Twins Lose Both Games of Double Header

The Twins lost both games of the double header yesterday. They lost 2-5 in the first game and 3-6 in the second game. Both games were extremely disappointing. The first game was not as close as the score indicates. We were really down 0-5 before tacking on a couple of petty runs right in the 9th inning. The Twins are now 7 games back in the division. This series could be the difference between the Twins becoming sellers or buyers at the trade deadline. While this was a ton of bad news, lets end this on a positive note. Mauer is really starting to become the Mauer of old. He went a combined 6-8 yesterday. The dude is a stud and thank goodness he's back to his normal self.

Hurry and get tickets for the Twins for the last home games of the month. The Twins are going to need all the support they can get if they want to climb the AL Central standings. Go Twins!

Chicago White Sox win against Minnesota Twins and the playoffs get a little farther away

The Chicago White Sox ended the three game series at the Metrodome last night by beating our Twins 4-2 yesterday. Twins fans were hopeful that the series would be a sweep and the gap for the play-offs would be closed a little tighter. After the disappointing loss the Minnesota Twins are now 4 and a half games behind the division leader and have will have to make up lots of room if they plan on seeing the play-offs.

My boys have the day off and I hope they are spending it practicing and pulling it together because they take off tomorrow for a 3 game road series against the Cleveland Indians and then immediately following that they head to Toronto for a 4 game series against the Blue Jays.

I'm hoping that with a great two road series the Twins will be back on top as they return to the Metrodome late next week and start the final countdown to Goodbye HHH. Minnesota Twins Tickets will be very hard to get a hold of once the team returns from Toronto, so if you plan on catching any of the last 12 games at the Metrodome Buy Minnesota Twins Tickets today!

Twins lose to Cleveland Indians at Metrodome

I can’t believe I have to write that headline, but it’s true the Minnesota Twins got socked last night 10-1 by the Cleveland Indians in front of the Metrodome home crowd.

Twins rookie pitcher Anthony Swarzak looked terrible in the third inning. I could have hit those pitches! The Indians may be at the bottom of the American League Central, but they are still major league hitters and they showed it against the youth of Swarzak.

Carlos Gomez and Indians pitcher Cliff Lee continued to jaw at one another all night. I say if Gomez wants to get under Lee's skin he needs to get a hit and get on base and stop the jaw jacking!

Same two teams at the Dome today, I wonder what will happen. Hopefully a Twins win. Scott Baker needs a good outing. Twins vs Indians at noon at the Metrodome. Wish I didn’t have to work.

Minnesota Twins beat Cleveland Indians at the Dome

Well, for the most part they did. The Twins beat the Cleveland Indians Friday 4-1 and Sunday 6-2, but lost on Saturday night 1-5, winning the series 2 games to 1. It’s time to dig up those random facts I love to share with my Minnesota Twin blog readers regarding this Twins Indians series at the Metrodome. Here they are in no particular order:

...Nick Blackburn improved his record to 3-0 vs. the Indians after Friday nights 4-1 victory. He is on fire at home with a 6-2 record and a 2.54 ERA in 10 starts.

...Randy Ruiz made his Major League debut in Friday’s game, going 1-for-3 with a run scored as the designated hitter – welcome to the big leagues Ruiz!

...Metrodome attendance for Satruday nights loss was 40,000+ - that is a lot of disappointed fans, more than the usual 25,000 in attendance on a week night game.

...Sunday was the twelfth consecutive crowd of 30,000 or more at the HHH Metrodome, the longest streak since 1992 – who says we are in a recession?!

...The Twins are bunting Gods and lead the majors in bunts this season – is there a special bunting coach? It’s not really hitting, is it? I think it’s cool to bunt, but cooler to homer!

...Juan Rincon made his first appearance at the Metrodome not wearing a Twins jersey – worked well for the Twins since he gave up a homerun!

...Francisco Liriano pitched well on Sunday. I think he wants to make it onto my top pitchers list this month.

