The Little Twingine that Could

[Mav3rek]

I'm starting a new dynasty. This one I will use the Twins.

I'm using UR 8.0 Plus, MVP 06 Mod, and Playing on All-Star difficulty. If I end up dominating I'll raise the difficulty.

First game summary to come!

Here's how the 2006 Minnesota Twins look at the begining of the season:

Lineups:

Shannon Stewart

Shannon enters his 3rd year in Minnesota as the starting left fielder. Stewart hit .274 last year with 10 homers and 56 RBI. Stewart's better days are behind him as he enters the twilight of his career, but he's a veteran player that will help the maturation of the younger guys.

Grade:B-

Louis Castillo

Castillo comes over to Minnesota from Florida where he spent to first 10 years of his career. Castillo will provide speed at the top of the lineup and will help be a threat on the basepaths. Last year Castillo hit .301 with 4 homers, 30 RBI and just 10 stolen bases

Grade:B

Joe Mauer

Mauer is coming off of his first full season in the Majors where he hit .294 with 9 homers and 55 RBI. Mauer is expected to hit 3rd and be a force to be reckoned with in the middle of this lineup. Mauer is not known for his power, but should hit over .300 easily.

Grade:A-

Michael Cuddyer

Cuddyer enters his 6th season in the bigs as the starting right fielder for theTwins. Cuddyer is looking ot improve off of last years .263 12 homer 42 RBI campaign. Cuddyer is tentavly scheduled to hit cleanup for the Twins, but that may change over time.

Grade:C+

Torii Hunter

Hunter enters his 10th season with the Twins as the starting center fielder. Torii has become known in Minnesota for his good offensive production and spectacular defensive plays. Hunter is entering the final year of his contract, and many feel is could be his last.

Grade B+

Justin Morneau

Morneau comes off a season that saw him hit just .239 with 22 homers and 79 RBI. Morneau has some pop in his bat, and will look to establish himself as a threat in this lineup.

Grade:C+

Rondell White

White is entering his 14th season and first with the Twins. White hit .313 last season with the Tigers, and had 12 homers and 53 RBI. White will also help to add to the veteran leadership in this clubhouse.

Grade:B-

Jason Bartlett

Barlett is a young player getting the start at shortstop. Last year in a limited role with the team he hit just .241 with 3 home runs and 16 RBI. Bartlett is going to be on a short leash with Gardenhire, so if he struggles he could find himself on the bench.

Grade:C-

Nick Punto

Nick Punto gets the starting job at 3rd base for the Twins to start the 2006 season. Punto only appeared in 112 games last year for the Twins and hit just .239. Punto is relatively young, but like Bartlett will be on a short chain and if he doesn't produce will be benched.

Grade:C-

Bench

The bench is highlighted by firstbaseman Paul Nevin. Nevin can also play 3rd and has had some power in years past. Nevin was once almost traded from the Padres to the Reds for Ken Griffey Jr. but Nevin wouldn't waive his no trade clause. Jason Tyner, Jason Kubel, Lew Ford, Luis Rodriguez, round out the bench players.

Grade:B

Starting Rotation

The starting pitchers are highlighted by Johan Santana, and Francisco Liriano. Santana is a guaranteed around 20 wins, and in the running for a Cy Young. Liriano is an untested rookie, but has been impressive in spring training. Brad Radke is back for another go around with the Twins, but has struggled with injuries in years past. Carlos Silva and Boof Bonser round out the starting 5.

Grade:A

Bullpen

The bullpen for the Twins has a solid group of guys headlined by closer Joe Nathan. Dennys Reyes helps with the lefties, while Juan Rincon helps setup duties with the righties. Crain, Eyre, and Guerrier finish out the bullpen

Grade:B

Outlook

The twins have a decent offensive lineup and better than average starting pitching. Prediction 90-72, wild card.

[Mav3rek]

[align=center]Santana and Halladay duel it out[/align]

Johan Santana and Roy Halladay put on a pitching clinic on opening day in Toronto. People knew it would be a low scoring game, but they didn't know it would be this low. Both teams blew opportunities to score multiple times, mainly because of some outstanding pitching on both parts. Halladay pitched 8 scoreless innings, while Santana went 10 plus scoreless innings before allowing a leadoff double to start off the 11th inning. After the double by Alex Rios the Twins went to the bullpen to Joe Nathan to try and provide some relief. Nathan would get only two outs before Bengie Molina's sac fly would score Rios from 3rd.

above:Santana pitched well, but in the end the Jays got the best of the Twins.

