Well, after a long drought (or, to go with the title, deficit) of hitting in Minnesota, they certainly exploded on Kansas City pitching tonight. And its a good thing, because Minnesota's pitching was nearly as subpar. With 15 hits, 11 runs, and three stolen bases, the Twins can out of the blocks, running all over the young staff. Shannon Stewart had three hits and three RBI; Glenn Williams took his hitting streak to 13 games, all extending from his first major league game, Mike Redmond started again, but went 3 for 3 with two RBI; Justin Morneau took over first in the eight only to final hit his 10th home run of the season; Torii Hunter had a stolen base and went 1 for 3 with two RBIs, bringing his team-leading total to 48; Luis Rivas even got in on the fun, going 2 for 2 as a defensive replacement. In most ways, it was stunningly different from recent Twins outings, but then again this is Kansas City we are playing.
* Carlos Silva started the game, but pitched under expectations, giving up 10 hits and six runs in five innings, not looking sharp at all against the meager Kansas City lineup.
* And, of course, just as the lead as slipping away, who do they bring in? Terry Mulholland! What does he do? Comes in in the sixth, gives up three straight hits and gives Kansas City their first lead of the night. Mulholland's 5.46 ERA isn't completely telling of how bad he has been, as he cannot even hold his ground against Kansas City hitters. Its a good thing the rest of the bullpen isn't in the same league as Mulholland....
* Jesse Crain came in and started a different trend for the Twins bullpen, taking care of all five men he faced and not allowing anymore of the runners Mulholland put on to score. Crain's good pitching, and the rest of the Minnesota bullpen (besides Terry, of course), settled down and allowed Minnesota the chance to come back and win. Crain picked up the win, his seventh of the year, while Juan Rincon, J.C. Romero, and Joe Nathan finished the game off, as Nathan pitched another good ninth for his 20th save.
* Good defense (no errors, three double plays), great offense, and a good effort by the bullpen helped the Twins pull out a good victory, but did not bring them any closer to the White Sox, who beat the Tigers 2-1. The Twins just need to keep on plugging away, with a chance here against KC and Tampa Bay to pick up some games. Brad Radke pitches tommorow in an afternoon game. Hopefully, he's worked out the kinks in his neck and will have a good start with far more Radke-esque control.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
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2 comments:
I couldn't believe Gardenhire brought in Terry Mulholland in a 1-run game. Mully is the worst pitcher on the roster... he shouldn't even be on the team, but if they insist on keeping him for whatever reason he should at least be held to long relief or coming in when we are way down or way up. People will forget about that terrible move from Gardy since the Twins ended up winning, but if they had lost 8-7, I guarantee you would see some serious ranting and raving about his management, which has been very questionable at times as of late, and not just in this instance.
Yea thats the problem. We are ahead barely, by 7-6, and in comes Terry Mulholland, the batting practice pitcher. Its pathetic because this is the kind of classic move a team not planning to go to the playoffs makes. The Twins need to wake up and be smart about that 25th roster spot. We have good pitching waiting in the wings, from Travis Bowyer to Scott Baker. Come on guys. What the hell is he doing on this team?
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