Managing the Twins Back to the World Series

[faithful2thecall]

Due to an incompetent GM I’ve pretty much given up on my Building a Rep dynasty idea, though I haven’t deleted that league yet.

This is the other dynasty idea I’ve had—taking my hometown Twins and managing them back to the World Series. I expect it to take several seasons to just get back to the playoffs, making the World Series likely will take another couple of seasons.

Owner goals for this season for the GM are:
• Don’t suck completely
• Upgrade shortstop
• Extend Torii Hunter
• Build up team to reach the playoffs.

April 6, 2015

• Before the game, GM Terry Ryan dealt back-up C Josmil Pinto and 18-year-old Danny Feliz (RHP RP) to Boston for OF Shane Victorino and $3 million.
• C Chris Herrmann was called up from AAA to replace Pinto, with 1B Brock Peterson being sent down.
• Also before game play, Colorado sent 1B Justin Morneau to Houston for RHP RP Scott Feldman, SS Nolan Fontana, and $3 million.

Minnesota 3 at Detroit 4

WP: Tom Gorzelanny (1-0), LP: Brian Duensing (0-1), SV: Joe Nathan (1)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (1), Det-Miguel Cabrera (1)

Interestingly Detroit decided to send Anibal Sanchez to the mound on opening day instead of aces David Price or Justin Verlander. Arcia hit a 2-run inside-the-park homer to right to open the scoring in the 4th. A 1-out walk by J.D. Martinez in the 4th was Detroit’s first baserunner. Ian Kinsler broke through for Detroit’s first hit with 2 outs in the 5th. Detroit finally managed to score in the 7th on a wild pitch after an errant throw by Danny Santana. Cabrera’s 2-out, 3-run homer off of Duensing in the 8th gave Detroit their first lead at 4-3 wasting a beautiful performance by Phil Hughes (7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K)

• Adam Jones (Baltimore) out 5 weeks with a fractured thumb when HBP.


April 7, 2015

Off Day

• Seattle sends 2B Rickie Weeks and RHP CL Jeremiah Muhammad to the Chicago Cubs for C Miguel Montero.
• Detroit trades 1B Victor Martinez and $3 million to Baltimore for RHP SP Bud Norris and 3B Jomar Reyes.


April 8, 2015

Minnesota 3 at Detroit 4

WP: Joakim Soria (1-0), LP: Casey Fien (0-1), SV: Joe Nathan (2)
HR: MN-Shane Robinson (1), Brian Dozier (1), Det-Yoenis Cespedes (1)

CF Anthony Gose was injured (shoulder soreness, 3-4 weeks) catching a Oswaldo Arcia flyball on the warning track to end the 2nd. Robinson hit a solo shot for my first hit with 1 out in the 3rd to open the scoring, Dozier added a 2-run shot later in the inning. Detroit finally strung some hits together to get on the board and chase Kyle Gibson in the 7th. Cespedes’ 1-out, 2-run homer off of Fien in the 8th gave Detroit a 4-3 lead and had me feeling like I was watching a bad replay of the opener.

• C.J. Wilson (L.A. Angels) threw a 5-hit shutout against Seattle.


April 9, 2015

Minnesota 7 at Detroit 8

WP: Justin Verlander (1-0), LP: Ricky Nolasco (0-1), SV: Nathan (3)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (2), Eduardo Escobar (1), Det-J.D. Martinez (1)

Trying to avoid a sweep and wake up a slumbering offense against Justin Verlander seemed to be an overwhelming task. A 34 minute rain delay in the bottom of the 4th was shortly followed by Detroit getting on the board on a 2-run single by Jose Iglesias. Ian Kinsler was injured (strained hamstring, 2 weeks) robbing Brian Dozier of a RBI single in the 5th diving to snare a line drive to end the inning. I finally got on the board in the 6th on a GIDP by Trevor Plouffe to make it 1-3. A grand slam by Martinez in the 7th seemed to put the game out of reach, but I rallied for 5 runs in the 8th to claw back within 6-7. The highlight of the rally was a 3-run homer from Arcia. Nick Castellano’s 5th hit of the game brought home an insurance run for Detroit. That run proved big after Escobar homered off of Nathan in the 9th.


April 10, 2015

• Jesse Chavez (Oakland) out 9 months with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament
• Jedd Gyorko (San Diego) out 5-6 weeks with a hamstring strain

Minnesota 5 at Chicago White Sox 9

WP: John Danks (1-0), LP: Tommy Milone (0-1), SV: Javy Guerra (1)
HR: MN-Shane Victorino (1), Danny Santana (1), Joe Mauer (1), CWS-Conor Gillaspie (1)

After the White Sox scored a pair in the 2nd, Victorino tied the game on a 2-run homer in the 3rd. Santana hit a solo homer later in the inning to give me the lead. Gillaspie hit a 1-out, 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning to give the White Sox the lead back. My bullpen’s early season struggles continued.


April 11, 2015

Minnesota 6 at Chicago White Sox 7

WP: Dan Jennings (1-0), LP: Brian Duensing (0-2)
HR: MN-Danny Santana (2), Brian Dozier (2), CWS-J.B Shuck (1)

Santana’s homer leading off the 3rd opened the scoring. A 2-out, 2-run homer an inning later by Dozier extended the lead. The White Sox finally got to Mike Pelfrey in the 6th, capped by a grand slam from Shuck to take the lead. A 2-run single by Oswaldo Arcia off of closer David Robinson tied the game, but the White Sox got a walk-off single from Jose Abreu to win it.


April 12, 2015

Minnesota 3 at Chicago White Sox 2

WP: Phil Hughes (1-0), LP: Erik Johnson (0-1), SV: Glen Perkins (1)
HR: MN-Jordan Schaffer (1), Trevor Plouffe (1), CWS-None

Schaffer led off the 3rd with a homer to open the scoring. The White Sox finally got to Hughes in the 5th stringing together a rally that produced 2 runs and gave them the lead. Plouffe answered with a 2-out, 2-run homer in my next at bat to retake the lead. The bullpen didn’t let me down finally after Hughes turned in another solid outing.

• Danny Duffy (Kansas City) threw a 2-hitter against the L.A. Angels.


April 13, 2015

• We’re 28th in the latest power rankings

Kansas City 2 at Minnesota 0

WP: Yordano Ventura (1-1), LP: Kyle Gibson (0-1), SV: Greg Holland (2)
HR: KC-None, MN-None

Kansas City got on the board first in the 3rd on a double by Alex Rios. Pitching dominated the game as we only managed 4 hits off of Ventura before Holland struck out the side in the 9th. Gibson only allowed 5 hits in 6 innings before the bullpen held the Royals to 2 hits in 3 innings.


April 14, 2015

Off Day

• Edwin Encarnation (Toronto) out 3-4 weeks with a sprained ankle from a collision on the bases


April 15, 2015

• LHP SP Tommy Milone and C Chris Herrmann sent to AAA for RHP SP Trevor May and RHP RP Michael Tonkin.
• LHP RP Brian Duensing designated for assignment.
• C Lazaro Herrera signed as a minor league free agent and assigned to me.
• Toronto trades C Dioneer Novarro to Houston for CF Colby Rasmus and $3 million

Kansas City 2 at Minnesota 5

WP: Ricky Nolasco (1-1), LP: Jason Vargas (0-2), SV: Glen Perkins (2)
HR: KC-Alex Gordon (1), MN-None

Gordon launched a 2-out solo homer in the 1st to open the scoring. Shane Victorino came up with 1-out and the bases loaded in the 4th and only the wind kept him from hitting our first grand slam of the season, but it did get us on the board as Joe Mauer trotted home from 3rd. Next batter, Kurt Suzuki, followed up a wild pitch that tied the game with a single to give us a 3-2 lead. Insurance runs in the 7th and 8th gave Perkins a cushion to work with. The Royals got the tying run to the plate with 1-out, but a grounder to Mauer and a strike out snuffed out the rally.


April 16, 2015

• 1B/Utility Jake Fox claimed off waivers from Toronto and was designated for assignment

Kansas City 2 at Minnesota 1 (13 innings)

WP: Greg Holland (1-0), LP: Blaine Boyer (0-1), SV: Ryan Madson (1)
HR: KC-None, MN-Oswaldo Arcia (3)

A sacrifice fly by Lorenzo Cain in the 3rd got the scoring started. Arcia hit a 2-out solo homer in the 7th to break up Edinson Volquez’s no-hit bid. Trevor May was nearly Volquez’s equal, allowing 4 hits and 1 run over 7.2 IP. Kansas City threatened to score in the 11th and 12th, but my bullpen came up with the big out when they needed it, however Kendrys Morales finally singled home Jarrod Dyson in the 13th to give the Royals the win.


2-7, 5th in the AL Central (4 GB), 12th in the AL Wild Card (3 GB)

Feeling a bit snakebit so far, as I’m 1-5 in 1-run games. In 4 of those 5 losses I’ve been either ahead or tied in the 8th inning or later. However, looking at our team stats it’s more understandable why we’re struggling (all rankings are AL).

Batting: .210/.289/.380 (t14th/12th/8th), OPS of .668 is 10th, 33 runs scored is 8th. On the bright side, the 13 home runs is 3rd.

Pitching: 4.26 Team ERA (8th), 3.58 Starters ERA (7th), 5.76 Bullpen ERA (12th), 40 runs against (8th).

The hitting and the bullpen can’t possibly stay that bad all season, so if the starters keep it up I could claw back into the race easily.

[faithful2thecall]

April 17, 2015

• 1B Jake Fox added to my roster, SS/Utility Eduardo Nunez designated for assignment.

Cleveland 3 at Minnesota 12

WP: Mike Pelfrey (1-0), LP: Anthony Swarzak (0-1)
HR: Cle-Michael Bourn (1), MN-Torii Hunter 2 (2)

Loading the bases with nobody out in the 1st, Trevor Plouffe hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track in straightaway center to open the scoring. A bases loaded walk to Eduardo Escobar added a 2nd run before Zach McAllister got out of the inning. Cleveland manufactured a couple of runs in the 4th to tie the game. McAllister had all sorts of control problems, walking 6 in 3+ innings while giving up only 3 hits, leaving with the bases loaded and nobody out. Swarzak miraculously got out of the jam coaxing back-to-back infield fly rules before striking out Trevor Plouffe to end the inning. I again loaded the bases with nobody out in the 6th, this time Joe Mauer delivered a clutch 1-out single to center that scored a pair. Hunter destroyed a slider leading off the 7th to make it 5-2. The Cleveland bullpen, which had looked decent in the first week and a half, completely came apart.


April 18, 2015

• 1B Brock Peterson called up from AAA for C Lazaro Herrera.
• LHP RP Brian Duensing clears waivers and is assigned to AAA.

Cleveland 1 at Minnesota 3

WP: Caleb Thielbar (1-0), LP: Corey Kluber (1-2), SV: Glen Perkins (3)
HR: Cle-None, MN-None

Michael Bourn turned a bunt single into a run in the 1st as he moved up on a passed ball and a balk before scoring on a ground out. A pair of Cleveland errors in the 3rd allowed me to tie the game. Pitching was the story of the game as Phil Hughes and Kluber locked in a pitcher’s duel. Trevor Plouffe delivered a 1-out single in the 8th to break the tie, and Oswaldo Arcia added an insurance run on a double.

• Erik Johnson (Chicago White Sox) threw a 2-hitter against Detroit.


April 19, 2015

• RF John Mayberry Jr. (New York Mets) placed on waivers.
• Lorenzo Cain (Kansas City) out 9 months with a ruptured MCL.

Cleveland 10 at Minnesota 6

WP: Trevor Bauer (1-1), LP: Kyle Gibson (0-2)
HR: Cle-None, MN-None

Cleveland strung 3 singles together to score a run in the 1st. After Cleveland tagged Kyle Gibson for 3 more runs in the 5th, Brian Dozier got us on the board with a 2-out double to deep center field. My bullpen let me down and the game got ugly.


April 20, 2015

• SS/Utility Eduardo Nunez clears waivers and is assigned to AAA.
• We are ranked 25th in the latest power rankings
• Washington trades CF Matt Den Dekker to Boston for 2B Jemile Weeks and LF Nick Longhi

Minnesota 8 at Kansas City 0

WP: Ricky Nolasco (2-1), LP: Jason Vargas (0-3)
HR: MN-None, KC-None

An error by Jarrod Dyson on a fly ball deep enough to score a run from 3rd even if it had been caught got us on the board in the 1st inning. By the time the inning was over, I’d sent 8 men to the plate and scored 3 runs. My offense torched Vargas for 12 hits and 6 runs (3 earned) in 3.2 innings and sent him to an early shower. About the only low point for me was Torii Hunter getting hurt (intercostal strain, 2 weeks) running out a double in the 6th. Nolasco delivered a 7-hitter, striking out 5 and walking 1 on 130 pitches.


April 21, 2015

• SS/Utility Eduardo Nunez recalled from AAA for the injured Torii Hunter.
• LHP SP Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox) suffered a 1 week set back in his injury recovery from a foot contusion.

Minnesota 5 at Kansas City 6 (13 innings)

WP: Franklin Morales (1-0), LP: Michael Tonkin (0-1)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (4), KC-None

Brian Dozier delivered a 2-out single in the 3rd to open the scoring after Jordan Schafer doubled for the 1st hit of the game. A pair of doubles into the left field corner for Kansas City’s first 2 hits in the 4th tied the game. Joe Mauer delivered a 2-out double on a hit-and-run in the 6th to put me back on top. By the time the string of hits was over, I’d hit for the cycle in order as a team—capped by Arcia’s 2-run homer to make it 5-1. Christian Colon was injured (strained abdominal muscle, 1 week) stealing 3rd for Kansas City. My defense and bullpen let me down as an error and a blown save by Caleb Thielbar tied the game at 5-5 in the 8th. The bullpens traded scoreless innings until Michael Tonkin came in and loaded the bases with nobody out in the 13th, allowing Alex Rios to hit a walk-off sacrifice fly.

• Derek Holland (Texas) threw a 3-hitter against Arizona.


April 22, 2015

Minnesota 4 at Kansas City 3

WP: Mike Pelfrey (2-0), LP: Jeremy Guthrie (2-1), SV: Glen Perkins (4)
HR: MN-Shane Robinson (2), KC-Kendrys Morales (2)

Guthrie took the mound for Kansas City in the series finale having not given up a run in 15.1 innings in his first 2 starts. Joe Mauer hit a 2-out, 2-run double in the 3rd to finally touch Guthrie for a run and to open the scoring. The Royals got on the board in the 5th on a Mike Moustakas triple and a wild pitch. Robinson got that run back in the 6th on a solo homer. Morales hit a solo homer off of Caleb Thielbar in the 8th to cut the lead to 4-2. Kansas City made it tense in the 9th as they scored a run and had runners on the corners when Perkins struck out Morales to end the game.


April 23, 2015

Off Day

• RHP SP Nathan Eovaldi (New York Yankees) out 4-5 months with shoulder inflammation.


April 24, 2015

Minnesota 1 at Seattle 2

WP: Felix Hernandez (2-0), LP: Phil Hughes (1-1), SV: Danny Farquhar (2)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (5), Sea-None

Our first (brief) venture outside of the division is a welcome change. Due to rain the roof was closed. Seattle picked up 3 hits in the 1st to pick up a run off of Phil Hughes. Arcia’s solo homer to lead off the 5th was only my 2nd hit off of Felix Hernandez.


April 25, 2015

• Nick Kingham (Pittsburgh) left the team for a couple of days due to the death of his grandfather.
• LHP RP Wesley Wright (Baltimore) out 4 months with a torn back muscle.
• RHP RP Drew Storen (Washington) out 3 months with a partially torn labrum.

Minnesota 4 at Seattle 5

WP: Danny Farquhar (2-1), LP: Caleb Thielbar (1-1)
HR: MN-None, Sea-Robinson Cano (2)

More rain meant the roof was closed again. Seattle touched Kyle Gibson for a pair of runs in the 2nd. A Brad Miller error allowed Kurt Suzuki to score to get us on the board in the 5th. Trevor Plouffe delivered a 2-run single later in the inning to give us the lead. Cano unloaded a 1-out, 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead. Brian Dozier delivered a 2-out game-tying single in the 6th. Unfortunately, Austin Jackson delivered a 2-out walk-off double.

• Colby Rasmus (Toronto) suspended 2 games for assaulting an umpire.


April 26, 2015

Minnesota 6 at Seattle 3

WP: Ricky Nolasco (3-1), LP: Carson Smith (1-2), SV: Perkins (4)
HR: MN-None, Sea-Nelson Cruz (1)

Again the roof was closed for the series finale. Danny Santana drove home Brian Dozier (who had tripled to lead off) on a fly ball to the wall to open the scoring. Seattle loaded the bases in their half of the 1st with nobody out and didn’t score after an infield fly rule was sandwiched by 2 strike outs. Cruz broke Nolasco’s scoreless streak with a lead off homer in the 4th. Seattle started stringing hits together and tied the game in the 5th. Trevor Plouffe delivered a RBI single with 2 outs in the 7th to retake the lead.

• Angel Pagan (San Francisco) suspended 4 games for a tirade at an umpire.


April 27, 2015

• We’re 21st in the latest power rankings.

Detroit 20 at Minnesota 4

WP: Justin Verlander (3-0), LP: Trevor May (0-1)
HR: Det-J.D. Martinez (2), Nick Castellanos (2), Yoenis Cespedes (5), MN-Brian Dozier (3)

Martinez led off the 2nd with a homer to open the scoring. Castellanos doubled the lead with a 2-out homer in the 3rd. Trevor May was shelled in the 4th as Detroit piled on 7 runs to blow the game open. Things didn’t get any better once the bullpen took over as Blaine Boyer was torched for 7 runs in the 5th. Dozier finally got us on the board with a 2-out homer in the bottom of the inning to make it 1-16. It was so ugly that I had Shane Victorino pitch the 9th and he retired the side in order.

• Matt Harvey (New York Mets) threw a 3-hitter against Miami.


April 28, 2015

• Cincinnati trades 2B Josh Satin and C Jose Lopez to Baltimore for Alejandro De Aza and $3 million.
• Toronto sends 3B Danny Valencia and RP Chase De Jong to San Diego for SP Ian Kennedy and $3 million.

Detroit 6 at Minnesota 3

WP: Kyle Lobstein (1-0), LP: Mike Pelfrey (2-1), SV: Joakim Soria (3)
HR: Det-Yoenis Cespedes (6), Miguel Cabrera (3), MN-Shane Victorino (2), Brian Dozier (4)

Our boys were itching to set the score right for yesterday. A crazy top of the 1st that included a balk and a runner thrown out at home ended with Detroit managing to score a run anyway. A 2-out solo homer be Cespedes in the 3rd doubled the lead. Victorino led off the bottom of the inning with a homer to get us back within 1, before a 2-out double by Trevor Plouffe tied the game. Xavier Avery was injured (knee contusion, 5 days) trying to score from 1st on a go-ahead double by Hernan Perez in the top of the 4th. Dozier’s solo homer with 2 outs in the 7th got me within 3-5.


April 29, 2015

• Gerrit Cole (Pittsburgh) out 8 months with a torn labrum.

Detroit 1 at Minnesota 2

WP: Phil Hughes (2-1), LP: David Price (1-3), SV: Glen Perkins (6)
HR: Det-None, MN-None

Trying to avoid 0-6 against Detroit in April we took to the field determined for the series finale. A 1-out double by Kurt Suzuki in the 2nd opened the scoring. A Trevor Plouffe single in the 5th added an insurance run. Hughes took a shutout 2 outs into the 9th before Yoenis Cespedes drove home a run on a single.


April 30, 2015

• Russell Martin (Toronto) out 4 months with a fractured ankle.

Chicago White Sox 7 at Minnesota 5

WP: Matt Albers (2-0), LP: Caleb Thielbar (1-2), SV: David Robinson (5)
HR: CWS-None, MN-Shane Robinson (3)

After Chris Sale walked the first 2 batters he saw this season, Shane Robinson made him pay by drilling a grounder up the middle for a 2-out, 2-run single with the bases loaded to open the scoring. Tyler Flowers countered with a 2-out, 2-run double in the 2nd after a Brian Dozier error extended the inning. Before the inning was over the White Sox had a 3-2 lead. I strung together 3 straight hits to open the 4th to plate a pair of runs to regain a 4-3 lead. A sacrifice fly by J.B. Shuck in the 6th tied the game. Jose Abreu doubled home a pair after a Danny Santana 1-out error in the 7th to give the White Sox the lead.


April Totals:

8-14, 5th AL Central (6.5 GB), 11th AL Wild Card (4 GB)
.244/.311/.398 (12th/11th/6th), .709 OPS (8th), 96 runs (8th), 22 homers (tied for 4th)
4.55 ERA (10th), 3.85 (8th) starters, 6.05 (15th) bullpen, 107 runs against, .284 opp BA

Team Leaders:
Hitting: Joe Mauer (.306), Osawldo Arcia (5 HR), Trevor Plouffe (15 RBI)
Pitching: Phil Hughes (1.56 ERA, 23 K), Ricky Nolasco (3 wins)


April Players of the Month:
AL Hitter: Jose Bautista (Toronto) .322, 11 homers, 33 RBI, 22 runs scored
NL Hitter: Pedro Alvarez (Pittsburgh) .346, 8 homers, 21 RBI, 15 runs scored
AL Pitcher: Sonny Gray (Oakland) 4-0, 1.23 ERA, 41 K, 36.2 IP
NL Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers) 4-1, 1.13 ERA, .194 opp BA
AL Rookie: Maikel Caceres (Texas) .333, 3 homers, 13 RBI, 11 runs
NL Rookie: Jorge Soler (Chicago Cubs) .269, 4 homers, 12 RBI, 21 hits


If my bullpen can get things straightened out and my offense picks up (especially hitting homers with more runners on base) I should be okay yet.

