Just a reminder to go vote for Pat Neshek to make it onto the All-Star game!
With a 1.37 ERA, a fantastic K/BB ratio, and being very stingy about giving up hits, Neshek is the best middle reliever in the MLB!
VOTE FOR NESHEK
Showing posts with label Pat Neshek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pat Neshek. Show all posts
Monday, July 02, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
This bullpen is fantastic
I don't really know that this needs to be said, but I love the Twins bullpen. Sure, sometimes they'll screw up and Juan Rincon will have a stretch like he had recently, but then they do something like they did tonight, and I'm right back in.5 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 W
That's beautiful. And excellent managing of the bullpen as well. They used Reyes for one out, then went with the best guys. Neshek pitched 1.2 innings of good work (even though he did allow a sac fly), Joe Nathan was then brought in for 2 shutout innings, and then Juan Rincon pitched a scoreless inning. Great management of the pen, great pitching by the pen, and a nice win.
And a round of applause for Scott Baker. In my last post way back when, I wondered if it could be Baker's last chance. Well, he has come back and had 2 straight solid starts, including a really good win on Tuesday. 7+ innings, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 K. I'll take that.
Also, another brilliant managing move bringing in Jeff Cirillo in the 12th to pinch hit. This isn't even hindsight bias, as I thought it was an excellent move at the time. Cirillo is a very solid hitter against lefties, and it just made perfect sense to bring him in there. Sometimes managers don't do what seems to make perfect sense, but the Twins did here and it worked out, with Cirillo delivering the game-winning single.
Twins now stand at 39-36, 5.5 games back of the Indians and Tigers... but for some reason, I just have a really good feeling about these guys.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Kevin Slowey picks up first Major League Win
It wasn't quite an awe-inspiring performance, but it's good to see Kevin Slowey get his first Major League win in his second MLB start. Slowey only went 5 innings, giving up 10 hits, 5 runs, and 4 ER, but thanks to good work from the offense and from the bullpen it was good enough for the win.
The bullpen pitched 4 hitless and scoreless innings to preserve the lead, showing their strength. Look at the ERAs of the guys that pitched:
Matt Guerrier: 1.72 (in 36.2 IP)
Carmen Cali: 0.00 (in 4.2 IP)
Pat Neshek: 1.26 (in 28.2 IP)
Joe Nathan: 2.05 (in 26.1 IP)
If I was doing any online sports betting, I would say this is the best bullpen in the MLB once again.
Also, it becomes more and more clear (at least to me) that Pat Neshek is the best middle reliever in the MLB. In the 28.2 IP he has struck out 34 batters, walked only 10, and allowed only 12 hits. That puts his WHIP at 0.77, his OBA at .217, and SLG against at only .200. Those are unbelievable numbers.
Offensively, the Twins got their power from Michael Cuddyer (3/4, 1 HR, 3 RBI), and a couple of other unlikely sources, as both Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett hit their first homers of the year.
All in all, a nice day and a nice job to come from behind to salvage one game of the 3-game set, as we head into another round of interleague play. 3 games at home against a mediocre Washington Nationals team sounds like a recipe for success.
The bullpen pitched 4 hitless and scoreless innings to preserve the lead, showing their strength. Look at the ERAs of the guys that pitched:
Matt Guerrier: 1.72 (in 36.2 IP)
Carmen Cali: 0.00 (in 4.2 IP)
Pat Neshek: 1.26 (in 28.2 IP)
Joe Nathan: 2.05 (in 26.1 IP)
If I was doing any online sports betting, I would say this is the best bullpen in the MLB once again.
Also, it becomes more and more clear (at least to me) that Pat Neshek is the best middle reliever in the MLB. In the 28.2 IP he has struck out 34 batters, walked only 10, and allowed only 12 hits. That puts his WHIP at 0.77, his OBA at .217, and SLG against at only .200. Those are unbelievable numbers.
Offensively, the Twins got their power from Michael Cuddyer (3/4, 1 HR, 3 RBI), and a couple of other unlikely sources, as both Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett hit their first homers of the year.
All in all, a nice day and a nice job to come from behind to salvage one game of the 3-game set, as we head into another round of interleague play. 3 games at home against a mediocre Washington Nationals team sounds like a recipe for success.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Well, that was deflating
Gone is the home-field advantage. Gone is the Twins Ace in the Hole, Johan Santana, a man who had not lost a game at home since last year. Gone seemingly are the Twins bats.
