twins/mlb
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
Posts about MLB
Hicks better, but will need rehab assignment
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: June 18, 2013 - 5:03 PM
A day off has helped the Twins heal, and among those feeling better is center fielder Aaron Hicks. The rookie, who went on the disabled list June 10 with a strained left hamstring, took early batting practice on Tuesday and shagged fly balls in the outfield. "He's doing fine," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Says his leg feels better."
That doesn't necessarily mean he will be activated once he's eligible a week from today, however. "He hasn't run the bases yet," Gardenhire said, nor subjected his hamstring to strenuous game-speed running. And for that, the manager believes Hicks will need a rehab stint in the minor leagues before he is activated.
"We can't just stick him right back in and say his hammy's OK," Gardenhire said. "There will probably be a rehab somewhere in there. He's not quite there, but hopefully he's getting closer."
The need isn't urgent; Clete Thomas batted .381 with a .409 on-base percentage and three RBIs in the week that Hicks has been out, so the Twins are getting decent production at the position.
As for the guys who are healthy enough to play, there is one small adjustment today: Joe Mauer will handle first base, with Justin Morneau serving as designated hitter and Ryan Doumit catching.
The lineups for tonight's game with Chicago, which has won 15 of its last 19 games at Target Field:
WHITE SOX
Alejandro De Aza CF
Alexei Ramirez SS
Alex Rios RF
Adam Dunn 1B
Paul Konerko DH
Conor Gillaspie 3B
Dayan Viciedo LF
Gordon Beckham 2B
Tyler Flowers C
Dylan Axelrod RHP
TWINS
Thomas CF
Mauer 1B
Doumit C
Willingham LF
Morneau DH
Arcia RF
Plouffe 3B
Dozier 2B
Florimon SS
Pelfrey RHP
Postgame: Plouffe's replacements at third went 10-for-88
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: June 15, 2013 - 12:52 AMA couple of leftovers from another quiet night, offensively, for the Twins:
-- Trevor Plouffe will be back in Minneapolis on Saturday, and I'm guessing he'll be back in the lineup. The Twins went with their utility men while Plouffe was out with a concussion and a calf injury, but the offense definitely suffered. Eduardo Escobar and Jamey Carroll combined to go 10-for-88 in the 22 games Plouffe missed, with one RBI apiece. That's a .114 average and only one extra-base hit (none since May 23) from a position that's supposed to provide some sock. Plouffe might not be Mike Schmidt, but the Twins need him.
Adding Plouffe and subtracting Chris Herrmann does change a few things, however. For one thing, it probably means whoever plays second base, whether it's Carroll, Escobar or Brian Dozier, will be the leadoff hitter, almost by default. And it means Ron Gardenhire can no longer pull Ryan Doumit for a defensive substitute in the late innings; with only two catchers once more, he won't risk removing one from the game, in case the other is hurt.
-- It's sort of moot considering the Twins couldn't scratch out a run against Detroit, but amid the disastrous three-doubles outburst in the sixth inning came a Twins misplay that added to the mess. Ryan Doumit judged Prince Fielder's high, deep fly ball to be off the wall almost instantly, and he turned to get into position rather than racing back to try to catch it.
Tough call, especially on the run, but the ball bounced low enough for him to reach. But once Doumit reached the ball, he turned and fired it over cutoff man Brian Dozier's head. The ball carried to second base, and Miguel Cabrera, who wasn't running full speed around third until he saw the throw, scored from first base.
"I don't think Cabrera should have scored on that ball. We didn't make a relay play right there," Gardenhire said. "He had slowed up around third, but obviously we didn't get the ball in the right hands in the infield. An errant throw from the outfield got us twisted a little bit."
-- The middle of the Twins' lineup has looked exhausted for a couple of days. Josh Willingham's knees are bothering him a bit, Gardenhire said before the game, and maybe it's affecting his at-bats. Willingham is 3-for-26 (.115) over his last seven games, with eight strikeouts and no walks. Justin Morneau is 4-for-19 in six games, and one of them was his three-hit rescue of the Twins against Philadelphia on Tuesday; it's 1-for-15 in the others. Facing Cliff Lee and Rick Porcello is part of it, since both pitchers have a track record of effectiveness, obviously in Lee's case especially. But the Twins need to recharge their bats if they're going to stay in the A.L. Central race. They're 7 1/2 games out now.
-- And finally, a mea culpa: There's a bad statistic in my Twins' game story in Saturday's paper (I caught it a few minutes too late to make the press run). Prince Fielder is 12-for-19 in his last 21 plate appearances following a walk of any kind to Miguel Cabrera, not just intentional walks. But the point remains: It's a decision with no correct answer.