[faithful2thecall]

May 1, 2015

Chicago White Sox 5 at Minnesota 0

WP: Jeff Samardzija (2-0), LP: Ricky Nolasco (3-2), SV: David Robertson (6)
HR: CWS-None, MN-None

My task was made more difficult before the game ever started with Oswaldo Arcia out for 2 days with a viral infection. A lead off triple helped the White Sox score in the 1st. Nolasco didn’t have his good stuff as he was getting hit hard all over the field for the first 3 innings before settling down. Casey Fien got tagged for 3 runs in the 8th as my bullpen continued to struggle. My offense never got going, and when we did get runners on we hit into 3 double plays.

• Jung-Ho Kang (Pittsburgh) day-to-day with a sore hand after a collision at a base.


May 2, 2015

Chicago White Sox 0 at Minnesota 3

WP: Trevor May (1-1), LP: Eric Surkamp (0-2), SV: Glen Perkins (7)
HR: CWS-None, MN-None

A 2-out single by Kurt Suzuki for my 1st hit opened the scoring in the 2nd. Trevor Plouffe hit a 2-run triple in the 3rd to extend the lead. Both starting pitchers were threw a lot of pitches early as control was a problem for them both. Trevor May bounced back well from his previous start against Detroit when he was hammered for 9 runs with 6 shutout innings before being lifted after 105 pitches (6 hits, 3 BB). My bullpen actually came through for a change as 3 relievers each delivered a scoreless inning.

• Alex Guerrero (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Josh Collmenter (Arizona) suspended 5 games each for instigating a benches-clearing brawl.


May 3, 2015

• Cincinnati sends RF Jay Bruce and $3 million to the Chicago White Sox for LHP RP Zach Duke and 3B Matt Davidson.

Chicago White Sox 6 at Minnesota 3

WP: Matt Albers (3-0), LP: Mike Pelfrey (2-2), SV: David Robertson (7)
HR: CWS-None, MN-None

Jay Bruce went directly into the White Sox line-up for the series finale. 3 straight singles to start the bottom of the 1st produced the opening run of the game off of Joe Mauer’s bat. Chicago came right back with 3 runs off of Mike Pelfrey in the 2nd. A 67 minute rain delay changed the dynamic of the game in the bottom of the 5th. The bullpens generally proved effective, though each team scraped out a run.


May 4, 2015

• We’re 26th in the latest power rankings
• Arizona trades 2B Garrett Weber and RHP SP Aaron Blair to San Diego for Justin Upton and $3 million.

Oakland 2 at Minnesota 5

WP: Phil Hughes (3-1), LP: Brad Mills (0-2), SV: Glen Perkins (8)
HR: Oak-Josh Phegley (3), MN-None

A 1st inning double from Joe Mauer opened the scoring. By the time the inning was over, we’d batted around scoring 3 runs and leaving the bases loaded. Oakland got a 2-out, 2-run homer from Phegley in the 2nd to get them back into it. A 6-3 double play bailed Phil Hughes out of a bases loaded, 1-out situation in the 3rd as he didn’t have his best stuff. After the 3rd pitching became the dominant story as the offenses only produced 1 run.

• Mark Buehrle (Toronto) picked up his 200th win over the New York Yankees 4-1.


May 5, 2015

• 1B Brock Peterson sent to AAA to make room for the recovered RF Torii Hunter.
• Baltimore traded RF Travis Snider to San Diego for RHP SP Brandon Morrow.

Oakland 6 at Minnesota 1

WP: Sonny Gray (5-0), LP: Kyle Gibson (0-3)
HR: Oak-Billy Butler 2 (5), MN-None

A pair of doubles ended up producing 2 runs for Oakland in the 1st. Felix Pie was injured (hand soreness, day-to-day for 5 days) making a running grab to rob Eduardo Escobar of extra bases in the 3rd. A Shane Victorino double with 2-outs in the 3rd got me on the board. Butler provided all the offense after that, hitting 2 homers and driving in 4 runs.


May 6, 2015

• Wade Davis (Kansas City) out for 2 months with biceps tendinitis.

Oakland 8 at Minnesota 0

WP: Jesse Hahn (5-1), LP: Ricky Nolasco (3-3)
HR: Oak-Marcus Semien (2), MN-None

Semien hit a 2-out, 3-run homer in the 2nd to open the scoring. My team seemed not to show up—either the offense or the pitching. With a worried owner, I don’t have much job security right now.


May 7, 2015

• Jedd Gyorko (San Diego) suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring strain that will have him out for another 2-3 weeks.

Oakland 3 at Minnesota 4 (11 innings)

WP: Ryan Pressly (1-0), LP: Evan Scribbner (0-1)
HR: Oak-None, MN-None

3 straight hits to open the bottom of the 1st allowed us to open the scoring. We added a couple of insurance runs in the 4th before Oakland finally tagged Trevor May for a run in the 6th. The A’s added another off of Tim Stauffer who had been my top reliever (1 ER in 13.2 IP coming into this outing) in the 8th. Glen Perkins then proceeded to blow his 1st save attempt of the season in the 9th. We played small ball to perfection in the 11th—a single, pinch runner, stolen base, sacrifice bunt, a couple of intentional walks before Kurt Suzuki grounded a single up the middle to send the home fans home happy.


May 8, 2015

• Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh) out 5 weeks due to a fractured hand.
• St. Louis trades CF Peter Bourjos to Cleveland for LHP RP Marc Rzepczynski, RF Mike Papi, and $750,000.

Minnesota 3 at Cleveland 4 (10 innings)

WP: Anthony Swarzak (1-1), LP: Michael Tonkin (0-2)
HR: MN-None, Cle-None

A 2-out, 2-run single by Brian Dozier in the 2nd opened the scoring. Trevor Bauer was having problems with his control for Cleveland, walking 5 batters in his 6 IP. A couple of walks by Mike Pelfrey let the Indians get on the board in the 4th, as they picked up 3 runs to take the lead. Dozier delivered again with a 2-out double to tie the game. Back-to-back doubles in the 10th gave Cleveland the win.

• Yusmeiro Petit (San Francisco) threw a 4-hitter against Miami.


May 9, 2015

Minnesota 4 at Cleveland 6

WP: Danny Salazar (3-0), LP: Phil Hughes (3-2), SV: Kyle Crockett (1)
HR: MN-None, Cle-None

A 2-out single by Brandon Moss in the 1st opened the scoring. Phil Hughes appeared to be replaced by an imposter on the mound. 3 straight hits to open the 4th finally got us on the board. Joe Mauer had a great day, going 4-for-4 with 3 doubles (although on 2 of those he was thrown out trying to stretch them into triples). It became a back-and-forth battle as we’d close in, then they’d get another insurance run or two.

• C.C. Sabathia (New York Yankees) threw a 4-hitter against Baltimore.


May 10, 2015

• Cole Hamels (Philadelphia) out 3 months with a strained hamstring.

Minnesota 1 at Cleveland 5

WP: Corey Kluber (2-4), LP: Kyle Gibson (0-4), SV: Shaun Marcum (1)
HR: MN-None, Cle-None

Peter Bourjos hit a 1-out, 3-run triple in the 2nd to open the scoring. Joe Mauer finally picked up our 1st hit on a 2-out double in the 6th, which Trevor Plouffe followed up with another double to get us on the board. Shane Robinson sprained his knee (5 days) running down a fly ball in the bottom of the 6th.


May 11, 2015

• We’re 30th in the latest power rankings.

Off Day

• Carl Crawford (Los Angeles Dodgers) out 2-3 months after breaking a hamate bone in his wrist on a defensive play against Miami.


May 12, 2015

• Miami trades 2B Dee Gordon to San Diego for 3B Yangervis Solarte and SS Franchy Cordero.

Minnesota 1 at Detroit 2

WP: David Price (3-3), LP: Ricky Nolasco (3-4), SV: Joakim Soria (4)
HR: MN-None, Det-None

For our struggling team a trip to Detroit, who we’ve lost 5 of 6 to this season is a tough challenge. The good news for us is that Detroit has lost 4 straight coming into this series. A 2-out double in the 3rd by Brian Dozier was the first hit of the game. The pitchers dominated into the 5th when we touched David Price for the opening run of the game on an infield hit by Eduardo Nunez after a lead-off triple by Oswaldo Arcia. Yoenis Cespedes got Detroit’s 1st hit on a lead-off single in the 5th. Cespedes ended up being thrown out at home by Torii Hunter on a fly out-throw’em out double play. Jose Iglesias hit a 2-out, 2-run double in the 8th off of Ricky Nolasco to give Detroit the lead and break up the shutout bid.

• Bryce Harper’s (Washington) 30-game hitting streak was broken in an 0-for-4 performance by Arizona.


May 13, 2015

Minnesota 2 at Detroit 5

WP: Anibal Sanchez (2-4), LP: Trevor May (1-2), SV: Joe Nathan (4)
HR: MN-None, Det-Miguel Cabrera (5)

Cabrera hit the left field foul pole with 2-on and 2-outs in the 3rd to open the scoring. An error by Eduardo Escobar allowed an insurance run to score in the 5th. We didn’t get on the board until a 2-out single by Jordan Schafer in the 7th. Hernan Perez blooped a 2-out single to center in the 8th for another insurance run.


May 14, 2015

• Colorado trades CF Charlie Blackmon and $507,500 to the New York Mets for SS Luis Guillorme.
• Milwaukee trades CF Logan Schafer to Philadelphia for C Andrew Knapp.

Minnesota 1 at Detroit 4

WP: Justin Verlander (5-1), LP: Mike Pelfrey (2-3), SV: Joe Nathan (5)
HR: MN-None, Det-None

Anthony Gose picked up the 1st hit of the game on a swinging bunt with 2-outs in the 3rd. Former Tiger, Torii Hunter picked up our 1st hit leading off the 5th on a line drive single to left. 3 straight doubles to open the bottom of the inning got Detroit on the board. Oswaldo Arcia got us on the board with 2-outs in the top of the 6th with a single up the middle. Detroit got the run back in the bottom of the inning.

• Stephen Strasburg (Washington) threw a 5-hit shutout against San Diego.


May 15, 2015

• Atlanta trades RHP SP Garrett Fulenchek and CF Keith Curcio to Arizona for RHP RP Evan Marshall and $507,500.

Tampa Bay 3 at Minnesota 0

WP: Matt Andriese (4-2), LP: Phil Hughes (3-3), SV: Jeff Beliveau (7)
HR: TB-None, MN-None

A lead-off double by Brian Dozier was the only hit in the game before a 2-out single by Evan Longoria in the 4th, as the pitchers dominated early. The Rays parlayed that hit into the 1st run of the game. My ace, Phil Hughes had to leave the game with a finger blister (3 weeks) after striking out the lead-off batter in the 5th.


May 16, 2015

• LHP SP Logan Darnell was called up from AAA for the injured Phil Hughes.

Tampa Bay 1 at Minnesota 3

WP: Kyle Gibson (1-4), LP: Nate Karns (1-4), SV: Glen Perkins (9)
HR: TB-None, MN-Trevor Plouffe (2)

My first homer since April 30th came off the bat of Trevor Plouffe with 1-on and 2-outs in the 1st to open the scoring. The Rays finally scored in the top of the 5th on a 2-out single by Desmond Jennings. A Jordan Schafer double with 2-outs in the 6th gave us an insurance run. My 3 best bullpen pitchers delivered to secure the win and break our 7-game losing streak.


May 17, 2015

• Edwin Encarnacion (Toronto) out 9-10 months with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
• St. Louis trades C Ed Beasley and C Leandro Cedeno to Detroit for LHP SP Kyle Lobstein.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota—Rained Out


12-25, .324, 5th Place 8.5 GB (AL Central), 12th Place 8 GB (Wild Card)
The struggles of my offense combined with poor performances by many in my bullpen have led to our poor results. An upset owner has me concerned about my job stability even though we haven’t reached the All-Star break yet. A division-heavy schedule in a division where the other 4 teams are separated by 2.5 games has meant I’ve been facing tough sledding.

Being that this is effectively my first time doing this any feedback is welcome.

[faithful2thecall]

May 18, 2015

• Neil Walker (Texas) out 4-5 weeks with a sprained ankle.
• We’re 30th in the latest power rankings.

Off Day


May 19, 2015

• Ryan Raburn (Cleveland) out 4-5 months with a torn labrum.

Minnesota 3 at Pittsburgh 6

WP: Jeff Locke (3-1), LP: Michael Tonkin (0-3), SV: Mark Melancon (7)
HR: MN-None, Pitt-Jung-Ho Kang (5), Starling Marte (3), Pedro Alvarez (13), Francisco Cervelli (4)

Now we get to have the fun of the pitcher having to hit for the next 2 games. Kang hit a 2-out homer in the 1st to open the scoring. The Pirates added an insurance run in the 3rd. Marte hit a 1-out homer in the 6th to extend the lead. Shane Robinson’s triple in the 7th finally got us on the board. Danny Santana was injured (chronic back soreness, 4 weeks) making a defensive play to end the 7th. Joe Mauer delivered a game-tying RBI double with 1-out in the 8th. The tie didn’t last long as Alvarez homered to lead off the Pirates’ half of the 8th and Cervelli hit a 2-run homer later in the inning to put the game away.


May 20, 2015

• Chicago White Sox trade CF Adam Eaton to Toronto for CF Ezequiel Carrera and LHP SP Jake Brentz.

Minnesota 4 at Pittsburgh 5

WP: Mark Melancon (2-1), LP: Caleb Thielbar (1-3)
HR: MN-Trevor Plouffe (3), Pitt-Starling Marte (4)

Plouffe hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 1st to open the scoring. A Brian Dozier 2-out triple brought home Trevor May (who reached on a fielder’s choice). Pittsburgh finally got on the board when Chris Stewart, their backup C who was 0-for-13 on the season, grounded a 2-run single up the middle. Marte hit a lead-off homer off of Ryan Pressly in the 6th to tie the game. Shane Robinson made a huge defensive play in the 7th, throwing out Pedro Alvarez at the plate with 1-out. I made a mistake by forgetting to have a pitcher warming up when I pinch hit for the pitcher in the 8th, but Thielbar bailed me out by pitching a scoreless 8th. However Thielbar couldn’t get the job done in the 9th giving up a walk-off triple to Josh Harrison.

• 3B Cody Asche (Philadelphia) and RHP RP Brooks Brown (Colorado) were suspended 8 games each for starting a benches-clearing brawl.


May 21, 2015

• Tampa Bay trades RHP SP Jake Odorizzi to Milwaukee for RHP SP Cy Sneed.

Off Day


May 22, 2015

• 1B Brock Peterson called up for the injured Danny Santana.

Minnesota 0 at Chicago White Sox 3

WP: Erik Johnson (2-5), LP: Mike Pelfrey (2-4), SV: David Robertson (9)
HR: MN-None, CWS-Conor Gillaspie (3)

A 2-out single from Avisail Garcia opened the scoring in the 1st. The White Sox added a run in the 3rd on a 2-out wild pitch, and Gillaspie hit a solo homer in the 4th. My offense continued to have problems stringing hits together and weren’t getting the homers we got early in the season.

• Christian Yelich’s (Miami) 21-game hitting streak was ended by Baltimore on a 0-for-4 day.


May 23, 2015

• Arizona owner Ken Kendrick died of natural causes. His son, Ted Kendrick will take over.
• Tampa Bay trades RHP CL Brad Boxberger and $507,500 to Washington for LHP SP Felipe Rivero and CF Darryl Florentino.
• New York Mets trade RF Kirk Nieuwenhuis to Milwaukee for CF Kyle Wren

Minnesota 3 at Chicago White Sox 1 (10 innings)

WP: Tim Staufer (1-0), LP: Jake Petricka (0-2), SV: Glen Perkins (10)
HR: MN-None, CWS-None

Eduardo Escobar picked up the 1st hit of the game with 2-outs in the 3rd. Avisail Garcia became the White Sox’s 1st base runner with a lead-off walk in the 5th, but was erased on an inning-ending double play. Ezequiel Carrera broke up Logan Darnell’s no-hit bid with 2-outs in the 6th with a RBI single to open the scoring. Oswaldo Arcia tied the game with a 1-out single to center in the 9th off of Petricka. Brian Dozier gave us the lead in the 10th on a 1-out triple on a hit-and-run. Escobar drove in Dozier, then Perkins came in to slam the door and give us a much needed win.

It wasn’t Darnell’s major league debut, as he’d been up briefly in 2014, but his performance was outstanding. 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. It was a shame that we couldn’t score earlier to get him the win he deserved for that effort.


May 24, 2015

Minnesota 4 at Chicago White Sox 1

WP: Michael Tonkin (1-3), LP: Zach Phillips (0-1), SV: Glen Perkins (11)
HR: MN-Torii Hunter 2 (4), CWS-None

It took until the 5th inning for either team to score, and it was the White Sox that struck first on a 2-out single by Tyler Flowers. Hunter hit a solo homer to lead off the 7th to tie the game. In his next at bat in the 9th, Hunter hit a ball to left that had just enough carry to get out for a 3-run homer to give us the lead.

• Joey Votto (Cincinnati) out 1 week with sustained hamstring soreness from running the bases.
• A.J. Burnett (Pittsburgh) threw a 5-hitter against the New York Mets.


May 25, 2015

• We’re ranked 29th in the latest power rankings.
• Texas trades RHP SP Yovani Gallardo to Houston for C Hank Conger and 2B Tony Kemp.

Boston 3 at Minnesota 6

WP: Ricky Nolasco (4-4), LP: Rick Porcello (3-3), SV: Glen Perkins (12)
HR: Bos-Hanley Ramirez 2 (11), MN-None

Mookie Betts was injured (fractured wrist, 5 weeks) making a catch to end the 1st. A struggling Shane Victorino hit a 2-run double to open the scoring in the 2nd. Dustin Pedroia got the 1st hit for the Red Sox leading off the 4th. Ramirez hit a 2-out, 2-run homer to tie the game 3 batters later. A 2-out single in the 5th by Joe Mauer put us back in front. We scored 3 more runs in the inning. Ramirez hit a solo shot to lead off the 7th and chase Ricky Nolasco. The bullpen got the job done though as we won our 3rd in a row for the 1st time this season.


May 26, 2015

• Milwaukee trades LHP RP Will Smith to the Chicago White Sox for 2B Jake Peter.

Boston 1 at Minnesota 6

WP: Trevor May (2-2), LP: Steven Wright (2-5)
HR: Bos-None, MN-None

Brian Dozier hit a 2-out, 2-run double in the 2nd to open the scoring. The Red Sox didn’t get on the board until a sacrifice fly by Matt Den Dekker off of reliever Caleb Thielbar in the 7th, but I was still ahead 5-1 at that point.


May 27, 2015

Boston 2 at Minnesota 3

WP: Mike Pelfrey (3-4), LP: Clay Buchholz (4-4), SV: Glen Perkins (13)
HR: Bos-Rusney Castillo (5), MN-None

3 straight singles to lead off the 4th gave us the game’s 1st run. We weren’t hitting them hard, but they were falling where the defense wasn’t. Castillo’s 1-out, 2-run homer in the 7th got Boston on the board and chased Pelfrey. Perkins made things nerve-wracking in the 9th by loading the bases before striking out Dustin Pedroia to end the game and complete the sweep.

• Drew Hutchinson (Toronto) threw a 4-hitter against the Chicago White Sox.
• Chase Headley (New York Yankees) wrecked a one-of-a-kind car (2 days).


May 28, 2015

• Adam Wainwright (St. Louis) is out 2 weeks with an undisclosed off-field injury. He’d given up 5 runs in 6.2 innings in his start the day before.

Off Day


May 29, 2015

Toronto 9 at Minnesota 1

WP: Ian Kennedy (3-4), LP: Logan Darnell (0-1)
HR: Tor-None, MN-None

Darnell was lit up in the first by hard-hitting Toronto for 3 runs in the 1st. We didn’t get a hit until a lead-off single in the 5th by Oswaldo Arcia. My bullpen did a halfway decent job until they couldn’t find the strike zone in the 8th, allowing Toronto to blow the game open with 5 runs. We only scored on an error with 2-outs in the 9th in an ugly game.

• Dallas Keuchel (Houston) pitched a 5-hitter against the Chicago White Sox.


May 30, 2015

Toronto 7 at Minnesota 9

WP: Caleb Thielbar (2-3), LP: Colt Hynes (0-2), SV: Glen Perkins (14)
HR: Tor-None, MN-Brock Peterson (1), Brian Dozier (5)

A Josh Donaldson ground out plated the first run of the game in the 1st. Trevor Plouffe answered with a 2-out single in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Jose Reyes put the Blue Jays back in front with a single in the 2nd. A pair of 2-out hits in the 2nd let us take a 3-2 lead. Peterson’s 1st MLB homer was a 2-run shot in the 3rd to extend our lead to 5-2. The Blue Jays tied the game at 7 with a 3 run 7th. Dozier delivered a go-ahead 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning to put us back on top. The most reliable arms in my bullpen proceeded to shut down Toronto from there to secure the win.

• Garrett Richards (Los Angeles Angels) threw a 5-hitter against Detroit.


May 31, 2015

• Cincinnati trades RHP SP Josh Smith and $507,500 to Colorado for C Ryan Casteel and 3B Luis Castro.

