A tribute to my favorite baseball team…

NOTE: The text for this post was taken directly from the YouTube description of the video

The Twins and Orioles have announced the trade involving J.J. Hardy and Brendan Harris for two relievers.

The Twins will also send Baltimore $500,000.

The Orioles are taking on as much as $7 million in salaries..

In exchange for Hardy and Harris, the Twins will receive righthanders Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson

Read The Whole Article Here:Hardy, Harris sent to Baltimore | StarTribune.com

With the Twins getting rid of J.J. Hardy after one season, I hope this means that they feel like they are on track to get the Japanese prospect that they are looking for to take over in the infield.

Harris found himself a little less important during the Twins season last year when rookie Danny Valencia played so well at third base.  I’m guessing that if the Twins still have Nick Punto when the season starts, he’ll take over the “backup infielder” role that Harris often filled.

The Twins got two right handed relievers in the trade: Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson.

Hoey apparently throws the ball pretty hard, getting his fastball up in the mid 90s.  Jessie Crain is evidence that Gardenhire and co. like the guys that can throw hard.

Hopefully Hoey can become a consistent option much sooner than Crain did.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins have exercised Jason Kubel’s club option for the 2011 season and they’ve declined Nick Punto’s club option, the team announced Friday morning.

Kubel’s salary in 2011 will be $5.25 million. He batted .249 with 21 home runs and 92 RBIs in 143 games with the Twins in 2010. After starting last season as the club’s everyday designated hitter, Kubel spent nearly the entire second half playing in right field for the Twins. He was used almost exclusively in right field after Michael Cuddyer shifted to first base in the absence of Justin Morneau, who suffered a season-ending concussion on July 7.

The Twins chose not to exercise Punto’s $5 million option for the 2011 season. Punto, who will receive a $500,000 buyout, will become a free agent.

Read The Whole Article Here:Kelly’s Corner: Twins pick up Kubel’s option, decline Punto’s option

I’m glad the Twins decided to hold on to Jason Kubel.  Even though he stunk up the place in the post season, he’s a reliable hitter during the regular season and he gives the Twins a potentially big bat in the second half of their lineup.

As for Nick Punto, well, I kinda knew his days were numbered when Danny Valencia started playing so well.

I was just listening to 1500 ESPN online, and they were interviewing Ron Gardenhire.

A couple news tidbits, he mentioned that Nick Punto’s injury is more than just a cramp in his leg, and he’ll likely have to go to the DL.

Gardy also mentioned that he thinks Nick Blackburn needs to be getting some starts, so he will likely be sent down to AAA to pitch for a while.

The Punto news comes at a bad time.  Valencia is playing well as an infielder for the Twins, but Punto will be the third Twins infielder out because of an injury, joining Justin Morneau and Orlando Hudson.  That leaves Cuddyer, Cassilla, Hardy, and Valencia to play the infield, but the Twins will probably have to promote someone else as well.

As for the Blackburn news, I’ve been saying that he needs to be in AAA for a while now.  It’s good to hear that the Twins are finally going to do it.

Twins Beat Royals 11-2

Boxscore

For the second straight night the Twins have dominated the Kansas City Royals with amazing pitching and stellar hitting.

Carl Pavano pitched only 5 innings, but he gave up only 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks.  The 3 walks were a bit high for him, but it was nothing to worry about as he handled Kansas City very easily.  He came out after 5 because of a high pitch count.

Again the Twins were sharp at the plate as well.  JJ Hardy hit his 4th home run of the year.  He added another RBI as well.  Danny Valencia had 3 more RBIs on 4 more hits.  Cuddyer and Mauer each added 2 RBIs, and Repko and Young each had one as well.

Nick Punto was the only starter to not get a hit.  He did reach first by taking a walk, though.

The Twins were 8 for 16 with runners in scoring position.

Twins Beat Indians 6-0

Boxscore

Jim Thome had 4 at-bats Wednesday afternoon against the Indians.

He managed to go 0-0 in those 4 attempts.

Four times to the plate, four walks.  None of the intentional walks by the pitchers, either.

Jason Kubel also took a walk (his was intentional), as did Denard Span, Orlando Hudson, and Nick Punto.  Eight walks overall for the team, who looked to be a little closer to their early season form Wednesday afternoon, despite not having Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau on the field, or manager Ron Gardenhire in the dugout.

