Twins Pummel ChiSox
The Twins & White Sox started their 4 game series tonight with Twins ace Johan Santana on the hill facing the ChiSox' Jon Garland.
The series started with a bang. Pablo Ozuna jumped all over Johan's first pitch & drove it into the rightfield corner. Michael Cuddyer played it barehanded off the baggie, then threw a perfect strike to Luis Castillo in short right field. Castillo made a great pivot & a fantastic throw to nail Ozuna at third by almost 2 steps. That was the hardest hit ball of Johan the first 3 innings & all the ChiSox got out of it was an out.
After that, Johan was clearly in his Cy Young form of 2004. He pitched 7 innings, scattering 5 hits & giving up Paul Konerko's eighth homer in the top of the 7th while stiking out 10. That's the fourth straight 10 strikeout game for Johan, who's looking more like the post-All Star break Johan we saw 2 years ago when he was the dominant pitcher in baseball.
Garland never got it going, though he escaped the first without any damage. It became apparent that this wouldn't be his night when he gave up a double to Michael Cuddyer right in front of Justin Morneau's line shot homer to straightaway center. Brian Anderson got back to the fence & made a play on Morneau's ball but he couldn't hold it & it fell behind the wall for Morneau's team-leading 9th homer this young season.
Not that he needed it but those runs seemed to pump Johan up for the third. Joe Crede & Juan Uribe struck out to start the third, giving Johan 4 straight strikeouts.
The Twins extended their lead in the fourth, getting 3 more. Morneau's single started a string of 4 straight hits for the Twins, making the score 3-0. After Stewart struck out on a questionable changeup, Luis Castillo drilled a single over the shortstop to plate Rondell White & Tony Batista, making it 5-0.
The Twins added a solo homer from Batista and a 2 run opposite field shot from Joe Mauer to increase their lead to 8-0.
After then, the subs came in from both sides, with Nick Punto taking over from Castillo & Lew Ford taking over for Stewart in left. Dennys Reyes pitched the ninth. Reyes struck out Russ Gload with a nasty slider for the first out. Then he got Rob Mackowiak to hit a routine grounder to short for the 2nd out. That left things up to Chris Widger, who hit a wicked line shot right back at Reyes, who just got a glove on it. Punto ranged far to his right, making a sliding stop of the ball, then throwing a one-hop strike from his knees to Morneau for a Web Gems game-ending out.
All in all, the Twins were clearly prepared to win & the ChiSox played tentative. Alot of that had to do with Santana, who pretty much toyed with the Sox' hitters all night.
Twins' announcer Dick Bremer said that one of his favorite things to watch when Johan's pitching is "watching hitters' expressions about half way through their swing & they realize they don't have a chance to hit the pitch." I couldn't agree more, Dick. My favorites are the Johan changeups right after he's thrown a couple 93-95 mph fastballs.
He threw one like that to Uribe, who'd sped his bat up to catch up with Johan's fastball. Oops!!! Instead, he got an 82 mph changeup that the bottom fell out of. By the time Mauer caught the ball, Uribe was lunging for the pitch off the outside corner, his knees straight & his back bent. That's what happens when you're facing the best pitcher in baseball.
Let's hope this is a sign of things to come for the next couple series. Brad Radke pitches against Javier Vazquez Saturday night, with Carlos Silva facing ChiSox ace Mark Buerhle in ESPN's Sunday night game before the series wraps up with the Twins' Scott Baker facing Freddie Garcia.
Another thing that I've really come to appreciate is the play of Luis Castillo. Castillo's the best second baseman in the game right now by far. He's hitting .345, is third on the team in RBI while leading the team in 2-out hitting while playing Gold Glove second base. Simply put, he's their best everyday player & it isn't even close.
Can the Twins win the AL Central? I'd doubt it but they'll give fits to alot of teams. I still think they could make the playoffs as a wild card team.
On a somewhat related front, word from the State Capitol is that the Twins stadium deal will get passed & signed this week. It's related because the related rumor is that if it's signed, Twins Owner Carl Pohlad will let GM Terry Ryan add some players to make a push for the postseason.
I know I'll upset some of my friends in the conservative movement but I want the deal done. It's long past time to build a baseball stadium. We haven't had one since Metropolitan Stadium was 'retired' in September, 1981.