So what went wrong? First and foremost, the offense.
Barry Zito is obviously a good pitcher and he had his off-speed stuff working well, but I think a lot of this was because of the Twins approach at the plate. To say that it was bad is an understatement. Simply put, against a guy that did not have good control and struggled locating his fastball, the Twins chased balls out of the zone early in the count, which is why Zito kept such a low pitch count even without great control.
Things started out rocky in the 1st inning. Luis Castillo walked to leadoff the game (which should have been a lesson to other Twins hitters... TAKE SOME PITCHES), and then Punto worked the count to 2-1. Then, i'm not sure if it was a hit & run or what the call was, but Punto swings at a ball out of the zone, Castillo and his bad knee is running, and he's thrown out at 2nd. So instead of having a runner at 1st with no out and a 3-1 count, there's 1 out and it's a 2-2 count. That's a good way to ruin a potentially good inning. And while we're at, will someone please tell Nick Punto to stop sliding into 1st base. I think everyone in the world other than Punto knows that that slows you down.
As far as Gardenhire, there were some questionable calls I thought, but none bigger than going with Jesse Crain in the 9th. Crain has been solid in the 2nd half of the year, but Pat Neshek has been lights out since his callup. Seriously, every single stat says that Neshek is the better pitcher. And it's not like Crain has loads of postseason experience... before this outing he had gotten 1 out in postseason play in his career. This isn't even hindsight bias, I swear... I just don't understand going with Crain over Neshek.
By the way, a memo to the Twins:
Frank Thomas - 3/4
Everyone else - 4/30
As for the game coverage on ESPN, I'll leave it to Bat-Girl:
Sadly, Fox's coverage isn't any better.
Anyway, time to move on and forget about Game 1. Boof Bonser gets the start in Game 2 against Esteban Loaiza, a guy that the Twins have generally hit well against. I have confidence in Boof, but scoring sometime before the 7th inning would be nice too.
In other words, Game 2 would be a perfect time for The Sabean Special!
So what went wrong? First and foremost, the offense.
Barry Zito is obviously a good pitcher and he had his off-speed stuff working well, but I think a lot of this was because of the Twins approach at the plate. To say that it was bad is an understatement. Simply put, against a guy that did not have good control and struggled locating his fastball, the Twins chased balls out of the zone early in the count, which is why Zito kept such a low pitch count even without great control.
Things started out rocky in the 1st inning. Luis Castillo walked to leadoff the game (which should have been a lesson to other Twins hitters... TAKE SOME PITCHES), and then Punto worked the count to 2-1. Then, i'm not sure if it was a hit & run or what the call was, but Punto swings at a ball out of the zone, Castillo and his bad knee is running, and he's thrown out at 2nd. So instead of having a runner at 1st with no out and a 3-1 count, there's 1 out and it's a 2-2 count. That's a good way to ruin a potentially good inning. And while we're at, will someone please tell Nick Punto to stop sliding into 1st base. I think everyone in the world other than Punto knows that that slows you down.
As far as Gardenhire, there were some questionable calls I thought, but none bigger than going with Jesse Crain in the 9th. Crain has been solid in the 2nd half of the year, but Pat Neshek has been lights out since his callup. Seriously, every single stat says that Neshek is the better pitcher. And it's not like Crain has loads of postseason experience... before this outing he had gotten 1 out in postseason play in his career. This isn't even hindsight bias, I swear... I just don't understand going with Crain over Neshek.
By the way, a memo to the Twins:
Frank Thomas - 3/4
Everyone else - 4/30
As for the game coverage on ESPN, I'll leave it to Bat-Girl:
...but listening to these guys is like listening to the two drunk guys who sit behind you who've seen two games all season and are trying to impress each other with how much they know.... And I know I should get used to it, but this interviewing the managers while the game is going on is disgraceful. If you're borrowing techniques from Fox's coverage of the All-Star Game, it's probably a bad idea.
Sadly, Fox's coverage isn't any better.
Anyway, time to move on and forget about Game 1. Boof Bonser gets the start in Game 2 against Esteban Loaiza, a guy that the Twins have generally hit well against. I have confidence in Boof, but scoring sometime before the 7th inning would be nice too.
In other words, Game 2 would be a perfect time for The Sabean Special!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
It's been so long I almost forgot what it was called...
Oh yeah, offense. That was nice.
