The Eighth Inning That Froze the Golden Arm

Wow. It's one thing to take series from the Royals and the Indians, but it's quite another to take one from the Rangers. The Rangers are a good team, so this one was downright impressive. Well, except for Friday night's debacle. Perhaps we shouldn't allow Brian Duensing to pitch when it's raining; he never seems to do well in bad weather. Oh well.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch much of the first three games. But I went to Sunday's game.

Boy, that was a blast. It was pretty exciting as we noticed there were no runs, no hits, and no men left on base for the Rangers as each inning went by. It was a real bummer when the error by Luke Hughes broke up the perfect game; I imagine that no one felt worse about than he did. However, I'm more upset about what caused the break-up of the no-hitter. It was a perfect storm of unfortunate situations and happy craziness that kept him sitting on the bench for almost half an hour between his last pitch of the seventh and his first pitch of eighth innings:

• A very loooong, drawn out version of God Bless America (note to singers everywhere: patriotic songs are to be sung at an appropriate tempo -- the focus is on the country, not how long you can hold each and every note)
• A regular version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame (to be expected and appreciated)
• The Rangers taking the field
• A line drive from Danny Valencia off pitcher Matt Harrison's arm (ow!), which required a visit from Rangers' coaches and trainers
• The removal of Harrison from the game, which required relief pitcher Mark Lowe to take as many warm up pitches as he needed (and, good grief, he did)
• Jason Repko grounding out and moving Danny Valencia to second (as Bert would say, he did his job)
• Rene Rivera reaching on a fielding error by Elvis Andrus, allowing Valencia to score (yay!)
• Matt Tolbert popping up to third
• Ben Revere striking out, but since the pitch was wild, and Benny is the Jet, he reached first base anyway (yay!), which required a coaching visit to the mound
• Alexi Casilla getting a base hit, moving the runners up
• Michael Cuddyer homered, causing me to dance crazily to a Prince song
• Delmon Young singling
• Luke Hughes also singling, requiring yet another pitching change (yawn)
• Danny Valencia stepping in for the second time of the inning and flying out, which was finally the third out, but really the fifth out, what with the errors and all
• Another between half-inning stint
• And finally, the Twins taking the field

All of these things conspired to make Liriano wait 29 minutes 48 seconds on the bench. This extended alone time probably cooled off his arm (it was a bit chilly), but more importantly, it got him out of his groove. It showed right away in the 8th, when he went 3-0 before giving up a single to Adrian Beltre, a wild pitch to Nelson Cruz that moved Beltre over, and a single to Yorvit Torrealba that scored Beltre. He finished the inning, but Alex Burnett finished the game.

There's nothing that could've been done about that eighth inning; it's all baseball. And you certainly don't want to slow down your hitters when they're scoring runs. Plus, this pitching performance was certainly better than the real no-hitter he had earlier in the season.

It's just a shame that it wasn't meant to be.

World Series Matchups: Fangirl Edition

As I mentioned before, this is the first World Series in a while where I have no one I'm particularly rooting for or against. Which, if you think about it, is pretty exciting. I can watch the games, genuinely hope for the best for both teams, and enjoy some good baseball.

So, because I'm free to root for individual player without guilt, I thought it'd be fun if I presented a head-shot-to-head-shot matchup of the two rosters. I know, I know, you can't swing a virtual baseball bat in the Internets without knocking over handfuls of essays on head-to-head matchups. I'm sure all those gifted writers did due diligence with research and analysis. And that's great. But none of those essays present information that's truly meaningful to me... my entertainment.

So while the other writers look at batting average, ERA, win probability added, value over replacement player, or whatever, I'll look at what's really important: attractiveness, entertainment value, and rooting-interest over average guy. In other words, this is complete based on who do I think is coolest.

And, no matter who wins, I would love it if it went to seven games.

(Forgive the table formatting. My HTML editor is weak, at best. And I don't have the patience to make it perfect. And, if you're used to working in HTML, you get it...)

