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Twins 7, White Sox 4: Correia's Solid Start Leads Minnesota to Victory

2013-06-20T04:41:42Z

While it could be argued that the big story about tonight's game, as far as memorable moments go, was the moment Justin Morneau hit his first home run since April 28, and also tied himself with Kirby Puckett for all-time Twins home run leaders, the more important actual-baseball aspect of the game was another quality start from Kevin Correia. Tonight marked Correia's 8th quality start, which does lead the team right now.

Correia was able to mostly keep the White Sox under control tonight, as he threw a solid 6 2/3 innings, while giving up just 5 hits and 2 runs...and no walks. He also struck out 6 Chicago batters. Definitely a good night for the starting pitching, which isn't something we can always write. The bullpen (well, Ryan Pressly) came in to relieve Correia for an inning and gave up the other two runs to Chicago, but was relieved by Brian Duensing, Josh Roenicke, and Glenn Perkins, who all combined for scoreless innings.

As far as Minnesota's offense went, tonight was a good night for both Brian Dozier and Justin Morneau. Dozier hit a bomb off a slightly off-kilter Chris Sale in the second inning with two on and two out. Morneau's no-doubt homer was a 2-run homer in the sixth inning with one out. As previously mentioned, it was the Canadian's first since April 28. Watch it in all its glory here. Ryan Doumit also had a great night at the plate, going 2-for-3, including a double and two walks. While the Twins had more opportunities to knock in runners than the White Sox, they still didn't do very well with RISP (3-for-14). In comparison, the Sox were 2-for-5.

Overall, tonight was a good win for the Twins, and as they obviously need to keep picking them up, it's even better when it's against the White Sox (though these wins do seem less sweet when we don't get Ozzie or Buerhle comments, don't they?). Also, winning against division opponents is always good.

Roll Call!
Your top 9 are... (I would normally do a Top 10, but there were 5 people tied for 10th with just 3 comments, so they lose)

#	Commenter	# Comments
1	kenzertz	79
2	twinsgirl197	36
3	less cowbell, more 'neau	32
4	twinscrazy_german	30
5	DavidRF	29
6	ColossusOfRhode	19
7	gonzobob	7
8	markos	7
9	Can't Read Good	4

Win Expectancy Graph (via Fangraphs, of course)

Source: FanGraphs

Studs & Duds
Studs
-Kevin Correia
-Justin Morneau
-Ryan Doumit

Duds
No one. Wins!

Coming Up...
Tomorrow, the Twins look to sweep the series from Chicago at Target Field. The game starts at 12:10 pm CST, with Scott Diamond facing the White Sox' John Danks. Make sure to check in with TT to get all the latest!

Gamehub: White Sox at Twins, Game 68

2013-06-19T23:58:31Z

TIME TO WIN. Right?

Minor League Report: Quick Hits

2013-06-19T19:11:55Z

Today we'll be covering just a few quick notes from the Twins minor league system, without focusing necessarily on the top 25 prospects. There's been a few bigger news stories over the past week that need to be mentioned.

Elizabethton Twins

The E-ton Twins will finally be starting their season tonight, but a horrible fatal car crash on the way to Tennessee delayed their trip a bit. The Twins players were all fine, but the driver of the other vehicle was killed in the crash. I can't imagine those young men playing a game tonight, but I hope it goes well. Of course, thoughts out to the family of the deceased. What a sad story.

Cedar Rapids Kernels

The good news coming out of CR is that we'll finally start seeing Max Kepler play, as he's joined the Kernels out of extended Spring Training. The Kernels' next game is tomorrow night, and with the addition of Kepler, the roster is now at 25 men with 2 on the DL. Also, this past week, Goodrum was activated from the DL, where he spent 7 days because of a concussion that occurred after a home-plate collision. In his first game back on Sunday, Goodrum went 3-for-4 with a double, RBI, and walk. Not a bad return. Lastly, with a win against the Quad City River Bandits last Wednesday, the Kernels secured themselves a playoff spot for this season. Congrats!

