Friday, March 7, 2008

Mayor's Cup Round 4

Impressions of the Red Sox/Twins matchup as I listen to TRN:

Top 1: Span set the table with a HBP and SB. At last, Morneau connects! And Craig Monroe - off a righty!

Bottom 1: Liriano pitches! No shame walking David Ortiz, and then came back to fan Manny Ramirez.

Bottom 2: Liriano couldn't quite finish the inning, giving up a couple of 2-out singles before Blackburn came in to clean up. Liriano threw 40 pitches, and showed pretty good command of his fastball, changeup, and slider.

Top 4: Mike Lamb looks terrific - he's hitting well, and he's made a bunch of nice plays at 3rd, including 2 in this game already. Sox gave the Twins an extra out on a missed DP opportunity, and the Twins took advantage with 2 SBs and a 2-out RBI single from Basak.

Bottom 4: Another nice play from Lamb. Nice running catch for Cuddyer. Blackburn is pitching very well.

Bottom 5: Rough inning for Guerrier - he gave up a couple of line-drive singles, including one off his left foot. He stayed in and surrendered a wind-blown pop-up single to load the bases with one out. He got the next 2 batters on a strikeout and flyout to escape unscathed.

Top 6: Good game for Monroe at the plate: 1-2 with a walk and a solo HR. Nice small-ball with pinch runner Machado stealing second and Lamb grounding him over to 3rd. Redmond couldn't pick him up with the infield in, but Kubel got a 2-out RBI hit. Span had a 6-pitch AB against a tough side-arming lefty before grounding out.

Bottom 6: Reyes gave up a run on 3 hits, but only one of them was hit hard. He seemed to get stronger as the inning progressed, striking out the last 2 batters.

Top 7: Twins take advantage of a Boston throwing error thanks to a 2-out RBI single from Machado.

Bottom 7: Good job by Jesse Crain, overcoming an error to get through a scoreless inning.

Top 8: Span robbed of a hit on a diving catch by the CF.

Bottom 8: Harris is having a lot of trouble at 2B. Neshek was able to work around the error.

Top 9: At last, a hit for Harris! But then he got himself thrown out at 3rd on a grounder to short.

Bottom 9: Good thing Doug Mirabelli can catch knuckle balls, 'cause he sure can't hit (0-3, 3Ks). Nice inning for Mariano Gomez, allowing only a wind-aided home run.

Final: Twins 7, Red Sox 2

And, on the B side:

Terrific performance by some of the Twins' top prospects against a Blue Jays lineup loaded with Major Leaguers. Glen Perkins (3IP, 2H, BB, 3K), Philip Humber (2IP, H, 3K), Kevin Mulvey (2IP, 0H, 2K), Julio DePaula (IP, H) and Ricky Barrett (IP, H, BB) combined on a 5-hit shutout. Young, Buscher, and Ruiz continued to swing the bat well. Gomez had a good day on offense, with 2 hits, 2 runs, and a SB. His second hit was an RBI triple, and, if I'm reading the box score correctly, Punto followed with a squeeze. Morales got a hit, and, from what I can tell, managed to avoid being thrown out on the bases!

Final: Twins 4, Jays 0

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