Starting Pitchers (Probables)

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Cliff Lee: I've admitted in the past that I'm not necessarily a fan of Cliff Lee as a person. But have you seen him pitch lately? Yeah, the way he owned batters throughout the playoffs was breathtaking. I'm willing to set aside my personal differences to root for a great pitcher. Tim Lincecum: I've always like Timmy. They call him the Freak, because of his unique pitching mechanics, and, well, look at him. Plus he's freaky good at pitching.Yes, I want him to cut his hair (at least trim off the split ends), but I do like to watch him pitch. C.J. Wilson: Another pitcher I've liked for awhile, C.J. made a great transition from relief pitcher to starter. But, I like him best because he's all the awesome. He Twitters (@str8edgeracer), and he's funny. Also, well, just watch this, and you'll agree. Matt Cain: I gotta be honest, I don't know much about him, but I read that he hasn't given up an earned run in all of the playoffs, and that's pretty cool. But, you know, he's kind of funny looking. Colby Lewis: He's got a great story. Apparently, in the last few years, he's pitched for approximately eleventyteen different teams, including Japan. And then he pitches out of his mind in the playoffs and drives me crazy -- in a hot-pitching kind of way. Jonathan Sanchez: Ok, that whole little incident in the NLCS with Chase Utley with the plunking and the harmless soft tossing of the ball and the swearing and the benches-clearing-br...um...milling-about just turned me off. If the guy can't keep his head, it makes for not-so-fun pitching. My Entertainment Advantage: Rangers

Closers

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Neftali Feliz: What is he? Thirteen? I don't know. Doesn't matter, because what I do know is that he's fantastic. I love, love, love that a rookie pitcher can be such a good closer. Brian Wilson: (Ok, yeah, I photoshopped the beard -- his head shot had him clean-shaven. But, hey, my version looks about as good as his.) So, Wilson's success may or may not be attributed to that ridiculous beard. Yeah, he makes things interesting when he pitches, but he gets the job done. My Entertainment Advantage: Rangers

Catchers

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Bengie Molina: Fun fact: no matter who wins the World Series, Bengie gets a ring. Since he was traded from the Giants to the Rangers mid-season, and the Giants have decided that any players who contribute qualify. Not bad. Oh, and he did a great job with the Rangers after the trade. Buster Posey: Another kid who looks like he played on my son's 14-year-old youth team, he earned the confidence of the team enough to trade away Molina. And he didn't disappoint. He's had a great rookie year; he's even getting ROY consideration, even though he only played half the season. Oh, and he has a very cool name. My Entertainment Advantage: Giants

First Basemen

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Gotta admit here, I don't know very much about either one of these... Mitch Moreland: The better-looking one. Aubrey Huff: The one I've heard of before. My Entertainment Advantage: Draw

Second Basemen

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Ian Kinsler: I've had a crush on Ian Kinsler for a while because he is cu-ute. Oh, and he's really good at playing second base and hitting baseballs. Freddy Sanchez: Another one I don't know much about. My Entertainment Advantage: Rangers

Third Basemen

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Michael Young: Is pretty good at baseball. Pablo Sandival: Is adorable.They call him "Kung Fu Panda" because, well...look at him. Sure, he's a big dude -- ok, he's a really big dude -- and he jiggles when he runs, but he's always smiling. And he's got more range than you'd think a big dude would have. My Entertainment Advantage: Giants

Shortstops

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Elvis Andrus: He's another one who always has a smile on his face. He plays with so much confidence and joy, it's fun to watch him. Juan Uribe: Honestly, when I started watching the playoffs, when he stepped into the box for the first time, I thought "wow, he still plays?". He splits time at short with Edgar Renteria, another guy who I thought "wow, he still plays?" about. My Entertainment Advantage: Rangers

Left Fielders

Rangers	Giants	Description
		David Murphy: Sorry. Don't know much about him. He looks young. Pat Burrell: I know he's been around a long time. He's older than he looks. Actually, not really. My Entertainment Advantage: Push

Center Fielders

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Josh Hamilton: He is very, very good at baseball. In fact, he's likely to win the AL MVP, and he deserves it. Andres Torres:  He has a long face. My Entertainment Advantage: Rangers

Right Fielders

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Nelson Cruz: I love Nelly. He's good. They had him in left field one game, and he made a really nice play. I respectfully requested him to be my everyday left fielder. I'm still awaiting his reply. Cody Ross: He hit a lot of homeruns during the playoffs. But I hated the eye-black. My Entertainment Advantage: Rangers

Team

Rangers	Giants	Description
		Rangers: They have the rallying cries -- the Claw, an air-high-five when they do something good; and the Antlers, like a deer when they do something good using their speed. I always love a good rallying cry; the fact that they have two doubles the fun. Giants: They have the characters -- the Freak, the Panda, the Kid, the Beard, the Eye-black. They also have the orange rally towels, which looks really cool when the whole crowd is waving them. My Entertainment Advantage: Rangers

The World Series Picture

Congratulations to the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants for making it to the World Series.