Fort Myers Miracle

This season will be the first since 2009 that the Miracle will be appearing in the Florida State League playoffs, and they clinched their appearance with a Matt Koch go-ahead home run in the 8th inning of a game against the Bradenton Marauders. This Miracle team has been very effective all season, as you recall, with some really great performances from some highly-ranked and highly-touted Twins prospects like Levi Michael and Aderlin Mejia. Tonight they'll be taking on the Palm Beach Cardinals after clinching their playoff spot.

New Britain Rock Cats

The Rock Cats team has been doing pretty well this past week, with solid performances from Miguel Sano (0-for-1 with 3 walks and 2 runs scored in Saturday's game), Tom Stuifbergen (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 1 BB), and Trevor May (7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). The Rock Cats will be hosting the 2013 All Star Classic at their stadium on July 10, and there will be several Rock Cats present, as we've discussed in past Minor League Update posts.

Rochester Red Wings

The Red Wings are on a nice little tear right now, winning 5 of their past 6 games. Kyle Gibson pitched again in Saturday's game, going 6 innings and giving up 6 hits as well as 3 ER and 1 walk. He did strike out 3, though, but did give up a home run. Andrew Albers had a good line in last Thursday's game -- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. Offensively, the Red Wings have been improving as well, with some production from Dan Rohlfing in Friday's game (4-for-4, double, triple, RBI, run scored), and Chris Colabello in Thursday's game with his 2-for-3 effort (including a double, 3 RBI, and a run scored).

Make sure you stop back later today for tonight's Twins/White Sox matchup!

Twins 7, White Sox 5: Doumit Does It! Breaks Tie in 8th Inning to Avoid Embarrassing Loss

2013-06-19T05:33:05Z

The way this game started, it looked like the Twins were going to just steamroll the White Sox tonight. Clete Thomas reached on a throwing error by Gordon Beckham. Joe Mauer launched a home-run to left field, his seventh of the year. Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau both reached, sitting at third and second respectively. The White Sox coaches made a call to the bullpen, and went to visit starter John Axelrod on the mound.

I really thought the White Sox were about to pull their starter with one out in the first inning.

Axelrod, however, stayed in the game--which was good because he then walked Oswaldo Arcia and gave up a two-run single to Trevor Plouffe, putting them on second and first respectively. Arcia was then thrown out at home on a weird play for the third out.

After throwing a three-up, three-down first inning on 11 pitches, Mike Pelfrey unfortunately started to Pelfrey', giving up a double to Paul Konerko and an ensuing home run to Conor Gillaspie. Pelfrey had a good start overall, however, giving up only one more run in the 5th inning that was partially thanks to Clete over running a ball and letting it fall behind him.

The Twins and the Sox then went back and fourth a bit, piranha-ing a couple runs off each other. The Twins were still ahead 5-4 going into the top of the 8th inning, but then Paul Konerko (*first towards the sky* KOONNEEERRRKOOO!!!!!) tied it up with an RBI single.

But then, with two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning, the Twins mounted a rally against White Sox reliever Ramon Troncoso. Clete drew a walk off, followed by a single from Joe Mauer. Doumit then followed through with his game winning, two-out, two-run double to put the Twins up 7-5.

Glen Perkins game in for the 9th and did what Glen Perkins does--shut it down.

Bullet Point Highlights

Oswaldo Arcia made the third out in the first inning on what looked like a base running flub--but as astutely noted by Twinkie Town member Can't Read Good, it probably wasn't much of a flub. Pedro "P-Flo" Florimon hit the ball right to Gordon Beckham by second base. Beckham flipped it to Alexi Ramirez, who should have gotten Plouffe out at second, but just missed it; it was probably too late to get Florimon at first. So Ramirez threw home. With two outs on an easy infield grounder to second, Arcia would normally have no reason to stop at third, nor Joe Vavra a reason to stop him.
P-Flo was called out stealing a base in the 6th inning, but he was clearly, clearly safe (no tag attempt was even made). Clete Thomas singled just after, which likely would have given the Twins at least another run.

