We won’t see these kinds of starts again anytime soon

Today we are going to look at the Twins starting pitchers that went to the mound to pitch and they didn’t let pitch counts and innings pitched stop them. Here we have a list of Twins starting pitchers that started a game and pitched a minimum of 11 innings, Jim Merritt is the top man on the list and will probably remain there forever. 

Since 1961 starting pitchers have stayed in a game 11 or more innings on 430 occasions but the last pitcher to do so was Dave Stewart who went 11 very efficient innings throwing just 129 pitches in his start and complete game 1-0 shutout of the Seattle Mariners in August 1, 1990. Can it happen again? Sure, but the chances are slim to none with today’s coddled and pampered pitchers.

Jim Merritt
Results
Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER SO
1 Jim Merritt 1967-07-26 (2) MIN NYY W 3-2 GS-13 13.0 7 2 2 7
2 Camilo Pascual 1963-07-23 MIN CLE L 2-3 CG(13), L 12.2 7 3 3 11
3 Dave Boswell 1969-07-14 MIN CHW W 4-3 GS-12 12.0 10 3 2 7
4 Jim Kaat 1969-05-20 MIN BAL W 3-2 GS-13, W 12.0 8 2 1 4
5 Camilo Pascual 1964-10-01 MIN KCA L 4-5 CG(12), L 12.0 12 5 1 14
6 Jim Roland 1964-05-19 MIN NYY W 7-2 GS-12, W 12.0 7 2 2 8
7 Camilo Pascual 1962-09-12 MIN CHW L 1-2 CG(12), L 12.0 12 2 2 7
8 Dave Goltz 1977-07-25 MIN OAK W 2-1 CG(11), W 11.0 8 1 1 14
9 Bill Singer 1976-09-01 MIN MIL W 3-2 GS-11 11.0 6 2 2 3
10 Dave Goltz 1976-05-18 MIN OAK W 4-3 CG(11), W 11.0 7 3 3 7
11 Bert Blyleven 1975-08-27 MIN MIL W 1-0 SHO(11), W 11.0 6 0 0 13
12 Jim Kaat 1973-06-23 MIN CAL L 1-3 CG(11), L 11.0 11 3 3 6
13 Jim Kaat 1972-05-24 MIN KCR W 1-0 GS-11, W 11.0 5 0 0 7
14 Jim Perry 1970-08-07 MIN OAK W 2-1 CG(11), W 11.0 5 1 1 7
15 Jim Kaat 1969-04-09 MIN KCR L 3-4 GS-12 11.0 8 3 2 4
16 Jim Kaat 1964-04-26 MIN DET W 3-2 CG(11), W 11.0 7 2 2 11
17 Jim Kaat 1962-08-01 MIN BAL W 3-1 CG(11), W 11.0 9 1 1 12
18 Pedro Ramos 1961-04-28 MIN LAA L 5-6 GS-11 11.0 6 4 4 10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/27/2018.

 Jim Kaat did it six times while wearing a Twins uniform and the all-time leader in these kinds of starts since 1961 is Gaylord Perry with 17 starts of 11 innings or more. Bill Singer (1973), Mickey Lolich (1971) and Mark Fidrych (1976) each did it four times in a single season.

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Tonkin & Renick

Two major league debuts in a Twins uniform on July 11.

 

Michael Tonkin

Michael Tonkin (P) – July 11, 2013 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 30th round of the 2008 MLB June Amateur Draft. A nice 1.1 inning debut in a Twins 4-3 loss to Tampa at Tropicana Field.

Rick Renick – (3B/OF/SS) – July 11, 1968 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 1965. Debuted at Met Stadium as the starting shortstop and in his first at bat hit a home run off Tigers starter Mickey Lolich off a high fastball into the left field stands. Renick became the first Minnesota Twins player to hit a home run in his first at bat.

To see other Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins

According to ELIAS

Buehrle beats the Twins for the 30th time

Mark Buehrle  2015Mark Buehrle registered his 30th career win against the Twins with a victory in Toronto last night. That’s the most career wins by any active pitcher versus one major-league team. Buehrle notched his first 27 wins against Minnesota while pitching for the White Sox and the last three for the Blue Jays. In baseball’s expansion era (1961 to date), only five other American League pitchers have recorded 30 or more wins against a particular team: Bert Blyleven vs. the Royals (34); Jack Morris (32), Mickey Lolich (30) and Jim Kaat (30) vs. the Indians; and Jim Palmer vs. the Yankees (30). Source: ELIAS

The Twins have faced Mark Buehrle 53 times (51 starts), the 51 starts being the most vs. any pitcher in club history, ahead of Tommy John and Frank Tanana (each with 47). Torii Hunter has 97 career at-bats against Buehrle, the second most against him all-time, trailing only Michael Cuddyer (113). Joe Mauer has a career average of .206 (13-for-63) against Buehrle, marking his fifth-lowest against any pitcher for his career (C.J. Wilson – .129, Paul Byrd – .167, CC Sabathia – .171 and David Price – .176). Kurt Suzuki is hitting .387 (12-for-31) in his career off Buehrle. Source: Twins Game Notes

The four losses to the Blue Jays mark the first time that Toronto has ever swept a four game series from the lads from Minnesota.