It promises to be a fun series, and I'm looking forward to watching.

Now, if only I didn't have to wait 3 stinking days to watch baseball again...

Twins at Rangers: Narrow Escape

Recap:
Monday — Twins 0 - Rangers 6
Tuesday — Twins 3 - Rangers 4
Wednesday — Twins 3 - Rangers 4
Thursday — Twins 6 - Rangers 4

Record: 73-55, 3 1/2 games up

Whew. That was close. That series was ugly, but it could've been horrendous.

On Monday, the Twins narrowly escaped being no-hit thanks to Joe Mauer. No, really, THANKS Joe Mauer. No one wants to be no-hit. And as much as I love historical pitching performances, I don't like them when they happen against my Twins.  Even though it would have been a combined no-hitter, it still would've been historical — I guess they're more rare than single-guy no-hitters. (To be fair, I don't know that for sure, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Someone on Twitter said that — I don't remember who (sorry) — so, ... yeah. This is one drawback to following a bunch of people: someone says something cool four days ago, and there's no going back to find it.)

So, by the time Wednesday's game was over, it looked pretty clear that the Twins would be swept. As if being swept in a regular series wasn't bad enough, being swept in a four-game series would've been almost unforgivable. They were facing Cliff Lee in the final game — this didn't look good.

But, happily, the Twins escaped certain embarrassment, got it together and took the last game. Liriano was stellar, and the offense shook off their yips. Although, it did help that Cliff Lee kind of stunk. Which leads to talk about him "phoning it in" for the Rangers ever since he went there.

These rumors neither surprise nor upset me.

~~~

I guess I should give a nice polite welcome Randy Flores. I really need to follow National League teams more, since the Twins seem to gather their pitching staff from there.

So, Randy, welcome to the Twins. I don't know anything about you, so feel free to make a good first impression.

Going Gray

This turned out to be a pretty fun series, but, I tell ya', it gave me a few more gray hairs than I'd like. I'm old enough that I get those on my own, thankyouverymuch.




Recap:
Friday: Twins 3 - Rangers 2
Saturday: Twins 0 - Rangers 3
Sunday: Twins 5 - Ranger 3

Joe Nathan, who happens to have a few gray hairs himself in his goatee, gave fans of all ages all over Twins Territory more than their fair share of gray hairs both Friday and Sunday. He got the save both times, of course, but, whew, it was hard to watch. And that's exactly what was fun about it. On Sunday, he had the bases loaded (thanks in part to his own error) and nobody out, and he got the next three guys to earn the save. Waaaaay too interesting, Joe. But it also proves what a great closer he really is.

Now, as good as he looks with his "touch of gray," I really need him to stop doing that for awhile. None of us need any more.

I have an idea. The Twins should have leads big enough to not be save situations (10 runs should do it) for the next several games. That way, Nathan can rest up, and the rest of us can calm down.

As for me, I got myself a new hair cut and color. No more grays for me. Let's hope Nathan doesn't make them come back for me.

~~~

Speaking of gray beards, the team's resident graybeard gave me my biggest laugh of the weekend. Mike Redmond, who could fairly be called "the slowest man in baseball" (he is old and a catcher after all), got a triple on Sunday. Yes -- a triple! The ball ran the gap and the outfielders were in so much shock that they kind of fumbled the ball a little, all the while Red was huffing and puffing around the bases, refrigerator on his back and all, and belly-flopped into third safely.

The cameras panned over to the Twins dugout where everyone was laughing his ass off. I thought Gardy was going to tip backwards right out of his folding chair because he was laughing so hard. I'm pretty sure that Red was the most surprised of all. Good times.

Breathing

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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.

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.