Twins Extend Win Streak
The Minnesota Twins have extended their winning streak to 6 following tonight's 5-3 win against Pittsburgh's Pirates. The win was a typical Twins win in that they played the long ball again tonight. What wasn't typical, though, was Boof Bonser's short start. Bonser lasted only 3.1 innings, stopping the Twins' streak of 4 consecutive quality starts.
The Twins got their first back-to-back homers of the season in the second. Jason Kubel led off with a solo shot to right for his fourth homer this week & his sixth of the season. Terry Tiffee, getting a start at third followed it up with a shot of his own into the left field seats.
Bonser couldn't hold that lead, though, giving up a solo homer to Pirates' catcher Ronny Paulino with one out in the third. After the Twins scored another run in the fourth when Kubel grounded out with the bases loaded.
The Pirates scored 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth, tying the game at 3. That was Bonser's exit. It also was the last runs they'd get tonight, thanks in large part to Kyle Lohse's 2.2 scoreless innings. Jesse Crain relieved Lohse to start the seventh. Crain breezed through the Pirates to get his team back in the dugout fast.
Former ChiSox lefthander Damaso Marte started the eighth by striking out Michael Cuddyer. That brought up Justin Morneau, whose been on a tear of his own. Justin went after the first pitch, a hanging slider that had mistake written all over it. Justin put a good swing on it & it was all over except for the ball clearing the rightfield fence. It didn't take long for that to happen.
The Twins got another run in the top of the ninth to give themselves a little cushion before turning the game over to Joe Nathan, their closer. Nathan worked a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his third save in as many nights, getting Sean Casey on a grounder, Jeff Bay on a swinging strikeout before finishing it off by getting Jeremy Burnitz on a great running catch by Luis Rodriguez in foul territory down the leftfield line.
The Twins have been hitting the ball hard all week, hitting homeruns on a nightly basis. Jason Kubel's hit four HR's in 5 games; Justin Morneau hit three this week & now leads the team with 16 HR's & 53 RBI's. Those RBI's have him in seventh place in the AL behind David Ortiz, who has 59 RBI's. That's before we talk about Michael Cuddyer, who hit a pair of grand slams this past week.
Of course, not everyone's hitting for power. That Joe Mauer went 1 for 3 & had his average 'sink' to only .380 tells you what type of streak he's been on.
The Twins have opened a 2 game lead for third place following their win tonight & Cleveland getting beat by Milwaukee again. I suspect that Mr. Hewitt might be feeling a bit dejected after that. Make sure & drop him an email to express your condolences for the Indians tanking it.
Posted Saturday, June 17, 2006 8:36 PM
May 2006 Posts
No comments.
The Twins got their first back-to-back homers of the season in the second. Jason Kubel led off with a solo shot to right for his fourth homer this week & his sixth of the season. Terry Tiffee, getting a start at third followed it up with a shot of his own into the left field seats.
Bonser couldn't hold that lead, though, giving up a solo homer to Pirates' catcher Ronny Paulino with one out in the third. After the Twins scored another run in the fourth when Kubel grounded out with the bases loaded.
The Pirates scored 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth, tying the game at 3. That was Bonser's exit. It also was the last runs they'd get tonight, thanks in large part to Kyle Lohse's 2.2 scoreless innings. Jesse Crain relieved Lohse to start the seventh. Crain breezed through the Pirates to get his team back in the dugout fast.
Former ChiSox lefthander Damaso Marte started the eighth by striking out Michael Cuddyer. That brought up Justin Morneau, whose been on a tear of his own. Justin went after the first pitch, a hanging slider that had mistake written all over it. Justin put a good swing on it & it was all over except for the ball clearing the rightfield fence. It didn't take long for that to happen.
The Twins got another run in the top of the ninth to give themselves a little cushion before turning the game over to Joe Nathan, their closer. Nathan worked a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his third save in as many nights, getting Sean Casey on a grounder, Jeff Bay on a swinging strikeout before finishing it off by getting Jeremy Burnitz on a great running catch by Luis Rodriguez in foul territory down the leftfield line.
The Twins have been hitting the ball hard all week, hitting homeruns on a nightly basis. Jason Kubel's hit four HR's in 5 games; Justin Morneau hit three this week & now leads the team with 16 HR's & 53 RBI's. Those RBI's have him in seventh place in the AL behind David Ortiz, who has 59 RBI's. That's before we talk about Michael Cuddyer, who hit a pair of grand slams this past week.
Of course, not everyone's hitting for power. That Joe Mauer went 1 for 3 & had his average 'sink' to only .380 tells you what type of streak he's been on.
The Twins have opened a 2 game lead for third place following their win tonight & Cleveland getting beat by Milwaukee again. I suspect that Mr. Hewitt might be feeling a bit dejected after that. Make sure & drop him an email to express your condolences for the Indians tanking it.
Posted Saturday, June 17, 2006 8:36 PM
May 2006 Posts
No comments.
