Puckett's Pond » Blue Jays

West Coast, Best Coast? East Coast, Least Coast?

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 01:19:20 +0000

In the past 10 years, the Minnesota Twins, so it might seem, have enjoyed some success against teams from the west coast, and have, historically, been pretty bad against east coast teams (especially those pesky Yankees).

Over the past 10 years, since 2001, the Twins have won just under 55% of their games. But really, how have they fared against the east and west coasts, and how does that compare to teams in the middle of the country? Well, I decided to take a look. For the purposes of this study, lets say that The Diamondbacks, Rockies, Angels, Dodgers, Athletics, Padres, Giants and Mariners all count as west coast teams. The Braves, Orioles, Red Sox, Marlins, Mets, Yankees, Pirates, Rays, Blue Jays, and Nationals count as east coast teams. That leaves the Cubs, White Sox, Reds, Indians, Tigers, Astros, Royals, Brewers, Rangers, and Cardinals in what is more or less, the central part of the MLB. (more…)

The Weekend that Never Was.

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:10:52 +0000

Talk about a missed opportunity! The Minnesota Twins came into a 3-game series with a chance to really shine in front of their home crowd. After going just 2-4 in a rain shortened season opening series against the Blue Jays and the Yankees, the Twins were ready to be back home. They were home without their imported second basemen, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, thanks to Nick Swisher and the cut throat nature of Major League Baseball. They were home without the immediate services of Kevin Slowey, bullpen phenom, due to lingering soreness in his throwing arm. But they were home. Baseball was back in Minnesota and Mother Nature was happy to lend a hand, bringing beautiful weather back to a population decimated by winter blues.

But all was not lost for the Twins. With Nishioka out of the lineup, manager Ron Gardenhire had a great opportunity to put some extra pop in his starting 9. Using a combination of recently called up Luke Hughes and Michael Cuddyer at 2B, the Twins should have seen a boost in offensive performance. Moving Cuddy over to 2B gave room for DH Jason Kubel to come in and play RF and long time home run masher Jim Thome to fill in at DH. A lot of bats, a lot of home run potential, and Joe Mauer and his consistently high OBP (Career .406) in the 2-hole should have meant lots of opportunities for the Twins to score.

(more…)

Blue Jays Series Summary (4/13-4/16)

Wally Fish — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:01:58 +0000

Sorry for the late nature of this summary and the lack of posts recently. Thursday night I broke a bone in my hand playing softball and I am still adapting to hunt-and-peck typing.

The Twins won only 1 out of 4 against the Toronto Blue Jays in the series. At the end of games Thursday they were 4-7 and in 4th place in the division.

Monday 4/13
Kevin Slowey faced Jesse Litsch in the 6-8 loss. In 5.1 IP Slowey gave up 13 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 2 HR and recorded only 2 SO. Litsch had to leave the game in the 4th inning due to injury with the Twins in the lead. Slowey and the bullpen couldn’t hold on. In only 3.2 innings pitched the pen allowed 7 baserunners and 3 runs. Offensively, it was their best game of the series with 6 of their 11 XBH coming in the game to go along with a .361 BA.

Tuesday 4/14
Glen Perkins faced Rickey Romero in the 3-2 win. Perkins was excellent going 8.0 IP allowing 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB and recorded 4 SO. The bullpen was also up to the task pitching 3.0 innings without allowing a hit. In the bottom of the 11th, Crede doubled in Justin Morneau from first to win the game. The offense was mediocre hitting .256 with 3 doubles and only 1 walk in the 11 innings.

Wednesday 4/15
Scott Baker made his season debut after coming off the DL. Unfortunately it was the Blue Jays starter Scott Richmond that got the best of the matchup. Richmond and the Jays bullpen held the Twins to 1 XBH and a .129 BA for the game. Toronto’s offense had no problems with the Twins pitching however. Baker lasted only 4.0 IP allowing 5 H, 6 R, 2 BB and 4 HR while striking out 3. The bullpen was even worse and didn’t have the excuse of shaking off the rust like Baker. In 5.0 IP the pen allowed 11 H, 6 R, 3 BB and struck out 4. It was an old-fashioned beat down.

Thursday 4/16
Matchup of the aces featured Francisco Liriano and Roy Halladay. Both pitched well but the Jays pen was better than the Twins. Liriano pitched 6.0 innings and gave up 7 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 1 walk and struck out 5. The bullpen gave up 7 hits, 7 runs and 4 walks in their 3.0 innings of work. The offense hit .257 with no walks, 10 strike outs and only 1 extra base hit. The end result was a 9-2 score and another Twins loss.

Series Impression:
The starting rotation threw 23.1 innings with a 5.40 ERA, 1.59 WHIP and 14 SO.

In 14.2 innings of work the bullpen posted a 9.82 ERA, 2.18 WHIP and 12 SO.

For the series the Twins hit .255 (36/141) while drawing 6 walks and striking out 27 times. They left 25 men on base while scoring 13 runs. In the series they hit 8 2B, 1 3B, and 2 HR.

In Mauer’s absence, Morales and Redmond combined to hit .286 (4/14) with no extra base hits, 1 run, 1 RBI and 1 walk.

The Blue Jays have dominated the Twins lately and there are very few positives to take out of the series. Toronto came in as one of the hottest teams and they leave the Metrodome as the highest scoring team in baseball.

Upcoming Series:
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim come to town for a three-game series with a record of 4-5 on the season. For the Twins, the bullpen needs to step up, the rotation needs to step up, and the offense needs to be more patient at the plate and come up with more extra base hits.
4/17 Dustin Moseley (1-0, 3.86) vs. Nick Blackburn (0-1, 5.73)
4/18 Darren Oliver (0-0, 2.45) vs. Kevin Slowey (1-0, 7.94)
4/19 Shane Loux (0-0, 3.38) vs. Glen Perkins (0-1, 1.69)