Patchwork Victory
That's the only way I can describe the Twins come-from-behind win against the Mighty Whities last night. Consider Brad Radke, who's been an absolute warrior the last two months, leaving after giving up three runs in just two innings. Most people would probably think that they're screwed, right? That's a big mistake when you're dealing with the deepest bullpen in baseball.
Enter Matt Guerrier. Guerrier held Chicago scoreless in his three masterful innings of work, giving Minnesota a chance to get back into the game. Which they did in the 6th.
Nick Punto, part of the flesh-eating foursome that Ozzie Guillen nicknamed 'The Piranhas', picked a perfect time to hit his first homer of the season, bringing the Twins within 2 at 3-1. After Chicago starter Vazquez got Joe Mauer to line out to first to record the second out of the inning, Michael Cuddyer lined a single to left, prompting Guillen to bring in Neal Cotts to face Justin Morneau.
The move didn't work, with Morneau lashing a line drive single to left. Guillen then brought in David Riske to face Torii Hunter, who's been on a tear lately. Torii hit Riske's first pitch into the bullpen in right to put the Twins up 4-3.
Former Twin A.J. Pierzinski tied it up off Pat Neshek in the bottom of the 6th with his 11th roundtripper of the season.
They stayed tied until the 9th, when Torii lead off with a single. He was quickly eliminated when DH Rondell White grounded into a fielders' choice. Gardenhire sent Lew Ford in as a pinchrunner for White. Jason Tyner grounded out to the pitcher, with Ford advancing to second on the play, bringing up Jason Bartlett. Bartlett worked the count before lining a single up the middle, scoring Ford easily.
Not that the dramatics were done with that. Twins closer Joe Nathan struck out Rob Mackowiak swinging to start the inning. Scott Podsednik lined a 1-1 pitch into left for a single. After an errant pickoff throw from Nathan, Nathan came back and struck out pinch-hitter Alex Cintron with a nasty curveball that broke right through the middle of the strikezone. To say that Nathan locked Cintron up with the pitch is understatement.
That left Chicago's hopes up to hot-hitting Jermaine Dye. Nathan quickly got ahead of Dye 0-2. Nathan fed him a fastball on the inside corner that Dye could only foul off. Justin Morneau gave chase to the railing. A fan reached into the field of play, denying Morneau the chance to catch the ball. To his credit, First Base Umpire Andy Fletcher immediately called Dye out on fan interference, a call Ozzie Guillen didn't even try disputing.
The AP story put things this way :
How long the Twins can keep it up is anybody's guess. As a Twins fan, I hope through the end of October but I don't care much anymore. They've been a fun team to watch, no matter what the final outcome.
Tonight's matchup will be Twins Cy Young candidate Johan Santana (15-5) vs. Jose Contreras (11-6), putting the Twins in good shape to clinch a series win tonight.
If you're a baseball fan, make sure you tune this game in. The game will be televised on Chicago superstation WGN. Twins fans can catch the game on FSN North. First pitch is at 6:10 CDT.
Posted Saturday, August 26, 2006 9:15 AM
July 2006 Posts
No comments.
Enter Matt Guerrier. Guerrier held Chicago scoreless in his three masterful innings of work, giving Minnesota a chance to get back into the game. Which they did in the 6th.
Nick Punto, part of the flesh-eating foursome that Ozzie Guillen nicknamed 'The Piranhas', picked a perfect time to hit his first homer of the season, bringing the Twins within 2 at 3-1. After Chicago starter Vazquez got Joe Mauer to line out to first to record the second out of the inning, Michael Cuddyer lined a single to left, prompting Guillen to bring in Neal Cotts to face Justin Morneau.
The move didn't work, with Morneau lashing a line drive single to left. Guillen then brought in David Riske to face Torii Hunter, who's been on a tear lately. Torii hit Riske's first pitch into the bullpen in right to put the Twins up 4-3.
Former Twin A.J. Pierzinski tied it up off Pat Neshek in the bottom of the 6th with his 11th roundtripper of the season.
They stayed tied until the 9th, when Torii lead off with a single. He was quickly eliminated when DH Rondell White grounded into a fielders' choice. Gardenhire sent Lew Ford in as a pinchrunner for White. Jason Tyner grounded out to the pitcher, with Ford advancing to second on the play, bringing up Jason Bartlett. Bartlett worked the count before lining a single up the middle, scoring Ford easily.
Not that the dramatics were done with that. Twins closer Joe Nathan struck out Rob Mackowiak swinging to start the inning. Scott Podsednik lined a 1-1 pitch into left for a single. After an errant pickoff throw from Nathan, Nathan came back and struck out pinch-hitter Alex Cintron with a nasty curveball that broke right through the middle of the strikezone. To say that Nathan locked Cintron up with the pitch is understatement.
That left Chicago's hopes up to hot-hitting Jermaine Dye. Nathan quickly got ahead of Dye 0-2. Nathan fed him a fastball on the inside corner that Dye could only foul off. Justin Morneau gave chase to the railing. A fan reached into the field of play, denying Morneau the chance to catch the ball. To his credit, First Base Umpire Andy Fletcher immediately called Dye out on fan interference, a call Ozzie Guillen didn't even try disputing.
The AP story put things this way :
"The fan definitely reached over into fair play and interfered with the fielder's opportunity to make the catch," Fletcher said. "He got in his way. I believe he would have made the catch had the fan not have been there."The bottom line to these dramatics is that the Piranhas (Tyner, Bartlett, Castillo & Punto) took a bite out of the Mighty Whities, the bullpen pitched outstanding ball for seven innings, giving up only the solo homer to Pierzinski, before Nathan slammed the door shut, putting the Twins atop the Wild Card standings alone with a 75-52 record. Chicago trails with a 75-53 record, with Boston 4.5 games back. The Twins also picked up a game on the Tigers to pull within 5 games of the suddenly-stumbling Tigers.
Guillen didn't even argue.
"I wasn't going to waste my time when half the guy's body was on the field," Guillen said. "It was a good call."
How long the Twins can keep it up is anybody's guess. As a Twins fan, I hope through the end of October but I don't care much anymore. They've been a fun team to watch, no matter what the final outcome.
Tonight's matchup will be Twins Cy Young candidate Johan Santana (15-5) vs. Jose Contreras (11-6), putting the Twins in good shape to clinch a series win tonight.
If you're a baseball fan, make sure you tune this game in. The game will be televised on Chicago superstation WGN. Twins fans can catch the game on FSN North. First pitch is at 6:10 CDT.
Posted Saturday, August 26, 2006 9:15 AM
July 2006 Posts
No comments.