Twin Talk

Santana:"I was surprised to go out there for the 11th inning, but I felt good. Rios just did a good job of hitting a mistake pitch on my part"

Gardenhire:"If I had to do it over, I'd still send him out there in the 11th. His pitch count was low, and he was looking good."

Twins Studs

Joe Mauer --- 2/4

Johan Santana --- 10.0 IP 1 ER 3K's

Twins Duds

Shannon Stewart --- 0/5

Pitching

Blue Jays

Halladay ---------- 8.0 IP 0ER 3K's

Ryan (1-0) ------- 3.0 IP 0ER 2K's

Twins

Santana (0-1) ---- 10.0 IP 1ER 3K's

Nathan ------------ 0.2 IP 0ER 0K's

[Mav3rek]

[align=center]Radke Dominant in First Start of Season[/align]

Brad Radke made a successful season debut for the Twins today, as he dominated the Twins offense pitching 7 shutout innings, and allowing only 4 hits and striking out 1. After not scoring any runs in 11 innings the previous game, the Twins got the party started early with a first inning solo blast to straight away center by Joe Mauer. The fun would continue in the top of the 5th as Barlett would lead the inning off with a single and then steal second. Punto would follow with an RBI singled, immediately followed by an RBI triple by Shannon Stewart. A.J. Burnett got the start for the Blue Jays and was hit hard. He gave up 4 runs on 13 hits in 7 innings pitched, and never really looked comfortable on the mound. "Our offense really showed up today," says Gardenhire "After being shutout on opening day, this feels really good to come back and get a nice win." Next up for the Twins, Carlos Silva takes on Ted Lilly in game 3 of this opening series.

above:Mauer celebrates his first homer of the year, and the Jays react after a loss.

Twin Talk

Radke:"I felt great going out there today, but I actually surprised myself with how well I performed. It felt great to get the first win out of the way."

Mauer:"We played well as a whole. The offense really came together well with 13 hits today. We showed just a glimpse of what we can be like offensively. It feels good to get that first win."

Twins Studs

Shannon Stewart 3/5 1 RBI

Rondell White 3/4

Brad Radke 7.0IP 0ER

Twins Duds

Jason Barlett 1/4

Pitching

Blue Jays

Burnett (0-1) ---- 7.0 IP 13H 4R 4ER 1K

Tallet ------------- 2IP 4H 0K

Twins

Radke (1-0)---- 7.0IP 4H 1K

Rincon ----------1.0IP 1H 1K

Reyes ---------- 1.0IP 0H 1K

Next up, Carlos Silva takes on Ted Lilly

[abc006]

looks nice, decent layout, should follow. however, you should probably do a little (or big) "overview" in your first post.

[D-Unit]

Looks great Mav, hopefully you can keep it going for a while, your dynasties are interesting.

[Mav3rek]

looks nice, decent layout, should follow. however, you should probably do a little (or big) "overview" in your first post.

updated, check out the first post (whew!)

Looks great Mav, hopefully you can keep it going for a while, your dynasties are interesting.

I never seem to finish what I start for some reason. I think it's mainly because I try to do too much with the dynasty writeups and it takes too long. With this format it's quick and simple for me to play 1 game and then post it quickly. So this is definatley promising!

Thanks for the input guys!

[D-Unit]

No problem. I know that it's nice to hear good things about your dynasty and this one looks better than your previous ones.

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Twins Make Late Charge For Comeback Win[/align]

On a day where everything went right for the BlueJays for 8 innings, it was the 9th that proved to be the fatal blow. Ted Lilly was tremendous through 7 innings, but struggled his way through the 8th. The crowd of 27, 483 were shocked to see Lilly come back out for the 9th, but then again he hasn't allowed a run all day and had only given up 6 hits. After stricking out Cuddyer to start off the 9th Lilly then allowed the next 3 batters of the inning to reach base, B.J. Ryan was finally brought in to close out the game. With the bases loaded and one out and a 3 run lead to work with the Blue Jays were only concerned with getting outs as a slow grounder to first by Barlett allowed Torii Hunter to score from 3rd. Phil Nevin was brought in for Nick Punto to bat with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out. Ryan walked Nevin on 5 pitches reloading the bases. He promptly then walked Shannon Stewart on 5 pitches to force in the 2nd run for the Twins. With 2 out a single by Luis Castillo would score the 3rd run of the inning for the Twins to tie the game. Ryan would then get Mauer to ground out to end the inning. Joe Nathan would come in for the Twins and shut them down for 2 innings. The score remained the same until the top of the 11th when Nevin up for the 2nd time doubled into the right field corner off of Ryan, who was left in the game, to score Rondell White. Nathan was spent after pitching 2 innings in relief, so Jesse Crain was brought in to get the final 3 outs and his first save of the year.

