Tigers at Twins -- Sweeping Up Around Here

Recap:

Monday: Tigers 4 - Twins 10
Tuesday: Tigers 3 - Twins 4
Wednesday: Tigers 4 - Twins 5

Twins sweep the 3-game series

Record: 19 - 9

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Like my bedazzled, blinged-out, glitzy broom with the golden bristles and silver handle? Isn't it nice? Yes, you may have seen it before, but it's been a while. But, finally, I get to show it off. Those silly Tigers can leave such a dusty mess -- we don't want them to crud up the brand new stadium. It was nice that the Twins took care of the housecleaning and swept the Tigers right on out of there.

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I gotta say that even though I like Wilson Ramos and all, I really can't wait to see Joey back in the lineup. His foot isn't too badly hurt, so it shouldn't be too much longer. And Wilson was great -- for his first three games. Then I think everyone figured out how to pitch to him. So now he's the one who has to adjust. But, fine, he probably will and be all great and everything because he really is a good player.

But, there will be a lot hand-wringing and Twitter-debating (Twibating?) about what to do with him once Pat-Pat is ready to come off the DL. Do they keep him up and let him ride the pine most of the time while getting to learn major league pitching? Do they send him down and give him lots of plate appearances so he can work on his hitting? Do they trade him for lots of wonderful talent? Does it even really matter?

Not in my opinion. For what that's worth.

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I gotta say that even though JJ Hardy pretty much single-handedly won the game on Tuesday and all, but...wait a sec, there's not a "but" here. JJ is amazing. I love his defense. His bat's pretty good. He seems like a nice guy in the interviews. Oh, and he's pretty nice to look at. I'm glad he's here.

I never really bought the whole "change of scenery" theory before -- it always seemed like something the front office would say to the fans when it acquired a crappy player ... "he'll be a great player; he just needs a change of scenery." But, in JJ's case, it might be true. I think he's a better Twin than he was a Brewer. It probably also makes a difference that he was hurt a lot last year. But this year...wait...last week he had turf toe, and Tuesday he suffered a sore wrist from sliding (feet first by the way -- who knows how that happens)...hmm.

JJ, stay healthy please.

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It's Nice to Do Some Cleaning...

Isn't it? Those nasty White Sox are just so dusty and dirty aren't they; it's nice to sweep them away.

Recap:

• Mon. 07/27: MIN 4, CWS 3
  
• Tue. 07/28: MIN 5, CWS 3
• Wed. 07/29: MIN 3, CWS 2

(Ok, I literally just copied that from the Twins website -- I have a campfire to get to and I had to look it up anyway.)

So, I'm still on vacation, but I have been listening to the games (thank goodness for MLB GameDay Audio).

Mark Buehrle scared me a little on Tuesday though, with the five innings of perfect pitching. I WOULD NOT accept him pitching another gem against the Twins. Seriously, I've never cheered so loudly for a base-on-balls in my life. And, from there, his wheels just fell off -- no perfect game, no no-hitter, no shut out, no win. Yay!

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One last boring vacation picture before I go:

At Custer State Park:

First Sweep of 2009

Well, that's better. A lot better.

Recap:
Friday: Twins 11 - LAA 9
Saturday: Twins 9 - LAA 2
Sunday: Twins 3 - LAA 1

You know what that means, don't you? That's right, the Twins swept the Angels. And because it's the first sweep of the year, it's time I dusted off my super blinged-out broom to celebrate. (That is, if one really can dust off a broom.)



Very exciting. Only special sweeps get the blinged-out broom; I'm hoping for many more reasons to use this.

Speechless in Minneapolis

Twins 7 - Sux 6

Twins sweep the three game series

Twins lead division by 1/2 game

No words. I don't have any words. Maybe tomorrow I'll have words, but right now, I have a sore throat and tears of joy, but no words.

I do have my cool, blinged out broom from a while ago to celebrate the sweep of all sweeps.

I love these guys. I absolutely, positively **LOVE** these guys.

p.s. I really, really hope Kevin Slowey is ok!