La Velle E. Neal III has the rest of the series, so check his blog, Twins Insider, and follow him on Twitter @lavelleneal.
Pregame: Torii's turn to afflict Twins?
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: June 14, 2013 - 3:59 PM
Somehow, I have a nagging feeling that Torii Hunter is due for a big weekend here at Target Field.
Call it a hunch. But after watching Denard Span go 4-for-6 last weekend against the Twins, and Ben Revere drive them nuts with an 8-for-14 series, it just seems like Shark Week, with ex-Twins centerfielders as the sharks.
If Rich Becker shows up with the White Sox next week, I'll know for sure.
Hunter is a career .296 hitter against the Twins, with seven home runs. He's only got two homers this year, though.
Anyway, the beat-up Twins are feeling OK about themselves, and now they have a chance to keep the A.L. Central race close. The Tigers are 6 1/2 games ahead, but have a 14-18 record on the road. And Minnesota misses both 8-4 Justin Verlander and 9-0 Max Scherzer in this series.
Reminder: Tonight's game is a late start (7:35 p.m.) because of the Twins Hall of Fame ceremony honoring Eddie Guardado and Tom Mee.
Here are tonight's lineups, with Josh Willingham serving as the designated hitter once more:
TIGERS
Jackson CF
Hunter RF
Cabrera 3B
Fielder 1B
Martinez DH
Peralta SS
Tuiasosopo LF
Infante 2B
Avila C
Porcello RHP
TWINS
Carroll 3B
Mauer C
Doumit RF
Willingham DH
Morneau 1B
Arcia 1B
Thomas CF
Dozier 2B
Florimon SS
Diamond LHP
Postgame: First Span, now Revere victimizes Twins
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: June 14, 2013 - 12:05 AMStrange game tonight. Cliff Lee looked like he might pitch a no-hitter for awhile. Kevin Correia was amazing, constantly working his way out of trouble. The Twins' defense was terrific, with Oswaldo Arcia ranging a long way into foul territory and making a sliding catch, and Ryan Doumit cutting down a Phillies run by throwing Michael Young out at the plate from right field.
But Ben Revere, the smallest player on the field, made the biggest plays, and reminded the Twins yet again -- they just can't escape all the reminders lately -- of what they traded away in order to beef up their future pitching staff.
Revere, who hit only .200 in the month of April, hasn't been great in Philadelphia, but he's starting to look like the sparkplug the Twins remember. And his speed made the difference in the Phillies' rally.
He already had two singles, a triple and a stolen base on the night, but that eighth inning was vintage Revere -- just awesome speed. When he squared around to sacrifice bunt before Jared Burton's windup, manager Charlie Manuel said he was disappointed, because he thought Revere had a chance, if he rolled the ball down the third-base line, to beat out the bunt. Instead, Revere plunked it right in front of the plate.
And beat it anyway.
"He squared around, and I said, 'Oh well.' And it end up [that it] doesn't matter because he's so fast," Manuel said. "Not a lot of guys can do that."
Michael Young followed with a single, and Revere rounded second and reached third base before Kevin Frandsen scored from third. Then he tore down the line on Jimmy Rollins' roller to Justin Morneau, scoring on a ball that didn't travel more than 80 feet.
That, after the Twins spent the weekend watching Denard Span "cover ground like the morning dew," as Nationals manager Davey Johnson put it. Meanwhile, Twins center fielder Clete Thomas, after his own four-hit game Wednesday, struck out all three times he batted Thursday.
The Twins don't regret their trades, make no mistake. But it's painful to be reminded about it in such a graphic way.
-- That game was apparently only the second time in franchise history that the Phillies collected 16 hits and managed to score only three runs or fewer. Leaving 16 runners on base made their manager a little giddy to have earned the win.
"We had them all the way. You kidding me?" Manuel joked afterward. "Absolutely no, I can't explain it. We just didn't knock nobody in."
-- Heck of an effort by Correia, who knew when he allowed a run in the first inning -- that's the third time in four days it's happened to the Twins, by the way -- that his chore was a huge one against Lee.
"He's one of the best and has been one of the best for a long time. You don't have the luxury of giving up many runs," Correia said. "One run in the first, [against] one of the most professional pitchers you're ever going to see. I had to hold them there."
He did, despite allowing runners to reach third base in the third, fourth and fifth innings. The ability to match Lee the zeroes Lee was putting on the scoreboard was impressive, but came with a cost: Correia's pitch count eclipsed 100 in the fifth inning, finishing his night early.
-- Lee, meanwhile, looked like the 2008 Cy Young winner reborn. He retired 18 of the first 19 hitters he faced, and even the Twins' so-called rally amounted to a walk (his only one), a ground out that umpire Gary Darling missed and called a hit, and a bloop that Revere allowed to get past him when his desperation dive came up short.