Cuddyer nails Hill at the plate, while Nevin makes the game ending tag on Vernon Wells trying to get a triple.

Twin Talk

Silva:"Even though I didn't have my best stuff, it was nice to see the guys bail me out and get us a win."

Nevin:"I was just happy to get into my first game of the season, I never would have imagined that I would have the game winning RBI and make the tag for the final out on such a great play."

Twins Studs

Twins Bullpen 5.0IP 2H 0ER 1K

Phil Nevin: 1/1 GW RBI

Twins Duds

Torii Hunter 1/5

Pitching

Blue Jays

Lilly-------------- 8.1IP 9H 3R 3ER 3K's

Ryan (L, 1-1) --- 2.1IP 5H 1R ER 0K's

League ---------- 0.1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0K's

Twins

Silva ---------------- 6.0IP 7H 3R 3ER 0K's

Guerrier ------------ 2.0IP 0H 0R 0ER 0K's

Nathan (W, 1-0) --- 2.0IP 1H 0R 0ER 1K

Crain (S, 1) -------- 1.0IP 1H 0R 0ER 0K's

[D-Unit]

Looking forward to Liriano.

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Twins Lose Game, and Morneau[/align]

Francisco Liriano was excited about his season debut with the Twins tonight. That excitement quickly turned to dissapointment as the Indians jumped all over Liriano and the Twins with a 10 to 6 victory. Liriano struggled early on allowing 6 runs in the bottom of the 2nd capped by a Travis Haffner 3 run homer. Joe Mauer tried to bring the Twins back by respoding in the top of the 3rd with a 3 run homer of his own to cut the lead to 6-4. But Liriano, who struggled with his control all day, would give a run right back on a Victor Martinez homer. The Indians controlled the game all day, seemingly scoring at will on the Twins pitching. Things went from bad to worse for the Indians when in the bottom of the 8th of a 9-6 game Justin Morneau dove to rob Travis Hafner of a hit and ended up injuring his knee on the play. "From what we can tell so far, it appears that Justin tore his right knee meniscus," said Gardenhire " It appears that Justin will be out at least a month, maybe longer depending on rehab. Early plans are to let him get healthy and then send him to AAA for a few starts to get back into the swing of things." The Twins also announce that Phil Nevin will take over firstbaseman duties, and veteran free agent J.T. Snow was signed to a 1 year contract to fill the roster spot and help provide some depth at the first base postition. Gardenhire suggested that Nevin and Snow will split time at first for the time being. This is definately a dissapointing event early in this young 2006 season, time will only tell if the Twins will be able to overcome this setback. Morneau was batting .353 thus far.

Gardenhire tries to settle Liriano down, while the Indians celebrate a homerun.

Twin Talk

Liriano:"I just didn't have any location today. I kept leaving everything up and they did a good job of capitalizing on my mistakes."

Morneau"It sucks to get injured this early in the season, hopefully I won't have any setbacks and can get back out there and help out this team."

Twins Studs

Shannon Stewart --- 3/4

(Honorable Mention) Joe Mauer --- 1/4 1HR 3RBI

Twins Duds

Nick Punto --- 0/4

Jason Barlett --- 0/4

Rondell White --- 0/4

Francisco Liriano --- 5IP 12H 8R 8ER 1K 14.40 ERA

Pitching

Indians

Paul Byrd (W, 1-0) ------ 7IP 9H 6R 6ER 1K

Jason Davis (S, 2) -------2IP 1H 0R 0ER 0K

Twins

Francisco Liriano (L, 0-1)------ 5IP 12H 8R 8ER 1K

Matt Guerrier ------------------ 1.2IP 5H 1R 1ER

Jesse Cain --------------------- 1.1IP 2H 1R 1ER

Up Next:

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Twins Come Back Again[/align]

The Twins don't want to win all of their games like this, but they'll take it. The Twins came back from a 2-1 deficit with a Nick Punto 2 run homer to take the lead 3-2 that would prove to be the game winner. The Twins jumped out on top in the top of the 5th thanks to an error by Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie had come in for Sowers who had left after 2 innings with a finger blister, he's not expected to miss any time. The score would remain 1 to nothing until the bottom of the 6th when Grady Sizemore and Travis Haffner would hit back to back homers off of Boof Bonser to take the lead 2-1. But in the top of the 7th, Nick Punto would connect on 2-1 pitch and put it into the right field bullpen to give the Twins a 3-2 lead that would prove to be the difference. Reyes, Rincon would pitch the 7th and 8th to get it to Nathan in the 9th to close it out. "It was a good come from behind win for us, I'm glad to have contributed with a couple hits." said Hunter. Next up for the Twins, Johan Santana takes on C.C. Sabathia in the rubber game of this 3 game series.