9 runs? Where has this offense been lately? Castillo didn't do anything at the top, but Nick Punto (welcome back!) had a couple of hits, Joe Mauer went 3/4 to increase his lead in the chase for the batting title, and Justin Morneau had a couple of big 2-out hits to get him 3 RBI, and move him into 2nd in the AL with 118 RBI on the year,
On the other side of the coin, things weren't as great as Matt Garza struggled once again. At times, he looks dominant, and shows why he was able to dominate in all levels of the Minors this year (hence, 6 strikeouts in 4.1 IP)... other times, well, it's easy to see he's a young guy. He struggled with the control - tight strike zone or otherwise - and walked 4 batters, which led to his undoing. He finished with 4 ER in the 4.1 IP.
In the pen, Pat Neshek responded nicely with 1.1 scoreless innings to get the win. Meanwhile, Jesse Crain and Juan Rincon seem to be going in the opposite directions... Crain has been excellent for a couple of months now, while Rincon has seen his ERA increase almost a run in about a month to 3.05).
With a comeback win by the Sox, the Twins are basically in the exact same position as they were when this series started a couple of days ago... 4 back of the Tigers and 1/2 game ahead of the White Sox. They need to split these final 2 games at the bare minimum, and if they can win both, well, the division race will officially become a big thing, as the Twins would be only 2 back.
But for now, the Twins just need to focus on Saturday. Boof Bonser vs. Nate Robertson. Be there or be square.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
C'est la vie
ER by Pat Neshek coming into Wednesday's game in 26 IP: 4
ER given up by Pat Neshek in Wednesday's game: 3
When the Twins lead after 6 innings, it's almost seemed automatic this year. Maybe this was just a way to keep the fans on their toes.
Scott Baker (4-7, 6.55) vs Justin Verlander (15-7, 3.27) tonight. Sox will pitch Mark Buehrle (12-11, 4.71) against Cliff Lee (11-10, 4.63) and the Indians.
ER given up by Pat Neshek in Wednesday's game: 3
When the Twins lead after 6 innings, it's almost seemed automatic this year. Maybe this was just a way to keep the fans on their toes.
Scott Baker (4-7, 6.55) vs Justin Verlander (15-7, 3.27) tonight. Sox will pitch Mark Buehrle (12-11, 4.71) against Cliff Lee (11-10, 4.63) and the Indians.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Gotta love that pitching staff
There are some days, like Tuesday, when a guy will give up 5 HR and it's easy to get frustrated with the staff. Then are days like yesterday, when a young guy throws a great game, and the bullpen does the rest.
Matt Garza got his first Major-League win by throwing 6 solid innings, giving up just 1 unearned run on 5 hits. (Aaron Gleeman has a great writeup on the start) Then the bullpen came in and did their job, to the tune of 3 perfect innings. Meanwhile, the offense wasn't very efficent but they did score 4 runs, and the formula for success was in full effect again.
I know ERA is not a great stat for relievers, but look at these things:
Pat Neshek - 0.81
Dennys Reyes - 0.96
Juan Rincon - 2.44
Joe Nathan - 1.53
Offensively, the 4-5-6 hitters supplied the power and runs, as Mike Cuddyer got 3 hits, Justin Morneau had his 108th RBI of the year, and Torii Hunter hit his 18th HR of the year. That was enough to overcome 10 men LOB for the Twins, which is not good at all.
The White Sox victory means the Twins are still 0.5 GB of the Wildcard, but only 7 out of the division lead. The Red Sox also remain in the hunt at 4 GB of the Wildcard. The rubber match of the series will feature Boof Bonser against Kris Benson in another big game for the Twins... they just have to keep winning series!
Matt Garza got his first Major-League win by throwing 6 solid innings, giving up just 1 unearned run on 5 hits. (Aaron Gleeman has a great writeup on the start) Then the bullpen came in and did their job, to the tune of 3 perfect innings. Meanwhile, the offense wasn't very efficent but they did score 4 runs, and the formula for success was in full effect again.
I know ERA is not a great stat for relievers, but look at these things:
Pat Neshek - 0.81
Dennys Reyes - 0.96
Juan Rincon - 2.44
Joe Nathan - 1.53
Offensively, the 4-5-6 hitters supplied the power and runs, as Mike Cuddyer got 3 hits, Justin Morneau had his 108th RBI of the year, and Torii Hunter hit his 18th HR of the year. That was enough to overcome 10 men LOB for the Twins, which is not good at all.