Way Too Difficult

Saturday: Twins 7 - Mariners 6
Sunday: Twins 11 - Mariners 8

Yikes. I'm glad we swept the Mariners and all, but sheesh, did it have to so gut-wrenching? I guess the lesson here is that the games are pretty exciting when both teams keep trying and no one takes anything for granted.

I can probably take responsibility for Saturday's near-choke. We were invited to our friends' house to go out on the pontoon and hang out. I watched the game before we left, and listened in the car on the way there. The Twins were leading 5 - 0 when we arrived, and hubby said, "they've got this game well in hand." After we said our hellos to everyone, I fixed a plate of appetizers, then promptly spilled barbecue sauce on my white Twins shirt. Ugh. As my friend was helping me clean it up, I joked, "I hope I didn't just jinx the Twins by staining my shirt." When we done getting the stain out, we walked back into the family room and looked at the score. NO! The Mariners had taken the lead. I guess I did jinx them with my BBQ wienie mishap. Fortunately, the Twins hitters decided that a stain on white shirt was not a good enough reason to lose the game, and came back to win in exciting fashion.

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Today's game seemed even more difficult than yesterday's. I guess I don't like it when the pitcher makes things so interesting. And it took forever to get through the last three innings. I had a bunch of errands to run (gotta love back-to-school shopping - not!), so I left after the sixth, with the Twins leading 10 - 4, thinking, "well, they have this well in hand." (Third time in the last two weeks I've made that mistake regarding the Mariners. You'd think I'd learn.) So while I was driving about, I was screaming at the radio.

I got to Dick's Sporting Goods in time to watch the ninth inning on their big screen. I was standing there watching the game while mini-bro was trying on football cleats. The sales guys were telling each other "this is why I hate the Twins; they always do this." I asked them why they said that and they told me that the Twins always give up the lead and wind up losing. I asked them if they've seen their record and their standing the division lately. They didn't say anything. Fair weather fans. I have a feeling that even when the Twins win, it isn't good enough for those guys.

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Ok, I can't go on any longer without talking about the Olympics. I am officially impressed by Michael Phelps. I watched the relay that won him his eighth gold medal, and I made my kids watch too. And I'm glad I did. The whole thing is very cool.

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A Stars and Sweeps Weekend

Friday: Twins 12 - Cleveland 3
Saturday: Twins 9 - Cleveland 6
Sunday: Twins 4 - Cleveland 3

Twins sweep 3 game series.

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First of all, a great big hug and kiss for our All Stars -- Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Joe Nathan. Of course, we all knew they're All Stars, but it's nice that the fans (in Joey's case), the players (Justin's), and Mr. Francona (Nathan's) agreed. Way to go guys, and have a bunch of fun.

I do, however, have a piece of advice for Justin: Please don't participate in the Homerun Derby. I actually believe in the whole "ruining your swing" curse, and your homerun swing can ill afford ruining. Not that I don't appreciate all the RBI and the defense, I really do, but let's face it, your homerun production is down this year. Let's not give it any reason to get worse. Thanks.

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Now on to the Indians series -- Very cool. I loved the homers by LNP, Delmon, and Joey. I loved how Scott Baker and Glen Perkins didn't get rattled after having bad innings. And I really liked coming from behind and winning. However, to be honest, I didn't think there was a prayer in Sunday's game after the Twins were down 3 - 0. I'm glad the players didn't think that way.

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Non-baseball alert: For the first time in my life, I was absolutely captivated by the Men's Finals at Wimbledon on Sunday. Now I haven't really followed tennis since Johnny Mac's days, and even then it was merely a passing interest. Since then, pretty much everything I know about the current players I've learned by osmosis.

But Federer and Nadal really made it exciting. I was pulling for Nadal, and he'd get oh-so close to winning, but couldn't quite seal the deal because Federer is so good. Too bad I couldn't watch the entire 5+ hour affair; we had to leave. I was glad to learn that Nadal finally pulled it off in the end.

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As I write this, ESPN is reporting that the Indians will be trading noted Twins hater Captain Cheeseburger* (a.k.a. C.C. Sabathia) to the Brewers for a minor leaguer and prospects. It looks like he'll have to find a National League middle infielder to eat -- Mike Fontenot might do. LNP must be very relieved.