Toronto 6 at Minnesota 7

WP: Glen Perkins (1-0), LP: Brett Cecil (1-4)
HR: Tor-Andy Wilkins (6), Jose Reyes (6), Michael Saunders (1), MN-Eduardo Escobar (2)

Trevor Plouffe hit a 2-out single to drive home the opening run of the game in the 1st. Shane Robinson added some insurance with a 2-out, 2-run single in the 3rd. Escobar added a 2-run homer in the 4th to blow the game open. Wilkins got Toronto on the board in the 5th with a leadoff homer. Reyes hammered a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 7th to cut the lead to 6-4. Saunders hit a 1-out homer off of Glen Perkins to make it a 1 run game before a string of singles tied the game. Robinson provided the heroics in the bottom of the 9th by singling down the 3rd base line to drive home Joe Mauer for the walk-off win.


19-29, 5th in the AL Central 7.5 GB, 12th in the AL Wild Card 7 GB

We’re on a good string of results (7-1 in our last 8) now that we’ve gotten outside the division. We’re still struggling on the road (6-17) and in 1-run games (6-11). Scoring runs has become our real problem (though you wouldn’t be able to tell it the past couple of days). The pitching staff is doing a better job, though they’re still surrendering too many runs—especially the bullpen.

The owner is still unhappy, which is probably in part because attendance is down 18%.

It’s hard to find much to say good things about on the hitting side, though there are a couple of players up amongst the AL leaders in a few categories. As far as our pitchers go, Glen Perkins leads the AL in saves despite blowing the save in our last game. Tim Stauffer has been the best pitcher in the bullpen (1-0, 8 holds, 1.66 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 21.2 IP, 4 ER, 0.5 WAR).

[faithful2thecall]

June 1, 2015

• We’re 25th in the latest power rankings.

Minnesota 6 at Boston 2

WP: Trevor May (3-2), LP: Clay Buchholz (4-5)
HR: MN-Shane Robinson (4), Bos-None

Kurt Suzuki singled to center in the 3rd to open the scoring after Shane Victorino got the 1st hit of the game 2 batters earlier. Sean Coyle doubled down the right field line in the bottom of the inning for Boston’s 1st hit. Robinson’s 2-out, 2-run homer in the 4th extended the lead. A 2-out, 2-run single by Xander Bogaerts got the Red Sox on the board in the bottom of the inning. We added insurance runs in the 6th and 7th before my bullpen pitched 3 hitless innings to secure the win.


June 2, 2015

• David Wright (New York Mets) out 3 months with a fractured fibula.
• Greg Holland (Kansas City) suffered a setback in his recovery from shoulder soreness keeping him out an additional 4 days.
• Brandon Belt (San Francisco) out 4 months with a torn abdominal muscle.
• Milwaukee trades LF Khris Davis to Atlanta for LHP RP Luis Avilan and SS Ozhaino Albies.
• San Francisco trades C Andrew Susac to Washington for RHP RP Craig Stammen and LF Nick Longhi.
• Toronto trades LHP RP Brett Cecil to Philadelphia for CF Aaron Altherr and LF Gustavo Martinez.

Minnesota 10 at Boston 6

WP: Ryan Pressly (2-0), LP: Matt Barnes (1-4)
HR: MN-Shane Victorino (3), Oswaldo Arcia (6), Bos-None

Neither starter looked sharp as each team sent 7 men to the plate in the 1st inning. We blew the game open with 4 runs in the 3rd. Shane Robinson then had to leave the game in the 4th making a defensive play (intercostal strain, 2-3 weeks). Mike Pelfrey didn’t make it out of the 4th inning, giving up 4 runs in 3.2 innings and left with the bases loaded. Tommy Layne got injured (finger blister, day-to-day for 2 days) getting the last out of the 9th. Tip of the cap to the previously struggling Pressly who came in relief of Pelfrey and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings allowing us to put the game out of reach.

• Seth Maness (St. Louis) threw a 4-hitter against Milwaukee.
• Madison Bumgarner (San Francisco) threw a 2-hitter against Pittsburgh.
• Adrian Beltre (Texas) hit career homer #400 against the Chicago White Sox.

June 3, 2015

• Endy Chavez signed to a minor league free agent deal and assigned to AAA.
• Tampa Bay traded RF Brandon Guyer to Houston for SS Marwin Gonzalez and SS Marcos Y. Almonte.

Minnesota 6 at Boston 4

WP: Logan Darnell (1-1), LP: Wade Miley (4-7), SV: Glen Perkins (15)
HR: MN-None, Bos-Brock Holt (1)

We got going right away as after a walk and a hit batter Joe Mauer laced an RBI double. Before the inning was over we added 2 more runs on a Torii Hunter double. They responded in the bottom of the inning on a Hanley Ramirez 2-out single. Miley wasn’t at his sharpest as we added 2 more runs in the 2nd. A 3-run homer by Holt in the 2nd cut the lead to 5-4. Both pitchers pretty well settled down after the 2nd. We added an additional run in the 4th which proved to be the last run of the game as neither bullpen gave up a run. The win also means we have the longest current winning streak at 5 games.

• Anibal Sanchez (Detroit) tossed a no-hitter against Oakland walking 4 in a 9-0 win.


June 4, 2015

• Phil Hughes has recovered from his injury and Logan Darnell was returned to AAA.

Minnesota 2 at Boston 1

WP: Kyle Gibson (2-4), LP: Rick Porcello (4-4), SV: Glen Perkins (16)
HR: MN-None, Bos-None

We had a pair of unusual opportunities as we went into the series finale in Fenway—both an opportunity to sweep a 4-game series on the road and to complete a season sweep of the worst-in-baseball Red Sox. Both pitchers looked sharp early, but Kyle Gibson was of particular note striking out 5 straight Red Sox hitters. By playing small ball to perfection the bottom of our line-up finally opened the scoring in the 5th. Shane Victorino grounded a single and then stole 2nd, before advancing to 3rd on a ground out and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Kurt Suzuki. Hanley Ramirez became Boston’s 1st base runner with a 1-out walk in the 5th, which Xander Bogaerts followed with a double for Boston’s 1st hit. Gibson escaped the bases loaded, 1-out jam on a strike out and a pop up. We added insurance in the 7th on a sacrifice fly by Victorino. Gibson had to be relieved due to an injury (sore ankle, day-to-day for 2 days) giving up a leadoff double to Mike Napoli in the 7th for Boston’s 2nd hit. Napoli proceeded to steal 3rd and score on a ground out to get the Red Sox on the board.


June 5, 2015

• LF Endy Chavez called up for the injured Shane Robinson.

Milwaukee 2 at Minnesota 3

WP: Ricky Nolasco (5-4), LP: Matt Garza (4-6), SV: Tim Stauffer (1)
HR: Mil-Donnie Murphy (3), MN-None

Between our improved play and a border battle, more fans showed up for the start of this series than had been coming earlier in the season. We rewarded them in the 1st with a 2-run double by Joe Mauer. Milwaukee got on the board on a ground out in the 3rd. Murphy’s 1-out homer in the 8th brought the Brewers within 3-2. With Glen Perkins needing a day off, Stauffer came in and picked up a 4 out save.

• Drew Pomeranz (Oakland) threw a 5-hitter against Boston.


June 6, 2015

• Patrick Corbin (Arizona) aggravated his injury in a workout trying to come back from Tommy John surgery that will keep him out an additional 1-2 weeks.

Milwaukee 4 at Minnesota 2

WP: Jake Odorizzi (5-3), LP: Trevor May (3-3), SV: Jeremy Jeffress (8)
HR: Mil-Kirk Nieuwenhuis (4), Adam Lind (5), MN-Joe Mauer (2)

Trevor May made things scary in the 1st loading the bases with 1-out on 2 walks and a single before getting a strike out and fly out to escape the jam. Nieuwenhuis hit a 1-out solo homer in the 2nd to open the scoring. Mauer responded with a 2-run homer with 1-out in the bottom of the inning to put us in front. Lind tied it with a 1-out homer in the 5th. Milwaukee took the lead later in the inning on an errant throw home by Jordan Schafer on a sacrifice fly. The Brewers added another run in the 6th. Our winning streak came to an end at 7.


June 7, 2015

• Jon Lester (Chicago Cubs) out 4 months with a torn labrum.

Milwaukee 2 at Minnesota 1 (13 innings)

WP: Jonathan Broxton (2-1), LP: Casey Fien (0-2)
HR: Mil-Donnie Murphy (4), MN-None

Pitching dominated early. We didn’t get our 1st hit until Eduardo Escobar singled leading off the 4th. That was the first of 3 straight singles, the last by Trevor Plouffe drove in Escobar to open the scoring. Each team scattered hits without mounting a threat after that until the 8th, when Milwaukee got a leadoff double from Matt Clark who came in to score 1 out later on a Gerardo Parra single to tie the game and chase Mike Pelfrey. Our offense wasn’t producing much all day. Murphy hit a leadoff homer off of Fien to open the 13th. We went in order in the bottom of the inning to lose the series.

• Jose Reyes (Toronto) out 4 weeks with shoulder tendinitis from making a throw.


June 8, 2015

• We’re ranked 23rd in the latest power rankings.

Kansas City 6 at Minnesota 3

WP: Yordano Ventura (4-6), LP: Phil Hughes (3-4), SV: Greg Holland (7)
HR: KC-Erik Kratz (3), MN-None

Phil Hughes was making his return from injury in this game. Kratz hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 2nd to open the scoring. Ventura loaded the bases with nobody out in the 2nd, and we made him pay by scoring 2 runs to tie the game before running ourselves out of the inning on a fly out-throw’em out double play to end the inning. The Royals retook the lead on a 2-out single by Yosvani Garcia in the 4th. My pitching staff didn’t have a good day.


June 9, 2015

• Jason Vargas (Kansas City) out at least 13 months with a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
• Craig Stammen (San Francisco) out 4 months with shoulder inflammation.

Kansas City 6 at Minnesota 4

WP: Buddy Baumann (1-0), LP: Kyle Gibson (2-5), SV: Louis Coleman (3)
HR: KC-None, MN-Brock Peterson (2), Trevor Plouffe (4)

Kansas City struck quickly in the 1st with a single, stolen base, and a double. Gibson didn’t have his good stuff at all. We finally got on the board in the 4th when Peterson hit a leadoff homer to make it 1-6. Caleb Thielbar came out of the bullpen and pitched admirably, giving us 3.2 shutout innings but our offense wasn’t doing anything to reward him. We loaded the bases with nobody out in the 8th with Plouffe coming to the plate after homering in his previous at bat. Plouffe struck out, but Torii Hunter delivered a 2-run single to make it a ball game at 4-6.

• Brett Gardner (New York Yankees) and Manny Delcarmen (Washington) each suspended 7 games for their parts in a benches clearing brawl.


June 10, 2015

• Matt Carpenter (St. Louis) out 4 weeks with a fractured rib.

Kansas City 2 at Minnesota 3

WP: Ricky Nolasco (6-4), LP: Ryan Madson (1-2), SV: Glen Perkins (17)
HR: KC-None, MN-Brian Dozier (6)

The Royals struck in the 1st using the speed of Jarrod Dyson to manufacture a run. Dozier answered immediately by hitting a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning. Kansas City retook the lead in the 2nd, but we tied it in the 4th. We took our 1st lead of the game on a wild pitch in the 6th by Luke Hochevar. Kendrys Morales then ran the Royals out of the game in the 9th by getting thrown out at home for the 1st out trying to score from 2nd on a seeing-eye single.


June 11, 2015

Off Day


June 12, 2015

Minnesota 8 at Texas 4

WP: Trevor May (4-3), LP: Colby Lewis (2-4)
HR: MN-Brian Dozier 2 (8), Trevor Plouffe (4), Oswaldo Arcia (7), Tex-Kyle Blanks (8), Prince Fielder (12)

Shin-Soo Choo opened the scoring in the 2nd with a sacrifice fly. Dozier got some help from the wind with 1 out in the 3rd to hit a solo homer to take the team lead. 2 batters later, Joe Mauer lined a double into the gap on a hit-and-run to give us the lead. Plouffe provided some additional breathing room with a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 5th. Dozier’s 2nd homer of the day was a 2-run shot in the 6th to blow the game open. Arcia joined the slugfest with a leadoff homer in the 7th. Blanks tried to make a game out of it with a 2-out, 2-run blast in the bottom of the 7th. Fielder got some help from the wind leading off the 9th for his 300th career homer.

• Adam Wainwright (St. Louis) threw a 2-hitter against Kansas City.
• Max Scherzer (Washington) threw a 3-hitter against Milwaukee.


June 13, 2015

Minnesota 6 at Texas 3

WP: Mike Pelfrey (4-4), LP: Kevin Slowey (0-7), SV: Glen Perkins (18)
HR: MN-Joe Mauer (3), Tex-Ryan Rua (8)

Pitching controlled this game early. We scattered a couple of hits, but Texas didn’t have a hit until a 1-out single in the 4th from Elvis Andrus. A pair of errors by Kurt Suzuki allowed Andrus to come around to score the opening run of the game. Mauer bailed out Suzuki in the 5th with a 2-out, 3-run homer to straightaway center to give us the lead. Rua delivered a 2-run homer in the 7th to make it a 1 run game. Mauer provided some breathing room with a RBI single in the 8th.


June 14, 2015

• Alex Gordon (Kansas City) out 5 weeks with a fractured foot.

Minnesota 5 at Texas 4

WP: Phil Hughes (4-4), LP: Jhoulys Chacin (8-3), SV: Glen Perkins (19)
HR: MN-Torii Hunter (5), Tex-Adrian Beltre (8), Hank Conger (2)
We scored in the 1st on a 2-out single up the middle by Oswaldo Arcia. Hunter added a leadoff homer in the 5th to make it 4-0. Beltre hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning for the Rangers’ 2nd hit of the game to put them on the board. Before the inning was over, Maikel Caceres added a 2-run single to cut the lead to 1. A bases loaded wild pitch gave us 1 of those runs back. That run proved important as Conger hit a leadoff homer in the 8th.

• Jarred Cosart (Miami) threw a 6-hitter against Colorado.


28-33, 6 GB (5th AL Central), 4.5 GB (8th AL Wild Card)

A 9-4 start to June has pulled us close to getting out of the AL Central cellar. We’re faring better in 1-run games compared to how snakebit we were early in the season. It’s a bit concerning that while we’re 6th in the AL in batting average and on-base percentage, we’re 14th in runs scored. The schedule over the next week and a half will be tougher though, as 7 of our next 10 games are against 1st place teams.

[faithful2thecall]

June 15, 2015

• We’re 15th in the latest power rankings.

Minnesota 1 at St. Louis 3

WP: Michael Wacha (8-2), LP: Kyle Gibson (2-6), SV: Trevor Rosenthal (17)
HR: MN-None, StL-Matt Holiday (9)

Mark Reynolds doubled in the 3rd to open the scoring, Holiday promptly drove him with a single in to double the lead. A 2-out double by Trevor Plouffe in the 4th was our 1st hit. Torii Hunter got us on the board in the 7th with a 1-out double. Holiday added some insurance with a 2-out homer in the 8th.

• Mike Wright (Baltimore) threw a 3-hitter against Philadelphia.
• Trevor Cahill (Atlanta) is out 3 weeks with a strained groin while running on a treadmill.


June 16, 2015

• SS Danny Santana has recovered from injury, SS/Utility Eduardo Nunez is sent back to AAA.
• 1B Kennys Vargas called up from AAA, with 1B Brock Peterson being sent down to take his place.

Minnesota 0 at St. Louis 22

WP: John Lackey (5-0), LP: Ricky Nolasco (6-5)
HR: MN-None, StL-Kolten Wong 2 (7), Mark Reynolds (2), Yadier Molina (4)

Pitching dominated early. Jason Heyward delivered the opening run of the game on a 2-out double in the 3rd. St. Louis added insurance in the 5th, before Nolasco had to depart with an injury (stiff back, day-to-day 1 day). By the time the inning was over, the Cardinals blew the game open with 7 runs. To save my bullpen, I threw Danny Santana on the mound in the 8th. Wong launched a grand slam after Santana walked the bases loaded, Reynolds and Molina followed it up with 3-run homers. That meant I had to turn the ball over to Shane Victorino to get the final out, but Wong hit a solo homer off of him 1st.

• Michael Brantley (Cleveland) out 4 weeks with a strained posterior cruciate ligament while running the bases.
• Corey Kluber (Cleveland) threw a 6-hitter against the Chicago Cubs.


June 17, 2015

St. Louis 2 at Minnesota 7

WP: Trevor May (5-3), LP: Adam Wainwright (3-3)
HR: StL-None, MN-None

With home field changing, we were out for payback. We got off to a good start with Oswaldo Arcia hitting a 2-out, 2-run double to straightaway center. St. Louis didn’t get on the board until a 2-out single by Kolten Wong in the 5th to make it 4-1. A 2-out, 2-run double by Danny Santana in the 6th added cushion to our lead.

• Sonny Gray (Oakland) threw a 1-hitter against San Diego. The Padres lone hit was the 1st batter of the game and was their only base runner.


June 18, 2015

St. Louis 3 at Minnesota 4 (12 innings)

WP: Tim Stauffer (2-0), LP: Jordan Walden (2-4)
HR: StL-Matt Adams (12), MN-Brian Dozier (9)

Adams hit a 1-out homer in the 2nd to open the scoring. Mike Pelfrey was injured (partially torn labrum, 4 months) throwing the pitch that ended the 2nd. St. Louis added another run in the 3rd, but Dozier tied it with a 2-run homer in the 5th to put us on the board. Pitching continued to dominate until the 10th, though both teams had chances, when Glen Perkins had control problems and walked home the go-ahead run. However, Torii Hunter came through in the bottom of the inning with a 2-out single to tie the game. We left the bases loaded in both the 10th and 11th. Kurt Suzuki, who had come in to replace a pinch runner, delivered a 2-out walk-off single to center in the 12th in his 1st plate appearance of the day. With the win I finally managed to get out of last place in the division, passing the defending AL champion Kansas City Royals.

• Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati) threw a 1-hitter against Detroit. The hit was a 1-out single in the 3rd. He also walked 1 and hit 1.


June 19, 2015

• Tampa Bay trades RHP RP Kirby Yates to St. Louis for 3B Elehuris Montero.

Chicago Cubs 11 at Minnesota 10 (11 innings)

WP: Blake Parker (2-2), LP: Casey Fien (0-3)
HR: ChC-Chris Coghlan (5), MN-Oswaldo Arcia (8)

It appeared that we were going to have a pitcher’s duel early. In the bottom of the 3rd, Trevor Plouffe opened the scoring on a ground ball single to center, Arcia followed it up with a 3-run homer. A Coghlan 2-out single in the 4th got the Cubs on the board. We ran wild, stealing 6 bases on the day, highlighted by Jordan Schafer stealing 2nd and 3rd on back-to-back pitches. He then scored on a ground-rule double by Jake Fox to recoup the run the Cubs had scored. Back-to-back doubles by Coghlan and Dexter Fowler to leadoff the 7th chased Phil Hughes. By the time the inning was over, the Cubs had cut the lead to 5-4. Arcia added insurance in the bottom of the inning with a 2-out double. Coghlan greeted Ryan Pressly with a 2-run homer to tie the game in the 8th, and the Cubs took the lead before the inning was over. They then blew the game open in the 9th…or appeared to. We rallied in the bottom of the 9th, with Jake Fox delivering a game-tying 2-out, 2-run single. Arcia came to the plate in the 10th looking for a single to complete the cycle with Joe Mauer on 1st and 1 out, but struck out. The Cubs took the lead in the 11th on a sacrifice fly by Coghlan (who else?).

• Jean Segura and Aaron Laffey were suspended 3 games each for instigating a brawl in a game between Milwaukee and Colorado.


June 20, 2015

• Tommy Milone called up from AAA for the injured Mike Pelfrey.

Chicago Cubs 5 at Minnesota 6

WP: Tim Stauffer (3-0), LP: Pedro Strop (4-5), SV: Glen Perkins (20)
HR: ChC-Starlin Castro (4), MN-Torii Hunter 2 (7)

After 23 innings over the last 2 games we could use an easy game. We opened the scoring in the 1st on a sacrifice fly by Joe Mauer after Danny Santana tripled. Two batters later, Hunter uncorked a 2-run homer to extend the lead. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the 3rd, Kenny Vargas hit into a fielder’s choice where Arismendy Alcantara was injured (bruised neck, day-to-day 4 days). Kris Bryant got the Cubs on the board on a sacrifice fly in the 5th. The Cubs added another run in the 5th and tied the game at 4 in the 6th. Castro hit a stunning 1-out homer off of Tim Stauffer in the 7th to give the Cubs the lead. We responded with a 2-run homer from Hunter in the bottom of the inning to put us back in front. Perkins picked up a double play and a strike out to secure the victory.


June 21, 2015

Chicago Cubs 0 at Minnesota 2

WP: Ricky Nolasco (7-5), LP: Edwin Jackson (2-3), SV: Glen Perkins (21)
HR: ChC-None, MN-Oswaldo Arcia (9)

We got bad news early when Shane Victorino was injured (back stiffness, 2 weeks) making a running grab on the 2nd batter of the game. Arcia hit a leadoff homer in the 2nd to open the scoring. Torii Hunter doubled the lead in the 4th with a single. Pitching dominated the game on the whole. Due to the Cubs working to pitch count, we had to make use of a couple of relievers.


June 22, 2015

• LF/1B Brock Peterson called up from AAA to replace the injured Shane Victorino, and sent right back down.
• CF Shane Robinson has recovered from injury and is activated.
• Sean Nolin (Oakland) out 7 months with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow.
• We’re 14th in the latest power rankings.