Above:Gardenhire looks on after back to back homers for the Indians, The Twins react after Punto's go ahead homerun.

Twin Talk

Gardenhire:"After the back to back homeruns for the Indians, I began to get a little worried, but this team never quit, and kept battling back and pulled it out in the end."

Punto:"It always feels good to get a win, but hitting the game winning homer makes if that much more special."

Twins Studs

Nick Punto ---------- 2/4 1HR 2RBI

Phil Nevin ----------- 2/4

Torii Hunter --------- 2/4

Shannon Stewart --- 2/4

Twins Duds

Jason Barlett --- 0/4

Luis Castillo ---- 0/4

Pitching

Indians

Jeremy Sowers -------------- 2.0IP 3H 0R 0ER 0K

Jeremy Guthrie (L, 0-1) ----- 7.0IP 7H 3R 3ER 0K

Twins

Boof Bonser (W, 1-0)---- 6.0IP 5H 2R 2ER 0K

Dennys Reyes ----------- 1.0IP 1H 0R 0ER 0K

Juan Rincon ----- ---------1.0IP 2H 0R 0ER 0K

Joe Nathan (S, 1) -------- 1.0IP 0H 0R 0ER 0K

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Twins Win Again[/align]

Johan Santana outdueled C.C. Sabathia, in a matchup of two ace starting pitchers. Sabathia went the distance allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits, while Santana went 8 innings, not allowing any runs, and striking out 7. Bartlett put the Twins up 1-0 in the top of the 3rd with a solo shot to deep right off of Sabathia. The Twins would add a run in the top of the 8th on a Shannon Stewart single to make it 2-0. Nathan would try to close it out in the 9th, and gave up a solo shot to Victor Martinez to make it just a 1 run game. But Nathan would settle down and retire Brad Snyder to end the game. "Santana was dominant once again tonight, and out offense actually managed to score him a couple of runs," said Gardenhire, "It he continues to pitch like that the rest of the season, he's going to win a lot of games for us." The Twins have a day off to travel back to Minnesota and get ready for their home opener against the A's. Brad Radke will make his second start of the season, being opposed by the A's

Above: The lonliest Indian

Twin Talk

Santana:"I felt good out there. I had my best stuff, and the offense gave me a couple of runs to work with."

Barlett:"I think I even surprised myself with that homer off of Sabathia. It was good to give our team the lead like that, but I was just really trying to make contact."

Twins Studs

Santana --- 8IP 0R 0ER 7K

Barlett ----- 2/3 1HR 1 RBI

Stewart ---- 1/3 1RBI 1BB

Twins Duds

Mauer ------ 0/4

Cuddyer --- 0/4 1K

Nevin ------ 0/3 1K

White ------ 0/3

Pitching

Indians

C.C. Sabathia (L, 1-1) ------ 9.0IP 6H 2R 2ER 2K

Twins

Johan Santana (W, 1-1) ---- 8IP 6H 0R 0ER 7K

Joe Nathan (S, 2) ------------ 1IP 2H 1R 1ER

Next Up:

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Radke Pitches Well, But Stewart Saves the Game[/align]

Things didn't appear to be going the Twins way early on in today's game, but like previous games, the Twins never gave up. In the top of the second with one man on Radke hung a curve that Milton Bradley promptly put over the right field wall and into the bleachers for a 2 run lead. Haren would stifle the Twins until the bottom of the 5th where a single by Punto and a double by Stewart would put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Castillo would promptly follow with a 2 run single to tie the game. Castillo would then steal second and score on Joe Mauers single back up the middle to give the Twins a 1 run lead. It wouldn't last long though, as in the top of the 7th relief man Willie Eyre would Dan Johnson to single to lead off the inning and would eventually score on Marco Scutaro's single. Haren couldn't hold the Twins down for long though, as Punto would crush his 2nd homer of the season to give the Twins back the lead. They would add one on thanks to a Joe Mauer sac fly. The game looked to be well in hand when Joe Nathan came into the game, but after retiring the first batter he allowe Dan Johnson to single into left to put one on with Milton Bradley coming up to bat. On a 1-2 pitch Nathan hung a slider that Bradley tried to take out to left field. The pitch seemed to keep carrying and Stewart seemed to realize this from the get go as he sprinted back to the wall in left. Stewart timed his jump perfectly and robbed Bradley of a game tying 2 run homer. Nathan would then get the next batter to ground out to second to end the game and give the Twins their 3rd straight victory.

