Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Mixed Bag

Overall, we should be happy the Twins won. After all, they haven't been spectacular as of late. And of all heroes, Michael Cuddyer's late inning homer ended up winning the game for the Twins. He has during the month of May hit over .300 and now finally showed some resemblence of the power he posseses. Cuddyer is by no means near the peak of his talent, but he has made some significant steps recently. In fact, defensively, I think he is making some strides as well. On a play early in the game tonight, Cuddyer allowed a bunt for a hit by choosing not to throw the ball. I think that was smart, since after all, most of his troubles this year have been with throwing. Yes, he should have let Stewart's throw go through in order to have the best chance to prevent the first run, but he did make up for that with his homer.

Otherwise, Jacque Jones came up with a nice blast off Toronto starter Dave Bush that gave the Twins their first run. Kyle Lohse was a mixed bag, as he did pitch six innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. He didn't look too strong, but then again, he didn't get killed out there either. Jesse Crain, Juan Rincon, and Joe Nathan finished off the game the way they should, shutting down the Blue Jays for the last three innings to clinch a 3-2 victory.

But my major complaint was the idiot fan behind me during the game. She continued to yell in my ear, screaming absurd claims and even calling Cuddyer an a**hole for his defense and Justin Morneau a "pussy" for his lack of powerful hitting. Pointing a finger at the guy who made a good decision for once was not smart and Morneau has carried this team. Come on. I can't stand wanna-be-know-it-all fans. Morneau can go 0-5 any night as long as he hits 450 ft bombs when needed and he will continue to do as such.

2 comments:

Nick N. said...

Is it just me or does Jacque Jones frequently seem to just not have his head in the game on defense? Yes, he hit a nice solo home run, but he off-set that when he allowed the Blue Jays to score their first run. With one out and runners on first and third, the Blue Jays had their runner on first steal and the batter lined out to Jones. By the time Jones caught the ball, the runner had just turned around to head back to first and was still at second base. Jacque could have basically rolled the ball to first and doubled him off to end the inning. Instead, he foolishly threw the ball home, where the play wasn't even close, and the run scored. As an MLB player, you have got to make the right play there, period. I am furious with Jacque for the plays he hasn't been making on defense lately. I'm surprised you didn't mention this point.

Nick M. said...

Agreed. That's a point I missed. Jones' defense has been subpar as of late, as has Hunter's still. I expect a lot more from a seasoned veteran than a bad throw like that. And furthermore, commenting on bad throws, it was Stewart's bad throw that allowed Toronto to tie the game, not Cuddyer. He made the smart play by cutting the erratric throw off. We need a lot more defensively from the guys who were supposed to be stable out there.