Tag Archives: Orlando Hudson

Twins Have The Injury Bug Heading Into Tonight’s Game

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TEAM NEWS W 1 Twins Have The Injury Bug Heading Into Tonights Game

The Twins are fighting injuries in a big way right now.

Of course it all started with Joe Nathan undergoing season-ending surgery before the season even started.

150x105 Twins Have The Injury Bug Heading Into Tonights Game
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Then of course the other big one is Justin Morneau who has been out of action for nearly 2 months now because of the effects of a concussion.

Kevin Slowey is out of the pitching lineup because of an injury.

40 year old DH Jim Thome is banged up, and will not be in the lineup tonight.

Last night Jason Kubel got hit on the wrist, and even though it’s not broken (fortunately), his wrist and hand are swollen, and he’s listed as day-to-day.

New Twins reliever Brian Fuentes had his back “lock up” on him during warm-ups yesterday, and he’s not going to be available for a couple of days.

Orlando Hudson is having problems with his ankle, and although he played last night and insists that nothing is

wrong, manager Ron Gardenhire said it was obvious that his ankle was bothering him.

Tonight’s lineup:

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Michael Cuddyer, 1B
5. Delmon Young, LF
6. Danny Valencia, 3B
7.Jose Morales, DH
8. Jason Repko, RF
9. J.J. Hardy, SS

I really, really, REALLY don’t like having a lineup without Morneau, Kubel, or Thome.

Hopefully Francisco Liriano has a good night.

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Jim Thome Saves The Day

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BOXSCORE T Jim Thome Saves The Day

Twins Beat White Sox 7-6

Team12345678910RHE
Chicago03010000116140
Minnesota40001000027161
W: Mahay L: Thornton

Boxscore

Twins take an early lead.

Twins blow the lead.

Twins take the lead.

Twins blow the lead.

Finally Jim Thome saves the day.

That pretty much sums up Tuesday’s game at Target field between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox.

Minnesota got off to a big jump scoring 4 runs in the first inning.  Unfortunately starting pitcher Scott Baker gave up 3 runs in the 2nd and 1 in the fourth to tie the game.  The Twins scored again in the bottom of the 5th and held a 5-4 lead until Matt Capps blew the save in the 9th and sent the game into extras.  Things looked bleak when Jon Rauch gave up a run in the top of the 10th, but Jim Thome hit a two run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th to give the Twins another win…

… and maybe more importantly a 4 game lead over the White Sox for the division.

Baker got knocked around a bit, giving up 7 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs in 4 and 2/3rds innings.  Perkins, Guerrier, and Crain were very solid in relief, giving up a total of 1 hit and no walks between them.  Matt Capps came on for the save in the 9th, but 3 hits and a walk later, the score was tied.  The run he gave up was a home run, but luckily the bases were clear at the time.  Rauch took a turn in the 10th, but he also gave up 3 hits leading to a run.  Mahay got the last out.  Fortunately for him, he got credited for the win even though he only had to throw 2 pitches.

Orlando Hudson hit his 6th homerun of the year.  Delmon Young hit his 15th, and Jim Thome hit his 17th.  Young and Thome both went 3 for 5 on the night.  Valencia went 2 for 4.

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The Twins Are In First Place

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BOXSCORE F The Twins Are In First Place

Twins Beat White Sox 6-1

Team123456789RHE
Minnesota1110003006110
Chicago100000000191
W: Liriano (11-7) L: Floyd

Boxscore

Francisco Liriano and the Minnesota Twins took 2 out of 3 games to pull ahead by 1 game in the American League Central.

Liriano pitched well again Thursday night, going 5 2/3rds innings, giving up only 1 run.  He got into a bit of a scare in the 6th inning, but Matt Guerrier pitched him out of a jam.

Jesse Crain pitched in the 8th inning, retiring 3 straight batters as he continues to finally show us what Twins management saw in him for so long.

Capps was given the 9th inning, even though it wasn’t a save opportunity.

From the plate the Twins had a solid night, getting 11 hits.  All of Minnesota’s batters except for Valencia made it safely to first at least once in the night.

