Short Notes - Jan. 11

Just a few quick thoughts on the Twins and baseball news over the past week.

Goodbye
Bobby Keppel is gone. He was released, and then immediately signed with a Japanese team. Good luck, Bobby. (And with that, that's the second time I initially typed "Booby" instead of "Bobby" and had to fix it. Perhaps my fingers reveal my true feelings of his pitching.)

Hello
To replace Booby (I just figured I'd go with it), the Twins signed Clay Condrey. They have a long tradition of signing pitchers I know nothing about. In fact, it's almost as if it's a contractual obligation. And with this, they've fulfilled their commitment. Just so long as it's not another Livan Hernandez/Ramon Ortiz/Sidney Ponson situation, I'll be ok with it. Welcome Clay.

Undies in a Bunch -- or Not
Right after Keppel got the axe, a rumor (which turned out to be true -- so it was a trumor {wow, sorry, I'm really tired, so lame jokes seem really hilarious to me right now}) started that the Twins offered a deal to Jarrod Washburn. A lof of the bloggers I know of aren't really a fan of that idea. I think it's a pretty silly offer; we've already got three mediocre lefties (Liriano, Perkins, Duensing), and they don't make that much money. Doesn't matter; he turned it down.

Cardinals News
Hey, the Cardinals signed Matt Holliday to a monster contract. This is significant not only because I'm a Holliday fan, and I kind of like the Cardinals (if I had to pick a NL team, it'd be the Cardinals), but also it be a blueprint for a potential Joe Mauer contract. Super-size it for Joey.

Speaking of the Cardinals
Ok, Mark McGwire admitted to steriod use. This is not a surprise, but it is sad. Speculation is speculation, and therefore, there's always a fine thread of hope that it's not real. But admission is real. I'm glad the truth is out; I do wish he'd admitted it sooner. But I'm still a fan of his, and I'm neither qualified to nor interested in judging him on this matter. 

Podcast Update
I've got a few more podcasts to add to my previous list.

• Travistalks Weekly Minnesota Sports - hosted by Travis Aune
• Baseball Prospectus Radio - hosted by Will Carroll
• And a special podcast, from my Twitter friend Lephio, Baseball e Musica from Italy. So if you know Italian, or want to learn it, check it out.
  

Breathing

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This Royals series had me holding my breath a couple of times, but a Twins' sweep made it all worth it.

Recap:
Friday: Twins 5 - Royals 4
Saturday: Twins 8 - Royals 7
Sunday: Twins 10 - Royals 3

Friday's game was fine, until Joe Nathan came to the mound, and then I was a mess. To be fair, I'm always nervous when the Nathanator comes out. I think his hyper-anxiety rubs off on me. I wasn't necessarily worried that he would blow the save, I was just generally worried.

I was right to be worried.

But, after the blown save, he went out for the 10th after the Twins re-took the lead. And it took him for...ev...er to pin it down, all the while I'm sitting and hyperventilating. But he did it. Whew.

Saturday's game was fine, until the bullpen came in. Duensing did just fine by only allowing 2 runs, but "Tell-me-again-why-he's-here" Keppel and "The Crainwreck" Crain each gave up two runs to allow them within two. And since Nathan was unavailable because of Friday's herculean effort, it was Guerrier's game to save. And I thought I was hyperventilating the night before. He allowed a run, but eventually got the save. Whew -- again!