Above: Macha doesn't like the call, Stewart saves the game for the Twins.

Twin Talk

Punto:"Haren had been pitching me hard and in all day long, and I was looking for it when I came up to the plate. Luckily he tried to groove a fastball by me and I just turned on it and gave us the lead."

Stewart:"I knew when Bradley hit it, that it wasn't going to be out of my reach. I just sprinted back and jumped and timed it right and made the play."

Twins Studs

Stewart 3/4 2R

Castillo 3/4 2RBI 2SB

Punto 2/3 1HR

Twins Duds

Barlett 0/3 1K

White 0/4 1K

Hunter 0/4 1K

Pitching

A's

Danny Haren (L, 0-1) 7.0IP 11H 5R 5ER 7K

Shane Komine -------- 1.0IP 0H 0R 0ER 1K

Twins

Brad Radke----------- 6IP 6H 2R 2ER 1K

Willie Eyre (W, 1-0)-- 1IP 2H 1R 1ER 0K

Juan Rincon ---------- 1IP 1H 0R 0ER 0K

Joe Nathan (S, 3) ---- 1IP 1H 0R 0ER 0K

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Silva Struggles, Twins Bats Come To The Rescue[/align]

Carlos Silva labored through 6 tough innings, but the Twins bats came to life just in time to pull out a victory over the Oakland A's. Stewart hit his first homerun of the year, as well as Rondell White. Frank Thomas got the A's on the board in the first with a 2 run single to left, and Silva would wiggle out of the rest of the inning. Joe Kennedy would not be able to hold the lead though, giving up a leadoff homer to Stewart, followed by a double by Castillo off the top of the wall in right. A Joe Mauer single would score Castillo from 2nd, and Mauer would later score on a double by Cuddyer. Silva could only keep the A's quite for so long, as in the top of the 4th back to back homers from Nick Swisher, and Dan Johnson would put the A's back on top. In the bottom of the 5th though the Twins would answer back with a double by Castillo and a single by Mauer again to tie the game at 4. The Twins would add on 1 in the 7th and 2 in the 8th thanks to a Rondell White homer to make it a 7-4 game. Nathan would come in to the game in the 9th and give up a run on 3 hits, but ultimately would close out the game. The Twins will send Liriano to the mound to try for the sweep in the next game, while the A's will counter with Kirk Saarloos.

Above: Chavez takes away a hit from Hunter, Nathan celebrates another shaky save.

Twin Talk

Nathan:"It wasn't a pretty save, but at least I got it done. I'm going to have to perform better or I might end up costing us some games."

Silva:"I definately didn't have my good stuff out there today, but at least the team was able to bail me out and get us another win."

Twins Studs

Castillo 4/4, SB

White 2/3, 1HR 3RBI

Mauer 3/4, 1RBI

Twins Duds

Barlett 0/4 1K

Punto 0/4 1K

Pitching

A's

Joe Kennedy (L, 0-1) ----- 7IP 12H 5R 5ER 2BB 2K

Shane Komine ------------ 1IP 2H 2R 2ER 0K

Twins

Carlos Silva ------------------ 6IP 9H 4R 4ER 2K

Matt Guerrier (W, 1-0) ------ 1.1IP 2H 0R 0ER

Juan Rincon ------------------ 0.2IP 0H 0R 0ER

Joe Nathan (S, 4) ------------ 1IP 3H 1R 1ER

Up Next:

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Liriano Struggles Again, A's Lose Kendall For Season[/align]