Delmon Young continued to tear it up.  He went 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs on the day.  He’s the most dangerous hitter that the Twins have right now.  The man is a beast.

Michael Cuddyer also added an RBI, and JJ Hardy added 2 as well.

Francisco Liriano looked great for the second time since the All Star break.  He pitched 7 innings, giving up 6 hits and 4 walks but no runs.  Several times he got himself into jams, but he stayed calm and always got himself out of them as well.  He struck out 8 guys.

Jesse Crain pitched well again in the 8th inning.  It’s almost scary how well Crain has been pitching lately.  It just doesn’t seem right.

Anthony Slama made his major league debut in the 9th inning.  He faced 4 batters, giving up 1 hit and no runs.  Two of his three outs were strike outs.

Twins Lose Two, Win Two against Orioles

To see the box score for the first game of the series, go here

The Twins lost the first game of Saturday’s Double Header 7-3

Boxscore

After losing a close game in the first game of the series, the Twins went further down hill for the second.

Francisco Liriano had his first bad outing of the season, giving up 5 runs off of 10 hits in 6 innings.  After the game he said his fastball didn’t have the speed it usually does, and Gardenhire said it didn’t seem like his slider was moving as much as it has been.  Hopefully for Liriano he’ll be able to bounce back in his next start.

From the plate the Twins hit two home runs.  Justin Morneau hit his 7th of the year, a 2 run shot in the first inning that gave the Twins an early lead.  Cuddyer hit his 5th of the year in the 4th inning.  Other than the homeruns, though, the Twins couldn’t generate any runs.

Orlando Hudson did have a good day at the plate, though.  He went 3 for 4, scoring a run on Morneau’s homer.

The Twins Won The Second Game of the Double Header

Boxscore

The second half of the day-night double header on Saturday was pretty much completely the opposite from the first.  The Twins held the Orioles to only 1 run while they scored a lot.  They scored by generating base runners and driving them in rather than relying on home runs.

Scott Baker started the game and pitched very well.  He went 8 full innings, only giving up 3 hits and 1 run.  He didn’t walk anyone, and he struck out 8.  The only run he gave up came on a solo home run in the 5th inning.

The Twins got good batting performances by several players on Saturday night.  Jim Thome went 2 for 3 plus a walk, and Delmon Young went 3 for 4.  The Twins drew 5 walks, which is much more to their form than the one walk they drew in the early game.

Butera caught in the second game, giving Ramos a rest.  Joe Mauer did not start the game, but he did have one at bat as a pinch hitter.

Delmon Young  and Drew Butera each had 2 RBIs in the game.  Nick Punto also had an RBI.  Each of those RBIs except for one of Young’s came with 2 outs.

The Twins were 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

The Twins Won Sunday’s Game in a solid fashion as well

Boxscore

Sunday’s game was a lot like the Saturday night game.

The Twins got a great performance out of their starting pitcher, which was Nick Blackburn.  He went 7 innings, giving up only 4 hits and 2 balls.  He didn’t give up any runs.  Matt Guerrier pitched the 8th inning, and even though it wasn’t a save situation, Jon Rauch pitched the 9th.

Again the Twins didn’t have any home runs.  Instead they scored with solid hitting at clutch times.

Denard Span had 3 RBIs, and Nick Punto had 2 of his own.  Alexi Casilla also added one.

The Twins got some hitting from some somewhat unlikely sources.  Span was on fire, giong 3 for 4 from the plate.  Punto batted second in the lineup.  He went 2 for 3.  Brendan Harris, starting at the short stop position for J.J. Hardy went 3 for 4.  Alexi Casilla went 2 for 4.

The big story of the day on Sunday was that Joe Mauer was in the starting lineup.  He was the team’s DH.  He went 1 for 3 from the plate, but the fact that he was in the lineup was probably much more important to Twins fans than the actual numbers he put up.

Twins Beat Tigers 10-4

Boxscore

Joe Mauer Who?!?