Sunday's game was not hyperventilation-inducing -- thank goodness. That awesome offensive outburst in the 7th, and Pavano's nice pitching performance, was just the relaxing game I needed. Cuddy's two homeruns in one inning was a little breathtaking, though. He's the first Twin to ever do that; I, for one, think that's damn cool.

~~~

And since I forgot to recap the Texas series:
Monday: Twins 5 - Rangers 8
Tuesday: Twins 9 - Rangers 6
Wednesday: Twins 5 - Rangers 4
Thursday: Twins 1 - Rangers 11

Splitting the series was better than I expected. So, yay for that...you know, if Thursday's game hadn't been so soul crushing.

When They Are Good, They Are Very, Very Good...

...and when they are bad, they are horrid.

The Twins pitching that is.

Recap:
Friday: Twins 8 - Tigers 10
Saturday: Twins 11 - Tigers 0
Sunday: Twins 7 - Tigers 8
(3rd place; 5.5 games back; .486 winning %)

The Twins averaged 8.67 runs per game during this series, yet they only won one game. So the offense is doing its job. But when scoring 7 or 8 runs isn't enough to win, it's tough to gain ground in the division.

Pavano on Saturday was very, very good -- impressive even. I hope he keeps it up. Much has been said about his success against the Tigers and White Sox. So if he can pitch that well against them, I'll take it. But I'd really love it if he pitched that well all the time.

Swarzy on Friday was horrid. It happens; I'm not going to get too upset about it. I just hope he can shake it off and do well next time.

Scotty on Sunday was very, very good, and then horrid. Bobby Keppel was, well he was kind of good...I'll call it pitching for his big-league life. And then Matty, who's been very very good lately, was -- well, not exactly horrid, but kind of sucky.

So, here's my wish: I want the pitchers to give up fewer than three runs per game (and that means for the whole game -- not each pitcher who comes into the game) AND I want the offense to score more than four runs per game. For the whole season.

Got it Liriano? FEWER than three runs!

That Was Deflating

After a nice sweep of the Evil Uglies earlier in the week, the Twins and their momentum deflated pretty quickly, and they became the dustbunnies. Oh, and they're below .500 again.

Recap:
Friday: Twins 5 - Angels 11
Saturday: Twins 6 - Angels 11
Sunday: Twins 4 - Angels 13

(52 - 53, 3rd place, 3 games back)

Ga! It's awful having to type all those double-digit numbers for the opponent. You'd think that scoring four or more runs in a game would at least keep the Twins close. Nope.

So, not only was the entire series a big pthpthpthtphptht, but every little thing was a slow leak. Every time a positive thing happened for the Twins, the good feeling immediately floated away because of a much larger negative thing.

On Friday:

• Joey hits a 3-run homer, Nicky hits an RBI triple, and D-Span hits an RBI double; Blackie and Matty combine to let them tie it up.
• Matty and Nathanator do a nice job keeping it a tie game through the 9th and 10th; Keppel, Crain, and Dickey combine to allow six (!) runs in the top of the 11th, with help from Brendan's tangled feet at the worst possible time.
  

On Saturday:

• Red-Dog and Go-Go hit RBI extra base hits to tie the game; Swarzy allows four singles and three runs in the next half-inning.
• R.A. pitches two nice innings to keep the Twins within two; then starts his third inning of work with a single, a throwing error, a walk, and a homer -- and then Keppel relieves him and quickly gives up two homers.
  

On Sunday:

• D-Span makes an awesome grab for the first out in the 4th; Perkins allows a base-hit to the next batter who eventually scores.
• O-Cab hits his first homer as a Twin; Perkins coughs up 5 runs in the next half-inning.
  

The whole thing felt like trying to blow up a balloon with a hole in it. It gave me a headache.
~~~

Up next:
An off day, then a road trip through Cleveland.

I don't recommend taking the Indians too lightly. Their team has been devastated by a bunch of trades, so the young guys starting are hungry and fearless -- they have nothing to lose. And, they just took 2 of 3 from the Tigers (and the one they lost was in extra innings).

Welcome Back Baseball

After what seemed like a 10-day break for the All Star Game, it's good to have baseball to watch again. Especially since the Twins gained some ground on Detroit and Chicago.

Recap:
Friday: Twins 5 - Rangers 3
Saturday: Twins 4 - Rangers 1
Sunday: Twins 3 - Rangers 5 (12)

Twins take series 2 - 1

~~~

So just before (and during the break), the Twins shook a few things up. It's easy to get lost in the shuffle. It's time for another review (mainly because I'm always expected to answer the question "who's that?", "when did we call him up?", etc. so I have to look it up anyway):

Morales (C) down to the minors; Kevin Mulvey (RP) up to the majors. (7/15)
Tigger Tolbert (2B) down to the minors; Lexi (2B) up to the majors. (7/12)
K-Slow (SP) to DL; Anthony Swarzak (SP) up to the majors. (7/04)
Sean Henn (RP) down to the minors; Brian Duensing (RP) up to majors. (7/02)

How far back should I go? One more:

Luis Ayala (RP) outsville; Bobby Keppel (RP) up to the majors. (6/22)

~~~

Up next:

West coast games -- A's then the Angels.

Sleep fast guys, 'cuz it was a long night and it's a long trip.