In every series the Twins have played thus far in the 2006 season, someone on either team has gone down with an injury for a significat ammount of time. Against the Blue Jays, Alex Rios suffered a concussion that will keep him out of business for 2 months. Against the Indians the Twins lost Justin Morneau for over a month. And now the A's in the final game of the series lost Jason Kendall for the season with a torn left shoulder muscle. The injury happened when Kendall was trying to break up a double play in the top of the first inning. If he had only known the trouble the A's would have given Liriano he might have eased up a bit. Liriano didn't fair much better in his second start of the season, going 6 innings and allowing 6 earned runs. The main culprit was Milton Bradley who went 2/4 with 2 homeruns and 5 RBI, both of which came off of Liriano. For the 2nd straight start, the 2nd inning proved to be the downfall for Liriano who gave up 4 runs during it. The Twins tried to mount a furious comeback, but in the end came up just short of that goal. J.T. Snow getting his first start of the season homered in his second at bat to make it a 6-3 game, and Mauer would later add a solo shot in th 6th to get one run closer. After J.T. Snow reached base on an error, he came around to score on a double by Rondell White to cut the lead to 6-5. But that was all the Twins would get as the A's bullpen pitched 2 and 1/3 innings of hitless ball. Oddly enough Ken Macha decided to use Huston Street to setup rather than close, allowing Justin Duchscherer to get the save. Next up for the Twins, the Yankees come to town for a 3 game series.

Above: Macha reacts after Mauers homer brings the Twins closer, A losing Twins team reacts at the end of the game.

Twin Talk

Liriano:"Any time you go out there and give up 6 earned runs and your E.R.A. goes down, you know it's not been a good season so far."

Gardenhire:"Liriano's struggled greatly through his first two starts, I'm confident however that he will be able to turn it around. I just hope there isn't something wrong with him."

Twins Studs

J.T. Snow 1/4 1HR 3RBI

Twins Duds

Punto 0/3

Nevin 0/4

Pitching

A's

Kirk Saarloos (W, 1-0) ----- 6.2IP 6H 5R 4ER 2BB 3K

Brad Halsey ----------------- 0.1IP 0H 0R 0ER

Huston Street --------------- 1.0IP 0H 0R 0ER

Justin Duchscherer (S, 1)--- 1.0IP 0H 0R 0ER

Twins

Francisco Liriano (L, 0-2) ------ 6IP 11H 6R 6ER 2K

Dennys Reyes ------------------ 2IP 2H 0R 0ER

Jesse Crain --------------------- 1IP 1H 0R 0ER

Up Next:

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Yankees Roll Over Twins, The Injury Bug Strikes Again[/align]

The trend continues in Minnesota. Every series has seen at least 1 starter go down win a significant injury, and this one is no different. The Yankees lost starting left fielder Hideki Matsui for at least 1 month with a torn left shoulder muscle. It marked a bitter end for the Yankees who had won the game handedly over Minnesota. The Yankees got it started early with a two run hommer off the bat of Derek Jeter. In the top of the 6th the Yankees would keep it rolling with a 3 run homer from Craig Wilson followed by back to back shots from Robinson Cano, and Derek Jeter for the 2nd time. Craig Wilson would add another homer an inning later to give the Yankees a commanding 10-3 lead. The Twins would try to mount a comeback but would come up short. Next up the Twins will try to end the 2 game skid by sending Johan Santan to the hill. The Yankees will counter with Randy Johnson. This matchup looks to be a good one, and should result in a low scoring affair.

Above: Craig Wilson hits the first of his 2 homeruns, Cuddyer gives the Twins some hope.

Twin Talk

Bonser:"What can I say? I sucked."

Mauer:"We can't have too many games like that, it was an ugly loss but we still never gave up and tried to mount a comeback, but had already dug ourselves a hole too big."

Twins Studs

Barlett 3/5 2RBI

Cuddyer 2/4 3RBI

Twins Duds

White 0/5

Bonser 5IP 5R 5ER

Pitching

Yankees

Carl Pavano (W, 1-0) ---- 7IP 11H 6R 6ER 4K

Phillip Hughes ------------- 1IP 2H 0R 0ER 2K

Mariano Rivera ----------- 1IP 1H 0R 0ER 0K

Twins

Boof Bonser (L, 1-1) ------ 5IP 8H 5R 5ER

Jesse Crain ---------------- 1IP 5H 4R 4ER

Willie Eyre ----------------- 2IP 3H 1R 1ER

Dennys Reyes ------------- 1IP 0H 0R 0ER

Up Next:

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Twins Offense Can't Solve Johnson[/align]

THe Minnesota Twins offense was kept off balance all day by Yankees starter Randy Johnson. In a game that was thought to be a pitchers duel to the end, it ended up being a blowout. Johan Santana was hit hard for the first time this season, in allowing 5 earned runs in just 5 innings of work. Johnson did a tremendous job of changing speeds and pounding his slider inside to righties to dominate the Twins. No one had more than 1 hit off of Johnson, and the only run was courtesy of a sac fly by Mauer. Other than that the Twins never had a runner past 2nd, and rarely had anyone on base at all as they manages just 5 hits total. Johnson got strong support from Gary Sheffield who hit 2 homeruns to help lead the way against the Twins. The Twins will now look to avoid the sweep in the final game of this 3 game series.