Okay, so maybe we’re not quite to that point yet, but in Mauer’s absence, up-and-coming player Wilson Ramos is doing just fine.  After going 4 for 5 in his Major League debut, Ramos gave the fans an encore tonight, going 3 for 4 in his second game in the bigs.  He also managed to score a run and to hit his first RBI.  On the negative side, his hitting performance tonight LOWERED his batting average to .778.

The Twins were not struggling offensively tonight, scoring 10 runs on Detroit.  Michael Cuddyer hit his fourth home run of the year.  He knocked out a 3 run shot in the first inning to help get the Twins rolling.  He’s up to 21 RBIs after tonight.  Span got a couple RBIs as well, and Thome, Hudson, Hardy, Punto, and of course Ramos each batted one in.

Scott Baker took the mound tonight for the Twins and he pitched a solid game.  He gave the Twins a quality start, going 7 innings and only giving up 3 runs.  He walked 2 guys and struck out 6.  Burnett pitched the 7th and 8th innings.  He gave up 1 run on 2 hits and an error.

The team batted much better with runners in scoring position tonight, going 5-10.  They only stranded 3 guys in scoring position for the game.

Twins Beat Indians 8-3

Boxscore

Joe Mauer is nursing a bruised heel, so the Twins brought up one of their hottest minor league prospects to take over the catcher position, and it wasn’t a disappointment.

Wilson Ramos had big shoes to fill, covering for the best player in baseball  Sunday afternoon.  In Mauer’s place, Wilson went 4 for 5 from the plate.  Delmon Young also had a big day at the plate, going 4 for 5 as well.

Francisco Liriano took the mound for the Twins, and although he didn’t have the same dominating performance that he showed the last 3 games, he was still great, giving Minnesota a quality start.  He pitched 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks.  He struck out 9 guys.  After 5 starts Liriano has an ERA of 1.50.  Crain and Mahay shared the 8th inning.  Crain gave up a hit and a walk, but no runs.  Mahay retired the last batter.  Jon Rauch pitched the 9th, but because the Twins scored two runs in the top of the inning, it wasn’t a save opportunity for Rauch.

The Twins hit with some power today as well.  Hudson hit a 2 run shot in the first inning to get things rolling.

In the 5th inning with no men on and 2 outs, Jim Thome hit his 5th home run of the year.  Delmon Young came up immediately after Thome and hit his 3rd homer of the season.  Punto added 3 RBIs during the game as well.

The Twins had 20 hits on the game.  The unfortunate part is that they struggled each time they got the bases loaded.  They left 7 runners in scoring position with  2 outs during the game.

Twins Bring Up Manship For Game Tonight

Last night it was supposed to be Nick Blackburn’s turn on the mound, but he is currently handling a family emergency, so Kevin Slowey pitched instead.  Tonight the Twins will be bringing up Jeff Manship from AAA to take the start.  He’s 2-2 with a 3.48 ERA for Rochester so far this season, which doesn’t exactly scream “Hey guys, I’m ready for the bigs!!”,  and he was less than impressive when he played for Minnesota last year, posting a 5.68 ERA in just under 32 innings, but manager Ron Gardenhire has faith in him.

“He’s just able to pitch backwards,” Gardenhire said. “He can use any of his pitches at any time. He’s got command of three-to-four pitches, so he knows how to pitch. He’s not overpowering or anything, but when he gets going, he’s pretty good, and he is throwing the ball pretty decently down there.”

Fortunately the Twins aren’t facing a monster of a pitcher, either.  They’ll be going against Cleveland pitcher Justin Masterson who is 0-3 with a 5.68 ERA so far this year.  Lifetime he’s 0-3 against the Twins with a 5.17 ERA.

The Twins lineup should have been back at full force tonight.  Mauer, Morneau, and Hardy all played last night after missing (it was just a rest for Mauer), and starting 3rd baseman Nick Punto should be back in the lineup tonight after spending some time on the disabled list.  Now, though, it sounds like Mauer will be out of the lineup tonight because of a bruised heel.  The injury is considered “day-to-day” right now, but the Twins want to be careful because it’s the kind of injury that can end up hanging around if they don’t take care of him.  Gardenhire says that Mauer will be available to pinch hit tonight if needed, but he doesn’t want Joe behind the plate.

After tonight the Twins will send Manship back to Rochester so they can bring Wilson Ramos to the lineup.