Orlando Hudson hit his 5th home run of the year, and Jason Kubel hit his 17th of the year.   Kubel’s was a 3 run shot.  Jim Thome also had an RBI.

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Gardenhire: Blackburn Likely To Go To AAA, Punto To DL

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TEAM NEWS F 1 Gardenhire: Blackburn Likely To Go To AAA, Punto To DL

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.

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Why Jose Morales and not Wilson Ramos?

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OPINION Why Jose Morales and not Wilson Ramos?

With Orlando Hudson going to the 15 day DL recently, the Twins brought up catcher Jose Morales from AAA to fill the roster spot instead of bringing up another infielder.

Ron Gardenhire felt that he was okay with the infielding situation because of being able to use Cuddyer, Cassilla, Hardy, Punto, and Vanlencia, and (fingers crossed) hoping that soon Justin Morneau would be back to take his spot at first base as well.

Gardenhire commented that the reason he wants to carry 3 catchers for a while is so that he can put Joe Mauer as the DH from time to time, and have a pinch hitting option for Butera late in the game without having to move Joe to the catcher position.

I’m good with that.  That explanation makes sense to me.  But I’m still confused about one thing…

Let’s all play baseball manager for a moment.

morales jose1 Why Jose Morales and not Wilson Ramos?

If you have decided to bring up a catcher from the minors, why choose Jose Morales instead of Wilson Ramos?  Ramos is one of the top rated minor league players out there.  Why not bring him up for another stint in the bigs?

To be honest, I don’t have a solid answer for that myself.

In fact, I can’t really make it make sense in my mind.

Don’t get me wrong… I don’t expect it to be a big deal.  I don’t expect Joe Mauer to miss too much time over the next couple of weeks.  I imagine that the plan is to play Mauer during the night games, and during the day games let Drew Butera catch while Joe plays DH.

But the fact still remains that Wilson Ramos is one of the top baseball prospects in the country.  Wouldn’t experience in the big leagues be helpful to him?

Some have said that Gardenhire wants Ramos to play every day to gain experience.  That answer makes sense to me when you’re talking about a full time roster spot.  I understand that that’s the reason that Butera is ultimately on the roster while Ramos stays in AAA.  But would 15 days away from AAA really hurt his growth all that much?  And wouldn’t getting a chance to face some big league pitchers a couple times in those 15 days actually be better experience for him?

Another reason I heard is that the Twins ultimately plan on trading Ramos, while Morales will end up as the backup catcher as soon as next year.  Again, I understand trading Wilson Ramos when you have Joe Mauer locked up for the next 8 years.  But wouldn’t bringing Ramos up help showcase him a bit?  Wouldn’t it potentially help his trade value?

The only other option that I can think of is that the Twins look at Jose Morales as being a better baseball player than Wilson Ramos.

And that one I can’t buy at all.

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Is Joe Mauer Okay?

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LINKS Is Joe Mauer Okay?

BALTIMORE — Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson landed on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday because of a strained right oblique muscle — although he tried all he could to stay on the active roster.

Read The Whole Article Here:Hudson goes on DL for a second time | StarTribune.com

Hudson will be headed to the 15 day DL for the second time this season, but it brings up some interesting (and potentially scary?) questions about the real status of Joe Mauer.

Mauer has been battling some soreness lately, leading to the Twins giving him some extra days off at the catcher position.

And now when our second baseman gets hurt, the Twins bring up Jose Morales… another catcher?  Butera will probably still get the spot of primary backup catcher, according to the article, with Morales able to pinch hit for Drew late in games.  While Morales probably is a better hitter than Butera, do you really bring up a guy to pinch hit for your backup catcher if you expect your starting catcher to play?

The whole thing seems kind of strange to me.  I think there’s more going on with Joe Mauer than Gardenhire wants to share with the world at this point.

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Thome Makes Getting To First Look Easy

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BOXSCORE Th Thome Makes Getting To First Look Easy

Twins Beat Indians 6-0

Team123456789RHE
Cleveland000000000072
Minnesota00400002X690
W: Liriano (8-7) L: Westbrook

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.

Minnesota+Twins+v+Los+Angeles+Angels+Anaheim+RZbcBGybh3yl Thome Makes Getting To First Look Easy

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.
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