"I felt bad for him, pitching that way when we couldn't get him any runs to work with," said Frandsen. Lee's used to it, though: in the past two years, only three pitchers in the majors have received less run support than the left-hander.
Four lefties in Twins' lineup against Lee
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: June 13, 2013 - 5:32 PMThe Phillies have the right pitcher on the mound today -- Cliff Lee is 6-1 this season when following a Philadelphia loss, and the Phillies are one loss away from being swept by the Twins. Lee is also on a personal five-game winning streak.
Lee (7-2, 2.55 ERA) used to face the Twins all the time -- in three different seasons while he was a Cleveland Indian, Lee made four starts against Minnesota. But he hasn't been on the mound against the Twins for nearly three years now, since a five-runs-in-five-innings stint for the Rangers in 2010. He's never faced them as a Phillie, nor ever pitched in Target Field.
But Lee might be the right starter for the Twins to face, too, considering they are so lefthanded at the moment, with three outfielders, two catchers and Justin Morneau all hitting from the left side. Lee, a lefthander, is one of those rare pitchers with a reverse platoon split, meaning lefthanders fare better against him than righthanders.
For his career, lefties are batting .261 with a .385 slugging average for his career, versus a .252 average and .397 slugging against righthanders. And this year, it's even more pronounced: lefthanders are hitting .283 with a .348 slugging average, while righthanders have a .206 average and .305 slugging.
That's why Ron Gardenhire probably didn't mind too much using four left-handed hitters in his lineup today, three of them in a row. We'll see if it makes a difference.
One other note: righthanded reliever Anthony Slama was released today by the Twins. A former 39th round draft pick, Slama owns 102 career saves in the minors, but was 0-4 with a 13.50 ERA with Class AAA Rochester this year.
Tonight's lineup as the Twins try to go above .500 in interleague play (they're 8-8 at the moment):
PHILLIES
Revere CF
M. Young 3B
Rollins SS
Howard 1B
Brown LF
D. Young DH
Nix RF
Galvis 2B
Quintero C
Lee LHP
TWINS
Carroll 3B
Mauer (L) C
Doumit RF
Willingham DH
Morneau 1B
Arcia LF
Thomas CF
Dozier 2B
Escobar SS
Correia RHP
Four lefties in Twins' lineup against Lee
Posted by: Phil Miller Updated: June 13, 2013 - 5:19 PMThe Phillies have the right pitcher on the mound today -- Cliff Lee is 6-1 this season when following a Philadelphia loss, and the Phillies are one loss away from being swept by the Twins. Lee is also on a personal five-game winning streak.
Lee (7-2, 2.55 ERA) used to face the Twins all the time -- in three different seasons while he was a Cleveland Indian, Lee made four starts against Minnesota. But he hasn't been on the mound against the Twins for nearly three years now, since a five-runs-in-five-innings stint for the Rangers in 2010. He's never faced them as a Phillie, nor ever pitched in Target Field.
Lee, a lefthander, is one of those rare pitchers with a reverse platoon split, meaning lefthanders fare better against him than righthanders. For his career, lefties are batting .261 with a .385 slugging average for his career, versus a .252 average and .397 slugging against righthanders. And this year, it's even more pronounced: lefthanders are hitting .283 with a .348 slugging average, while righthanders have a .206 average and .305 slugging.
Maybe that's why Ron Gardenhire didn't hesitate to use four left-handed hitters in his lineup today, three of them in a row. We'll see if it makes a difference.
One other note: righthanded reliever Anthony Slama was released today by the Twins. A former 39th round draft pick, Slama owns 102 career saves in the minors, but was 0-4 with a 13.50 ERA with Class AAA Rochester this year.
Tonight's lineup as the Twins try to go above .500 in interleague play (they're 8-8 at the moment):
PHILLIES
Revere CF
M. Young 3B
Rollins SS
Howard 1B
Brown LF
D. Young DH
Nix RF
Galvis 2B
Quintero C
Lee LHP
TWINS
Carroll 3B
Mauer (L) C
Doumit RF
Willingham DH
Morneau 1B
Arcia LF
Thomas CF
Dozier 2B
Escobar SS
Correia RHP
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- TwinsCentric: Notes on Slowey, Gibson and May
- Top draft choice Stewart in town to wrap up deal
- Pregame: Hicks better, but will need rehab assignment
- Will Jesse Crain's great work make him a trade target?
- TwinsCentric: The key for Mike Pelfrey
- Postgame: Struggling offense, Torii and more Torii
- TwinsCentric: What did the Twins get in Kohl Stewart?
- Souhan blog: Mauer taking to Target Field
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