STUDS

Ryan Doumit: 3 for 4, 1 walk, 2 RBI (game winning RBIs!). Also caught the game.
Joe Mauer: 3 for 5, 1 Home Run, 2 RBI, 2 runs. Did a good job playing first base (4th time this year) too.
Glen Perkins: 1 inning pitch, 1 save, 0 hits, 2 strike outs.

DUDS

Oswaldo Arcia: 0 for 3, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts.
Casey Fein: 1 inning pitched, allowed 1 inherited run; 0 hits, BUT 2 wild pitches; kind of all over the place.
Jared Burton: 1 inning pitched, 1 earned run, 1 walk, technically got the blown save.

ROLL CALL!

kenzertz (71)
myjah (62)
less cowbell, more 'neau (39)
SooFoo Fan (36)
David RF (35)
jere.johnson.37 (29)
twinscrazy_german (25)
Can't Read Good (22)
DavidGZ (19)
Devereaux (14)

Win Expectancy Graph

via www.fangraphs.com

GameHub: White Sox at Twins, Game 67

2013-06-18T22:20:42Z

Everything you need to know about Tuesday's White Sox versus Twins game at Target Field.

Stewart, Gonsalves in Minnesota

2013-06-18T17:30:05Z

Pitchers and catchers were the primary theme for the Twins in this year's draft, and the top two high school arms that they selected are in Minnesota to take the first step of their pro career.

Both right-hander Kohl Stewart and left-hander Stephen Gonsalves are in Minnesota with the intent to sign. Stewart and Gonsalves have both tweeted that they're in the Twin Cities, and La Velle E. Neal wrote on Sunday that an announcement of Stewart's signing could come as soon as today. Gonsalves told a friend on Twitter that he'll be signing while here and then heading down to Fort Myers.

Stewart was selected fourth overall in the draft, while Gonsalves came off the board 106 spots later at No. 110. That's right where Baseball America ranked him on their Top 500 (No. 107), and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo had him ranked 98th on his own Top 100. ESPN's Keith Law disagreed quite adamantly, stating in a June 7 chat that he "didn't get" the Twins' selection of Gonsalves in the fourth round, adding that he's "not projectable" and has "no breaking ball."

Mayo and BA, meanwhile, specifically cite Gonsalves' projectability as his best feature in their write-ups and scouting reports. Mayo wrote that Gonsalves has the upside to be the best of a "pretty decent class of prep southpaws," praising his 88-91 mph fastball and noting that he touched 93 at one point. Baseball America went so far as to say Gonsalves' projection is the very thing that makes him attractive, as he has "a long way to go" due to his below-average curveball and lack of a changeup. John Sickels noted after the draft that Gonsalves at one point had first-round buzz, but a sub-par Spring derailed that concept.

I don't mind one bit the Twins going after an 18-year-old lefty that's a bit of a wild card with their fourth-round pick. Baseball America, John Sickels and Jonathan Mayo all noted that he had first-round potential but didn't live up to that hype over the past few months. Frankly, that's the type of gamble that I'm excited to see the Twins make. If they feel that they can develop a changeup for Gonsalves, they could have themselves a terrific fourth-inning find. His velocity isn't overpowering, but velocity isn't as crucial from the left side in pitchers.

The Twins only grabbed two high school pitchers in the first 26 rounds of the draft, so it seems fair to deduce that they were particularly high on these specific arms. In Stewart's case that's not much of a surprise, as he was the top-ranked high school arm in the country. Gonsalves sounds like he's far from a sure thing, but the upside is nice. And given that both are here in the Twin Cities, it shouldn't be long before we start to hear plenty more about their pro careers.

Tuesday Morning Twins: The "Things Eddie Says" Edition

2013-06-18T16:54:28Z

Welcome to the special Eddie Guardado edition of Tuesday ~~Morning~~ Twins links. With Eddie in town last weekend for his induction into the Twins Hall of Fame, he did a lot of catching up with the local media, and we learned a lot of things we never knew about the Everyday hero.