Chicago White Sox 5 at Minnesota 2

WP: Erik Johnson (3-7), LP: Trevor May (5-4), SV: Matt Lindstrom (1)
HR: CWS-None, MN-Shane Robinson (5), Brian Dozier (10)

The White Sox opened the scoring in the 1st on a 2-out Avisail Garcia single. They then proceeded to blow the game open in the 2nd thanks to May’s control problems where 3 walks and a wild pitch contributed to 4 runs and a 0-5 deficit. With my bullpen needing some rest, I had to throw May to the wolves and leave him out there to take his beating. Fortunately, May settled down to get through the 5th without giving up another run. Adding insult to injury, Torii Hunter was injured (plantar fascitis, 3-4 weeks) delivering a 2-out double in the 2nd. Melky Cabrera was ejected for arguing balls and strikes after being struck out looking in the 4th and made contact with the umpire. Robinson made a successful return from injury by getting us on the board with a 1-out homer in the 5th. Dozier made things a little more interesting with a 2-out homer in the 7th to make it 2-5. Despite loading the bases in the 8th, we got no closer.


June 23, 2015

• Ervin Santana has completed his drug suspension and is assigned to AAA for rehab.
• Jose Quintana (Chicago White Sox) out 3 weeks with an elbow sprain.

Chicago White Sox 3 at Minnesota 4

WP: Blaine Boyer (1-1), LP: Matt Albers (5-4), SV: Glen Perkins (22)
HR: CWS-Avisail Garcia (9), MN-None

Shane Robinson delivered a 2-out single in the 1st to open the scoring. We added 2 more in the 4th on a 2-out single by Danny Santana. Garcia finally touched Tommy Milone, who had been throwing a gem (9 strike outs in 6 innings), for a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 6th to get the White Sox on the board. The White Sox tied it in the 7th on a sacrifice fly by Jose Abreu, thanks to a Trevor Plouffe error earlier in the inning. We regained the lead in the 8th on a line drive single to center by Plouffe.


June 24, 2015

Chicago White Sox 6 at Minnesota 4

WP: Chris Sale (7-1), LP: Phil Hughes (4-5), SV: Matt Lindstrom (2)
HR: CWS-Emilio Bonifacio (1), Avisail Garcia (10), Tyler Flowers (7), MN-Kennys Vargas (1), Oswaldo Arcia (10)

We capitalized on a defensive miscue in the 1st by Alexei Ramirez with a 2-out double by Trevor Plouffe to follow it to open the scoring. Bonifacio’s 2-out solo homer in the 3rd tied the game with the White Sox’s first hit. Garcia hit a 1-out homer in the 4th to put the White Sox in front. Flowers pulled a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 6th to extend the Chicago lead. Vargas responded with a 2-out solo homer in the bottom of the inning to pull us closer. The White Sox scored a pair of insurance runs in the 8th to put the game out of reach. Arcia hit a pinch-hit 2-run homer to cut the lead in half.

• Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) hit his 400th career homer against Cleveland


June 25, 2015

• Baltimore owner, Peter Angelos, died of natural causes, his son Peter Angelos Jr. will take over.

Off Day

• Ichiro Suzuki (Miami) out for the season with a torn Latissmus dorsi muscle which he injured swinging a bat.


June 26, 2015

• Eduardo Nunez is called up from AAA to replace the injured Torii Hunter.
• Boston trades RHP SP Simon Mercedes to Cincinnati for SS Kris Negron.
• Kansas City trades C Salvador Perez to the Chicago White Sox for CF Keenyn Walker and LHP SP Jake Brentz.

Minnesota 0 at Milwaukee 6

WP: Jake Odorizzi (7-4), LP: Kyle Gibson (2-7)
HR: MN-None, Mil-Matt Clark (6)

Ryan Braun opened the scoring with a 1-out single in the 3rd and they scored another run before the inning was over. Milwaukee added a run in the 6th and 2 more runs in the 7th. We were having a hard time putting the ball in play. Clark crushed a pinch solo homer 460 feet.

• Wade Miley (Boston) threw a 5-hitter against Tampa Bay.
• Carlos Beltran (New York Yankees) hammered 3 homers against Houston.


June 27, 2015

• Kyle Blanks (Texas) out 4 months with a broken bone in his elbow.
• Texas trades CF Antoan Richardson and 2B Brallan Perez to San Diego for C Derek Norris.
• Colorado trades RF Jordan Patterson and SS Pat Valaika to Houston for LHP SP Brett Oberholtzer.

Minnesota 8 at Milwaukee 1

WP: Ricky Nolasco (8-5), LP: Kyle Lohse (3-5)
HR: MN-None, Mil-None

Eduardo Escobar lined a single to left-center in the 3rd to open the scoring. Before the inning was over we added 2 more runs. Jean Segura answered in the bottom of the inning with a 2-out single that got Milwaukee on the board. We broke out the bats in the 4th with 4 more runs to blow the game open. Pitching largely took over after that except for an additional run we added in the 9th.


June 28, 2015

Minnesota 1 at Milwaukee 6

WP: Matt Garza (6-6), LP: Trevor May (5-5)
HR: MN-None, Mil-Adam Lind 2 (9)

Milwaukee got on the board in the 1st on a throwing error by Shane Robinson. The Brewers parlayed a Matt Garza (who was 0-for-20 on the season) infield single into another run in the 3rd. Lind’s 2-run homer later in the inning blew the game open. Lind added another 2-run homer in the 5th. We couldn’t get the clutch hit and only got on the board on a wild pitch with 2-outs in the 9th.


June 29, 2015

• Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees) out 4 months with a fractured ankle.
• We’re 22nd in the latest power rankings.

Minnesota 8 at Cincinnati 7

WP: Caleb Thielbar (3-3), LP: Ryan Dennick (0-1), SV: Glen Perkins (23)
HR: MN-Shane Robinson (6), Danny Santana (3), Cin-Todd Frazier (11)

Frazier launched a 2-out, 3-run homer in the 1st to open the scoring. Endy Chavez and Kurt Suzuki helped us close the gap with back-to-back RBI singles in the 2nd. Brian Dozier then gave us the lead with a 2-out, 2-run double. The Reds took the lead in the 4th with another 3 run inning. We got 1 of those runs back in the 5th on a Robinson double. Cincinnati added an insurance run in the 6th on a Billy Hamilton double. Robinson tied the game with 2-outs in the 7th with a 2-run homer to straightaway center. Santana put us in front in the 8th with a 1-out solo homer. The Reds bullpen was already fatigued coming into the series, and they had to resort to bringing in a starter in the 9th.

• Tyler Thornburg (Milwaukee) threw a 4-hitter against Philadelphia.


June 30, 2015

• RHP SP Ervin Santana’s rehab assignment ends, LHP SP Tommy Milone is sent back to AAA.

Minnesota 2 at Cincinnati 4

WP: Burke Badenhop (3-2), LP: Michael Tonkin (1-4), SV: Aroldis Chapman (18)
HR: MN-Trevor Plouffe 2 (7), Cin-Todd Frazier (12), Joey Votto (13)

Plouffe’s leadoff homer in the 2nd opened the scoring and his 1-out solo homer in the 4th doubled the lead. Frazier responded with a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 4th to tie the game. Pitching took over after that. That was until Votto hit a 1-out, 2-run homer in the 8th.


35-41, 7.5 GB (4th AL Central), 6 GB (6th AL Wild Card)

A 16-12 month of June finally enabled us to escape the cellar of the AL Central. It is also worth noting that we now have a winning record in 1-run games. Our primary struggles at this point are we’re giving up too many runs and aren’t getting clutch hits. We’re 4th in batting average, but 14th in runs scored.

AL Batter: Victor Martinez (Baltimore) .382 BA, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 22 R, .391 OBP
NL Batter: Adrian Gonzalez (Los Angeles Dodgers) .429 BA, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 19 R
AL Pitcher: Anibal Sanchez (Detroit) 4-0, 5 starts, 0.70 ERA, 38.1 IP, 36 K
NL Pitcher: Jean Machi (San Francisco) 4-0, 13 appearances, 1.84 ERA, 14.2 IP, 6 SV, 18 K
AL Rookie: Andy Wilkins (Toronto) .274 BA, 8 HR, 19 RBI, 17 R
NL Rookie: Joc Pederson (Los Angeles Dodgers) .311 BA, 6 HR, 27 RBI

[faithful2thecall]

July 1, 2015

Minnesota 5 at Cincinnati 2

WP: Kyle Gibson (3-7), LP: Mike Leake (4-8), SV: Glen Perkins (24)
HR: MN-Joe Mauer (4), Trevor Plouffe (8), Cin-Billy Hamilton (4), Chris Parmelee (7)

Mauer’s 2-out solo homer in the 1st opened the scoring. Hamilton responded with a leadoff homer in the 3rd to tie the game. Parmelee led off the 4th with a homer to give the Reds the lead. Plouffe extended his hitting streak to 14 games in a big way in the 5th with a 1-out, 3-run blast to put us back in front. Our bullpen delivered 4 shutout innings to secure the win.


July 2, 2015

Minnesota 7 at Kansas City 2

WP: Ricky Nolasco (9-5), LP: Edinson Volquez (4-6)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (11), KC-Christian Colon (2)

The teams exchanged 1st inning runs. Arcia and Colon then exchanged solo homers in the 2nd. The pitchers settled down after that. A throwing error by catcher Francisco Pena on a swinging bunt allowed the go-ahead run to score in the 5th. In the 8th we broke out the bats and blew the game open with a 4 run inning—highlighted by a 2-run triple by Brian Dozier.

• Doug Fister (Washington) threw a 4-hitter against Atlanta.


July 3, 2015

• Chicago White Sox trades SS Juan H. Diaz and SS Leury Garcia to Miami for RHP SP Sam Dyson.
• Houston trades RHP CL Jason Stoffel to Texas for RF Jose V. Almonte
• Colorado trades RHP RP Adam Ottavino to Baltimore for LHP SP Brian Gonzalez

Minnesota 2 at Kansas City 3

WP: Greg Holland (4-3), LP: Tim Stauffer (3-1), SV: Jason Frasor (2)
HR: MN-None, KC-None

Batters on both sides weren’t happy with the generous strike zone the pitchers were being given in this game. The game was scoreless until the 4th when we got a double from Kennys Vargas followed by a RBI triple from Shane Robinson to open the inning. Robinson trotted home on a sacrifice fly by Eduardo Nunez. The Royals didn’t get on the board until Andruw Jones grounded out for the 2nd out of the 7th. They then stunningly scored 2 runs off of Stauffer in the 8th to take the lead (who had an ERA of 1.26 entering the game).

• Sonny Gray (Oakland) threw a 3-hitter against Seattle for his 2nd shutout of the season.


July 4, 2015

• Boston trades LHP SP Wade Miley and $3 million to Houston for CF Brett Phillips.
• Colorado trades C Matt McBride and RHP RP Austin House to Arizona for 1B Jorge Cantu.

Minnesota 3 at Kansas City 6

WP: Christian Binford (1-0), LP: Ervin Santana (0-1), SV: Luke Hochevar (1)
HR: MN-None, KC-Mike Moustakas (7)

The pitching matchup for the Independence Day game had the potential for fireworks as the Royals sent out Binford for his MLB debut against Santana in his Twins debut after a drug suspension. Some miscommunication in the outfield allowed us to score in the 1st on 3 straight singles. Moustakas tied the game in the 2nd with a 1-out homer. Things came a bit unglued after that with back-to-back triples by Erik Kratz and Omar Infante and an uncharacteristic error by Joe Mauer allowing the Royals to add 2 more runs in the inning. Then to add insult to injury, Oswaldo Arcia was injured (torn fingernail, day-to-day for 3 days) throwing out a runner at home to end the inning. Back-to-back doubles in the 4th by Shane Robinson and Eduardo Escobar allowed us to get a run back. Alex Rios would later be injured on a RBI double in the 7th that made it 2-5.


July 5, 2015

• Milwaukee trades LF Matt Clark and RF Mitch Meyer to Colorado for RF Drew Stubbs.
• Kansas City trades RHP CL Wade Davis to the New York Mets for 1B Dominic Smith and 2B Branden Kaupe.

Minnesota 1 at Kansas City 5

WP: Yordano Ventura (6-8), LP: Phil Hughes (4-6)
HR: MN-Kurt Suzuki (1), KC-None

Hughes had early issues, giving up 2 runs in the 1st. The Royals added 3 more in the 4th to blow the game open. Suzuki finally got us on the board in the 5th on a 1-out solo homer. We were getting hits, but they were scattered.


July 6, 2015

• LF Shane Victorino has recovered from injury, CF Shane Robinson was sent to AAA.
• We’re 23rd in the latest power rankings.
• Tampa Bay trades RHP SP Matt Andriese and $507,500 to Texas for SS Ti’Quan Forbes.
• Tampa Bay sends RHP SP Chris Archer and $1 million to Texas for SS Juremi Profar.

Baltimore 6 at Minnesota 1

WP: T.J. McFarland (2-3), LP: Kyle Gibson (3-8)
HR: Bal-Chris Davis (24), MN-None

Baltimore got on the board 1st in the 3rd on a 2-out single by David Lough. Wei-Yin Chen was injured (back tightness, day-to-day 1 day) with 1-out in the 3rd. We didn’t get a hit until a 2-out single by Shane Victorino in the 4th. Ryan Flaherty was injured (mild calf strain, day-to-day 2 days) fielding a grounder to end the 4th. The Orioles blew the game open with a 4 run 5th, capped by a 2-out, 2-run Davis homer. A 1-out double by Jordan Schafer in the 6th finally got us on the board.

• Zack Greinke (Los Angeles Dodgers) threw a 4-hitter against Philadelphia.
• Buster Posey (San Francisco) had a 20 game hitting streak end at the New York Mets.
• Tony Sipp (Houston) takes an indefinite personal leave to deal with “personal issues.”


July 7, 2015

• Cleveland trades LHP SP Justus Sheffield and RHP SP Felix Tati from the New York Mets for RHP RP Jenry Mejia and $2,595,000.

Baltimore 1 at Minnesota 5

WP: Ricky Nolasco (10-5), LP: Brandon Morrow (6-7)
HR: Bal-Ryan Flaherty (5), MN-None

Trevor Plouffe ripped a double into the right field corner with 1-out in the 1st to open the scoring. We broke the game open in the 6th with 4 runs, and almost 4 more as Plouffe hit one to the warning track with 2 outs and the bases loaded but David Lough ran it down. Lough then added insult to injury by leading off the 7th with a ground ball single to right for Baltimore’s 1st hit. Flaherty hit a 2-out homer in the 8th to get the Orioles on the board with their 2nd and final hit. Glen Perkins came in to nail it down in the 9th.


July 8, 2015

• Arizona trades RHP RP Kevin Monson to Kansas City for SS Orlando Calixte and C Meibrys Viloria.

Baltimore 2 at Minnesota 1

WP: Brian Mautsz (4-0), LP: Casey Fien (0-4), SV: Darren O’Day (18)
HR: Bal-Dariel Alvarez (3), MN-None

We got on the board 1st in the 3rd on a bloop double by Brian Dozier, bringing in Kurt Suzuki who had tripled. Trevor May was effectively wild, though he did walk 5 batters in 5 innings of 2-hit ball with 6 strike outs. Alvarez tied the game with a 2-out homer in the 6th. Manny Machado put the Orioles in front in the 7th on a 2-out double down the left field line.

• Kole Calhoun (Los Angeles Angels) had a 6-for-6 day at the plate against Colorado (3 singles, 3 doubles, 6 RBIs).


July 9, 2015

• Arizona trades RHP SP Chase Anderson to Baltimore for RHP Pat Connaughton and LHP RP Daniel Ayers.

Detroit 2 at Minnesota 5

WP: Ervin Santana (1-1), LP: David Price (7-8), SV: Glen Perkins (25)
HR: Det-Miguel Cabrera (12), MN-None

For our struggling team a visit from the Tigers is the last thing we needed, as we’re 1-8 against them this season. To try to spark my struggling offense I shuffled my lineup a bit. We got on the board 1st in the 2nd on a 1-out single by Danny Santana to score AL stolen base leader Jordan Schafer. Ervin Santana escaped a bases loaded, 1-out jam in the 4th by inducing a double play grounder from Luis Antonio Jimenez. We blew the game open and chased Price with 3 runs in the 5th. Cabrera got the Tigers on the board with a 1-out solo homer in the 8th, and they added another run in the inning on back-to-back doubles. We got 1 of those runs back in the bottom of the inning before turning it over to MLB saves leader, Perkins, to slam the door.

• Dallas Keuchel (Houston) threw a 4-hitter against Cleveland.


July 10, 2015

• Toronto trades RHP RP to the Chicago White Sox for RHP SP J.B. Wendelken.

Detroit 5 at Minnesota 6

WP: Phil Hughes (5-6), LP: Bud Norris (6-6), SV: Glen Perkins (26)
HR: Det-Miguel Cabrera (13), MN-Kennys Vargas (2)

Cabrera hit a 2-run homer with 1-out in the 1st to open the scoring. Vargas hit a 1-out homer in the 2nd to get us on the board. Later in the inning, Jordan Schafer ripped a liner into right field for a game-tying single. We took the lead in the 3rd on a RBI ground out and added another run on a RBI fielder’s choice both by Oswaldo Arcia. We added 2 more in the 6th, and we needed it as Detroit scored 3 runs in the 8th to cut the lead to 6-5. An errant pickoff attempt in the 9th made things a bit scary, but Perkins struck out Rajai Davis with a runner on 3rd to seal the win.


July 11, 2015

• Colorado trades 1B Wilin Rosario to Philadelphia for C Lenin Rodriguez and 3B William Cuicas.
• Boston trades LHP SP Robbie Ross Jr. and $512,745 to Toronto for 3B Mitch Nay
• Toronto deals RHP RP Preston Guilmet to Arizona in exchange for C Jose Herrera and LF Cody Lavalli.

Detroit 4 at Minnesota 3 (14 innings)

WP: Blaine Hardy (2-1), LP: Caleb Thielbar (3-4)
HR: Det-Alex Avila (8), MN-None

Despite loading the bases with nobody out in the 1st, we only managed 1 run on a Oswaldo Arcia fielder’s choice to open the scoring. The lead didn’t last long as Avila hit a 2-run homer in the 2nd to put Detroit in front. Good defense and stellar pitching took over after that. Arcia came through again in the 7th with a 2-out single to tie the game. Pinch hitter Danny Santana delivered a go-ahead single with 2-outs in the 8th. Unfortunately, Detroit got to Glen Perkins in the 9th for his 3rd blown save of the season on a 2-out single by Ian Kinsler. Tim Stauffer, my ace reliever, was injured (mild abdominal strain, day-to-day 4 days) coaxing the double play that ended the 11th. Detroit finally broke through in the 14th on a double by Luis Antonio Jiminez.

• Ryan Zimmerman (Washington, 2 games) and Kevin Gausman (Baltimore, 6 games) each suspended for their part in a brawl between their teams.


July 12, 2015

• The All-Star teams were announced. SP Ricky Nolasco was selected as our representative.
• Chicago Cubs trade RF Samir Lara to Milwaukee for RHP RP Rob Wooten.
• Los Angeles Dodgers trade 3B Juan Uribe and RHP CL James Campbell to San Francisco for RHP SP Tim Hudson and $3 million.
• Pittsburgh deals 2B Neil Walker to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for RHP SP Jeff Samardizija.

Detroit 4 at Minnesota 5

WP: Michael Tonkin (2-4), LP: Alex Wilson (0-2)
HR: Det-None, MN-Trevor Plouffe (9)

While Detroit had chances early, leaving the bases loaded in the 2nd and a runner at 3rd in the 3rd, the game remained scoreless. We finally got our 1st hit with 2 outs in the 4th when Kurt Suzuki bounced a RBI single into left. The lead didn’t last long as Alex Avila grounded a 2-out single up the middle in the 5th to tie the game. J.D. Martinez put Detroit in front on a 2-out RBI single in the 7th. A Tigers insurance run later in the inning didn’t help though, as we responded with 3 in the bottom of the inning—highlighted by a 2-out, 2-run homer by Plouffe. Justin Verlander seemed to have it in for our offense, hitting 4 batters (his bullpen added an additional 1). With Glen Perkins having seen a lot of action recently, I brought in Tonkin to try to close it out but Detroit hit him all over the place with 3 straight singles to start the 9th, but they only managed a run on a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Tonkin was bailed out by my offense as a single by Joe Mauer and a double by Plouffe put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out and then Detroit made the mistake of pitching to Oswaldo Arcia, who promptly hit a sacrifice fly to send the home fans home happy.

Justin Verlander had an odd line in this game. 6.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 4 HBP

• Kyuji Fujikawa’s (Texas) son, Theo, started school at the elite Winthrop Aces.


July 13, 2015

• Bryce Harper (Washington) out 3 months with a fractured fibula.
• We’re 19th in the latest power rankings.

All-Star Break

July 14, 2015
• Toronto trades LF Michael Saunders to the Los Angeles Angels for RHP CL Huston Street and LHP RP Delfo Terrero.

National League 7, American League 2

MVP: Travis d’Arnaud (New York Mets) 1-for-1, HR, 2 RBI in the 9th inning off of Danny Farquhar.

Twins: Ricky Nolasco came in 2 batters after the d’Arnaud homer to get the final out.

July 16, 2015

• Tampa Bay trades LHP SP Matt Moore and $2,492,500 to Arizona for C Oscar Hernandez and RF Jacob Cordero
• Terry Ryan acquires C Josh Phegley from Oakland for SS/Utility Eduardo Nunez and 3B Miguel Sano.

