Sunday's Got Our Number!

Man, they tried to mix it up and confuse the team in to thinking it was some other time zone by scheduling them for a 3:05 Sunday start and they STILL couldn't pull it out. Last year we went 9-14 on Sundays. This year we're actually split 5-5 right now (after today's game) but last year we came out of the gate good on Sundays and then lost a ton in a row. We've lost our last 4 Sunday games.

I don't know why this bugs me so much, but it does. Perhaps it's because Sunday is the one day I can schedule my day around the game, and usually catch it on TV. It's the one day I regularly have "alone" with the game so it's just extra disappointing when they don't give me a win. When they don't win I have to rely on Mad Med to perk me up for Monday morning, and lord knows that Mad Men does nothing to perk one up.

Masterson was on the hill today and he did pretty decent for himself. Only 3 earned runs over 6 innings. He only struck out 3 but he only walked 3 too. There were just a lot of stupid, messy hits. The Twins realized that we had Lopez and LaPorta (!) in there instead of Hannahan and Kotchman so they just kept hitting everything in to the infield and managed to get on base. They also kept hitting the ball at Masterson. All in all he gave us 6 good innings but the bullpen and the batters let him down. What else is new?

Hagadone, who was briefly our new hero, had a bad day today and it cost us the game. In just 2/3 of an inning he gave up 2 runs off 3 hits (more messy stuff). His buddy Accardo followed up and gave up one more. Perez came in for a non-save and did his job but I'm sure he was thoroughly disinterested because there was no chance of another S. The fans did get to see Firestarter so that made for a good Sunday for them!

The team was trying to hit today but they weren't getting multiple hits, or if they did they didn't stack up. And they did get extra base hits unlike last night, but they still didn't stack up for runs. And worst of all, there were NO WALKS. We still lead the league in walks and we were playing against young pitcher, not like it was a strikeout king (only struck out twice).

Balls...did you know we're last in ALL OF BASEBALL against lefties? A .212 batting average, that's scary...

Choo has had crazy bad skill against lefties this year but guess what? He went 2 for 4 today! CHOOOO!!! One of those hits was a double, natch.

The only guy in the top of the lineup not to get a hit was Kipnis. I'm not kidding! He did reach on a throwing error and turned that in to a run so that's pretty cool.

Droobs is still plugging along with a 6-game hitting streak, and went 1 for 4 today with a run scored.

Lopez was pretty sad at 3rd base, but was in there for the lefty/righty situation instead of Chisenhall. He did go 1 for 3 with an RBI on a sac fly.

Michael Brantley doesn't seem to be affected by any of this nonsense! He not only went 2 for 4 but he extended his hitting streak to 12! Do you like Choo up top and Brantley hitting fifth? Yes please! Although, our top 5 are hitting .279 now while the bottom 4 are a roving band of excitement and disappointment. I wonder if someone with a better average shouldn't be plugged in at #7 or something while we work out just how good Chisenhall is, what to do with Damon and while Lou Marson gets his swagger back.

Duncan started today, as a right handed DH, and went 1 for 4 with an RBI. In your face, Damon!

Hey, Matt LaPorta! He's no Kotchman at the bag that's for sure, but he's not Kotchman at the plate hopefully. Today he went 1 for 4 so he's already hitting above Kotchman's average. Not sure what to make of LaPorta yet so I won't say anything. I do know that he shouldn't have much trouble transitioning since he has played so much in the Bigs over the last 2 years, so I expect to have an opinion by the end of the week!

They gave Cunningham a chance out in left today because - why not? He ended up not doing anything at the plate, and to add insult to injury they pinch hit him with Kotchman later on...so yeah we definitely have some holes in our lineup.

Sweet Lou had a good game at the plate, going 1 for 3. He's actually got a 5-game streak! Still not hitting over .200, though...

Lonnie came in to hit for him in the 9th, much to my excitement, but nothing came of it.

So today was a bummer. I was really looking forward to sweeping the Twins, because we've got an un-favorable schedule coming up. Huge road trip coming up - 19 of the next 25 games away.

We've got tomorrow off, which makes me sad because I've been dreaming about baseball a lot lately and waking up every day ready for a game. I'll have to power through it and be ready for the big Tigers game on Tuesday. Ubaldo versus Drew Smyly. Wow neat name! I wonder if he's Welsh. We won't be facing Verlander this time out so it's a series to look forward to. Yeah!

See you Tuesday!

Sorry about the poor Radio Chatter today. Hammy's still out because the Golden Flashes keep rolling through the playoffs. You can't complain about that!

Radio Chatter:
"You got a couple of veteran catchers out there, you let them put their fingers down and that's what you do."
- Mike Hegan on Twins pitcher Scott Diamond

"The Twins lead the league in hitting in to double plays, but also lead the league in making double plays. Surely something is cancelled out?"
- Jim Rosenhaus

"The Indians keep trying to give it away but the Twins keep trying to give it back."
- Mike Hegan on the sloppy plays