According to Elias

Quintana joins Sale to form big-strikeout duo for Sox

Jose Quintana struck out 13 Minnesota Twins in seven innings of the White Sox’ 5-1 victory in the first game of their doubleheader in Chicago. Quintana is the second left-handed pitcher this season to strike out 13 batters in a game for the Southsiders; Chris Sale fanned 13 Tigers on August 30. Only three other teams in the modern era (since 1900) have had two different southpaws record 13+ strikeouts in a game: The 1959 Dodgers (Sandy Koufax and Johnny Podres), 1969 Tigers (Mickey Lolich and Mike Kilkenny), and 1971 Tigers (Lolich and Les Cain).

Jose Quintana is the second White Sox pitcher in 2014 to strike out at least a dozen Twins in a game. Chris Sale recorded 12 strikeouts at Target Field on July 26. It’s the third time that two different White Sox pitchers have registered a 12-strikeout game versus the same opponent in the same year. In 1954, Billy Pierce and Jack Harshman both struck out a dozen Tigers in a game. And in 1961, Pierce and Juan Pizarro each put up 12+ Ks in a game versus the Orioles.

A record-tying strikeout performance for Minnesota, Chicago

Twins and White Sox pitchers combined to strike out 45 batters in their doubleheader yesterday. That tied the modern major-league record for combined strikeouts by two teams over two nine-inning games in a day. Rockies and Marlins hurlers also fanned 45 in two games on August 16, 2009.

According to Elias – All-Star edition

Jeter flourishes in his final All-Star appearance

Derek jeter
Derek Jeter

 

Derek Jeter, as usual, rose to the occasion in his final All-Star game appearance, going 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored in the American League’s 5-3 win. Jeter finishes his career with a .481 (13-for-27) batting average in the All-Star game, which currently stands as the second highest for any of the 100 players with at least 15 All-Star at bats in major-league history, behind Charlie Gehringer, who went 10-for-20 (.500) in six appearances in the Mid Summer Classic.

Jeter became the second player in major-league history with multiple hits in the All-Star game in his final major-league season, joining George McQuinn, who had two hits representing the Yankees in the 1948 game. Jeter, at 40 years and 19 days old, also became the oldest player with at least two hits in an All-Star game. Only one player over the age of 38 had done that prior to Jeter: Carl Yastrzemski, who had two hits in the 1979 contest at age 39 years, 329 days.

Jeter’s first-inning double was his fifth career All-Star hit in the opening frame, tied with Wade Boggs and Stan Musial for the second most first-inning hits in All-Star history, behind Willie Mays (6).

Trout is the All-Star MVP

 

Mike Trout
Mike Trout

Mike Trout had two hits and two RBIs and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 All-Star game on Tuesday night. Trout, 22 years and 342 days old, became the second youngest player to win the All-Star game MVP, behind Ken Griffey Jr., who captured the award in the 1992 game at 22 years, 236 days old.

Trout became the fourth Angels player to win the All-Star game MVP, joining Leon Wagner (1962), Fred Lynn (1983) and Garret Anderson (2003).

 

American League jumps on Wainwright in the first

The American League jumped on Adam Wainwright for three runs in the first inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday night. Derek Jeter led off with a double, Mike Trout followed with a triple and after Robinson Cano struck out, Miguel Cabrera unloaded a two run home run. It’s only the second time in major-league history that three of the first four batters had an extra-base hit for a team in the All-Star game. The only other time that happened in the Mid Summer Classic was in 2004, when Ichiro Suzuki led off the first inning with a double, Ivan Rodriguez followed with a triple, and then after a Vladimir Guerrero ground out, Manny Ramirez hit a two-run homer.

Wainwright allowed only four extra base hits (three doubles and a homer) in the first inning in the 19 starts he made prior to the All-Star break this season.

Cabrera goes deep out of the cleanup spot

Miguel Cabrera – the American League’s cleanup hitter – hit a two-run home run in the first inning to stake the A.L. to a 3-0 lead in their 5-3 win over the N.L. in Tuesday’s All-Star game. Cabrera’s 14 home runs this season are the fewest for the American League’s cleanup hitter in an All-Star Game since 1990, when Cal Ripken batted fourth for the A.L. with nine homers to that point.

Perkins saves it for the A.L. in his home ballpark

Glen Perkins
Glen Perkins

Minnesota’s Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth inning to record a save in the American League’s 5-3 win in the All-Star game at Target Field. Prior to Perkins, only two pitchers registered a save in the All-Star game in their home ballpark: Detroit’s Mickey Lolich (1971 at Tiger Stadium) and Seattle’s Kazuhiro Sasaki (2001 at Safeco Field).

A rough All-Star debut for Puig

Yasiel Puig had a rough night in his first All-Star appearance, striking out in each of his three trips to the plate. Only three other players in major-league history struck out in each of their plate appearances with at least three trips to the plate in an All-Star game: Jim Hegan (1950), John Roseboro (1961) and Johnny Bench (1970).