Royals at Twins - Bits and Pieces

Recap:
Friday -- Royals 3 - Twins 10
Saturday -- Royals 5 - Twins 6
Sunday -- Royals 10 - Twins 5

Twins take series 2-1

~~~

So, it's been a crazy, but good, weekend. Between helping one kid get ready for prom, helping the other get ready for baseball try-outs, and preparing for dinner guests, plus all the regular weekend stuff like tidying up, laundry, groceries, etc., I've hardly had time to think, let alone watch baseball.

But I was able to catch bits and pieces of the games. So here is my blog post, in bits and pieces:

• Friday's game was a ton of fun
• Sunday's game was a ton of bricks
• Saturday's game just seemed dragging and difficult
• Like I'd really know for sure; I probably watched all of 7 pitches of Saturday's game
• It's a good thing Joe Mauer got a nice contract; he needs to add another room to his house for all the trophies 
• He received the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Award (the real name of the MVP award) 
• He received the American League Batting Title Award
• He received the Louisville Slugger® Silver Slugger Award
• He received the Rawlings® Gold Glove Award
• It was weird to see Greinke struggle
• It was frustrating to see Pavano struggle
• Yeah, I didn't really like to see Crain struggle either
• Or Blackburn
• Off day tomorrow, so all the pitchers can relax and get back into the groove
• I like Greinke, so it's ok if he's in a groove as long as he isn't facing the Twins
• I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm not a fan of leaving a million men on base
• Like leaving men on base is like the constant like teenage girl like upspeak of baseball
• The Twins took their first four series of the season
• That's something they've never done before
• I like that
• I want them to keep it up
• So did you hear about Ubaldo Jimenez? 
• Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in Rockies' history
• Very cool
• Did you hear about Saturday's Mets-Cardinals game? 
• Mets won
• It took 20 innings
• It was a pitchers' duel
• Scoreless for the first 19 innings
• The Cardinals had to get creative with their pitchers
• Infielder Felipe Lopez pitched the 18th
• Outfielder/thirdbaseman Joe Mather pitched the 19th and 20th
• Mather also took the loss
• Pitcher Kyle Lohse (remember him?) played left field for three innings
• Catcher Yadier Molina caught all 20 innings
• Catcher Yadier Molina is catching Sunday night
• The Mets and Cardinals are, at this moment, tied in the 7th

That's all I got.

St. Louis or Bust!

Just back from my trip to St. Louis. I wanted to let everyone know that we're home safely (hi Mom!). It's kind of late, so I'll make this brief. I'll post some pictures and travel notes as soon as I get a chance (hoping for tomorrow).

Recap:
Friday: Twins 3 - Cardinals 1
Saturday: Twins 3 - Cardinals 5
Sunday: Twins 6 - Cardinals 2

All in all, it was a great trip. We toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery, which was very interesting. We even got to sample some beer right out of the vat, just before it went to packaging -- very fresh. We missed out on a stadium tour (tickets were sold out), but we got there early enough to walk around. It's a beautiful place, and the city is all decked out for the All-Star Game. I loved it.

Friday's game was fun. It was hot, but not unbearable. We sat behind some really friendly Cards fans who were impressed with Perkins.

Saturday's game, on the other hand, was still fun, but the heat was awful. Our seats were directly in the sun. We could only sit there for the first two innings before I started to feel ill. We watched the rest of the game standing in the concourse area, but that was just fine -- it was shaded, there was a railing to lean on, and we could see everything. I'm willing to bet those spots are the "standing room only" spots. I wish the game would've turned out differently, but I wasn't totally upset. I admire Albert Pujols, so it was a little fun to watch him have a good day.

We were driving through Iowa during Sunday's game. Again, I was thankful for the XM radio. Listing to the STL feed made me think that the older man (I don't remember their names) must've had more than one cigarette and more than one scotch in his lifetime. I was pleased with Liriano's performance.

~~~

A few things I learned on this trip:

• Hubby and I are smarter than our TomTom.
• Breweries make hubby very, very happy.
• The Cardinals struggle with left-handed pitching (according to several fans I met). Good thing we threw both ours at them.
  
• There is a "Red Car Club" (a group of retired couples who drive cool red covertibles) following the Twins on the MIL-STL-KC road trip. (I want to be them when I retire!)
• Tickets to the All Star Game events are still available behind home plate...for $13,500 a seat. (I could almost buy one of those aforementioned red convertibles for that.)
• I am a heat-wimp. I knew I was a cold-wimp, but being a heat-wimp is news to me.
• Cardinals fans really hate it when pitchers walk Albert Pujols, even when they don't mean to.

And my very favorite moment of the trip...

• Friday, when Joe Nathan faced Albert Pujols in the ninth with a man on second and nobody out. The entire stadium was rocking, cheering for Albert. And when Nathan struck him out, all the Twins fans went nuts. A terrific baseball moment.