I’m thinking Ryan has completely lost his mind right now unless he has something in the works that I don’t know about. Phegley is a back-up catcher and to give up a good utility player and one of my top prospects for him?! It’s insane.


41-47, 7.5 GB (4th AL Central), 4.5 GB (7th AL Wild Card)

Winning 3 of 4 against Detroit going into the All-Star break was good momentum but probably only delayed the inevitable. The news on the Stauffer injury was fortunate, as he’s an impending free agent having a career year so somebody likely will make Ryan an offer for him.

Our problems continue to be largely the same. We’re not converting our hits into runs and we’re still giving up too many runs (especially the bullpen). I’ve also come to realize we have too many left-handed hitting outfielders which limits my options without burning 2 players in the late innings when trying to rally from behind. Some help will be coming in the form of Torri Hunter, who we get back in a couple of days.

What we need depends on if Terry Ryan wants to make a playoff push or if he wants to build for next year. If we’re going to try to make the playoffs, we need bullpen help (especially middle relief and another lefty) and a right-handed hitting outfielder (though Hunter may fill that need). If we’re going to build for next year, Ryan needs to turn some of our pending free agents into prospects and give me a chance to play some of the youngsters.

[faithful2thecall]

Here's some images from the All-Star break to provide more detail about my season.

Some of the stats worth noting that aren't apparent from the images are:

• Joe Mauer leads the AL in Doubles (we have 3 of the top 5)
• Glen Perkins leads MLB in Saves
• Despite an average arm, Kurt Suzuki is 2nd in the AL in percentage of base stealers thrown out (38.8%)

[faithful2thecall]

July 17, 2015

• Tampa Bay trades C Nick Ciuffo and SS Eduardo Moredo to San Diego for RHP SP Odrisamer Despaigne.

Minnesota 2 at Oakland 3

WP: Sean Doolittle (1-2), LP: Glen Perkins (1-1)
HR: MN-Kennys Vargas (3), Oak-Ben Zobrist (4), Brett Lawrie (13)

A pitchers duel quickly developed in the return to action after the All-Star Game. Oakland didn’t have a base runner until Craig Gentry grounded a Trevor May pitch through the hole between 1st and 2nd to leadoff the 4th. It took a bloop, 2-out double by Brian Dozier in the 5th to open the scoring. Vargas hit a leadoff homer in the 6th to provide some insurance. Former Twin, Eduardo Nunez got Oakland on the board in the bottom of the 6th on a sacrifice fly that brought home Coco Crisp, who had tripled to leadoff the inning. Zobrist and Lawrie hit back-to-back homers to leadoff the 9th to steal the game.


July 18, 2015

• Kansas City trades RHP CL Greg Holland to the New York Mets for SS Cecilio Aybar and RHP SP Jhoander Chourio.

Minnesota 6 at Oakland 8

WP: Evan Scribner (3-1), LP: Ryan Pressly (2-1), SV: Sean Doolittle (8)
HR: MN-Kurt Suzuki (2), Oak-Mark Canha (4)

Canha opened the scoring with a solo homer in the 2nd. Jordan Schafer was injured (mild hamstring strain, day-to-day 1 day) hustling out an infield hit in the 3rd. Billy Butler blooped a 2-out, 2-run single in the 3rd to extend the lead. We finally got on the board in the 4th when Endy Chavez (who had 1 RBI since we’d picked him up) delivered a 2-out, 2-run single of his own. Suzuki stunned the Oakland crowd by delivering a 2-out, 2-run, opposite field homer in the 8th to tie the game at 6-6. Caleb Thielbar imploded in the bottom of the inning giving up 2 runs to put Oakland back in front.

• Neil Walker (Chicago White Sox) out 3 weeks with shoulder tendinitis from throwing a ball.


July 19, 2015

• Cincinnati trades LHP SP Tony Cingrani to Philadelphia for RHP SP Adonis Medina and RHP RP Miguelangel Bastidas.

Minnesota 4 at Oakland 1

WP: Phil Hughes (6-6), LP: Scott Kazmir (11-6), SV: Glen Perkins (27)
HR: MN-Trevor Plouffe (10), Oak-None

After 2 straight tough defeats to the best team in the AL, we came out looking to salvage something from the series finale. We got a good start with a 2-out RBI single from Kennys Vargas to open the scoring in the 1st. Oakland got a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Phil Hughes hasn’t been the same pitcher since his injury. The starters settled down and we remained tied until the 6th when Joe Mauer lined a RBI double off the wall on a hit-and-run. The next batter, Plouffe, drilled a 2-run homer to extend the lead. The bullpen took over after that and put the game away.

• Trevor Cahill (Atlanta) threw a 2-hitter against the Chicago Cubs.


July 20, 2015

• RF Torri Hunter has recovered from injury, LF Endy Chavez is placed on waivers.
• We’re 17th in the latest power rankings.
• Colorado trades LF Corey Dickerson to Tampa Bay for RF David DeJesus and SS Willy Adames.
• New York Mets trade LHP RP Alex Torres and $509,000 to Seattle for LF Tyler O’Neill
• New York Mets also trade RF Michael Cuddyer to Seattle for RHP SP Daniel Missaki

Off Day


July 21, 2015

Minnesota 7 at Los Angeles Angels 5

WP: Kyle Gibson (4-8), LP: Jered Weaver (6-6)
HR: MN-Trevor Plouffe (11), Oswaldo Arcia (12), LAA-None

Plouffe hit a 2-out solo homer in the 1st to open the scoring. Josh Hamilton was ejected in the bottom of the 1st for arguing a called 3rd strike and making contact with the home plate umpire. Plouffe doubled the lead with a 2-out single in the 3rd. Arcia blew the game open in the 5th with a 2-out, 3-run homer. The Angels didn’t score until the 7th when a 2-out double by Kole Calhoun made it 7-1. Albert Pujols was injured (head injury, 2 days for precautionary reasons) when Caleb Thielbar hit him with a pitch in the 9th. Pinch-runner Josh Rutledge was injured (strained medial collateral ligament, 6 weeks) sliding into home to score. The Angels did get the tying run to the plate in the 9th, but we finally put it away.


July 22, 2015

• San Diego trades RHP CL Joaquin Benoit and $3 million to Arizona for RHP SP Brad Keller, CF Matt Railey, RF Alex Glenn, and SS Fernery Ozuna

Minnesota 10 at Los Angeles Angels 8

WP: Ricky Nolasco (11-5), LP: Garrett Richards (4-7), SV: Glen Perkins (28)
HR: MN-None, LAA-Jett Bandy (1), Michael Saunders (7), Mike Trout (20)

We opened the scoring in the 2nd with a 2-run single by Kurt Suzuki. Before the inning was over we were up 5-0. Bandy clubbed a 3-run homer in the 4th for his 1st MLB homer to get the Angels on the board. We scored an unearned run in the 5th on an error to get some of that lead back. Shane Victorino was injured (bruised lung, 6 days) making a catch in the 5th. We blew the game open in the 7th by scoring 4 runs to make it 10-3. Trout crushed a 3-run homer in the 9th to bring the Angels within 10-8.

• Cliff Lee (Philadelphia) threw a 3-hitter against Tampa Bay.


July 23, 2015

• LF Endy Chavez cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA.

Minnesota 5 at Los Angeles Angels 8

WP: Vinnie Pestano (1-0), LP: Trevor May (5-6), SV: Fernando Salas (22)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (13), LAA-C.J. Cron 3 (12)

We got on the board 1st in the 2nd inning on a single by Jordan Schafer. Erick Aybar was injured making a great diving catch to save a couple of runs to end the 2nd. Cron hit a 2-run homer in the 2nd to put the Angels in front. Kennys Vargas tied the game with a single in the 3rd. Cron hit a 3-run homer to straightaway center in the 3rd to put the Angels back in front. David Freese blew the game open with a 2-run double to make it 3-7. Arcia tried to get us back in it with a 2-run homer. Cron’s 3rd homer of the game was a solo shot.


July 24, 2015

• Arizona trades RHP RP Addison Reed and $3 million to Washington for 3B Drew Ward and RHP SP Wander Suero.

New York Yankees 5 at Minnesota 6

WP: Ervin Santana (2-1), LP: Ivan Nova (0-2), SV: Glen Perkins (29)
HR: NYY-Garrett Jones (8), Didi Gregorius (7), MN-Torii Hunter (8), Kennys Vargas (4)

Back-to-back homers by Hunter and Vargas in the 2nd opened the scoring. A 2-out double by Oswaldo Arcia extended the lead. Jones responded with a leadoff homer in the 4th to get the Yankees on the board. 2 runs in the 5th for the Yankees tied the game. Arcia put us back in front on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning. Brian Dozier’s 3rd double of the game was a 2-out, 2-run double that gave us some insurance in the 8th. Gregorius hit a leadoff homer against Perkins and the Yankees added another run and had 2 runners in scoring position when Brian McCann grounded out to Perkins to end the game.


July 25, 2015

• Houston trades RHP RP Josh D. Fields and $507,500 to Tampa Bay for RHP SP Jose Mujica and RHP CL Reynier Montero.
• Kansas City trades SS Alcides Escobar to St. Louis for C Steve Bean.

New York Yankees 3 at Minnesota 1

WP: Masahiro Tanaka (9-5), LP: Phil Hughes (6-7), SV: Dellin Betances (20)
HR: NYY-Jacoby Ellsbury (11), MN-None

Ellsbury led off the game with a homer down the left field line. Consecutive balk calls on Phil Hughes let the Yankees add another run in the 4th. On the whole pitching dominated this game. We didn’t get on the board until the 7th when a Jordan Schafer single brought us within 1-3. Neither team could get anything going against the bullpens either.


July 26, 2015

• Toronto trades 1B Andy Wilkins to Seattle for CF Brayan Hernandez and RHP CL Tony Zych.
• San Francisco trades 3B Casey McGehee and RHP SP Chase Johnson to Milwaukee for RHP SP Matt Garza.
• New York Yankees deal RF Chris B. Young and LHP SP Caleb Smith to the New York Mets for 2B Daniel Murphy and $3 million.
• San Diego trades RHP RP Bryce Morrow to the Chicago Cubs for RHP SP Pierce Johnson.
• Tampa Bay deals RHP SP Alex Colome to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for CF Adam Engel and CF Droherlin Mejia.

New York Yankees 5 at Minnesota 2

WP: Chasen Shreve (5-1), LP: Kyle Gibson (4-9), Dellin Betances (21)
HR: NYY-Mark Teixeira (17), Didi Gregorius (8), MN-Brian Dozier (11)

Teixeira’s 2-out, 2-run homer in the 1st opened the scoring. We answered in the bottom of the inning on a 2-out RBI single by Kennys Vargas. Kyle Gibson got himself out of a huge bases loaded, nobody out jam in the 4th by striking out the next 3 hitters. Dozier’s 2-out solo homer in the 5th tied the game. CC Sabathia was injured (back spasms, day-to-day 6 days) at the end of the 5th on a deep fly out. We remained tied into the 7th, when Rob Refsnyder grounded a 2-out single to center to put the Yankees back in front 2-3. The Yankees got to my bullpen to put the game out of reach.

• Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels) had a 27-game hitting streak snapped by Texas in an 0-for-4 effort.


July 27, 2015

• We’re 22nd in the latest power rankings.
• Kansas City trades RHP RP Kelvin Herrera and $1.6 million to Atlanta for RHP SP Mauricio Cabrera and CF Randy Ventura.
• Miami trades RHP SP Trevor Williams to San Diego for RHP RP Nick Vincent and $510,200.

Off Day

• Matt Carpenter (St. Louis) had a 20-game hitting streak ended by Cincinnati with a 0-for-3 day.


July 28, 2015

• Baltimore deals C Chance Sisco to Arizona in exchange for RF David Peralta.
• Cincinnati trades RF Brennan Boesch to Houston for SS Jed Lowrie and $3 million.

Pittsburgh 3 at Minnesota 1 (10 innings)

WP: Mark Melancon (3-4), LP: Casey Fien (0-5)
HR: Pitt-Jung-Ho Kang (14), MN-None

Ricky Nolasco escaped a bases loaded, 1-out jam in the 1st by striking out Jung-Ho Kang and coaxing a deep fly out from Josh Harrison. Both teams had their chances early, but the starters kept escaping. Pittsburgh finally opened the scoring in the 4th on a bases loaded ground out by Starling Marte. We tied the game in the 5th on a 2-out single by Trevor Plouffe. The pitching staffs continued to dominate the rest of the game. The defenses helped out, highlighted by Andrew McCutchen throwing out Shane Victorino at the plate with 1-out in the 9th of a tie game. Kang hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 10th to break the tie.

• Stephen Strausburg (Washington) threw a 1-hitter against Miami. The Marlins’ only hit was a leadoff single by Yangervis Solarte in the 4th. That was Miami’s only baserunner.


July 29, 2015

• Pittsburgh trades C Tony Sanchez to Philadelphia for RHP RP Justin De Fratus and RHP SP Franklyn Kilome.
• Kansas City trades LHP SP Brian Flynn to Tampa Bay for CF Thomas Milone and 2B Coty Blanchard.
• Kansas City deals LHP RP Andy Oliver to the New York Yankees in exchange for 3B Eric Jagielo and LHP SP Jordan Montgomery.

Pittsburgh 4 at Minnesota 8

WP: Trevor May (6-6), LP: Vance Worley (7-8), SV: Tim Stauffer (2)
HR: Pitt-Andrew Lambo (4), MN-Trevor Plouffe (12)

3 straight 2-out hits for Pittsburgh in the 1st resulted in 2 runs. We responded with a run of our own in the bottom of the inning thanks to 2 walks by Worley, who would walk 4 more batters in the 2nd before being pulled after 1.2 innings. Neither starter looked good in this one. We sent 12 men to the plate in the 2nd, scoring 6 runs to take a 7-3 lead. May settled down after the 2nd and didn’t give up any more runs in 5 innings of work. Lambo greeted reliever Ryan Pressly with a leadoff homer in the 6th. Plouffe’s solo homer with 2-out in the 8th capped the scoring.

• Kyle Hendricks (Chicago Cubs) threw a 4-hitter against Colorado.


July 30, 2015

• St. Louis trades CF Tommy Pham and CF Andres Luna to Seattle for LHP SP Roenis Elias and $507,500.
• Seattle also trades SS Brad Miller and SS Gianfranco Wawoe to Miami in exchange for RHP SP Jarred Cosart.

Seattle 1 at Minnesota 5

WP: Ervin Santana (3-1), LP: Jarred Cosart (7-10)
HR: Sea-None, MN-Torii Hunter (9)

Cosart got a reminder in how often walks will haunt you in the 1st after issuing back-to-back walks to start the game, Hunter made him pay with a 2-out, 3-run homer to open the scoring. Cosart had to leave due to injury (rotator cuff strain, 3 weeks) 2 batters into the 3rd after a RBI double by Oswaldo Arcia. Santana was getting some good help from the Twins defense. Seattle finally got to Santana in the 5th, scoring on a bloop single by Shawn O’Malley. A sacrifice fly by Hunter in the 7th got the run back, and Caleb Thielbar did a fine job in relief striking out 4 over the final 2 innings to secure the win.

• Matt Andriese (Texas) threw a 3-hitter against the New York Yankees.


July 31, 2015

Seattle 7 at Minnesota 3

WP: Taijuan Walker (2-4), LP: Phil Hughes (6-8)
HR: Sea-None, MN-None

Nelson Cruz put Seattle on the board in the 1st with a 2-out, 2-run single. Phil Hughes didn’t have his stuff and the light-hitting Mariners made him pay, tagging him for 6 runs in 3+ innings. We didn’t have a base runner until a leadoff double by Brian Dozier in the 4th. We didn’t get on the board until a 2-out triple by Trevor Plouffe in the 7th. With the game out of hand I finally put Ryan’s trade acquisition, Josh Phegley into the game as a defensive replacement. We managed to get the tying run to the plate during an 8th inning rally, but Kennys Vargas grounded out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

• Arnold Leon (Oakland) threw a 5-hitter against Cleveland.


AL Batter of the Month: Jose Abreu (Chicago White Sox) .333, 8 HR, 28 RBI, 24 R
NL Batter of the Month: Anthony Rizzo (Chicago Cubs) .341, 9 HR, 20 RBI, 21 R
AL Pitcher of the Month: Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox) 5-0, 6 GS, 35.2 IP, 41 K, 2.78 ERA
NL Pitcher of the Month: Yusmeiro Petit (San Francisco) 4-0, 1.63 ERA, 38.2 IP, 27 K, 1.01 WHIP
AL Rookie of the Month: Ryan Rua (Texas) .338, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 10 R
NL Rookie of the Month: Joc Pederson (Los Angeles Dodgers) .326, 9 HR, 27 RBI


47-54, .465, 9.5 GB (4th AL Central), 3 GB (8th AL Wild Card)

That’s not a misprint, despite a 12-13 record in July we closed in 3 games in the AL Wild Card race since the end of June. I still don’t consider us serious contenders in the race however with the number of teams ahead of us and our remaining schedule (which is division-heavy after September 1st and has a total of 12 games against division-leading Cleveland).

It’s also frustrating that GM Terry Ryan sat on his hands after acquiring a 3rd string catcher for a solid utility player and one of the top prospects in baseball when it wasn’t at all what we needed. My bullpen is a mess, especially in middle relief. My outfield is struggling at the plate with none of them hitting .250, though they all have other ways they contribute.
I’ve begun to suspect that the AI is trying to keep me interested in the game by, despite Ryan’s attempts to destroy our future, letting us hang around the fringes of the playoff race though never letting us get too close.

[faithful2thecall]

August 1, 2015

• RHP RP Ryan Pressly was sent to AAA, LHP RP Brian Duensing was called up to take his place.

Seattle 8 at Minnesota 4

WP: H Iwakuma (6-12), LP: Kyle Gibson (4-10)
HR: Sea-Kyle Seager 2 (14), MN-Torii Hunter (10)

We played some small ball in the 1st to open the scoring as Brian Dozier led off with a single and came around to score on a wild pitch and 2 ground outs. Seattle didn’t get a hit off of Gibson until Seager grounded a single to center with 2 outs in the 4th, who was promptly picked off to end the inning. Gibson hurt himself in the 5th when, after committing an error transitioning the ball from his glove to his hand, he walked in the tying run. A pair of singles parlayed that error into 3 more runs. Hunter hit a leadoff homer in the 6th to make it 2-4. Seager got that run back with a leadoff homer in the 8th to seemingly put the game away. However, we scored 2 in the 8th to get within 1. Seager apparently got mad that we got back into it, and launched a 2-out, 3-run blast in the 9th. For Gibson it was a statistical oddity of being the losing pitcher, despite not giving up an earned run on the day (4 unearned runs did the job).

• Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado) had a collision on the bases that resulted in a partially torn labrum that ends his season.


August 2, 2015

Seattle 0 at Minnesota 2

WP: Ricky Nolasco (12-5), LP: James Paxton (7-8), SV: Glen Perkins (30)
HR: Sea-None, MN-None

I gave Joe Mauer a day off for the 1st time all season. Torii Hunter was injured (sprained thumb, 1 week) making a catch against the wall on the 3rd batter of the game. Oswaldo Arcia came in to replace Hunter and drove in the 1st run of the game in the 2nd, but he was thrown out trying to extend his hit into a double. A sacrifice fly by Brian Dozier in the 5th doubled the lead. It was a classic pitching duel. A leadoff single by Miguel Montero in the 9th chased Nolasco, as Perkins was called on to preserve the win.

• Giancarlo Stanton (Miami) out 3 weeks with a quad strain from running the bases.


August 3, 2015

• LF Brock Peterson called up from AAA to replace the injured Torii Hunter, who was placed on the 15 day DL.
• We’re 19th in the latest power rankings.

Minnesota 5 at Toronto 4

WP: Trevor May (7-6), LP: Drew Hutchison (9-5), SV: Glen Perkins (31)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (14), Tor-None

We struck early, as Arcia got a ball up into the wind for a 2-out, 2-run homer to center in the 1st. We settled into another pitching duel after that. Arcia provided another 2 runs in the 6th with a double into the left field corner. An error by Brian Dozier on a double play ball allowed Toronto to finally get on the board in the 6th on a 2-run single by Caleb Gindl. A RBI single by Kurt Suzuki in the 9th gave us some additional insurance. We needed that run as Toronto scored 2 off of Perkins and had 2 runners in scoring position when Devon Travis flied out to end the game.


August 4, 2015

• Sam Freeman (Texas) out 10 months with a stretched elbow ligament.

Minnesota 6 at Toronto 3

WP: Ervin Santana (4-1), LP: Ian Kennedy (5-9), SV: Brian Duensing (1)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (15), Kurt Suzuki (3), Tor-Devon Travis (5)

After each team failed to capitalize on chances in the 1st 2 innings, Arcia pounded a 1-out, 3-run homer in the 3rd to open the scoring. A 2-out RBI double by Kennys Vargas in the 5th gave us additional cushion. Toronto didn’t get on the board until a Josh Donaldson single in the 8th off of Michael Tonkin, but that only cut the lead to 6-1. Travis hit a 2-out, 2-run homer 2 batters later to make a game of it.


August 5, 2015

Minnesota 1 at Toronto 8

WP: Aaron Sanchez (3-4), LP: Phil Hughes (6-9)
HR: MN-Kennys Vargas (5), Tor-Dayan Viciedo (4), Justin Smoak (14)

A 2-run homer by Viciedo in the 2nd opened the scoring. We didn’t have a base runner until Brian Dozier hit a Texas leaguer over the shortstop to open the 4th, after Aaron Sanchez struck out 5 batters the 1st time through the order. The Blue Jays seemed to toy with our defense by hitting balls just out of reach as they doubled their lead in the 5th. My bullpen didn’t do me any favors, though we did send a message. In frustration of Toronto bunting with a 7 run lead, we hit Josh Donaldson who charged the mound to voice his displeasure with the situation. We only avoided the shutout on Vargas’ homer in the 9th.