Above: Sheffield jacks homer number two of the game, a dejected Twins team reacts after a third straight loss.

Twin Talk

Santana:"Terrible, that kind of performance for me is totally unacceptable."

Gardenhire:"Well, we've struggled our last 3 games and really need to get things turned around before things get out of hand."

Twins Studs

Mauer 1/3 1RBI

Twins Duds

Stewart 0/3

Cuddyer 0/4

White 0/3

Barlett 0/2

Pitching

Yankees

Randy Johnson (W, 3-0) ----- 9IP 5H 1R 1ER 3K

Twins

Johan Santana (L, 1-2) ------ 5IP 8H 5R 5ER 2K

Jesse Crain ------------------- 2IP 4H 2R 2ER 1K

Dennys Reyes ---------------- 1.1IP 2H 1R 1ER 0K

Juan Rincon ------------------- 0.2IP 0H 0R 0ER 0K

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Twins Make Late Surge To Steal Win From Yankees[/align]

Brad Radke continued pitching well in his 3rd start, but wasn't around to get the victory in this one. In what turned out to be a pitchers duel, both pitchers held the opposing team scoreless until the top of the 6th when the Yankees would break through on Radke. Johnny Damon would lead the inning off with an opposite field homerun into the left field seats, and 2 batters later Jason Giambi would crush a 1-1 pitch from Radke into the 3rd row of seats above the right field wall. Mussina on the other hand had his best stuff until he appreared to run out of gas in the bottom of the 7th, where the Twins would touch him up for 5 runs on 5 hits from Mauer, Stewart, Castillo, Hunter and White. The Twins bullpen did their job and turned over the 5-2 lead to closer Joe Nathan. Nathan has been shaky to say the least in his previous appearances to close out the games, and this game was no different. After allowing a single up the middle by Giambi, with one out he tried to get a go ahead fastball past Robinson Cano who promptly deposited it into the left field seats to cut the lead to 5-4. Nathan though would again settle down and finish out the game to stop the losing streak, and save the Twins from a sweep at home by the Yankees. The Twins now have a day off before the Los Angelos Angels of Anaheim come to town for a 3 game series.

Above:Torre gets ejected arguing a call in the 3rd, Giambi watches a homerun fly into the right field seats.

Twin Talk

Castillo:"It feels good to have gotten the win and break the losing streak we were on, hopefully we can build on this win and go on a wining streak."

Snow:"I haven't been with this team for very long, but I can already tell they have a ton of fight in them and won't ever give up no matter how bad the situation is."

Twins Studs

Hunter 2/4

Snow 2/4

White 2/4 1RBI

Castillo 2/4 2RBI

Stewart 2/4

Twins Duds

Cuddyer 0/4

Barlett 0/4

Nevin 0/2

Pitching

[Dom2662]

Looks good. Keep it up!

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Twins Can't Hold Off Angels[/align]

The Minnesota Twins have had several comeback wins early in the 2006 season, but playing with the lead in today's game the Twins just seemed uncomfortable. After Vlad Guerrero crushed a pitch over the centerfield wall in the first, the Twins immediately answered right back in the bottom of the first with a leadoff homer by Shannon Stewart, and followed that up with Michael Cuddyer single to take the lead 2-1. In the bottom of the 2nd the Twins would add one more on to their lead with a single by White, followed up one batter later with a double by Punto. The lead 3-1 lead would hold until the top of the 5th when a Garret Anderson single would tie up the game. Both Carlos Silva and Ervin Santana would shut down the offenses until an exhauseted Silva hung a slurve to the first batter in the 9th, Howie Kendrick, who would hit it just over the left field wall to give the Angels what would be the winning run. Francisco Rodriguez would get the Twins 1-2-3 to end the game, and prevent the Twins from winning their second straight game.

Above:Vlad watches his first inning homer fly over the center field wall, while Soscia goes out to get Ervin Santan.

Twin Talk

Gardenhire:"We just gave that one away, I probably left Silva out there for too long, but I wanted to try and get the kid his first win of the year."

Silva:"I just had nothing left when I went out there for the 9th inning, but I kept telling coach to just leave me in there that I felt good. I should have turned it over to the bullpen, and I cost our team the win."

