn’t get injured. Lest we forget that Morneau and Span have both lost significant time because of home plate collisions. And a home plate collision ended Thome’s season last year, for all intents and purposes.

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

by cmathewson on Sep 28, 2011 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions