Nightly Notes: Game #44
I'm pleased to say that I had to rewrite this introduction. In the prior version, I lamented the loss that I was sure was coming. The game just had that horrible feel to it -- especially after what happened in Colorado -- and I had little faith in a comeback. Thankfully, I was wrong, and once again this team proved that it had more grit than any of us often give it credit for. Tonight wasn't pretty, by any means, but a win is a win and I'll certainly take it. Here are some notes:
1.) Boof's start wasn't great, but through 6 innings he had only allowed a couple of runs on two solo blasts. The start was also encouraging because it was incredibly economical -- if the stats from MLB.com are to be believed, he had only thrown 79 pitches through 6.1 innings, which for him is nearly miraculous. Sadly, he left the game with the lead and watched it disappear.
2.) Speaking of the bullpen, you think Bobby Korecky might have earned himself a reprieve from some of the "Danny Graves" speculation that's been running rampant recently? I've not been immune to such talk -- I suggested yesterday that Mariano Gomez, a lefty who is doing very well in Rochester, might find himself with the big club as a replacement for the seldom used Korecky -- but tonight sure seemed to provide a huge boost to Korecky's chances of sticking in the bigs for awhile. In fact, with Juan Rincon self-destructing and Jesse Crain having walked the pitcher with the bases loaded the other day, Korecky might find himself getting some more chances to pitch in tough spots. I don't know whether he'll succeed or not, but it sure was fun to watch him get the last two outs in the top of the 11th tonight! And how about that base hit? His swing was looked pretty darned good! It looked an awful lot like Francisco thought he could just beat him with a fastball, and Korecky slapped it into right field. Not a good decision, apparently!
3.) That Alexi Casilla homerun was fun to watch. It reminded me a little of Cristian Guzman, who I distinctly recall hitting a few blasts to the same area in right field where Casilla hit his homerun tonight. Of course, the swing was a bit different -- I seem to remember Guzman flailing at pitches from the left side, even when he connected on one and gave it a ride, while Casilla's swing actually looked pretty smooth. Even with that difference, though, the first thing I thought of was Guzman. Incidentally, if you haven't been paying attention, Guzman is putting together a nice season for the Nationals with a .298 average and 4 dingers. At least they're finally getting something out of him.
4.) A lot of people have been ragging on Delmon Young for his slow start to the season, and I understand that aside from batting average he isn't doing what the team expected. Until the Colorado series, he had hit only 4 extra base hits all season, and he still hasn't hit any homeruns. However, Young is at least hitting .287, and he's started to hit a few doubles and triples (I wouldn't expect the triples to keep coming, but the doubles would be nice -- and so would a few homers). I realize people want more power, but good things happen when a guy gets on base, and I'm not willing to declare him a failure after less than two months of game action, especially when he's actually hitting. If you want to vent your frustrations, vent them at Michael Cuddyer, who has been downright worthless of late and is hitting just .226 after tonight's game, in which he left an astonishing 9 men on base. I like Cuddyer, but I don't like his play right now in the least.
5.) Once again, I have regularly ragged on the Twins for signing Howie Clark and then for keeping him in Rochester. After tonight's game winner, I will relent. He gets a free 10 days with no snide comments.
6.) Congrats to Jon Lester on picking up a no-no tonight. His is such a compelling story that I have to root for him, even though I'm turning against the Red Sox pretty quickly. As a matter of fact (and I can't believe I'm saying this), it would be more interesting to me if the Red Sox failed to make the playoffs than if the Yankees did (although it would be great if somehow the Rays won that division and the Angels and A's took two playoff spots -- not going to happen, but I can hope, right?).
7.) Of course, if the Red Sox do make the playoffs (as expected) and win the American League (as seems likely), is it so wrong of me to hope that we just might see the Cubs get to the World Series this year?
8.) The Twins released outfielder (and former catcher) Ben Petsch yesterday, which surprised me a bit. Petsch, who was picked in the 19th round of last year's draft, was hitting just .224 with the Beloit Snappers. Despite that, this seems like an awfully hasty decision on a young player who was pretty successful in college and who hadn't even been in the organization for a year. I assume one of four things is going on here: (1) Petsch could have decided that he didn't really want to keep playing anymore and asked to be released; (2) Petsch suffered some sort of injury that would have made it difficult for him to get better anytime soon; (3) the Twins decided through their player evaluation process that there was a major flaw somewhere in Petsch's game; or (4) Petsch did something on the behavioral side of things that the Twins simply could not accept. I haven't read anything on this other than the fact that it occurred, so if anyone has any insight on it, please leave a note in the comments.
9.) Anybody else excited for Indy 4? I expect it to be extremely schlocky and probably not that good as a stand alone film, but let's be honest here -- no one is going to this movie to see a stand-alone story. If you're going (and I suspect a lot of people will be going), it will be for the sake of nostalgia. I was 7 when the last Indy movie came out, but these flicks were an integral part of my childhood -- easily as much as Star Wars. I admit to being incredibly excited for this movie, largely because I will now get a chance to see an Indy film on the big screen. Even if it's terrible, it will be worth the $10.
10.) Did anyone not from Dallas or Philadelphia want to see anything other than Pittsburgh/Detroit in the Stanley Cup finals? Didn't think so.
1.) Boof's start wasn't great, but through 6 innings he had only allowed a couple of runs on two solo blasts. The start was also encouraging because it was incredibly economical -- if the stats from MLB.com are to be believed, he had only thrown 79 pitches through 6.1 innings, which for him is nearly miraculous. Sadly, he left the game with the lead and watched it disappear.
2.) Speaking of the bullpen, you think Bobby Korecky might have earned himself a reprieve from some of the "Danny Graves" speculation that's been running rampant recently? I've not been immune to such talk -- I suggested yesterday that Mariano Gomez, a lefty who is doing very well in Rochester, might find himself with the big club as a replacement for the seldom used Korecky -- but tonight sure seemed to provide a huge boost to Korecky's chances of sticking in the bigs for awhile. In fact, with Juan Rincon self-destructing and Jesse Crain having walked the pitcher with the bases loaded the other day, Korecky might find himself getting some more chances to pitch in tough spots. I don't know whether he'll succeed or not, but it sure was fun to watch him get the last two outs in the top of the 11th tonight! And how about that base hit? His swing was looked pretty darned good! It looked an awful lot like Francisco thought he could just beat him with a fastball, and Korecky slapped it into right field. Not a good decision, apparently!
3.) That Alexi Casilla homerun was fun to watch. It reminded me a little of Cristian Guzman, who I distinctly recall hitting a few blasts to the same area in right field where Casilla hit his homerun tonight. Of course, the swing was a bit different -- I seem to remember Guzman flailing at pitches from the left side, even when he connected on one and gave it a ride, while Casilla's swing actually looked pretty smooth. Even with that difference, though, the first thing I thought of was Guzman. Incidentally, if you haven't been paying attention, Guzman is putting together a nice season for the Nationals with a .298 average and 4 dingers. At least they're finally getting something out of him.
4.) A lot of people have been ragging on Delmon Young for his slow start to the season, and I understand that aside from batting average he isn't doing what the team expected. Until the Colorado series, he had hit only 4 extra base hits all season, and he still hasn't hit any homeruns. However, Young is at least hitting .287, and he's started to hit a few doubles and triples (I wouldn't expect the triples to keep coming, but the doubles would be nice -- and so would a few homers). I realize people want more power, but good things happen when a guy gets on base, and I'm not willing to declare him a failure after less than two months of game action, especially when he's actually hitting. If you want to vent your frustrations, vent them at Michael Cuddyer, who has been downright worthless of late and is hitting just .226 after tonight's game, in which he left an astonishing 9 men on base. I like Cuddyer, but I don't like his play right now in the least.
5.) Once again, I have regularly ragged on the Twins for signing Howie Clark and then for keeping him in Rochester. After tonight's game winner, I will relent. He gets a free 10 days with no snide comments.
6.) Congrats to Jon Lester on picking up a no-no tonight. His is such a compelling story that I have to root for him, even though I'm turning against the Red Sox pretty quickly. As a matter of fact (and I can't believe I'm saying this), it would be more interesting to me if the Red Sox failed to make the playoffs than if the Yankees did (although it would be great if somehow the Rays won that division and the Angels and A's took two playoff spots -- not going to happen, but I can hope, right?).
7.) Of course, if the Red Sox do make the playoffs (as expected) and win the American League (as seems likely), is it so wrong of me to hope that we just might see the Cubs get to the World Series this year?
8.) The Twins released outfielder (and former catcher) Ben Petsch yesterday, which surprised me a bit. Petsch, who was picked in the 19th round of last year's draft, was hitting just .224 with the Beloit Snappers. Despite that, this seems like an awfully hasty decision on a young player who was pretty successful in college and who hadn't even been in the organization for a year. I assume one of four things is going on here: (1) Petsch could have decided that he didn't really want to keep playing anymore and asked to be released; (2) Petsch suffered some sort of injury that would have made it difficult for him to get better anytime soon; (3) the Twins decided through their player evaluation process that there was a major flaw somewhere in Petsch's game; or (4) Petsch did something on the behavioral side of things that the Twins simply could not accept. I haven't read anything on this other than the fact that it occurred, so if anyone has any insight on it, please leave a note in the comments.
9.) Anybody else excited for Indy 4? I expect it to be extremely schlocky and probably not that good as a stand alone film, but let's be honest here -- no one is going to this movie to see a stand-alone story. If you're going (and I suspect a lot of people will be going), it will be for the sake of nostalgia. I was 7 when the last Indy movie came out, but these flicks were an integral part of my childhood -- easily as much as Star Wars. I admit to being incredibly excited for this movie, largely because I will now get a chance to see an Indy film on the big screen. Even if it's terrible, it will be worth the $10.
10.) Did anyone not from Dallas or Philadelphia want to see anything other than Pittsburgh/Detroit in the Stanley Cup finals? Didn't think so.
Labels: Nightly Notes
posted by JST @ Monday, May 19, 2008
1 Comments:
At Tue May 20, 06:31:00 AM ,
Dianna said...
The Petsch release bothered me too, especially when you have Yersich on the Snappers who is only hitting .181 and does have some black marks on his record (like underaged drinking, for one). If any of the Twins brass is in town for the next homestand, I'll check with them. It's getting down near draft time as well time to separate the kids bound for E-Town, so I expect they'll be pow-wowing in South Florida shortly.
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