The Twins are currently playing in Seattle - I hate the west coast games, I like to retire early and the time difference bites. I will post more next week! Go Twins!

Let's slide into first . . . base and place!!!!

Minnesota Twins are winning series

Apparently the come to Jesus meeting had some effect on the Minnesota Twins because in the past week they have managed to win two out of three on the road against the Cleveland Indians and more importantly (not that every win isn’t important), the Twins managed to win three out of four against the AL Central leading Chicago White Sox. Hooah! The division lead is within reach and if the Twins keep up this momentum, the playoffs should be a pleasant experience for us Minnesota Twins fans.

Today is August 1st and everyone should take a minute to remember the 35W bridge victims at 6:05pm tonight. The year went by fast, but I bet it doesn’t feel that way to the people who lost their loved ones. God Bless!

Twins Indians Series Notes

OK. I am over the Boston Red Sox fiasco and I want to take time to relive a better series, the Minnesota Twins Cleveland Indians series. Remember that series ? July 4th, 5th and 6th all ended with a big “W” for the Minnesota Twins. Here are my random Minnesota Twins facts that I want to share! I will share 4 facts in honor of the 4th of July series (Ok, that’s a stretch…I know)

///Nick Punto hit his 10th career homerun when he hit a three-run shot off John Lackey. Woohoo! That set the crowd off like fireworks in the dome.

///Carlos Gomez collected his 21st bunt hit of the season.

///Over 5,000 tickets were given to military personnel and their families on Saturday night for Armed Services Appreciation night and the Twins players each sported various military branches on their baseball caps. It was very cool. Hooah!

///Twins scored five runs in the sixth inning on Saturday and have outscored their opponents 68 to 41 in sixth innings this season – how is that for random?!?

Juan Rincon goes to Cleveland Indians

I don’t think I have mentioned this yet so I thought I would just put a blurb out here about the circumstances of pitcher Juan Rincon. The Minnesota Twins designated Rincon for AAA on June 12th, Rincon turned down the Minnesota Twins assignment to pitch for AAA (giving the Twins 10 days to trade or release him), he became a free agent (he had zero trade value). It was reported today that Juan Rincon signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. There will be no love lost from this Minnesota Twins fan. The fact is that without his steroids, Juan Rincon’s slider just didn’t snap like it used to. I am against using steroids in sports and I felt betrayed when Rincon was suspended in 2005 for testing positive, but I felt even worse when I realized he couldn’t pitch without the drugs.

Twins Break Losing Streak, Finally!

The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians last night in Cleveland 8-5. The Twins built up a big run lead and then tried to give it away (have they been taking lessons from the Minnesota Vikings?), but managed to hold on to snap their six game losing streak. The Twins played hard in the third inning when Justin Morneau hit a two-run double, Michael Cuddyer had an RBI double, and Jason Kubel hit a two-run homer – woo hoo! It was about time the Twins gave the fans something to be excited about. I thought Dennys Reyes was going to give it away, but Jesse Crain came in to get the Twins out of a tough spot and Joe Nathan came in to “close the door.” Sing it with me, you know you want to! Let’s hope the Twins can build on this momentum and put a few more notches in the win column.

Twins Need to Play Harder

It’s no secret that the Cleveland Indians are a better baseball team than the Minnesota Twins. The Indians swept the Twins last week at the Dome and deflated any possible hopes of the Twins making the playoffs. This Minnesota Twins fan was disgusted that not even one of the three games were even close. The Indians beat the Twins 0-5, 5-7, 2-6 in the three game series.

Following the depressing Indian series, the Twins traveled to U.S. Cellular Field to play the Chicago White Sox where they lost two of the three games in that series. The Chicago White Sox are at the bottom of the AL Central and the Twins should have been able to win at least two of the games. Word on the street is that Ron Gardenhire had a team meeting after the second White Sox loss that included a long lecture about playing tough baseball even if they aren’t making the playoffs. Gardy is known for his “you’re a professional baseball player so act like it” speeches and this verbal spanking must have worked because the Twins have won three games in a row including beating the Kansas City Royals two games this week and are predicted to beat them again this afternoon (see the fan poll below.) At over 50% odds, this Minnesota Twins fan will take any positive Minnesota Twins news she can get. Go Twins! Don’t quit on me yet! The Minnesota Twins Schedule goes until the very last day of September, ya know!

Twins vs. Indians

The Minnesota Twins are a whopping 10.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central and they hold their fate in their own hands. With the Indians at the HHH Metrodome for a 3 game series, the Minnesota Twins need to gain some ground before it’s too late.

Last night, the Indians beat Twins ace pitcher Johan Santana once more as he gave up six hits and four runs in six innings. Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia threw eight shutout innings to lead the Indians past the Twins 5-0. Santana is clearly still one of baseball's most dominant pitchers, but the Indians have not been intimidated one bit.

Twins newbie Kevin Slowey will take the mound tonight against Indians pitcher Aaron Laffer. Slowet has been successful in his previous starts for the Twins, but the Indians will be his toughest challenge yet. Head out to the Metrodome Minneapolis tonight for a 7:10 p.m. game. Good Twins Tickets are still available for less than $20 per ticket.

Triple Play adds Insult to Twins Loss

The Cleveland Indians did something Monday night that they haven’t done since 1992. With Minnesota Twins catcher Mike Redmond up to bat with runners at first and second, Indians third baseman Casey Blake fielded a sharp ground ball, stepped on the bag, threw it to second where Asdrubal Cabrera forced out Jason Kubel before whipping it to first baseman Victor Martinez to retire the slow Redmond. It was the third triple play in the majors this season.

That play pretty much downed the Twins against the Indians on Monday night, a game the Twins were itching to win to bring them closer to the division lead. Now, the Twins are 6 ½ games back of the Tribe, and a series win is the best they can do. Boof Bonser will go Tuesday night and Johan Santana will face off with big lefty C.C. Sabathia on Wednesday.

Twins Run Production

One of the strangest aspects about the Minnesota Twins’ recent surge in the Central Division standings is the fact they are doing it without scoring many runs. In fact, the Twins are hardly scoring any runs: They have 71 since the All-Star break, the lowest total by far. The next lowest is the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates, who have a full 14 runs more than the Twins since the break. The Twins hurt their chances to catch up to the two teams in front of them again on Monday night, and the paltry run production was the main culprit.

I was at the game watching the goofy right hander Paul Byrd warm up for the Cleveland Indians. I was thinking back to a game where he owned the Twins last season, but I was also hoping the Twins might take advantage of the junk-balls he throws, as well as the fact that the Twins generally do better against right handers. But alas, Byrd mowed down the heart of the lineup again, and the trio of Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter went 1- for-10, making them 1-for-22 in their last two games. The Twins aren’t out of it yet, but those guys better start hitting before the Detroit Tigers start another hot streak.

Twins Won't Fade

Somehow, improbably, astoundingly, the Minnesota Twins are still clawing and scrapping in the Central Division playoff hunt. I’m sure many were ready to write off the Twins after their crushing loss to the Cleveland Indians in that first game of last weekend’s series. But somehow, the resiliency of the Twins has shone through yet again, as they took the final two games on Saturday and Sunday from a charging Tribe.

Monday, the Twins had Luis Castillo listed as their leadoff hitter against the Kansas City Royals. Come game time, Castillo was likely packing his suitcase and heading to the Big Apple – Castillo was traded to the New York Mets a mere hours before the game. The Twins are giving up on the 2007 season, right? Well they might be planning for next season, but as long as they keep winning, they have no choice but to stay in contention, and that’s what’s happening to the club now. The Twins have dropped a few in a row and won a few in a row throughout the season and now they still have a chance down the stretch. If that one solid seven game winning streak can come this week, the Twins might find themselves in striking distance of either the Indians or the Detroit Tigers. It’s an exciting time to get some Twins tickets, let’s see if they can do it again to the Tigers this season.