* This is totally a Bat-Girl.com reference. If you're not familiar with Bat-Girl, well, sorry.

It's a Sweep Hat Trick!

Tuesday: Twins 3 - Padres 1
Wednesday: Twins 9 - Padres 3
Thursday: Twins 4 - Padres 3

Twins sweep another series in 3
(I'm curious, have they ever swept three series in a row before? I'm too lazy to look it up.)

Well, aren't we just having fun! The pitchers are pitching super. Batters are hitting great. Our defense is solid. Guys are picking each other up. We're beating good pitchers. I can't stop beaming. Yay!

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The big talking point about this series before it started was how Petco Park is hard to hit homers in (I know that was a poorly formed sentence, but I don't care because I'm still beaming). So it was a blast (no pun intended, or maybe it is) to see Harris, Buscher, Monroe, and Morneau hitting some. Especially Brendan -- where did he get all that power all of a sudden?

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Who knew?: The Twins are leading the American League in batting with runners in scoring position and in batting with runners in scoring position with two outs. Seriously. And here I thought they were still leaving men on base all over the place. But it's true -- you can look it up here and here.

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Did you see the "Go Sit In The Corner" corner? Usually, I'm a pretty optimistic person, and I rarely criticize. However, once in a while, I feel a little snarky and want to give someone a time-out for bad behavior. I got the idea in my last post when I scolded Delmon Young. Sometimes you just have to tell it like it is.

Rattling the Snakes

Friday: Twins 7 - D-backs 2
Saturday: Twins 6 - D-backs 1
Sunday: Twins 5 - D-backs 3


Twins sweep series in 3


Wow. Now that was impressive. Apparently the theme of the series was "The Big Inning", and it's swell that the good guys were the ones producing them. It was nice to see the starting pitchers holding things together and giving their team a chance to win. Kudos to our young hitters for not being intimidated and stringing some hits together to score some runs (Brian Buscher is sure swinging a hot bat). And a lucky break didn't hurt, either. [Dang. This paragraph is suffering from a nasty case of "cliché-itis". I'd better quit gushing before it gets any worse.]

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After watching Saturday's game, I think I may be developing a crush on Mr. Nick Blackburn. I truly enjoy watching him pitch. And he rarely disappoints. I was reading the stats in the paper this morning and I saw that he's got a nice 3.68 ERA (second only to Baker among the starters), but has pitched way more innings than the rest of the starters except Livan. And two of his four losses can be attributed more to lack of run support than bad pitching. All the while, he looks mighty fine. Definitely worth consideration for future boyfriend status.

A note to the Baseball Gods: I respectfully request that you do not consider the above endorsement as grounds for hexing, jinxing, cursing, or otherwise poisoning Mr. Blackburn's future performances or health. After all, I am merely considering listing him among my favorites. He's still only a rookie, and deserves every opportunity to perform to his true abilities before bad luck on account of me needs to set in. Thank you.

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***Harshness Alert -- Scolding to Follow***

Delmon! Would it be possible to start fielding your position like you actually care about getting outs? It's bad enough that you don't run over to fly balls like you should, but that error today was practically unforgivable. I'm sure Jason Kubel would love to show you how it's done -- while you're sitting on the bench.

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When Augie Ojeda came up to bat on Sunday, I noticed how little he is. I wondered if he's littler than Little Nicky Punto. Turns out he is; they're both listed at 5'9", but Augie is 20 lbs lighter at 175.

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When ESPN's score scroll shows "CWS", am I the only one who briefly thinks they're talking about the Chicago White Sox instead of the College World Series?

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Speaking of the Chicago White Sox: Hugs and Kisses to the most adorable Chicago Cubs for nicely sweeping the White Sox.

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And finally, the "I Think I'd Rather Get Hit With the Ball Than Touch That" moment of the game: During Sunday's game, one of the Twins batters fouled a ball into the Twins dugout, forcing someone (one of the coaches, but I don't remember who) to dive to the floor to take cover. The camera caught him as he was getting up and brushing sunflower seed shells off himself with a look of disgust on his face. As the camera shot lingered on the scene for a bit, I looked at that floor and wondered, with all the seed shells, spit, used bubblegum, and tobacco juice, is there anything more disgusting than the floor of a baseball dugout? Ick.