The White Sox victory means the Twins are still 0.5 GB of the Wildcard, but only 7 out of the division lead. The Red Sox also remain in the hunt at 4 GB of the Wildcard. The rubber match of the series will feature Boof Bonser against Kris Benson in another big game for the Twins... they just have to keep winning series!
Friday, August 18, 2006
Twins Bullpen = Best in the MLB
And I have the numbers to back it up!
For one thing, they have the best bullpen ERA in all of baseball at 3.10. But even beyond that, they're just so effective because they don't walk batters and they strike a lot of guys out. And that's generally a pretty good formula. Here it is broken down, with the MLB rank in parenthesis:
ERA - 3.10 (1)
WHIP - 1.23 (1)
K/BB - 3.38 (1)
K/9 - 8.34 (3)
HR - 25 (1)
OBP Against - .304 (2)
SLG Against - .361 (2)
OPS Against - .665 (1)
Not bad. Looking at them individually almost makes things more impressive.
Joe Nathan - 51.0 IP, 1.59 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 72/10 K/BB, 12.71 K/9
Juan Rincon - 56.2 IP, 2.22 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 50/17 K/BB, 7.94 K/BB
Denys Reyes - 34.1 IP, 1.05 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 33/7 K/BB, 8.65 K/9
Pat Neshek - 20.0 IP, 0.90 ERA, 0.45 WHIP, 30/3 K/BB, 13.50 K/9
Jesse Crain - 58.2 IP, 4.45 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 47/15 K/BB, 7.21 K/9
Matt Guerrier - 40.1 IP, 3.12 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 23/16 K/BB, 5.13 K/9
And when you consider that Willie Eyre and his 6.48 ERA is not pitching any more high-leverage inning, and the fact that Crain had an awful start to the year but has been very effective in the past couple of months, the 3.10 ERA doesn't even do justice to how good this bullpen is right now.
Take a look at Pat Neshek's numbers. Hardly anyone knows about this guy, but in 20 IP he has struck out 30 guys, walked 3, and allowed just 6 hits. 2 of those were solo HR, and that's the only runs he's allowed this year. If I was playing a video game, I'd be hard-pressed to replicate these numbers. And he's 25 and in his first year of service. Not bad.
For one thing, they have the best bullpen ERA in all of baseball at 3.10. But even beyond that, they're just so effective because they don't walk batters and they strike a lot of guys out. And that's generally a pretty good formula. Here it is broken down, with the MLB rank in parenthesis:
ERA - 3.10 (1)
WHIP - 1.23 (1)
K/BB - 3.38 (1)
K/9 - 8.34 (3)
HR - 25 (1)
OBP Against - .304 (2)
SLG Against - .361 (2)
OPS Against - .665 (1)
Not bad. Looking at them individually almost makes things more impressive.
Joe Nathan - 51.0 IP, 1.59 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 72/10 K/BB, 12.71 K/9
Juan Rincon - 56.2 IP, 2.22 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 50/17 K/BB, 7.94 K/BB
Denys Reyes - 34.1 IP, 1.05 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 33/7 K/BB, 8.65 K/9
Pat Neshek - 20.0 IP, 0.90 ERA, 0.45 WHIP, 30/3 K/BB, 13.50 K/9
Jesse Crain - 58.2 IP, 4.45 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 47/15 K/BB, 7.21 K/9
Matt Guerrier - 40.1 IP, 3.12 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 23/16 K/BB, 5.13 K/9
And when you consider that Willie Eyre and his 6.48 ERA is not pitching any more high-leverage inning, and the fact that Crain had an awful start to the year but has been very effective in the past couple of months, the 3.10 ERA doesn't even do justice to how good this bullpen is right now.
Take a look at Pat Neshek's numbers. Hardly anyone knows about this guy, but in 20 IP he has struck out 30 guys, walked 3, and allowed just 6 hits. 2 of those were solo HR, and that's the only runs he's allowed this year. If I was playing a video game, I'd be hard-pressed to replicate these numbers. And he's 25 and in his first year of service. Not bad.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
A win is a win is a win
It wasn't pretty, but it didn't have to be.
Through 7 innings, the Tigers were just in complete control of the game. They had drawn a poor performance from Santana (relatively speaking), they were hitting the ball solidly all around the field, and Bonderman was absolutely controlling the game, as the Tigers were up 3-0. I hate to say it, but I had already mentally counted is as a loss, and a sweep by the Tigers.
And then something happened. I think it can be best described with one word: Luck. Ok, they did it a couple balls sharply in that 8th inning, but for the most part, everything went right for the Twins. Aaron Gleeman outlined the inning like this:
It was just that type of inning for the Twins. And good thing, otherwise they'd be coming off of a sweep at home, having outdone all the good they did last week when they swept the Sox. Now they stand 1.5 back of the Yanks (and newly acquired Bobby Abreu), and things look much better.
And congrats to Pat Neshek, who got his first win of his young career. The young guy continues to impress.
Through 7 innings, the Tigers were just in complete control of the game. They had drawn a poor performance from Santana (relatively speaking), they were hitting the ball solidly all around the field, and Bonderman was absolutely controlling the game, as the Tigers were up 3-0. I hate to say it, but I had already mentally counted is as a loss, and a sweep by the Tigers.
And then something happened. I think it can be best described with one word: Luck. Ok, they did it a couple balls sharply in that 8th inning, but for the most part, everything went right for the Twins. Aaron Gleeman outlined the inning like this:
- Infield Single
- Error
- Error
- Double
- Infield Single
- Balk
- Ground Out
- Fly Out
- Intentional Walk
- Triple
- Strikeout
It was just that type of inning for the Twins. And good thing, otherwise they'd be coming off of a sweep at home, having outdone all the good they did last week when they swept the Sox. Now they stand 1.5 back of the Yanks (and newly acquired Bobby Abreu), and things look much better.
And congrats to Pat Neshek, who got his first win of his young career. The young guy continues to impress.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
How sweep it is to be able to win on the road
Coming into the 6-game roadtrip: 17-29 on the road, 4 games out of WC behind White Sox
Coming out of 6-game roadtrip: 22-30 on the road, 0.5 games out of WC behind Yankees
Combine that with the best home record in baseball, and maybe we have something here. Like a 34-8 record in the team's past 42 games.
Although unquestionably a 3-game sweep of the hated White Sox in Chicago has to be the best part of the season so far. Especially since the Twins win on Wednesday featured the inconsistent (to put it nicely) Carlos Silva going up against the All-Star Mark Buehrle.
With the game knotted at 3, Justin Morneau jumped on the first pitch he saw from Mark Buehrle in the 5th for a deep HR to right, which gave the Twins a 5-3 lead they wouldn't give back. This was just another example of how much better Morneau has been this year against lefties, and it's showing as he now has 27 HR.
The bullpen was again strong, as it usually is. Pat Neshek did give up his first run of the year, which raised the ERA from 0.00 to a whopping 1.08. Reyes got 2 outs to put his ERA at 1.33, Rincon pitched a scoreless 8th to lower his ERA to 1.95, and Joe Nathan showed no ill-effects of his long inning Tuesday, as he pitched a perfect ninth for his 21st save and lowered the ERA to 1.47.
Best bullpen in baseball? I think so.
The Twins have the day off Thursday before heading back home for a 3-game set with Detroit. For more information on that series and both teams, you can check out Complete Sports. Francisco Liriano will look to continue his dominance Friday, while Brad Radke will get the ball Saturday, and Johan Santana will pitch the series finale. Let's home for similar results as we've gotten lately!
Coming out of 6-game roadtrip: 22-30 on the road, 0.5 games out of WC behind Yankees
Combine that with the best home record in baseball, and maybe we have something here. Like a 34-8 record in the team's past 42 games.
Although unquestionably a 3-game sweep of the hated White Sox in Chicago has to be the best part of the season so far. Especially since the Twins win on Wednesday featured the inconsistent (to put it nicely) Carlos Silva going up against the All-Star Mark Buehrle.
With the game knotted at 3, Justin Morneau jumped on the first pitch he saw from Mark Buehrle in the 5th for a deep HR to right, which gave the Twins a 5-3 lead they wouldn't give back. This was just another example of how much better Morneau has been this year against lefties, and it's showing as he now has 27 HR.
The bullpen was again strong, as it usually is. Pat Neshek did give up his first run of the year, which raised the ERA from 0.00 to a whopping 1.08. Reyes got 2 outs to put his ERA at 1.33, Rincon pitched a scoreless 8th to lower his ERA to 1.95, and Joe Nathan showed no ill-effects of his long inning Tuesday, as he pitched a perfect ninth for his 21st save and lowered the ERA to 1.47.
Best bullpen in baseball? I think so.
The Twins have the day off Thursday before heading back home for a 3-game set with Detroit. For more information on that series and both teams, you can check out Complete Sports. Francisco Liriano will look to continue his dominance Friday, while Brad Radke will get the ball Saturday, and Johan Santana will pitch the series finale. Let's home for similar results as we've gotten lately!
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Once again, The Sabean Special
We got our 5th example of The Sabean Special as the Twins beat the Indians 3-1 on Sunday, to take 2 of 3 from Cleveland in the series.Liriano was only able to go 5 innings, as his pitch count got up to 95 quickly, but he did strike out 10 batters while giving up 1 run, to put his ERA at 1.93. Pat Neshek came on after him, and his impressive run continued with 1.2 shutout innings in relief. Dennis Reyes pitched to 2 batters and struck out both of them, Juan Rincon got 2 batters out in the 8th, and then Joe Nathan finished the job in the 9th.
Nathan allowed a leadoff single in the 9th before getting Joe Inglett to fly out. After that, he had had enough, and struck out Ramon Vazquez and Grady Sizemore to end the game.
The Win for Liriano pushes his record to 12-2, while Joe Nathan picked up his 19th save. All in all, when you can take 2 of 3 on the road against a talented team, that's something I'll take anyday.
The Sabean Special Count: 5
Saturday, July 08, 2006
So much for that pitching
And things looked to be going so well on all fronts just a few days ago... but now, with another poor outing from Silva (and an injury), and a 3rd straight loss, dropping the Twins back to 11 games behind the Tigers, things once again look bleak as far as playoff potential goes.
As always seems to happen, the Twins definitely struggled in Texas, dropping the game 9-4 on Friday. Carlos Silva was able to get 5 (five) outs, and he allowed the same number of runs in that time. Willie Eyre came in and actually did worse, allowing 3 ER over 0.2 innings. (Free Scott Baker!) Things got better from there, but the damage was done.
But things weren't all bad on the pitching front... we got our first look at Pat Neshek, who definitely impressed, as expected. Neshek pitched 2 shutout innings and struck out one. As Aaron Gleeman says, we probably should have seen this earlier.
Offensively, the fireballer that is John Wasdin did enough for the win, namely going 5 innings. After that, the ragtag bullpen of the Rangers was easily able to hold the Twins down. Things weren't all bad - the 3 Js (Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, and Jason Kubel) - each took one of out the park, but they couldn't muster anything consistent. Morneau was the best of the day, as he also had an RBI double early in the game, to bump his RBI total up to 73 when he heard his 23rd homerun.
The loss leaves the Twins at 16-28 so far this year on the road (compared to 30-10 at home), which means that maybe it's about time to stop watching the Twins road games this year. I understand teams play better at home than on the road, but that is something else.
Anyway, the Twins send Francisco Liriano to the mound Saturday to face John Rheinecker of the Rangers. With "The Iceman" pitching Saturday, and Johan going in the series finale, the Twins need a couple of wins here to close it out before the break and get some momentum for the second half.
As always seems to happen, the Twins definitely struggled in Texas, dropping the game 9-4 on Friday. Carlos Silva was able to get 5 (five) outs, and he allowed the same number of runs in that time. Willie Eyre came in and actually did worse, allowing 3 ER over 0.2 innings. (Free Scott Baker!) Things got better from there, but the damage was done.
But things weren't all bad on the pitching front... we got our first look at Pat Neshek, who definitely impressed, as expected. Neshek pitched 2 shutout innings and struck out one. As Aaron Gleeman says, we probably should have seen this earlier.
Offensively, the fireballer that is John Wasdin did enough for the win, namely going 5 innings. After that, the ragtag bullpen of the Rangers was easily able to hold the Twins down. Things weren't all bad - the 3 Js (Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, and Jason Kubel) - each took one of out the park, but they couldn't muster anything consistent. Morneau was the best of the day, as he also had an RBI double early in the game, to bump his RBI total up to 73 when he heard his 23rd homerun.
The loss leaves the Twins at 16-28 so far this year on the road (compared to 30-10 at home), which means that maybe it's about time to stop watching the Twins road games this year. I understand teams play better at home than on the road, but that is something else.
Anyway, the Twins send Francisco Liriano to the mound Saturday to face John Rheinecker of the Rangers. With "The Iceman" pitching Saturday, and Johan going in the series finale, the Twins need a couple of wins here to close it out before the break and get some momentum for the second half.
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