SB Nation Minnesota - Twins Fall Short And Split Series With Texashttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48959/mn-fave.png2011-07-28T23:09:32-05:00http://minnesota.sbnation.com/rss/stream/20573932011-07-28T23:09:32-05:002011-07-28T23:09:32-05:00Twins Drop Final Game Of Series With Rangers, 4-1
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a> really needed a strong outing by starting pitcher <span>Scott Baker</span>, and they got it.</p>
<p>The only problem is that Texas starter <span>Matt Harrison</span> was better, and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Texas Rangers</a> bested Minnesota 4-1 at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX, on Thursday.</p>
<p>Baker was making his second start since coming off the DL for his flexor strain, and had another strong outing. Baker went 7 innings, giving up 8 hits and two runs, but the Twins offense was pretty much thwarted by Harrison, who went 7.1 and gave up only one run.</p>
<p>The Twins had a couple of opportunities for a big inning, but failed to capitalize. In the fifth inning, the Twins loaded the bases with two outs, but <span>Tsuyoshi Nishioka</span>,m which is Japanese for ‘rally killer’, grounded into a fieldr’s choice to end the threat.</p>
<p>In the sixth, Minnesota got the first two runners of the inning on base, but <span>Jason Kubel</span> grounded into a double play. <span>Jim Thome</span> then singled in the Twins only run of the evening.</p>
<p>The Twins continue their road trip in Oakland tomorrow. First pitch is 9:05 PM <span class="caps">CST</span>.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/7/28/2302231/twins-rangers-scott-baker-jim-thomeTed Glover2011-07-28T14:44:53-05:002011-07-28T14:44:53-05:00Twins-Rangers: Twins Try To Take Series In Finale
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<p>When the series against Texas started, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a> were shellacked under an onslaught of Texas hitting, and suffered their worst loss of the Ron Gardenhire era, 20-6. Two nights ago, they rallied late and escaped with a win, and last night, they won in a rather convincing fashion.</p>
<p>If this trend continues, tonight the Twins should be the ones putting the 20-6 shellacking on the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a>. Baseball, go figure.</p>
<p><span>Scott Baker</span> is scheduled to start for the Twins tonight (8-5, 2.88 <span class="caps">ERA</span>), his second start since coming off the disabled list with a right flexor muscle strain. His first outing went well, as he pitched five shutout innings against Detroit, but was removed after only 82 pitches as a precautionary measure. Baker felt no lingering issues in his last outing, so expect the Twins to let him go as long as possible.</p>
<p>Why? Because the Twins bullpen really, really…<span class="caps">REALLY</span>…needs a strong outing from the starting rotation again. <span>Brian Duensing</span> pitched a strong 6.2 innings last night, which helped out after Twins starters only managed 7.2 innings in the first two games.</p>
<p>Offensively, the Twins look to keep up their current hot streak, as they’ve pounded out 25 hits in the last two games, lead by <span>Joe Mauer</span>. Mauer delivered a two out, game winning <span class="caps">RBI</span> double on Tuesday as a pinch hitter, and hit his first home run of the season last night as Minnesta cruised 7-2.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/7/28/2301119/twins-rangers-twins-try-to-take-series-in-finaleTed Glover2011-07-27T22:43:12-05:002011-07-27T22:43:12-05:00Mauer Power Helps Twins Past Rangers, 7-2
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<p><span>Joe Mauer</span> hit his first home run of the season, and <span>Jason Kubel</span>'s late double gave the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Minnesota Twins</a> plenty of breathing room, as the Twins took down the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Texas Rangers</a> by a final score of 7-2 at The Ballpark At Arlington on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Mauer got his first home run of 2011 off of Rangers' starter <span>Colby Lewis</span> (10-8, 4.00 ERA), a solo blast to right field with two outs that gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. That's how the score stayed until the top of the fourth, when <span>Michael Cuddyer</span> led off the frame with a solo home run of his own, this one to left-center to increase Minnesota's lead to 2-0.</p>
<p>After the Rangers cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI groundout from <span>Michael Young</span>, Minnesota tacked on a couple more in the top of the fifth. Lewis quickly retired <span>Tsuyoshi Nishioka</span> and <span>Ben Revere</span> for the first two outs of the inning, but then <span>Alexi Casilla</span> doubled to right to keep the inning going. Mauer then went the opposite way for a single, scoring Casilla to make it 3-1. Mauer took second on the throw, and came around to score on Cuddyer's single to center to make it 4-1. Cuddyer then got caught up in a rundown that ended the inning.</p>