Catching Up

Twins sweep Nationals in 3



Hi. How's it going? I've been super busy, so my blogging has been kind of lame lately. The only reason I'm blogging now is that the internal network at my work is down, and all my documents live there, so I'm stuck waiting for it to come back.


I hardly caught any of the Nationals series. I'm glad it turned out the right way. Sounds like our pitching is back on track, but then again (not to be a Debbie Downer or anything), it was the Nationals. But wins are wins. And, from what I read, Harris (finally) and Cuddy had a nice series.
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I'm looking forward to the Arizona series. I wish I was going to the games. I have a "thing" for pitchers, and I like to go see good pitchers whenever they come to town. I've seen Randy Johnson before, but it was only a Spring Training game back when he was a Yankee. I'd like to see him and Brandon Webb pitch (but not too well). I know Johnson's not like he used to be, but I'd still like to see him in a real game before he retires. I would like to see Micah Owings as well, but not necessarily here. I'd rather watch him where he can bat. I love him for that.
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I saw that the Yankees signed Sidney Ponson to a minor league contract. How does this guy keep getting jobs? The Yankees must be desperate. Oh well. We'll have to see how that turns out.
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Well, that's all I've got. No network yet. I guess I'll clean my desk. No one else will.

Yes! Yes! Oh! Yes!

Twins 7 - Tigers 6

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh! Yes! Yes! Oh! Yes! (Sorry if I'm being a little too much "I'll have what she's having" here, but that was exciting.)

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I'm so giddy right now that I don't know where to start. First, a thousand apologies to Boof for all the awful, rotten things that I screamed at the TV during the first. But I have a big shout out to his intestinal fortitude for settling down, not giving up, and pitching very well the next five innings. And a hat-tip to the batters for also not giving up and scraping together hits and runs (and taking advantage of a little luck) to make this a big, big win. And to think, I almost turn the TV off; I'm really glad I didn't.

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SWEEEEEP! Time for a broom. And a good broom too (no measly large paintbrush here). In fact, a special platinum-handled, blinged-out broom because they swept a good hitting team, in a regular three-game series, and had to work really hard to earn it.

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The Twins are first in the division. The Twins are first in the division. Not the Tigers. Not the Indians. The Twins are first in the division. Yipee!

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k-bro's kwazy logic: As I'm writing this, I'm watching the Mets / D-backs game. Johan is pitching, and he's doing all right, but not spectacular. At the moment, he has four wild pitches. Four! He's never done that before. He does have a bunch of strikeouts, but the pitches that aren't in the dirt are up in the zone. Now here's the kwazy logic part - could it be his catcher? I really think that Joey or Mike would have saved at least three of those wild pitches. And after the first couple wilds, maybe Johan didn't trust the catcher to handle the changeup anymore. Who knows, but maybe great pitchers can attribute some of their success to their catchers, and maybe the Twins are really fortunate to have two of the best.

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And finally, the "Gee, I Hope They Make It To The Game On Time" moment of the day: I was running errands this morning, and on my way home I happened upon a school bus that was stranded at an intersection and a bunch of kids milling about on the sidewalk. As I got closer, I notice the kids all had Twins shirts on and were carrying signs. Aw man! They're on their way to the Twins game. I hope they got another bus and were able to go. More importantly, I hope they stayed for the whole thing.

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Blog Note: No blogging the rest of this week. I'll be at a conference in Vancouver. If I happen to run into Mr. and Mrs. Morneau, I'll be sure to say "hi".

Li'l Sweep

Twins 4 - Pasty Hose 3

Yay! Twins sweep a series. Time for the broom. But it was a small series, so it really only deserves a small broom. How about a large paintbrush?

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A day game today and no game tomorrow? Sounds like I have to get a life for the next couple evenings. Hmmm.... Nah.

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Bummer that Joey's hitting streak is over. Start a new one on Friday, ‘k?

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Thanks to FSN for airing the Squeeze Play show. I really like catching the important parts of the game, even though I already know what happened.