Posted Friday, May 12, 2006 11:21 PM
No comments.
The series started with a bang. Pablo Ozuna jumped all over Johan's first pitch & drove it into the rightfield corner. Michael Cuddyer played it barehanded off the baggie, then threw a perfect strike to Luis Castillo in short right field. Castillo made a great pivot & a fantastic throw to nail Ozuna at third by almost 2 steps. That was the hardest hit ball of Johan the first 3 innings & all the ChiSox got out of it was an out.
After that, Johan was clearly in his Cy Young form of 2004. He pitched 7 innings, scattering 5 hits & giving up Paul Konerko's eighth homer in the top of the 7th while stiking out 10. That's the fourth straight 10 strikeout game for Johan, who's looking more like the post-All Star break Johan we saw 2 years ago when he was the dominant pitcher in baseball.
Garland never got it going, though he escaped the first without any damage. It became apparent that this wouldn't be his night when he gave up a double to Michael Cuddyer right in front of Justin Morneau's line shot homer to straightaway center. Brian Anderson got back to the fence & made a play on Morneau's ball but he couldn't hold it & it fell behind the wall for Morneau's team-leading 9th homer this young season.
Not that he needed it but those runs seemed to pump Johan up for the third. Joe Crede & Juan Uribe struck out to start the third, giving Johan 4 straight strikeouts.
The Twins extended their lead in the fourth, getting 3 more. Morneau's single started a string of 4 straight hits for the Twins, making the score 3-0. After Stewart struck out on a questionable changeup, Luis Castillo drilled a single over the shortstop to plate Rondell White & Tony Batista, making it 5-0.
The Twins added a solo homer from Batista and a 2 run opposite field shot from Joe Mauer to increase their lead to 8-0.
After then, the subs came in from both sides, with Nick Punto taking over from Castillo & Lew Ford taking over for Stewart in left. Dennys Reyes pitched the ninth. Reyes struck out Russ Gload with a nasty slider for the first out. Then he got Rob Mackowiak to hit a routine grounder to short for the 2nd out. That left things up to Chris Widger, who hit a wicked line shot right back at Reyes, who just got a glove on it. Punto ranged far to his right, making a sliding stop of the ball, then throwing a one-hop strike from his knees to Morneau for a Web Gems game-ending out.
All in all, the Twins were clearly prepared to win & the ChiSox played tentative. Alot of that had to do with Santana, who pretty much toyed with the Sox' hitters all night.
Twins' announcer Dick Bremer said that one of his favorite things to watch when Johan's pitching is "watching hitters' expressions about half way through their swing & they realize they don't have a chance to hit the pitch." I couldn't agree more, Dick. My favorites are the Johan changeups right after he's thrown a couple 93-95 mph fastballs.
He threw one like that to Uribe, who'd sped his bat up to catch up with Johan's fastball. Oops!!! Instead, he got an 82 mph changeup that the bottom fell out of. By the time Mauer caught the ball, Uribe was lunging for the pitch off the outside corner, his knees straight & his back bent. That's what happens when you're facing the best pitcher in baseball.
Let's hope this is a sign of things to come for the next couple series. Brad Radke pitches against Javier Vazquez Saturday night, with Carlos Silva facing ChiSox ace Mark Buerhle in ESPN's Sunday night game before the series wraps up with the Twins' Scott Baker facing Freddie Garcia.
Another thing that I've really come to appreciate is the play of Luis Castillo. Castillo's the best second baseman in the game right now by far. He's hitting .345, is third on the team in RBI while leading the team in 2-out hitting while playing Gold Glove second base. Simply put, he's their best everyday player & it isn't even close.
Can the Twins win the AL Central? I'd doubt it but they'll give fits to alot of teams. I still think they could make the playoffs as a wild card team.
On a somewhat related front, word from the State Capitol is that the Twins stadium deal will get passed & signed this week. It's related because the related rumor is that if it's signed, Twins Owner Carl Pohlad will let GM Terry Ryan add some players to make a push for the postseason.
I know I'll upset some of my friends in the conservative movement but I want the deal done. It's long past time to build a baseball stadium. We haven't had one since Metropolitan Stadium was 'retired' in September, 1981.
Posted Friday, May 12, 2006 11:21 PM
No comments.