• RHP RP Blaine Boyer and Donaldson were each suspended 4 games for their parts in the benches clearing brawl.


August 6, 2015

• CF Jarrod Dyson (Kansas City) overextended himself during recovery from a sore ankle and will miss an additional 4 days.

Minnesota 5 at Toronto 7

WP: Daniel Norris (3-0), LP: Casey Fien (0-6), SV: Aaron Loup (3)
HR: MN-Shane Victorino (4), Tor-Caleb Gindl (1), Dayan Viciedo (5), Colby Rasmus (6)

After loading the bases on 3 straight singles, Kennys Vargas hit a sacrifice fly to get us on the board in the 1st. The struggling Victorino helped justify the trade GM Terry Ryan made for him at the start of the season with a 2-out, 3-run homer in the 3rd to give us a fairly comfortable lead. Gindl’s solo homer in the 5th got Toronto on the board. A 2-run homer by Viciedo in the 7th made me a little nervous, as that cut the lead to 5-3. I brought in Fien to try to stem the tide, but his hard luck continued as a 3-run blast by pinch-hitter Rasmus gave Toronto the lead.

• Yasiel Puig (Los Angeles Dodgers) got a concussion making a defensive play that will have him out for 6 weeks.


August 7, 2015

Minnesota 4 at Cleveland 7

WP: Kyle Crockett (4-2), LP: Brian Duensing (0-3), SV: Cody Allen (21)
HR: MN-None, Cle-Jose Ramirez (7), Jason Kipnis (13)

A Shane Victorino single in the 2nd to open the scoring. Kenny Vargas’ 2-out, 2-run double highlighted a 3 run 3rd to open up a cushion. A 2-out single by Ramirez in the 5th got Cleveland on the board, he then delivered a clutch 2-out, 2-run homer in the 7th to cut the lead to 1. Kipnis then delivered the knockout punch with a 2-out grand slam in the 8th off of Tim Stauffer.


August 8, 2015

• Blake Swihart (Boston) out 3 months with a fractured ankle.
• Chicago Cubs trade LF Chris Denorfia and RHP RP Emilio Ferrebus to Colorado for C Nick Hundley.

Minnesota 1 at Cleveland 3

WP: Danny Salazar (11-5), LP: Trevor May (7-7), SV: Scott Atchison (1)
HR: MN-Kennys Vargas (6), Cle-Michael Brantley (10)

Brantley hit a leadoff homer in the 2nd to open the scoring. Other than that slip, pitching dominated early on. Cleveland added 2 more runs in the 6th to put the game away. Vargas broke up another shutout with a leadoff homer in the 9th.


August 9, 2015

Minnesota 0 at Cleveland 15

WP: Shaun Marcum (6-2), LP: Ervin Santana (4-2)
HR: MN-None, Cle-Brandon Moss (25), Michael Brantley (11)

Ervin Santana didn’t have his good stuff and our defense let him down as it got ugly early. 7 straight Cleveland hitters reached to start the game, and before the inning was over they’d scored 8 runs. Indians pitchers scattered 7 hits in the shutout.

• Jacoby Ellsbury (New York Yankees) had a 22-game hitting streak ended by Toronto in a 0-for-3 effort.

August 10, 2015

• We’re 27th in the latest power rankings.

Off Day


August 11, 2015

• Todd Frazier (Cincinnati) aggravated his oblique strain and will miss an additional 2 weeks.

Texas at Minnesota—Rained Out


August 12, 2015

• Wil Myers (San Diego) out 4 weeks with a strained hamstring.

Game #1: Texas at Minnesota—Rained Out

Game #2: Texas 3 at Minnesota 4

WP: Phil Hughes (7-9), LP: Derek Holland (9-8), SV: Glen Perkins (32)
HR: Tex-Carlos Peguero (5), Adrian Beltre (16), MN-None

Peguero hit a leadoff homer in the 3rd to open the scoring. The pitchers controlled the game for the most part. We finally tied the game in the 6th on back-to-back doubles by Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer. Kennys Vargas grounded a single into right field two batters later to put us in front, and we added another run in the inning. We added another insurance run in the 7th to make it 4-1. That run became important when Beltre hit a 2-out, 2-run homer off of Tim Stauffer (who has cooled significantly in the 2nd half). Texas made things interesting with a pair of singles against Perkins, but he struck out Leonys Martin (the owner of the golden sombrero on this day with 4 strike outs) to end the game.


August 13, 2015

• Raisel Iglesias (Cincinnati) out 12-13 months with a damaged elbow ligament.

Texas 9 at Minnesota 7

WP: Ronald Belisario (4-4), LP: Kyle Gibson (4-11), SV: Phil Klein (2)
HR: Tex-Ryan Rua (15), MN-Oswaldo Arcia (16)

4 straight singles to start the bottom of the 1st got us on the board early, by the time the inning was over we had a 3-0 lead. Rua got some help from the wind in tying the game with a 3-run homer in the 2nd. By the time the mess was over, Texas had scored 7 runs in the inning and left the bases loaded. I had to throw Blaine Boyer to the dogs with a doubleheader scheduled. The game settled down once the bullpens took over. We had a couple of chances though, even loading the bases with nobody out in the 8th with Joe Mauer coming to the plate as the go-ahead run. Mauer worked a walk to force in a run, but we couldn’t get any closer with 2 foul outs to Prince Fielder were sandwiched around a strike out by Arcia.

Texas 1 at Minnesota 4

WP: Ricky Nolasco (13-5), LP: Ross Ohlendorf (1-10), SV: Glen Perkins (33)
HR: Tex-Shin-Soo Choo (14), MN-Trevor Plouffe (13)

Choo hit a leadoff homer in the 2nd to open the scoring. Joe Mauer tied the game in the 3rd with a 2-out double. We finally took the lead in the 6th on a 2-out double by Oswaldo Arcia that scored Mauer who was having a good double header. Plouffe delivered insurance in the 8th by absolutely destroying (silently) a ball into the left field seats for a 2-run homer.


August 14, 2015

• Garrett Jones (New York Yankees) is out 9-10 months with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
• J.D. Martinez (Detroit) suffered a setback in recovery from a bruised elbow that will keep him out for another week.

Cleveland 3 at Minnesota 12

WP: Trevor May (8-7), LP: Danny Salazar (11-6)
HR: Cle-Carlos Santana (24), MN-Brian Dozier (12), Oswaldo Arcia (17), Trevor Plouffe (14), Kennys Vargas (7)

Our struggling team didn’t need another showdown with the 1st place Indians, especially with a tired bullpen after yesterday’s doubleheader, but that’s what we face. A 2-out solo homer for Dozier in the 3rd opened the scoring. Santana responded by leading off the 4th by tying the game. We loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 4th without the benefit of a hit on 2 walks and a hit batter, and we capitalized on a sacrifice fly by Kurt Suzuki to retake the lead. Again the lead didn’t last as after a well executed hit-and-run, Lonnie Chisenhall tied the game at 2-2 on a single in the 5th. The seesaw battle finally took a turn in our favor in the bottom of the 5th, as the top of our lineup delivered 3 straight singles to load the bases for Arcia, who sent a ball 419 feet into the right-centerfield seats for a grand slam that made it 6-2. Plouffe made the Cleveland bench angry in the 6th by swinging at a 3-0 pitch with 2 on and 2 out, the fact that it ended up in the right field seats made it even worse to put the game away.


August 15, 2015

• Matt Holiday (St. Louis) out 3 weeks with a strained oblique.

Cleveland 4 at Minnesota 4 (play suspended in the bottom of the 10th inning)

WP: TBD, LP: TBD
HR: Cle-Lonnie Chisenhall (21), MN-Shane Victorino (5)

Chisenhall got Cleveland off to a good start with a 1-out solo homer in the 1st. We quickly answered in the bottom half after a leadoff triple by Brian Dozier, Joe Mauer brought him home on a sacrifice fly. Cleveland retook the lead in the 5th on a ground out. The struggling Victorino delivered a game-changing 2-out, 3-run homer in the 6th to put us in front. Jason Kipnis brought Cleveland within 1 on a RBI single in the 7th. Victorino was injured (wrist tendinitis, 5 days) making a catch in the corner. Glen Perkins’ 2nd half struggles continued as Michael Bourn hit a 2-out RBI double to tie the game in the 9th. The game was suspended due to rain with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th with Joe Mauer at the plate.


August 16, 2015

Conclusion of Suspended Game:
Cleveland 5 at Minnesota 6 (14 innings)

WP: Tim Stauffer (4-1), LP: Scott Atchison (2-1)
HR: Cle-Michael Bourn (2), MN-None

Bourn delivered a leadoff homer in the 12th to put Cleveland in front after the teams had exchanged a couple of quiet innings. Jordan Schafer made a great throw to the plate to save a 2nd run by getting Lonnie Chisenhall to end the inning. When it looked bleak, Danny Santana was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the 12th and proceeded to steal 2nd. Then Cleveland made the mistake of letting Bryan Shaw pitch to Joe Mauer with 1st base open and Mauer delivered a RBI single to tie the game at 5-5. Brian Dozier picked up his 1st hit since his 1st inning triple to leadoff the 14th, and after Mauer grounded out to 2nd for the 2nd out of the inning Trevor Plouffe grounded a single to center to end the marathon.

Regularly Scheduled Game:
Cleveland 13 at Minnesota 3

WP: Carlos Carrasco (9-8), LP: Phil Hughes (7-10)
HR: Cle-Brandon Moss (26), MN-None

Looking to complete a sweep of the 1st place Indians, things didn’t get off to a good start as Cleveland scored 2 in the 1st thanks in part to a Brock Peterson error in right field. We got 1 of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on a Trevor Plouffe ground out. Cleveland lit up Phil Hughes for 3 more runs in the 2nd and with a tired bullpen there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it.


54-62, 12 GB (4th AL Central), 5 GB (7th AL Wild Card)

If we had any playoff dreams a 7-8 start to August didn’t do us any favors. Neither did the weather with the couple of rain outs and the suspended game that took a toll on my pitching staff. GM Terry Ryan’s incompetence continues to leave us with the same problems.

The only competitive division races are the NL East where Washington is ½ game ahead of Miami and the AL Central where Cleveland is 4 games up on the Chicago White Sox. The NL Wild Card race isn’t very competitive either with Miami in the 2nd wild card spot 4 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs who are the 1st team out. The AL Wild Card race continues to be a mess.

Chicago White Sox +3 games
Seattle 2nd wild card
Detroit 1 GB
Houston 2 GB
Los Angeles Angels 3.5 GB
Baltimore, Minnesota, Tampa Bay 5 GB

Twins players amongst the league leaders in significant categories (all rankings AL):
Trevor Plouffe: .301 BA (5th), 139 hits (2nd), 31 doubles (tied for 3rd)
Joe Mauer: 36 doubles (1st)
Brian Dozier: 33 doubles (2nd)
Jordan Schafer: 43 steals (1st)
Ricky Nolasco: 13 wins (tied for 2nd)
Glen Perkins: 33 saves (1st)

[faithful2thecall]

August 17, 2015

• Torii Hunter has recovered from injury, Jordan Schafer is optioned to AAA.
• We’re 22nd in the latest power rankings.

Minnesota 3 at New York Yankees 5

WP: Chasen Shreve (6-2), LP: Michael Tonkin (2-5)
HR: MN-Kennys Vargas (8), Eduardo Escobar (3), NYY-Jacoby Ellsbury (13), Brian McCann (16)

My frustration with GM Terry Ryan continues as his latest roster move left me without a true healthy centerfielder for an important series against the Yankees. Ellsbury got the Yankees off to a fast start with a 3-run homer before Kyle Gibson recorded an out. Vargas hit a leadoff homer in the 2nd to get us on the board. Escobar brought us within 2-3 with a 2-out homer in the 5th. A 2-out wild pitch in the 6th allowed Joe Mauer to score to tie the game. After Gibson had given me 8 great innings of managing his pitch count well, I turned the ball over to Tonkin in the 9th. After getting the 1st 2 men out Tyler Austin grounded a single to center to extend the inning for McCann, who stroked a 2-run walk-off homer.


August 18, 2015

• Kevin Jepsen (Tampa Bay) is out 4-5 months with radial nerve compression.

Minnesota 4 at New York Yankees 5

WP: Michael Pineda (14-4), LP: Ricky Nolasco (13-6), SV: Chris Martin (3)
HR: MN-Trevor Plouffe 2 (16), NYY-Mark Teixeira (24)

Pitching dominated early, with Ricky Nolasco yielding only a bunt single until the 4th when Brian McCann hit a 2-out, 2-run double into the right field corner for the 3rd Yankee hit of the inning to open the scoring. We got a RBI double from Eduardo Escobar in the 5th to get on the board. Plouffe pulled a leadoff homer in the 6th to tie the game at 2-2. Teixeira responded with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning to put the Yankees back on top. Brian Dozier got us back within 1 with a 2-out RBI double in the 7th. The Yankees tacked on an insurance run in their half of the 7th. Plouffe’s 2nd leadoff homer of the day in the 8th quickly erased that run however.


August 19, 2015

• Wade Davis (New York Mets) is out 5 months with a bone spur in his elbow.

Minnesota 9 at New York Yankees 14

WP: Justin Wilson (2-0), LP: Trevor May (8-8)
HR: MN-Trevor Plouffe (17), Torii Hunter (11), Oswaldo Arcia (18), NYY-Chase Headley 2 (16), Jacoby Ellsbury (14), Mark Teixeira (25)

A seeing eye single by Torii Hunter with 2-out in the 1st opened the scoring as I looked to salvage 1 win in New York. Headley tied it with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning. We lit up CC Sabathia in the 2nd, highlighted by a Plouffe’s 3rd homer in 2 days—this one a 2-out, 2-run shot. Hunter added his own 2-run homer 2 batters later to cap a 6 run inning and chase Sabathia. No lead is safe against the Yankees offense and they showed it in the bottom of the inning by scoring 5 of their own, highlighted by Ellsbury’s 2-out, 3-run homer. Again I got into trouble by leaving my starter in the game too long, as Teixeira drilled a 2-out, 3-run homer off of May in the 4th to put the Yankees in front 7-9, and they added another run in the inning before May was lifted. It didn’t get any prettier after that, though Arcia did come in and hit a pinch solo homer.


August 20, 2015

• LF Brock Peterson was sent back down to AAA, LF Jordan Schafer was called up in his place.

Minnesota 4 at Baltimore 1

WP: Ervin Santana (5-2), LP: Wei-Yin Chen (6-13), SV: Glen Perkins (34)
HR: MN-Brian Dozier (13), Bal-None

It’s nice to have Schafer back, but that’s the move my GM should have made before the Yankees series and maybe done the reverse now with Shane Victorino having recovered from injury. Pitching dominated the game early. We finally got on the board 1st with 2 outs in the 3rd when Danny Santana singled to become our 1st base runner and Dozier promptly hit a RBI double into the left field corner. Back-to-back doubles to start the bottom of the 3rd by the Orioles quickly erased the lead. Dozier put us back on top in the 5th with a 2-out, 2-run homer. We capitalized on a Manny Machado error in the 7th to add an unearned run on a 2-out single by Kennys Vargas. After 7 good innings from Ervin Santana allowing 1 run on 4 hits, Brian Duensing and Perkins shut the door on the Orioles.


August 21, 2015

• Anthony DeSclafani (Cincinnati) left the team indefinitely to care for his ailing father.

Minnesota 3 at Baltimore 5

WP: Kevin Gausman (4-9), LP: Phil Hughes (7-11), SV: Darren O’Day (26)
HR: MN-Josh Phegley (5), Bal-David Peralta (8)

Oswaldo Arcia extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a RBI double to open the scoring in the 1st. Peralta extended Hughes’ post-injury struggles by leading off the bottom of the 1st with a homer to tie the game. Victor Martinez put Baltimore in front in the 3rd with a 2-out RBI double. Hughes was battered around in the 6th as the Orioles blew the game open tagging him for 3 runs and chasing him. We did try to rally in the 7th loading the bases with 2 outs and had Trevor Plouffe coming to the plate, but he popped out. Phegley tried to make things exciting in the 9th with a pinch hit 2-run homer to cut the lead in half.


August 22, 2015

Minnesota 4 at Baltimore 2

WP: Kyle Gibson (5-11), LP: Brad Brach (1-4), SV: Glen Perkins (35)
HR: MN-Brian Dozier (14), Shane Victorino (6), Bal-None

Pitching dominated the early portion of this game. It was scoreless into the 5th when Dozier delivered a 2-out solo homer. Baltimore didn’t have a base runner until Delmon Young was hit by Kyle Gibson’s 1st pitch of the 6th. Things only went downhill from there for Gibson as his throwing error on a sacrifice bunt put a 2nd runner on, and then Steve Pearce blooped a 2-run single to center for the Orioles 1st hit. Victorino quickly erased the deficit with a solo homer with 1-out in the 7th. We then went back on top in the 8th on back-to-back doubles by Joe Mauer (his 40th of the season) and Trevor Plouffe. Insurance was added through playing small ball in the 9th as we parlayed Victorino getting hit by a pitch into a run via a stolen base, sacrifice bunt and a single from Danny Santana. Perkins came in to retire the side in order in the 9th and get Gibson a well deserved win for his gem allowing 3 hits in 8 innings.


August 23, 2015

Minnesota 3 at Baltimore 2

WP: Ricky Nolasco (14-6), LP: T.J. McFarland (2-4), SV: Glen Perkins (36)
HR: MN-Brian Dozier (15), Bal-Victor Martinez (13)

Pitching dominated this game as well. Martinez hit a 2-run homer in the 4th to open the scoring. We didn’t have a hit until Danny Santana lined a single to center with 1-out in the 6th. Dozier was the next batter and launched a 2-run homer to tie the game. The game remained tied into the 9th when Kennys Vargas lined a 1-out RBI single to center to put us in front. Baltimore threatened against Perkins in the 9th, with a 1-out double by Adam Jones put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Perkins responded with a pop up and a strike out on a high fastball to put the game away.


August 24, 2015

• We’re 20th in the latest power rankings.

Off Day

• Jose Fernandez (Miami) threw a 2-hitter against Pittsburgh.


August 25, 2015

• Derek Norris (Texas) out 9 months with a broken bone in his elbow.

Split Double Header

Game #1: Tampa Bay 6 at Minnesota 5

WP: Steve Geltz (2-1), LP: Trevor May (8-9), SV: Ernesto Frieri (1)
HR: TB-James Loney (7), MN-None

Drew Smyly got himself into trouble in the 1st by walking the 1st 2 hitters, and Trevor Plouffe made him pay by grounding a RBI single to center. Loney crushed a leadoff homer in the 2nd to tie the game. A 2-out rally in the bottom of the 2nd let us retake the lead on a Brian Dozier RBI single. Control issues by Trevor May quickly erased that lead as he walked in the tying run, and before the inning was over Tampa Bay had scored 2 more runs to go up 2-4. Both teams were benefiting from great defensive plays. Asdrubal Cabrera was injured (foot contusion, 1 week) getting hit by a Casey Fien pitch in the 8th. Fien was torched for 2 runs to seemingly put the game away. However, we tried to make a game out of it in the 9th loading the bases with nobody out for Shane Victorino. While Victorino struck out, Torii Hunter took a 4 pitch walk to bring the winning run to the plate. We pulled within 1 and had runners on the corners when Danny Santana, who had been 4-for-4 on the day hit a slow roller to 3rd for the final out.


Game #2: Minnesota 5 at Tampa Bay 1

WP: Ervin Santana (6-2), LP: Odrisamer Despaigne (4-4), SV: Tim Stauffer (3)
HR: MN-None, TB-None

Pitching absolutely dominated early as Santana and Despaigne locked in an epic duel. The only base runner for either team in the 1st 4 innings was a Corey Dickerson double with 2 outs in the 1st. We finally got a base runner on a 1-out single by Kennys Vargas in the 5th. In the 6th we finally scored on doubles by Jake Fox and Brian Dozier. Joe Mauer added some insurance by driving in Dozier. Stunningly it was lightly used Fox who blew the game open in the 9th with a 3-run double after coming into the game having not had a hit in his last 16 at-bats. Tampa Bay only avoided the shutout on a 2-out single by Evan Longoria in the 9th off of Stauffer.

• Anthony Rendon (Washington) went 6-for-6 with 5 singles and a double in an 11-inning loss to San Diego.
• Yusmeiro Petit (San Francisco) threw a 3-hitter against the Chicago Cubs.


August 26, 2015

Minnesota 9 at Tampa Bay 2

WP: Phil Hughes (8-11), LP: Brian Flynn (3-1)
HR: MN-Torii Hunter (12), TB-None

Hunter opened the scoring with a 2-out solo homer in the 2nd. An errant catch allowed us to add an unearned run in the 3rd. A Hunter single provided another run in the 4th as we were being very efficient in turning our hits into runs, being up 3-0 on 4 hits at that point. We blew the game open in the 6th behind back-to-back 2-run doubles by Joe Mauer and Trevor Plouffe as we scored 6 runs in the inning. Tampa Bay didn’t get on the board until a 2-run ground-rule double by Rene Rivera in the 7th.

• Felix Hernandez (Seattle) threw a 4-hitter against Oakland.


August 27, 2015

• Fernando Rodney (Seattle) is out 4-5 months with a torn back muscle.

Minnesota 5 at Tampa Bay 10

WP: Nate Karns (8-10), LP: Kyle Gibson (5-12)
HR: MN-None, TB-Rene Rivera (10)

A John Jaso triple in the 2nd opened the scoring, and he came in to score on a sacrifice fly. We responded by tying the game in the 3rd courtesy of back-to-back wild pitches when the bases were loaded, before taking the lead on a Kennys Vargas double. The Rays took the lead in the bottom of the inning by hitting Kyle Gibson all over the field for 3 runs. Tampa Bay broke the game open with 2 more runs in the 7th on a bases loaded single by Corey Dickerson.


August 28, 2015

Houston 4 at Minnesota 5

WP: Tim Stauffer (5-1), LP: Luke Gregerson (5-5)
HR: Hou-Jason Castro (9), MN-None

An errant throw on a stolen base attempt by Kurt Suzuki allowed Houston to score an unearned run in the 1st. We tied the game in the 3rd on back-to-back doubles by Suzuki and Danny Santana for our 1st hits of the game. Santana came in to score on a 2-out bloop single by Joe Mauer. Torii Hunter doubled our lead in the 4th with a RBI single. Castro’s solo homer with 1 out in the 5th brought the Astros back within 1. In the 7th we added an unearned insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Santana. A Trevor Plouffe error allowed Houston to score 2 unearned runs in the 8th to tie the game. We bailed out Plouffe in the bottom of the 9th though when Hunter singled, pinch runner Jordan Schafer stole 2nd and was moved to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt by Shane Victorino. The Astros then made the head scratching move to intentionally walk Suzuki to get to Santana, who promptly grounded a single to right to send the home fans home happy.

• Chase Headley (New York Yankees) hit 3 homers in his 1st 3 at bats (all against Trevor Cahill) against Atlanta before walking his last 2 times at the plate in a loss.


August 29, 2015

• Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs) out 4 weeks with a hamstring strain.

Houston 1 at Minnesota 4

WP: Trevor May (9-9), LP: Dallas Keuchel (8-8), SV: Glen Perkins (37)
HR: Hou-None, MN-Trevor Plouffe (18)

We got off to a fast start against Keuchel in the 1st with Plouffe delivering a 3-run homer to left-center to open the scoring. Torii Hunter was injured (wrist soreness, day-to-day for a week) making a spectacular diving catch for the 1st out of the 2nd. Houston got on the board later in the inning on a 2-out double by Jason Castro. May wasn’t doing himself any favors with his control walking 5 and hitting a batter in 5 innings of work. We didn’t have another scoring threat until the 6th as Keuchel took over after the 1st 4 batters, but we squandered the chance when Robbie Grossman threw out Plouffe at home to end the inning. We added a little more cushion in the 8th when Kennys Vargas drew a bases loaded walk.


August 30, 2015

Houston 7 at Minnesota 1

WP: Collin McHugh (8-9), LP: Ervin Santana (6-3)
HR: Hou-Chris Carter (25), George Springer (31), MN-None

Justin Morneau’s hit a RBI double in the 1st to open the scoring. Evan Gattis was injured making a running catch on the warning track in the 2nd. Carter’s grand slam in the 3rd blew the game open. We didn’t score until Kennys Vargas grounded out for the 2nd out in the 9th.


August 31, 2015

• We’re 19th in the latest power rankings.

Off Day


AL Player of the Month: Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) .366 BA, 7 HR, 26 RBI, 19 R
NL Player of the Month: Marcell Ozuna (Miami) .379 BA, 9 HR, 18 RBI, 22 R
AL Pitcher of the Month: Jose Quintana (Chicago White Sox) 6 GS, 1.28 ERA, 4-2, 30 K, 42.1 IP
NL Pitcher of the Month: Jose Fernandez (Miami) 5-1, 6 GS, 40.1 IP, 38 K, 1.79 ERA
AL Rookie of the Month: Slade Heathcott (New York Yankees) .324 BA, 5 HR, 14 RBI
NL Rookie of the Month: Jake Lamb (Arizona) .276 BA, 5 HR, 21 RBI, 24 R

61-69, .469, 14.5 GB (4th AL Central), 6 GB (7th AL Wild Card)

A 14-15 month didn’t do us any favors, though we remain on the fringe of the AL Wild Card race going into the final month. Having only 7 of 28 games in September outside of the division will make things tough.

As long as I remain on the fringe of the Wild Card race I’ll change my posting schedule and post each week’s worth of games.

[faithful2thecall]

Here's the standings to start September.

[faithful2thecall]

September 1, 2015

• RP A.J. Achter, RP Logan Darnell, RP Stephen Pryor, C Chris Hermann, LF Brock Peterson, CF Shane Robinson, C Lazaro Herrera, and CF Aaron Hicks called up from AAA with the roster expansion.

Chicago White Sox 13 at Minnesota 3

WP: Chris Sale (13-3), LP: Phil Hughes (8-12)
HR: CWS-Avisail Garcia (12), Salvador Perez (12), MN-None

Some of those moves aren’t surprising and are even welcome. With 3 catchers already on the roster, I would have preferred an additional infielder instead of Herrera. The extra oufielders are helpful, especially as a number of them are right-handed hitters and with Torii Hunter day-to-day with an injury and Jordan Schafer slumping.

A Phil Hughes error covering 1st base allowed Perez to drive in the 1st run of the game. We responded in the bottom of the inning, getting on the board with a bases loaded single by Shane Victorino. We added another run on a sacrifice fly by Shane Robinson before the inning was over. A Joe Mauer fielder’s choice in the 2nd made the lead 3-1. Perez hit a 2-run double in the 3rd to tie the game. 2 batters later, Garcia hit a 2-run homer to put the White Sox in front. Perez pretty much put the game away with a 2-run homer in the 5th. Jay Bruce was injured (shoulder tendinitis, 4 weeks) running down a Trevor Plouffe fly ball in the bottom of the 5th. Brian Duensing was injured (strained hamstring, 2 months) surrendering a RBI double to Neil Walker in the 8th.


September 2, 2015

• Dustin Pedroia (Boston) out 3 months with a sports hernia.
• Chicago White Sox trade 1B Adam LaRoche to Oakland for CF Felix Pie and CF J.P. Sportman.

Chicago White Sox 5 at Minnesota 6

WP: Casey Fien (1-6), LP: Will Smith (3-3), SV: Glen Perkins (37)
HR: CWS-Avisail Garcia (13), MN-Trevor Plouffe (19), Brock Peterson (3)

Tyler Flowers doubled to deep center in the 2nd to open the scoring. Joe Mauer lined a RBI single to left to extend his hitting streak to 16 game and tie the game in the 3rd. 2 pitches later, Plouffe took the team lead in homers with a 3-run blast to put us in front. Peterson destroyed a leadoff homer in the 4th. Garcia hit a 2-run homer in the 8th to bring the White Sox within 5-4. Casey Fien’s rough outing continued as Tyler Flowers lined a game-tying single. Peterson put us back in front with a 2-out double in the 8th.


September 3, 2015

• Tyler Chatwood (Colorado) is out 8 months with shoulder inflammation.

Chicago White Sox 13 at Minnesota 4

WP: Nate Jones (2-1), LP: Ricky Nolasco (14-7)
HR: CWS-Melky Cabrera (8), Jose Abreu (32), MN-None

Cabrera and Abreu hit back-to-back solo homers in the 1st to open the scoring. Oswaldo Arcia laced a 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the inning to get us on the board. We tied the game in the 2nd on a ground out by Kurt Suzuki. Ricky Nolasco didn’t have his best stuff on this day and the White Sox made him pay for it in the 3rd by scoring 5 runs and chasing him after only 2.2 innings. It didn’t get any better after that.


September 4, 2015

Minnesota 5 at Houston 7

WP: Kevin Chapman (3-4), LP: Tim Stauffer (5-2), SV: Joe Thatcher (2)
HR: MN-Kurt Suzuki (4), Hou-Jon Singleton (1), Chris Carter (28), Domingo Santana (4)

Singleton hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 1st to open the scoring. A George Springer sacrifice fly in the 2nd extended the lead. Suzuki got us on the board with a 2-run homer in the 5th. Lazaro Herrera hit a pinch hit RBI double to tie the game in the 7th in his 1st MLB at bat. Carter untied the game in the bottom of the inning with a 3-run homer. We tried to rally in the 9th, scoring 2 and having the tying run on 1st when Trevor Plouffe grounded out to end the game.

• Yadier Molina (St. Louis) suffered back tightness from a collision on the bases and is out for a week.
• Carlos Carrasco (Cleveland) threw a 4-hitter against Detroit.


September 5, 2015

Minnesota 7 at Houston 1

WP: Ervin Santana (7-3), LP: Collin McHugh (8-10)
HR: MN-Danny Santana (4), Shane Victorino (7), Kennys Vargas (9), Hou-Jon Singleton (2)

Trevor Plouffe blooped a RBI single to right in the 1st to open the scoring, and before the inning was over we added a 2nd run. Santana hit a 2-out solo homer in the 5th to add some additional insurance. Victorino doubled the lead with a 2-out, 3-run homer in the 6th. Houston didn’t get on the board until a 1-out solo homer by Singleton in the 7th. Vargas got that run back in the 8th with a solo homer of his own.


September 6, 2015

Minnesota 1 at Houston 4

WP: Samuel Deduno (7-8), LP: Phil Hughes (8-13), SV: Luke Gregerson (15)
HR: MN-None, Hou-George Springer (33)

Houston got on the board with a pair of sacrifice flies in the 3rd. We finally got on the board in the 5th when Brian Dozier hit a sacrifice fly to the wall with the bases loaded. A Kurt Suzuki throwing error on a stolen base attempt allowed the Astros to add an insurance run in the 8th. Springer followed it up with a solo homer to put the game away. Joe Mauer’s hit streak came to an end at 19 games with a 0-for-4 performance with 2 strike outs.


63-73, .463, 17.5 GB (4th AL Central), 5.5 GB (8th AL Wild Card)

We’re being given a 0.7% chance to make the playoffs at this point. With the way we’re playing, I’d say that’s generous. With 6 road games this week against division opponents it’ll be a defining week for our playoff chances.

[faithful2thecall]

September 7, 2015

• We’re 22nd in the latest power rankings.

Minnesota 14 at Kansas City 6

WP: Kyle Gibson (6-12), LP: Danny Duffy (8-10)
HR: MN-Torii Hunter (13), KC-Cheslor Cuthbert (1), Andruw Jones (7)

I finally gave Joe Mauer a 2nd day off this season since his hitting streak just ended and we were on the road against the left-handed Duffy. Our offense didn’t miss a beat in the 1st as we knocked Duffy all over the park, scoring 5 runs—capped by a 2-run homer by Hunter. The Royals got on the board in the 3rd on a Francisco Pena triple. We got the run back on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Plouffe in the 4th, but Kansas City responded by knocked Gibson all over the park in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 6-4. Cuthbert’s 1st MLB homer was a solo shot with 1-out in the 6th to bring the Royals within 1. Brian Dozier’s 5th hit of the game was a RBI double that provided some insurance in the 8th. We busted the game back open against the Kansas City bullpen, scoring 8 times before the inning was over.


September 8, 2015

Minnesota 2 at Kansas City 8

WP: Yohan Pino (9-5), LP: Ricky Nolasco (14-8)
HR: MN-None, KC-Andruw Jones (8)

Jones led off the 3rd with a homer to open the scoring. We responded in the 4th with a 2-out, 2-run double by Brian Dozier. Jones put the Royals back in front in the bottom of the 4th with a 2-run single. A Kendrys Morales RBI double added some insurance in the 7th and chased Ricky Nolasco. Pinch hitter Yosvani Garcia put it away with a 2-run double off of Tim Stauffer a couple batters later.

• Jordan Zimmerman (Washington) threw a 5-hitter against the New York Mets.


September 9, 2015

• Jose Bautista (Toronto) out 4 months with a broken hand.

Minnesota 9 at Kansas City 3

WP: Trevor May (10-9), LP: Kris Medlen (3-3)
HR: MN-None, KC-Andruw Jones (9)

A pair of Kansas City throwing errors in the 1st allowed us to get on the board early. Jones continued to torment us in this series with a 2-run homer in the 2nd to put the Royals in front. We got a pair of RBI ground outs to put us back in front in the 3rd. Joe Mauer’s 2-run double in the 5th extended the lead and chased Medlen. Ty Wigginton delivered a RBI single in the 6th to cut the lead to 6-3, but reliever A.J. Achter coaxed a bases loaded ground out to escape the jam. Oswaldo Arcia made them pay for not delivering by showing the Royals how it’s done with a 2-out, 2-run single in the 7th to give us a 8-3 lead.


September 10, 2015

Off Day


September 11, 2015

Minnesota 8 at Chicago White Sox 4

WP: Ervin Santana (8-3), LP: Sam Dyson (7-2)
HR: MN-Kennys Vargas 2 (11), CWS-Jose Abreu (33)

3 straight 2-out RBI singles gave us an early lead over the AL Wild Card leading White Sox. Dyson only poored fuel on the fire by committing a fielding error to load the bases then hitting Danny Santana to add another run, before Dozier hit a 2-run single to make it a 6 run inning and chased Dyson before he completed an inning for John Danks. Chicago got on the board in the 3rd on a Melky Cabrera sacrifice fly. Danks settled things down for a couple of innings, but after he left Vargas greeted the next reliever with a 1-out solo homer. The White Sox tried to make a game of it by scoring in the 6th and 7th, but Vargas responded with his 2nd solo homer to leadoff the 8th.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a playoff spot with a 4-1 victory over Arizona.


September 12, 2015

Minnesota 1 at Chicago White Sox 3

WP: Chris Sale (15-3), LP: Phil Hughes (8-14), SV: David Robinson (26)
HR: MN-None, CWS-Salvador Perez (13), Neil Walker (14), Conor Gillaspie (13)

Perez hit a solo homer to leadoff the 2nd to open the scoring, then Walker added a solo homer 2 batters later to double the lead. Danny Santana was injured (knee tendinitis, 3-4 weeks) doubling in the 3rd. We ran ourselves out of a rally in the 3rd when Kurt Suzuki was thrown out trying to score on a flyout to Avisail Garcia. Brian Dozier got us on the board in the 5th with a RBI double, but we ran ourselves out of another rally when Eduardo Escobar was thrown out trying to score from 1st. Gillaspie added some insurance with a 1-out solo homer in the 8th. We tried to come back in the 9th, but pinch hitter Aaron Hicks grounded out with the tying runs on base to end the game.


September 13, 2015

• SS Jorge Polanco called up from AAA to cover for the injured Danny Santana.

Minnesota 2 at Chicago White Sox 8

WP: Jose Quintana (11-6), LP: Kyle Gibson (6-13)
HR: MN-None, CWS-Salvador Perez (14), Conor Gillaspie (14), Neil Walker (15)

A Shane Robinson sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the 1st opened the scoring. We doubled the lead in the 2nd on a 2-out double by Brian Dozier. Perez got the White Sox on the board in the 4th by crushing a 2-out solo homer to dead center. Kyle Gibson ran into trouble with 2-outs in the 5th, as the White Sox scored 3 runs, capped by Gillaspie’s 2-run homer. Walker blew the game open with a grand slam in the 6th as A.J. Achter had trouble finding the plate.

• The Oakland Athletics clinched the AL West with a 7-5 win over Texas.


66-76, .465, 19 GB (4th AL Central), 4 GB (8th AL Wild Card)

Our playoff chances were pretty much squashed by those last 2 losses to the White Sox. And now we have an unhappy owner to boot. This week we finally come home against a couple of our competitors for the Wild Card with 3 against Detroit and 4 against the Los Angeles Angels.

[faithful2thecall]

September 14, 2015

• We’re 23rd in the latest power rankings.

Detroit 11 at Minnesota 4

WP: Justin Verlander (13-9), LP: Ricky Nolasco (14-9)
HR: Det-Nick Castellanos (14), Yoenis Cespedes (21), MN-Brian Dozier (16)

Detroit didn’t take long to get on the board when Cespedes hit a RBI double in the 1st. Before Ricky Nolasco could get out of the inning, Detroit had staked Justin Verlander a 3 run lead. Castellanos doubled the Tigers lead in the 4th with a 1-out, 3-run shot. We finally got on the board on a bases loaded fielding error by Castellanos in the bottom of the inning. Ian Kinsler was injured (mild hamstring strain, day-to-day for 6 days) on a ground ball to end the 5th. My bullpen didn’t show up and the game got ugly.


September 15, 2015

Detroit 6 at Minnesota 4 (12 innings)

WP: Joakim Soria (3-3), LP: Caleb Thielbar (3-5)
HR: Det-Miguel Cabrera (26), MN-Kurt Suzuki (5)

Pitching was surprisingly dominant in the early innings of this one as Bud Norris and Trevor May had both not fared well against the opposing team this season. Suzuki opened the scoring in the 4th with a 2-out, 3-run homer. We extended the lead in the 6th on a 2-out RBI single by Eduardo Escobar. Detroit finally got on the board against Blaine Boyer in the 7th on a Jose Iglesias 2-run single, and before the inning was over they’d tied the game. Cabrera broke the deadlock in the 12th with a 2-out, 2-run homer.

• Christian Yelich (Miami) out 3 weeks suffering from shoulder soreness making a defensive play.


September 16, 2015

• RHP RP Lester Oliveros was called up from AAA.

Detroit 1 at Minnesota 7

WP: Ervin Santana (9-3), LP: Anibal Sanchez (10-13)
HR: Det-None, MN-None

Back-to-back doubles by Joe Mauer and Trevor Plouffe to leadoff the 3rd opened the scoring. Plouffe would come home on a sacrifice fly to double the lead. Detroit responded in the 4th with a Tyler Collins RBI double to get on the board. We responded in the bottom of the inning with 2 more runs to push the lead to 4-1. Santana shut down a potent Detroit lineup, holding them to 1 run on 4 hits over 7 innings. We blew open the game in the 7th with 3 more runs.

• Kole Calhoun (Los Angeles Angels) is out 4 weeks with a elbow sprain suffered making a defensive play.


September 17, 2015

• LHP SP Tommy Milone is called up from AAA.
• Albert Pujols (Los Angeles Angels) is out 6 weeks with a sprained thumb.
• Chase Headley (New York Yankees) is out 9 months with a concussion.
• Michael Pineda (New York Yankees) is out 2-3 months with ulnar nerve irritation.

Los Angeles Angels 9 at Minnesota 7

WP: Vinnie Pestano (3-1), LP: A.J. Achter (0-1), SV: Mike Morin (8)
HR: LAA-None, MN-Kennys Vargas (12)

We took advantage of the wildness of inexperienced Andrew Heaney, who walked the bases loaded with 2 outs in the 2nd before Brian Dozier singled home the 1st run of the game. Joe Mauer followed it up with another single to make it 2-0. Phil Hughes pitched out of a bases loaded, 1-out situation in the 3rd. The Angels got on the board in the 4th courtesy of a wild pitch. We blew the game open in the bottom of the inning with a 3-run double by Dozier. The Angels tried to make a game of it in the 6th by touching Hughes for 2 runs to cut the lead to 5-3. Vargas responded by crushing a 2-out, 2-run homer. Tim Stauffer came in and had unusual control problems, walking 3 hitters, as the Angels tied the game. Matt Joyce put the Angels in front in the 8th with a 1-out RBI single.

• Max Scherzer (Washington) is out 4 weeks with a hamstring strain while pitching.


September 18, 2015

Los Angeles Angels 6 at Minnesota 8

WP: Tommy Milone (1-1), LP: Garrett Richards (5-12), SV: Glen Perkins (39)
HR: LAA-None, MN-Oswaldo Arcia (19)

The Angels didn’t take long to get on the board with a 2-out RBI triple by C.J. Cron. David Freese added a RBI single in the 2nd to double the lead. The Angels blew the game open in the 3rd with 3 more runs. We tried to make a game out of it in the bottom of the inning when Shane Robinson got us on the board with a 2-out bases-clearing double. Tommy Milone came on in relief of Kyle Gibson and delivered 4 shutout innings. Trevor Plouffe brought us within 1 with a 2-out RBI single in the 4th. Arcia followed it up with a 3-run homer to straightaway center to put us in front. We added another run in the 5th on an errant throw home by Matt Joyce when Robinson tagged up on a flyout.

• Andrelton Simmons and Cole Hamels were suspended 8 games for their parts in a confrontation.
• The Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees have secured playoff berths.
• The St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Central with a win over the Chicago Cubs.


September 19, 2015

Los Angeles Angels 8 at Minnesota 3

WP: Cam Bedrosian (3-0), LP: Michael Tonkin (2-6)
HR: LAA-Erick Aybar (8), MN-None

We got on the board quickly with a Joe Mauer RBI double in the 1st. A 2-out double by Mike Trout in the 2nd tied the game. We retook the lead in the bottom of the inning on a wild pitch. The lead didn’t last long as the Angels scored 2 runs in the 3rd to take the lead. We finally tied the game in the 6th on a pinch hit RBI single by Oswaldo Arcia. Aybar promptly put the Angles back in front with a RBI single of his own. Michael Tonkin had a disastrous outing.

• Carlos Gonzalez (Colorado) went 6-for-6 against San Diego with 5 singles and a triple.
• The New York Yankees clinched the AL East with a victory over the New York Mets.


September 20, 2015

• John Danks (Chicago White Sox) is out 4-5 months with a torn labrum.
• Kolten Wong (St. Louis) out 3 weeks with a sprained ankle.
• Jose Fernandez (Miami) out 4 months with a bone spur in his elbow.