<p>Things stayed that way until the top of the ninth, when the Twins put together some more clutch two-out hits against Rangers' reliever <span>Mark Lowe</span>. Nishioka and Revere again went down to start the inning, and again Casilla doubled to keep the inning going. Going into second base, Casilla appeared to hurt himself, and was pinch-run for by <span>Trevor Plouffe</span>. After an intentional walk to Mauer, Lowe appeared to be out of the inning when he got Cuddyer to ground one towards Young, but an error on the Rangers' third baseman kept the inning going and loaded the bases. Jason Kubel made the Rangers pay by clearing the bases with a double, giving the Twins a very comfortable 7-1 cushion.</p>
<p><span>Brian Duensing</span> (8-8, 4.35 ERA) was very solid for the Twins, allowing one run on seven hits in 6.2 innings of work. <span>Matt Capps</span> and <span>Glen Perkins</span> each got two-thirds of an inning of work in, and <span>Anthony Swarzak</span> came in to mop up in the bottom of the ninth. Swarzak did allow an RBI single to <span>Yorvit Torrealba</span>, but the Twins' lead was just too much as Minnesota won by the final score of 7-2.</p>
<p>With a loss by the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/">Detroit Tigers</a> on Wednesday, the Twins once again find themselves six games back in the American League Central division race. They will attempt to win their third straight when they conclude their series with the Rangers on Thursday night in Arlington, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM Central time. The Twins will go with right-hander <span>Scott Baker</span> (8-5, 2.88 ERA) to try to win their third straight, while the Rangers will counter with left-hander <span>Matt Harrison</span> (8-7, 3.05 ERA).</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/7/27/2299453/minnesota-twins-texas-rangers-recap-score-joe-mauer-home-runChristopher Gates2011-07-27T16:40:45-05:002011-07-27T16:40:45-05:00Twins Look For Second Straight Win Against Rangers
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<p>Say this for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a>—they were able to shake off an historically bad beating on Monday to rally late and beat the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a> on Tuesday. It was a victory, in many ways, that has been typical of the Ron Gardenhire era. A never say die, there’s always a chance mentality that allowed the Twins to plate two runs in the top of the 9th to steal a win from the Rangers. It was a great performance from the bullpen matched with clutch hitting that have almost been the trademark of the Twins over these last few seasons.</p>
<p>But the starting pitching, which has historically been good, is on a run of bad performances that must be stopped. In the Texas series so far, Twins starters have gone 7 2/3 innings, and have given up 16 runs. To try and stem the tide of horrendous outings tonight will be <span>Brian Duensing</span> (7-8, 4.53 <span class="caps">ERA</span>), coming off one of his worst outings of the year against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/">Tigers</a>, and he will be opposed by the red hot <span>Colby Lewis</span> (10-7, 3.93 <span class="caps">ERA</span>).</p>
<p>Lewis, who has won five straight decisions and has gone six innings or more in 7 straight starts, something Twins manager Ron Gardenhire would probably kill for right now.</p>
<p>First pitch is at 7:05 <span class="caps">CST</span> from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/7/27/2298743/twins-rangers-brian-duensing-joe-mauerTed Glover2011-07-26T23:23:14-05:002011-07-26T23:23:14-05:00Twins topple Texas 9-8
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<p>Pinch hitting in the top of the 9th, <span>Joe Mauer</span> slapped a double to the left-center field gap, scoring two runs and <span>Joe Nathan</span> held on for his 8th save as the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a> came from behind to beat Texas 9-8.</p>
<p>Minnesota needed a strong performance from starter <span>Carl Pavano</span>, as the Twins bullpen is running on fumes. Although the ’stache was staked to a 3 run lead in the top of the second, Texas answered with two in the bottom half of the frame, and added five more in the fourth inning, and one in the fifth before Pavano left the game. His line for the night: 5 innings, 9 hits, 8 runs (all earned), 2 walks and a strikeout.</p>
<p>But give the Twins bullpen credit—on Monday, they couldn’t get anyone out, but tonight, they pitched 4 innings of shutout baseball, with reliever Joe Nathan pitching the ninth. Although Nathan allowed two runners to reach base, he struck out <span>David Murphy</span> swinging to clinch the victory.</p>
<p>In the win, <span>Ben Revere</span>, <span>Delmon Young</span>, and <span>Michael Cuddyer</span> each had two hits to lead a 13 hit attack for the Twins.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/7/26/2296720/twins-beat-texas-on-mauer-doubleTed Glover2011-07-26T16:49:49-05:002011-07-26T16:49:49-05:00Twins Look To Regroup After Thumping By The Rangers
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<p>There’s just no way to say it: the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Minnesota Twins</a> were absolutely, positively, terrible in Arlington, TX last night. Ron Gardenhire, almost desperate for a quality start from <span>Nick Blackburn</span>, got the exact opposite. Blackburn gave up 9 runs and 11 hits in just 2 2/3 innings, and the Twins absorbed the worst beating of the Ron Gardenhire era.</p>
<p>The 20 runs were the most scored by a team in the major leagues this year. It got so bad that All Star <span>Michael Cuddyer</span> came in and pitched the 8th inning, and it was one of two innings where the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a> didn’t score any runs. They were probably too tired from swinging and laughing.</p>
<p>Tonight, it’s the ’Stache, <span>Carl Pavano</span>, (6-7, 4.24 <span class="caps">ERA</span>) to the mound to face CJ Wilson. Pavano, who has been a workhorse for the Twins, really needs a good outing to give the tattered bullpen a rest, or it could be another long night.</p>
<p>C <span>Joe Mauer</span> is not scheduled to start tonight, as he is only 1-16 in his career against Wilson, and he will sit tonight.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/7/26/2295921/twins-rangers-game-previewTed Glover2011-07-25T22:42:32-05:002011-07-25T22:42:32-05:00Twins Thoroughly Embarrassed By Rangers, 20-6
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<p>Hey, did you guys hear that the NFL lockout ended? Because that's basically the only good news Minnesota sports fans got on Monday.</p>
<p>As for the baseball team? Let's just try to pretend that Monday night never happened. Texas beat Minnesota by a very NFL-like score of 20-6...and sadly for <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a> fans, the game wasn't even that close.</p>
<p>Just how bad was it for Twins pitching? The starter, <span>Nick Blackburn</span>, gave up <i>eleven</i> hits and <i>nine </i>runs in just 2 2/3 innings. Then <span>Jose Mijares</span> got shelled for five runs in only 2/3 of an inning. And then <span>Chuck James</span> gave up four runs in just one inning of work. And then...well, you get the idea. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a> scored at least three runs in the first <i>five</i> innings. The score was 18-1 with four innings left to play.</p>
<p>Yuck.</p>
<p>The defense didn't do the atrocious pitching staff any favors either. The Twins committed three errors that led to four unearned runs from Texas. The Rangers committed four errors of their own, but those types of miscues tend to hurt a lot less when you're putting up 20 runs on offense.</p>
<p>Rangers starter <span>Derek Holland</span> went six innings for Texas and fared much, much better than the Twins staff, giving up only one unearned run. The Twins touched the Texas bullpen for five meaningless runs in the last three innings, well after the outcome had been decided.</p>
<p>The drubbing of the Twins was truly a team effort for Texas. Eight different Rangers knocked in at least one run, and eight different Rangers had multi-hit games. Remarkably, the only two of the Rangers' 27 hits were home runs. The 27 hits allowed was an all-time Twins franchise worst, and the 20 runs allowed was the second worst ever. The Rangers' 43 total bases on Monday night was the most by any team in the major leagues this season. But you probably had already assumed most of that.</p>
<p>At least we got to see <span>Michael Cuddyer</span> come on to pitch the 8th inning! No, we're not kidding. Cuddyer, the Twins' only All-Star, had to come to the mound to stop the slaughter of the normal pitching staff. And guess what? He didn't allow a run!</p>
<p>The Twins will try to have as few nightmares as possible about this game as they try to even up the series tomorrow night in Arlington. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Hey, it can't be any worse than it was on Monday...right?</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-twins/2011/7/25/2294052/twins-thoroughly-embarrassed-by-rangers-20-6Eric Thompson2011-07-25T17:02:14-05:002011-07-25T17:02:14-05:00Twins At Rangers: Minnesota Faces Uphill Climb
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<p>There was some good news and bad news for the <a href="https://www.twinkietown.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Twins</a> over the weekend. The good news is that they snapped and 11 game losing streak to the <a href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Tigers</a>. The bad news is that they lost the other three games in the series, and fell to 7 games back in the AL Central. If they want to make a serious run at the division, they're now going to have to go about it the hard way.</p>
<p>The hard way begins tonight in Arlington, TX, against the defending AL Champion and west division <a href="https://www.lonestarball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Texas Rangers</a>, to begin a 10 game road trip.</p>
<p>For the Twins, this past weekend was an opportunity lost, as they had a golden opportunity to make up some serious ground against the Tigers. It will be up to <span>Nick Blackburn</span> to get the Twins back on the right track. Over his past two starts, he has an ERA of 0.69, and his sinkerball has been very effective.</p>
<p>Opposite Blackburn will be lefty <span>Derek Holland</span> (8-4, 4.65 ERA), and inconsistent starter for much of the season. The Twins have a great opportunity to take the first game of the series, and hopefully begin their climb back towards the top of the standings.</p>
https://minnesota.sbnation.com/2011/7/25/2338378/twins-at-rangers-minnesota-faces-uphill-climbTed Glover