Gavin Floyd pitches another career-highlighting game, brushes against history after nearly no-hitting the Tigers in April.

While The Perfect Game is rare, a No-Hitter is pretty damn close.  Floyd combined a masterful performance with some help from his defense, the end result of which was a great win for the White Sox.  There was a little trouble in the first inning, as he walked Brendan Harris and Joe Mauer in back-to-back plate appearances, but no damage was done.

Another walk to Mauer in the fourth led to Minnesota's only run.  With Joe on first, Justin Morneau took a strong cut and lined the ball hard into left field.  Carlos Quentin appeared to make the catch, but in the next instant the ball slipped from his glove.  Michael Cuddyer followed up with a long fly out to right field, advancing Mauer to third, and Jason Kubel completed the hitless scoring opportunity by lifting a sacrifice fly to Nick Swisher in center field.  It made the score 2-1, but Floyd wouldn't give the Minnesota offense another opportunity.

Cuddyer described what it was like for hitters in the batters box:

"He had late movement, and that's the best kind you can have," Cuddyer said. "It looks like a strike all the way to the zone and then maybe it falls out. To the naked eye, it looks like we are chasing, but when you're up there, it looks like a strike."

Gavin Floyd's curveball has always been his best pitch, but on Tuesday night his fastball and slider were just as effective.  Games like this are what can happen when guys with great stuff, like Floyd, can get it all working at once.

After retiring Brendan Harris on strikes to start the top of the ninth, Joe Mauer stepped in, 0-for-1 with a pair of walks.  On a 1-0 count, Floyd's slider broke over the plate and Mauer took advantage.  Mauer pushed it, lining the ball into the left-center field gap.  Swisher, who had been playing Mauer to pull, was out of position.

Knowing it takes a little luck to put a No-Hitter on your resume, Floyd mentioned he could only do what he could do:  throw strikes and get people out.  It was Swisher who sounded disappointed when talking about trying to keep that goose egg intact:

"In the sixth, I looked up and realized they didn't have [a hit]...I didn't care if I had to run through the wall to catch it. I was going for it, and tried my best superman impersonation, but I didn't get it. In my mind, it [stinks]. The win was great to get, but I wanted that for Gavin."

That one hit was enough, and Ozzie Guillen lifted Floyd from the game with a 7-1 lead, one out and Joe Mauer standing on second base.  It was Mauer's ninth double of the season.  Bobby Jenks came on and closed out the ninth.

It wasn't much fun to watch as a Twins fan, but as a baseball fan it's easy to appreciate what Floyd nearly pulled off.  We know first hand what it's like to cheer for someone or something that isn't extpected to do too much, and Gavin Floyd's career hasn't exactly gone as it once was projected.  Tuesday night he was effective as any pitcher in the game, and he nearly pulled off a No-Hitter.

Having said that, I'm glad Mauer broke it up.  It's a small victory, one of those "moral victories", but you take what you can get out of a loss.  Game two of the series is tonight, hopefully we can turn it back around and start another winning streak.

[Note by Jesse, 05/07/08 5:39 AM CDT ]  Be sure to check out our Q&A with Twins President Dave St. Peter from Tuesday moring!

Twins score four in bottom of the seventh, win fifth straight.

This game kicked off with one of those ominous half-innings, the ones that make you cringe as your team gets rocked.  Things that can go wrong do go wrong, and by the time that third out finally gets recorded you need a few minutes to shake the haze from your head.  Such was the top of the first inning, as Bonser combined bad location with bad luck, and following Curtis Granderson's leadoff homer the Tigers strung together five consecutive singles.  By the time the number seven hitter, Marcus Thames, popped out to Joe Mauer, it was five to nothing.  And the Twins hadn't even come to the plate.

A wild pitch by Bonser on a third strike allowed Ivan Rodriguez to reach, a throwing error by Mauer saw Edgar Renteria score, and when Granderson struck out in his second at-bat of the inning to end the top of the first Detroit was staked to a six-run lead.  But it's always darkest before the light.

Following the implosive first inning, Bonser found his groove.  It was a 45-pitch first inning, but the Tigers never found a way to get to Boof again as he followed up with pitch counts of five, 14, 10, 14 and 11.  His fastball looked good, the breaking balls snapped down and all the luck Detroit had (or was it bad luck on Minnesota's end?) in the first inning disappeared without a trace.  Boof Bonser could have collapsed, could have given in and thrown it away for lost after that nightmare of a first inning, but he didn't.  He came back strong, was effective, and he gave his offense a chance.

The offense didn't disappoint.

