The Rangers scored three runs in each of the first three innings, then added five runs in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth inning, on their way to a 20-6 win over the Twins yesterday. Only two other teams since 1900 scored three-or-more runs in each of the first five innings of a game: the 1900 Phillies (July 13 vs. Pirates) and 1991 Athletics (September 29 vs. Rangers). The Rangers also became only the third team in American League history to have seven different players with three or more hits in a nine-inning game. The others were the 1939 Yankees and 1955 White Sox, who each coincidentally did so against the Athletics. Source: Elias
Category: General Blogging
This is a general blogging category.
Homers fly as temps soar at target Field
Asdrubal Cabrera and Austin Kearns homered in the Indians’ 5-2 win at Minnesota (first game of double-header), where the game-time temperature was 90 degrees. It was only the third time that the Twins hosted a game at Target Field for which the first-pitch temperature was in the 90s, and a total of nine home runs were hit in those three games. The average in the other 123 games at Target Field has been 1.5 home runs. Source – Elias
Some interesting numbers
From Elias, A comparison of this season’s “first-half” statistics with the numbers at the break in past seasons:
In 2011, teams have averaged 8.4 runs per game. In 2010 it was 8.9, 9.2 in 2009, 9.1 in 2008, 9.4 in 2007 and 9.8 in 2006. 2011 is the lowest since 1992.
In 2011, teams have averaged 1.8 home runs per game. In 2010 it was 1.9, 2.1 in 2009, 2.0 in 2008 and 2007 and 2.2 in 2006. 2011 is the lowest since 1993.
In 2011, teams have averaged 1.3 stolen bases per game. In 2010 it was 1.2, 1.3 in 2009, 1.2 in 2008 and 2007 and 1.1 in 2006. 2011 is the highest since 1999.
In 2011, teams have a batting average of .253. In 2010 it was .259, .261 in 2009 and 2008, .264 in 2007 and .269 in 2006. 2011 is the lowest since 1972.*
In 2011, teams have averaged 6.3 walks per game. In 2010 it was 6.6, 7.0 in 2009, 6.8 in 2008 and 6.6 in 2007 and 2006. 2011 is the lowest since 1972.*
In 2011, teams have averaged 13.92 strikeouts per game. In 2010 it was 13.89, 13.6 in 2009, 13.3 in 2008, 13.0 in 2007 and 12.8 in 2006. 2011 is the highest ever.
*the American League adopted the DH the following season (1973)
Twins lose late
Michael Cuddyer’s home run in the bottom of the seventh inning tied the game, 5-5, but Tampa Bay scored four runs in the eighth inning and three more in the ninth to beat Minnesota 12-5. The Twins franchise has had only one larger margin of defeat in the past 75 years in a game it was leading or tied heading into the eighth inning. That was a 12-4 loss to the Royals in August 1995, during which the bullpen allowed nine runs over the final two innings, squandering a 4-3 lead. Source – Elias
Ducks on the Pond
Danny Valencia drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning (and a third run crossed the plate on the same play as a result of an error) to lift the Twins to a 9-7 win over the Brewers yesterday. Valencia has eight hits, including two homers, in 13 at-bats (.615) with the bags full during his two seasons in the majors. Over the last two seasons, only Vladimir Guerrero (.631, 12-for-19) has a higher bases-loaded batting average than Valencia (minimum: 8 bases-loaded hits). Source – Elias
Keep’em Dancing
To be a good pitcher they say, you need to keep the hitters off-balance and you can’t let the hitters get comfortable at the plate. If you look at the Twins pitching history, you will see that some of the Twins top pitchers were not afraid to plunk a hitter now and then. I can’t tell you for sure if these pitchers threw at batters on purpose or if they just felt that they owned the plate and they were not afraid to pitch inside, but either way, the pitchers on this list hit their share of batters and a number of these pitchers pitched in the days when they themselves had to step up to the plate to hit. Jim Kaat hit the most batters when he pitched for the Twins, hitting 89 batters (plus 7 more as a Washington Senator before he became a Minnesota Twin) but he also pitched just under 3,000 innings and he averaged a hit batter once every 33.25 innings. Mike Smithson, who certainly was not afraid to pitch inside hit 46 batters in his time with the Twins and he did this in just 816 innings so he hit a batter every 17.74 innings, far and away the most hit batters per innings pitched. Let’s take a look at the Twins top ten.