For instance, did you know:

Eddie was originally drafted as a starter? ("We don't want to talk about that.")
If Eddie Guardado had a time machine, he'd want to go back to the days of the wild west? ("I'd be walking into a saloon with a couple of pistols on my side and see who wants some trouble.")
Eddie really likes the movie Norbit? ("That's a funny movie. It's one of those movies you have to watch over and over. I like that movie. I really like that movie.")
Eddie's first fishing partner in Minnesota was Kirby Puckett? ("First time we went, he said, ‘Meet me at 5 a.m. at Perkins.' I figured, ‘There's no way Puck is going to be there at 5 o'clock,' but he was waiting for me, eating a cheeseburger.")
Eddie had no idea what his signature entrance music--ACDC's "Thunderstruck--was? ("They played music, and I didn't know what music it was. So when '02 came, they go, 'Eddie, that paper you filled out, what type of music do you want?' 'Whatever they played last year.' And it was 'Thunderstruck.' I'd never heard that song in my life.")
Eddie was one of Torii Hunter's favorite teammates, and the two still talk every other day? (Hunter: "He calls me and cusses me out.")
Eddie really, really loved taking the mound for the Twins. ("Better than making love. Just don't tell my wife!")

Interesting stuff!

Eddie Guardado wasn't the only thing happening this week, however. Here are some other Twins links:

Twins long-time PR director Tom Mee was, of course, also inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame Friday. Learn a little more about the lesser known inductee.
Chad Graff at the Pioneer Press takes a closer look at Kohl Stewart, the Twins 2013 first round, 4th overall draft pick.
The Gazette compares Byron Buxton's and Mike Trout's performances as members of the Cedar Rapids Kernels (which before this year, was an Angels affiliate). Spoiler Alert: The comparison is good.

Twins vs. White Sox: News and Notes

2013-06-18T16:00:15Z

Probables (all games FSN)

Tuesday, 7:10pm: Mike Pelfrey vs. Dylan Axelrod
Wednesday, 7:10pm: Kevin Correia vs. Chris Sale
Thursday, 12:10pm: Scott Diamond vs. John Danks

White Sox Notes

Over the weekend, Chicago lost three one-run games to Houston, and it does not get lower than that. The Sox won Monday, but still: yikes.
At 13-24, the White Sox are the American League's worst road team.
Here's how bad it's gotten for Chicago: Friday, Chris Sale threw an eight-inning complete game, struck out 14, and did not allow an earned run, and the Sox still lost 2-1.
Sale has thrown 10 quality starts in 12 tries, tied for second in the AL, and has a sparkling 2.43 ERA, fourth in the AL. He's also 5-5. This is a reminder that W-L record for pitchers is stupid.
Your "Adam Dunn is Rob Deer" Update: 18 homers, .184 average, 83 strikeouts. Now, Deer twice led the league in strikeouts AND had the worst batting average in the AL, but he hit at least 21 homers both times. Dunn's already got almost 21 homers, but he's only third in strikeouts (18 behind Chris Carter, who is ridiculous), and has the second-worst batting average (behind Mike Moustakas.) So he's got some work to do if he wants to claim the Deer Award for the first time in his career.

Twins Notes

According to LaVelle E. Neal at the Star Tribune, Nick Blackburn has resumed throwing in the minors, and could appear in a game soon. This update has been brought to you by "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!", America's favorite thing to yell when Nick Blackburn pitches.
In the same article, Neal mentions that Rich Harden is hoping to maybe throw batting practice sometime soon. This is a reminder that the Twins are paying Rich Harden American dollars this year, and that there's hope for us all.
Mike Pelfrey told former TTer Brandon Warne at ESPN 1500 that, had he known he was going to get shelled, he wouldn't have come back so quickly. On behalf of Twins fans, I'd like to let Pelfrey know how nice it was that he could work out his personal difficulties, while only giving up 42,000 runs in the process.
Josh Willingham is hoping to play tonight after having a cortisone shot in his knee over the weekend, a treatment that hopefully improves the left fielder from "painful to watch" all the way up to merely "creaky."