Twins Studs

White 3/4

Twins Duds

Mauer 0/3

Nevin 0/3

Pitching

[Mav3rek]

[align=center]

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[align=center]Liriano Gets Shelled Again[/align]

Francisco Liriano had struggled in his previous 2 starts this season, unfortuately things went from bad to worse for Liriano against the Angels. Liriano lasted just 4 innings, and gave up a season high 12 runs, all of which were earned. This outing actually raised his E.R.A from 12.00 to 15.60. Not helping the situation was Vladimier Guerrero who had 3 homeruns on the day, 2 off of Liriano. "Things have just not been going well for him this season," says Gardenhire "He can't get his pitches down, everything is up. His confidence is zero as well, he doesn't trust any of his pitches, and it more than shows in his game." Orlando Carbrera and Tony Womack each had one homerun to add to Vlad's 3. Guerrero came into this series with zero homeruns on the year, and now after just 2 games in the series he now has 4. Jered Weaver picked up the win by pitching a complete game and allowing only 2 runs. Both young pitchers had struggled early in the season, but it appears that Weaver got on track tonight against the Twins. Now the Twins must pull out a win in the final game of the series against Bartolo Colon in order to avoid getting swept at home by the Angels. The Twins will counter with Boof Bonser.

Above:Vlad hits his first of 3 homeruns on the day, and an all too familiar site for Liriano.

Twin Talk

Gardenhire:"Liriano is just struggling too much right now, I wouldn't be surprised to see him be sent down to AAA for a few starts to get his confidence and control back."

Liriano:"I'm just terrible right now, everything seems to stay up no matter what I try. I would understand if I were sent down, I deserve it."

Twins Studs

Cuddyer 2/4

Hunter 2/2

Twins Duds

Stewart 0/2

Ford 0/2

Mauer 0/2

Kubel 0/2

Punto 0/3

Bartlett 0/2

Complete Box Score

Pitching

[D-Unit]

Ouch! You left him in too long if you ask me...good luck with Boof.

[Mav3rek]

I kept waiting for the stupid bullpen to finish warming up, but they seemed to take forever adn every pitch I threw got crushed...

[Mav3rek]

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[align=center]Boof No Better As Angels Sweep Twins[/align]

Ron Gardenhire couldn't be happier to have Vladimier Guerrero on his way out of town. "I'm just glad he's not in our division." says Gardenhire. In this series Guerrero hit .750 with 4 homeruns, and 5 RBI. Not only did he go crazy at the dish, he also had a couple of outfield assists to nail runners at the plate. In the bottom of the 6th the Twins loaded the bases with no one out as Rondell White came up to bat. He would bloop a hit into right field that Guerrero would catch on one hop and throw a laser home to force the runner out at third. "Vlad didn't win the games single handedly, but he sure didn't hurt them in any way." Gardenhire added. But the reality of the situation is that the Twins have hit a slump early in the season. Since starting out 6-2 the Twins are just 1-6 in their last 7 games. Said Mauer, "We have just been struggling as a whole. Pitching hasn't been there, neither has the offense. Things will get beter though, I'm confident of it."

Above:Guerrero shows off his arm from right, and a dejected Twins clubhouse reacts after another loss.

Twin Talk

Mauer:"We need to turn this around, and fast. Losing 5 of 6 is not fun, but the good thing is that it's still early in the season, and there is a lot of ball left to be played"

Nevin:"We are all responsible when we lose, and we are all responsible when we win. We need to turn things around as a team, and get this ship righted before we sink out of contention."

Twins Studs

White 2/4

Guerrier 4.1IP 1R 1ER

Twins Duds

Bonser 2IP 9H 7R 7ER

Castillo 0/4

Bartlett 0/2

Rodriguez 0/2

Complete Box Score

Pitching

[Mav3rek]

[align=center]Liriano Sent Down To AAA[/align]

In an expected move, the Twins made if offical today by sending struggling pitcher Francisco Liriano down to AAA. Scott Baker was called up from AAA, he was 0-2 with a 2.52 E.RA. Liriano was expected to be a pitcher in the mold of Johan Santana, but never was able to get his pitches under control. His pitches were constantly up in the zone and consitently over the outfield walls. Liriano took Bakers spot in the rotation, just like Baker took Liriano's spot in the rotation as well. "We didn't send him down there as a punishment, we just want him to work on a few things, and then when he shows steady improvement we'll bring him back up." said Gardenhire. "We just want him go get his kinks worked out because he's definately someone we need up here. He's got all the talent in the world, he just needs to harness it and hopefully this will help." Liriano was unable to be reached for comment.