| Name | Batters hit | Innings | Innings per hit batter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Kaat | 89 | 2,959 | 33.25 |
| 2 | Bert Blyleven | 80 | 2,566 | 32.08 |
| 3 | Brad Radke | 62 | 2,451 | 39.53 |
| 4 | Jim Perry | 50 | 1,883 | 37.66 |
| 5 | Mike Smithson | 46 | 816 | 17.74 |
| 6 | Kyle Lohse | 44 | 908 | 20.64 |
| 7 | Scott Erickson | 42 | 979 | 23.31 |
| 8 | Dave Boswell | 34 | 1,036 | 30.47 |
| 9 | Frank Viola | 29 | 1,772 | 61.10 |
| 10 | Johan Santana | 27 | 1,308 | 48.44 |
Now let’s take a look at the Twins current starters and see how they compare.
| Name | Batters hit | Innings | Innings per hit batter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Baker | 25 | 915 | 36.60 |
| 2 | Francisco Liriano | 20 | 617 | 30.85 |
| 3 | Nick Blackburn | 17 | 668 | 39.29 |
| 4 | Carl Pavano | 12 | 397 | 33.08 |
| 5 | Brian Duensing | 6 | 289 | 48.17 |
Cuddyer Homers off Buehrle in a 1-0 Game
Michael Cuddyer homered and singled off Mark Buehrle in the Twins 1-0 win over the White Sox yesterday. Cuddyer has 33 hits in 96 career at-bats against Buehrle. That ties Cuddyer with Johnny Damon (33-for-97 vs. Roy Halladay) and Todd Helton (33-for-71 vs. Livan Hernandez) for the most hits by any current major-league batter against any current major-league pitcher. It was the second time in Cuddyer’s career that he homered in a 1-0 game. (He also did that on Aug. 19, 2007 vs. Texas.) In franchise history, only two other players have done that more than once: Harmon Killebrew (three times) and Steve Braun (twice). Source: Elias
Twins loss count is rising to historic levels
The 2011 Minnesota Twins‘ record fell to 17-35 and 8-18 in the month of May in a 6-5 loss at Detroit. With one more game to play this month, Minnesota will record the second-highest loss total at the end of May in franchise history, including 60 seasons as the Washington Senators. The Twins had a 12-39 mark at the end of May in 1982. Source: Elias
Where is the home field advantage?
The Twins are 17 and 33 on the season and are 10-13 at home and 11-19 on the road. The overall Minnesota Twins ERA is 4.76 and is the worst of all 30 teams in major league baseball. The Twins ERA in 2010 was 3.99 and 11th overall. Target Field, is supposed to be a pitcher’s park, so I have this question for you. Why is the Twins ERA this season at home at Target Field at 5.25 and on the road the ERA is 4.41? How do you explain that? The Twins WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of 1.424 is the 27th worst in all of baseball, at home it is 1.449 and on the road it is 1.407, why? The Twins have allowed 5.16 runs per game and are again dead last in baseball and almost 1 run per game worse than in 2010 when they were 4.17. So again I have to ask, why do the Twins allow 5.75 runs per game at home and only 4.77 on the road? I guess if I could answer these questions I would be more than just a Twins blogger. Maybe it is a curse that someone put on the Twins after they had the trees removed from center field?
Swarzak throws a gem
Three Twins pitchers – starter Anthony Swarzak (8 innings and 1 hit), Matt Capps, and Alex Burnett – held the Angels to one hit in 10 innings yesterday. Since the American League adopted the designated hitter in 1973, there has been only one other game in the league in which a team had no hits or one hit in a game of more than nine innings. On June 21, 1976, the Rangers’ Bert Blyleven threw a 10-inning one-hitter in a 1-0 Texas win in Oakland. The Athletics’ only hit in that game was a fifth-inning single by Ken McMullen. The Angels have been held to one hit in an extra-inning game once previously, against the Yankees on May 22, 1962. Whitey Ford left with an injury after seven no-hit innings; Buck Rodgers had the Angels’ lone hit in the ninth inning, and the Yankees won it in the 12th inning. Source: Elias