Justin Morneau singled following Mauer's double in the bottom of the fourth, making for the Twins first run.  The next inning, Nick Punto doubled in both Craig Monroe and Delmon Young to close the gap to three.  But it was with two outs in the bottom of the seventh that fireworks went off.

With Kenny Rogers still on the mound, Matt Tolbert took the seventh pitch of his plate appearance pulled a double into left field.  Nick Punto followed that up by rolling over on a changeup, but the Twins were getting all the bounces by this point.  Carlos Guillen, playing third base, let it get through his legs; runners at the corners, still two away.  The hiccup chased Rogers, who was replaced by Zach Miner.

Miner peppered leadoff man Carlos Gomez with four straight fastballs.  On the fourth offering, Gomez swung and chopped a high bouncer off the plate.  Edgar Renteria charged and snagged the ball on the first hop, but he never had a chance.  Gomez reached, Punto advanced to second, and Tolbert scored.  6-4, Detroit; momentum was swinging.
 
Hitless on the afternoon, Brendan Harris put a charge into a changeup from Miner.  He drove it deep into left field, past the outstretched arm of Jacque Jones, and it bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.  6-5, Detroit.

Then came Joe Mauer, with two runners in scoring position.  Bobby Seay had replaced Miner, but he couldn't stop the bleeding.  Mauer chopped a fastball up the middle, right over the mound.  Polanco and Renteria converged but the ball snuck through, and Mauer's seeing-eye single scored two.

It was a fantastic comeback for the Twins, and the victory keeps them in first place.  In the stretch of these five wins, Minnesota has outscored their opponents 29-12, and the bats have been more impressive than they've been most of the year.  The picture is far from perfect, but it's working for the moment, and it's one hell of a lot of fun to see.

The game was at a reasonable time considering my six-hour time difference...and I didn't even see it.  Which is probably why we won.  And since when did I become so superstitious?

Checking the box scores and reading recaps is no way to live a life as a Twins blogger.  But it will have to suffice for tonight.  I'm more than happy to dish out the general specifics (oxymoron?), but I'm sure you can fill me in on the specific events.

Carlos Gomez had a huge game, going 3-for-4 and snagging his 11th base of the year.  After reaching on a bunt, Justin Morneau busted out a double that plated the speedster from third base, giving the Twins the go-ahead run.  From what I've read it looks like Gomez had tried earlier in the game to score from third on a mis-played ball, but was called out at the plate.  I'm wondering how they were able to throw the ball fast enough to over-take him on the relay home.

Thursday is an off-day before heading into the weekend series versus the Tigers.  I'll catch up with you sometime tomorrow.  Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday everyone.

 Justin's grand slam, 5 RBI over-shadowed.

A 5-0 lead in the top of the third was wiped out in the bottom, as Nick Blackburn was tagged for five consecutive singles to lead off the inning.  Hank Blalock follwed immediately with a double, before Jason Botts drove his own double to right field.  Blalock, who was trying to score from second, was thrown out at the plate.  Botts, in an attempt to turn his double into a triple, was consequently thrown out at third.  Seven consecutive hits plated five runs, but Blackburn was the benefactor of a slow runner and a bad base-running decision.  Frank Catalanotto was called out on strikes to end the Ranger third in the very next at-bat, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

Each team was kept scoreless until the bottom of the tenth, when Donny Murphy singled off of Juan Rincon to score German Duran.

Carlos Gomez rebounded for the second straight game, going 2-for-3 with two runs and his 10th stolen base of the year.  Joe Mauer also did his part, going 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.  After the criticism they've received here the last couple of days, it was good to see them come through.  Hopefully they can build off of Friday's successes at the plate.

Michael Cuddyer was 1-for-5 in his return, batting fifth.  He was followed by Jason Kubel and Delmon Young, whose hitless nights helped the three combine for a 1-for-14 evening.  They stranded 17 baserunners between them.

That's not a fun way to start your Saturday morning, no matter what country you're in.  I'll see you this afternoon.

Boom, bitch.

You feelin' me?

When I was in high school, there was a guy on our baseball team that loved nothing more than the first pitch of the game from the opposing pitcher.  If it was a ball - and this being high school baseball, it often was - this guy, without fail, would prematurely heckle the pitcher by yelling "STRUGGLING!" at the top of his lungs.

I suppose that's a little like noting that anybody on the Twins is "struggling" after just one series.  Nevertheless, the Twins did drop three of four to the Angels, and in the process resurrected old concerns about the team's ability to score runs or hit the long ball. 

After the jump, a look at the first series of the year, and at some players who didn't have the best week.

Continue reading this post »