Los Angeles Angels 1 at Minnesota 5

WP: Stephen Pryor (1-0), LP: C.J. Wilson (10-13), SV: Casey Fien (1)
HR: LAA-Matt Joyce (12), MN-Brian Dozier (17)

Joyce hit a 2-out solo homer in the 1st to open the scoring. Pitching took over after that. We finally tied the game in the 7th when Kennys Vargas and Shane Robinson led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. Robinson came in to score on a 2-out wild pitch to put us in front, then Dozier unloaded a 3-run homer to straightaway center to blow the game open.

• Chase Whitley (New York Yankees) threw a 4-hitter against the New York Mets.


69-80, .463, 20 GB (4th AL Central), 5 GB (8th AL Wild Card)

We really need a long winning streak to have any chance at a playoff berth this season. The problem is that 7 of our last 13 are against division-leading Cleveland (who we’re 4-8 against this season). To look at the bright side, with 2 more wins we’ll have the most wins we’ve had since 2010. Our offense has been scoring a little better recently, but our deteriorating pitching has offset it.

My readership seems to have picked up with the more frequent posts. Do you folks want me to continue posting every game week next season? Do you prefer the twice a month updates? Or do people like what I did with the twice a month until September and then weekly since I’m in the pennant race?

[faithful2thecall]

September 21, 2015

• Antonio Bastardo (Pittsburgh) out 4 months with a torn back muscle.
• We’re 22nd in the latest power rankings.

Off Day


September 22, 2015

• Craig Kimbrel (San Diego) out for a week with a strained oblique.

Cleveland 4 at Minnesota 3

WP: Bryan Price (1-0), LP: Michael Tonkin (2-7)
HR: Cle-Yan Gomes (14), MN-Trevor Plouffe (20)

We opened the scoring in the 3rd when Joe Mauer laced an opposite field RBI double. Plouffe doubled the lead in the 6th with a 1-out homer. We added an unearned run later in the inning on a Jose Ramirez throwing error. The starters controlled this game, though they both threw a lot of pitches. Gomes greeted Caleb Thielbar with a game-tying 3-run homer with 2-outs in the 7th. A 2-out RBI double by Peter Bourjos in the 8th put Cleveland in front.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the NL West with a win over Arizona.


September 23, 2015

• Chasen Shreve (New York Yankees) is out 4 months with a torn rotator cuff.

Cleveland 5 at Minnesota 4

WP: Corey Kluber (13-10), LP: Tommy Milone (1-2), Cody Allen (35)
HR: Cle-None, MN-Oswaldo Arcia (20)

Phil Hughes was getting knocked around in the 1st, but escaped only allowing 1 run on a Lonnie Chisenhall single. Hughes was injured (mild abdominal strain, day-to-day for a week) giving up a single to leadoff the 2nd. Tommy Milone wasn’t sharp in relief. We got on the board in the 3rd with 2 runs without getting a hit, courtesy of a couple of errors by the normally reliable Indians defense to cut the deficit to 2-3. We got our 1st hit of the game leading off the 4th, when Arcia crushed a ball into the right field seats to tie the game. Francisco Lindor put Cleveland back in front with a 2-out, 2-run double in the 5th. Aaron Hicks blooped a 2-out RBI single to pull us back within 1 in the bottom of the inning.

• Cleveland’s win clinched the AL Central.
• Zach Greinke (Los Angeles Dodgers) is out at least 2 weeks with elbow inflammation.


September 24, 2015

Cleveland 2 at Minnesota 3

WP: Casey Fien (2-6), LP: Scott Atchison (2-2)
HR: Cle-Yan Gomes (15), MN-None

A 2-out single by Jason Kipnis in the 2nd opened the scoring. Kurt Suzuki responded by blooping a 2-out RBI single of his own in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Gomes put the Indians back in front with a 1-out solo homer in the 6th. Pitching continued to dominate the game into the 9th. We got a couple of runners in scoring position with 1 out, when pinch-hitter Aaron Hicks lined a single to right center with slow-footed Kennys Vargas sliding in ahead of the throw by Nick Swisher with the winning run.


September 25, 2015

Minnesota 1 at Detroit 5

WP: David Price (14-14), LP: Ricky Nolasco (14-10)
HR: MN-None, Det-None

We scored an unearned run in the 1st when J.D. Martinez dropped a fly ball with 2 outs. The weather was a problem with rain causing issues. Eduardo Escobar committed a 2-out throwing error in the 2nd that allowed 2 Tigers runners to score. Yoenis Cespedes blooped a 2-out RBI single to right in the 5th to double the Detroit lead. Jose Iglesias blew the game open with a 2-out, 2-run seeing-eye single in the 6th.


September 26, 2015

• Brandon Morrow (Baltimore) is out 7-8 months with a torn labrum.

Minnesota 6 at Detroit 5

WP: Trevor May (11-9), LP: Justin Verlander (13-10), SV: Glen Perkins (40)
HR: MN-None, Det-None

Aggressive Tigers base running got them on the board in the 1st after Anthony Gose stole 2nd and 3rd on back-to-back pitches before scoring on a sacrifice fly by J.D. Martinez. Ian Kinsler was injured fielding a grounder in the 2nd. We finally put a threat together in the 4th against Verlander, loading the bases with nobody out on 2 singles and an error. Kennys Vargas struck out, but Shane Robinson delivered a 2-run single to left to put us in front. Our offense kept rolling and by the time the inning was over we’d staked May a 5-1 lead and chased Verlander. Detroit kept chipping away though with a run each in the 4th, 5th, and 6th to cut the lead to 5-4. We got a run back in the 7th on a wild pitch. The Tigers threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, scoring 1 run on a Yoenis Cespedes pinch hit single to center, but the 2nd runner was thrown out at the plate by Robinson.


September 27, 2015

Minnesota 1 at Detroit 8

WP: Anibal Sanchez (12-13), LP: Ervin Santana (9-4)
HR: MN-Brian Dozier (18), Det-Dixon Machado (1), Alex Avila (11)

Machado led off the 3rd with his 1st MLB homer. Ervin Santana was rattled and before the inning was over Detroit had scored 4 runs. It didn’t get any better in the 4th as Detroit tacked on another 4 runs, Santana getting the hook after Avila hit a 2-out, 3-run homer. Then to add insult to injury, Blaine Boyer pitched to 1 batter before getting hurt (sore elbow, day-to-day 2 weeks) throwing the pitch that ended the inning. With the game out of hand I decided to empty the bench early to get some of the call ups some playing time. Dozier finally got us on the board with a leadoff homer in the 6th. Aaron Hicks was injured (fractured finger, 5-6 weeks) in a pinch hitting appearance when he was hit by a pitch.

• The San Francisco Giants clinched a Wild Card berth with a win over Oakland.


71-84, .458, 21 GB (4th AL Central), 6 GB (8th AL Wild Card)

We’re the next team in line to be officially eliminated from the AL Wild Card race along with the Baltimore Orioles. A rotten September is further reinforcement of the idea that we need to find a way to beat our divisional opponents more regularly.

[faithful2thecall]

September 28, 2015

• Michael A. Taylor (Washington) suffered a setback in his recovery from a sprained ankle and will miss at least 6 more days.
• We’re 23rd in the latest power rankings.

Minnesota 9 at Cleveland 6

WP: Casey Fien (3-6), LP: Cody Allen (6-3), SV: Glen Perkins (41)
HR: MN-None, Cle-Jose Ramirez (9)

Torii Hunter in a rare start recently opened the scoring with a 2-out RBI double in the 2nd. The Indians responded with a run of their own in the 2nd on a sacrifice fly. We regained the lead in the 5th on a Brian Dozier RBI single. We added another run in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Plouffe. The lead didn’t last long as Ramirez launched a 1-out, 3-run homer to put the Indians in front. We tied the game in the 6th on a 2-out RBI double by Kurt Suzuki. In the 8th, Peter Bourjos put Cleveland back in front with a 2-out RBI double, and the Indians added another run in the inning. We rallied in the 9th loading the bases with 1 out with Joe Mauer coming to the plate, and he came through with a 2-run double to tie the game. 1 out later, Oswaldo Arcia put us in front with a 2-run double after being 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts on the day to put us in front 8-6. Perkins came in and slammed the door in the bottom of the 9th.

• Robinson Cano (Seattle) picked up his 2,000th career hit against Houston off of Samuel Deduno.


September 29, 2015

Minnesota 3 at Cleveland 12

WP: Carlos Carrasco (15-9), LP: Kyle Gibson (6-14)
HR: MN-Oswaldo Arcia (21), Cle-None

Peter Bourjos opened the scoring by grounding a single down the 3rd base line in the 2nd, and before the inning was over the Indians had grabbed a 4 run lead. We got on the board without a hit in the 3rd when Eduardo Escobar led off with a walk, stole 2nd, took 3rd on a passed ball, before scoring on a Joe Mauer sacrifice fly. Cleveland blew the game open and chased Gibson in the 5th with another 4 runs. The bullpen didn’t show up either. Shane Robinson was ejected in the 9th for arguing balls and strikes.

• With the loss we were officially eliminated from postseason contention.
• The Chicago White Sox clinched a AL Wild Card berth with a win over Kansas City.


September 30, 2015

Minnesota 3 at Cleveland 4

WP: Cody Allen (7-3), LP: Casey Fien (3-7)
HR: MN-None, Cle-Carlos Santana (34), Jason Kipnis (17)

Officially out of the playoff race, I plan on giving some of the youngsters a start or two to give them a chance to show their stuff in the last few games. It didn’t take us long to get started in this game as Trevor Plouffe hit a RBI double in the 1st to open the scoring. We added 2 more runs later in the inning on a Shane Robinson double. Pitching took over after that. Cleveland didn’t score until a 1-out double by Lonnie Chisenhall in the 6th. A very good outing by Ricky Nolasco was wasted however, when Tim Stauffer gave up a 2-out, 2-run homer to Santana in the 8th to tie the game. Kipnis then won it with a 1-out walkoff shot in the 9th.


AL Batter of the Month: Brett Lawrie (Oakland) .324 BA, 8 HR, 28 RBI, 27 R, .403 OBP

NL Batter of the Month: Yasmani Grandal (Los Angeles Dodgers) .424 BA, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 20 R, .500 OBP

AL Pitcher of the Month: Masahiro Tanaka (New York Yankees) 5-0, 5 GS, 33 K, 38.1 IP, 1.88 ERA

NL Pitcher of the Month: Mike Leake (Cincinnati) 5-0, 6 GS, 32 K, 2.40 ERA, 45 IP

AL Rookie of the Month: Tyler Austin (New York Yankees) .366 BA, 5 HR, 13 R, 14 RBI

NL Rookie of the Month: Tom J. Murphy (Colorado) .349 BA, 8 HR, 14 RBI, 15 R


October 1, 2015

• Bud Norris (Detroit) out 8-9 months with a stretched elbow ligament.

Minnesota 9 at Cleveland 11

WP: Bryan Shaw (5-2), LP: Stephen Pryor (1-1), SV: Kyle Crockett (4)
HR: MN-None, Cle-Nick Swisher (6)

For our final road game of the season I used a “get away day” lineup where I gave both Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer a rare start off amongst my changes to the lineup. Trevor May’s control problems got him in trouble early as 3 walks and a hit batter in the 1st staked the Indians to a 3 run inning. Brock Peterson, who got the start at DH, got us on the board in the 2nd with a 2-run single, and before the inning was over we’d scored 3 more times to take an early 5-3 lead. We loaded the bases with nobody out in the 5th, but only scored 1 run in the inning. Cleveland strung together another rally against May in the bottom of the inning, scoring 4 times to take the lead. May will need to sort out his control problems before next season, as he walked 8 batters and hit another in 4.2 innings on this day. The bullpen didn’t help me any, as Logan Darnell gave up 2 more runs in the 6th. However, my offense was having a rare good day as I roared back with 3 in the 7th to tie the game on a Brock Peterson 2-out RBI double. Swisher delivered a 2-run homer in the 8th to put the Indians back on top.


October 2, 2015

Kansas City 6 at Minnesota 2

WP: Danny Duffy (9-12), LP: Ervin Santana (9-5), SV: Joe Paterson (1)
HR: KC-Alex Gordon (15), MN-None

The goal for the final weekend of the regular season is simple—avoid getting swept by Kansas City to avoid finishing last in the AL Central. Pitching controlled the game as neither team got any serious chances early. Gordon finally opened the scoring with a 1-out, 2-run homer in the 6th. We responded in the bottom of the inning when Trevor Plouffe ripped a 2-run double into the right field corner to give him 101 RBIs on the season. The Royals went back in front in the 7th on a 2-out RBI single by Kendrys Morales, which Gordon followed up with another RBI single.


October 3, 2015

Kansas City 2 at Minnesota 3

WP: Tommy Milone (2-2), LP: Yohan Pino (11-6), SV: Glen Perkins (42)
HR: KC-Kendrys Morales (15), MN-None

The Royals got on the board 1st in the 1st when Morales hit a 2-out, 2-run homer. We got on the board in the 2nd when Eduardo Escobar delivered a 2-out RBI single. In the 3rd we tied the game on a 2-out double by Torii Hunter. Shane Robinson put us in front with a 2-out RBI triple in the 4th. Milone delivered an excellent 8 innings, allowing only 1 hit after the 1st inning, before turning it over to Perkins.

The big story is the NL East. With only 1 day left in the regular season Miami, Philadelphia, and Washington are tied for both the division lead and the 2nd Wild Card spot. Miami and Philadelphia are playing at Philadelphia, while Washington is playing at the New York Mets.


October 4, 2015

• Houston trades RHP SP Colin McHugh to Arizona for RHP SP Touki Toussaint
• San Diego trades LHP SP Frank Garces to Atlanta for RHP SP Lucas Sims.

Kansas City 7 at Minnesota 8

WP: Phil Hughes (9-14), LP: Edinson Volquez (6-13)
HR: KC-None, MN-None

Jarrod Dyson opened the scoring in the 3rd with a RBI double. The Royals added another run in the inning. We got on the board in the 4th when Shane Robinson hit a RBI triple, and he scored when Torii Hunter grounded out to tie the game. Kendrys Morales put Kansas City back on top with a 2-out single in the 5th. Robinson tied it up in the 6th with a 1-out single. Ryan Jackson’s 2nd error of the game gave us the lead. Before the inning was over, we’d scored 6 runs to take a 8-3 lead. Kansas City tried to rally in the 9th, scoring 3 runs and they had 2 runners on when Omar Infante flew out to deep center.

• The Seattle Mariners clinched the 2nd AL Wild Card with a win over Oakland.
• The Miami Marlins clinched the NL East with a win over Philadelphia.
• Ubaldo Jimenez (Baltimore) is out 9 months with a torn rotator cuff.
• David Huff (Los Angeles Dodgers) is out 15 months with a ruptured ulnar collateral ligament.
• We’re ranked 21st in the season ending power rankings.
• David Wright (New York Mets) is out 7-8 weeks with a strained biceps.
• Brandon Moss (Cleveland) suffered a setback in his recovery from an oblique strain that will keep him out another 2 weeks.


October 6, 2015

• Washington beat Philadelphia 5-4 in a 1-game playoff for the 2nd NL Wild Card on a 2-out solo homer by Bryce Harper in the 8th.


74-88, .457, 24 GB (4th AL Central), 7 GB (7th AL Wild Card)

A 13-19 record in September/October did in any playoff dreams we had. There is a lot of room for improvement and not a lot of room for roster changes. It’s the best season we’ve had since we went to the playoffs in 2010.

Individual Accomplishments:
Joe Mauer led the AL in doubles with 55.
Glen Perkins led MLB in saves with 42.
Kennys Vargas was named the International League’s MVP Award despite only playing 64 games in AAA. He hit .368 with 27 HR, 64 RBI, 64 R, and a .473 OBP.


What I'm going to do to bridge the gap to the start of the 2016 season is to do all of the playoffs in 1 post with the regular season records for each team listed by their 1st game/series. I'll then do the off-season in another post summarizing some of the important things and highlighting our roster changes.

[faithful2thecall]

AL Wild Card:

Seattle (81-81) 0 at Chicago White Sox (87-75) 3
WP: Chris Sale, LP: Felix Hernandez, SV: David Robertson


NL Wild Card:

Washington (86-77) 1 at San Francisco (91-71) 5
WP: Madison Bumgarner, LP: Stephen Strasberg


AL Divisional Series:

Oakland (101-61) over Chicago White Sox 3-1

G1: Chicago 3 at Oakland 4
G2: Chicago 5 at Oakland 9
G3: Oakland 0 at Chicago 2
G4: Oakland 9 at Chicago 5

Series MVP: Jose Miguel Fernandez (Oakland) .714 BA (10-for-14), 0 HR, 7 RBI

• Ben Zobrist (Oakland) was injured making a throw in Game 1 (shoulder soreness, 4 weeks)


Cleveland (98-64) over the New York Yankees (97-65) 3-2

G1: New York 2 at Cleveland 3
G2: New York 4 at Cleveland 1
G3: Cleveland 14 at New York 5
G4: Cleveland 3 at New York 4
G5: New York 1 at Cleveland 3

Series MVP: Jason Kipnis (Cleveland) .529 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI

• Andrew Miller (New York) punched a wall during a fight with his wife after Game 4 and is out 2 weeks.


NL Divisional Series:

Los Angeles Dodgers (110-52) over San Francisco 3-1

G1: San Francisco 0 at Los Angeles 5—Clayton Kershaw threw a 5-hitter
G2: San Francisco 4 at Los Angeles 1
G3: Los Angeles 7 at San Francisco 6
G4: Los Angeles 3 at San Francisco 1

Series MVP: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles) 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 15.2 IP, 19 K


St. Louis (99-63) over Miami (86-76) 3-2

G1: Miami 6 at St. Louis 3
G2: Miami 1 at St. Louis 6
G3: St. Louis 3 at Miami 1
G4: St. Louis 0 at Miami 1 (11 innings)
G5: Miami 1 at St. Louis 5

Series MVP: Michael Wacha (St. Louis) 2-0, 1.50 ERA, 12 IP, 13 K

• Henderson Alvarez (Miami) suffered a sore shoulder in Game 2 and is out 5 months.


ALCS:

Cleveland over Oakland 4-3

G1: Cleveland 7 at Oakland 6
G2: Cleveland 0 at Oakland 7—Sonny Gray threw a 3-hitter
G3: Oakland 1 at Cleveland 2
G4: Oakland 4 at Cleveland 0—Kendall Graveman threw a 3-hitter
G5: Oakland 7 at Cleveland 5
G6: Cleveland 5 at Oakland 3
G7: Cleveland 3 at Oakland 2

Series MVP: Yan Gomes (Cleveland) .296 BA, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R


NLCS:

St. Louis over Los Angeles 4-1

G1: St. Louis 0 at Los Angeles 4—Clayton Kershaw threw a 3-hitter
G2: St. Louis 2 at Los Angeles 1
G3: Los Angeles 0 at St. Louis 4
G4: Los Angeles 3 at St. Louis 4
G5: Los Angeles 5 at St. Louis 6

Series MVP: Kolten Wong (St. Louis) .333 BA, 1 HR, 5 RBI


World Series:

St. Louis over Cleveland 4-0

G1: Cleveland 0 at St. Louis 5—Adam Wainwright threw a 4-hitter
G2: Cleveland 2 at St. Louis 4
G3: St. Louis 7 at Cleveland 3
G4: St. Louis 7 at Cleveland 1

Series MVP: Adam Wainwright (St. Louis) 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 17.1 IP, 15 K

• Michael Brantley (Cleveland) strained his hamstring in Game 2 and is out 3 weeks.
• Matt Carpenter (St. Louis) also had an outstanding World Series hitting .438, 3 HR, 9 RBI.

[faithful2thecall]

Post-Season Awards:

AL MVP: George Springer (Houston) .291 BA, 39 HR, 98 RBI, 107 R, 6.9 WAR
AL Cy Young: Masahiro Tanaka (New York Yankees) 17-8, 2.54 ERA, 241 IP, 204 K, 6.3 WAR
AL Reliever of the Year: Cody Allen (Cleveland) 36 Saves, 1.88 ERA, 72 IP, 104 K, 1.7 WAR
AL Rookie of the Year: Andy Wilkins (Seattle) .292 BA, 22 HR, 53 RBI, 58 R, 2.6 WAR
AL Manager of the Year: Bob Melvin (Oakland)

Joe Mauer and Brian Dozier were amongst the AL Gold Glove Winners.


NL MVP: Carlos Gonzalez (Colorado) .342 BA, 38 HR, 102 RBI, 105 R, 8.8 WAR
NL Cy Young: Zack Greinke (Los Angeles Dodgers) 17-6, 2.58 ERA, 219.2 IP, 206 K, 7.1 WAR
NL Reliever of the Year: Shawn Kelley (San Diego) 4-4, 5 Saves, 0.95 ERA, 85.2 IP, 138 K, .118 Opp BA, 3.5 WAR
NL Rookie of the Year: Joc Pederson (Los Angeles Dodgers) .273 BA, 30 HR, 106 RBI, 110 R, 6.1 WAR
NL Manager of the Year: Mike Matheny (St. Louis)



November:

• I was given a season score of 42.
• GM Ben Cherington and Mananger John Farrell were fired by Boston after a 62-100 season.
• New York Mets trade Jacob deGrom and $507,500 to Kansas City for CF Bubba Starling and C Georvic Perez.
• Philadelphia trades 2B Cesar Hernandez to Colorado for LF Andy Dirks
• Toronto trades LHP RP Aaron Loup to Detroit for C Shane Zeile.
• Houston deals LHP SP Wade Miley to the New York Yankees in exchange for CF Antonio Arias
• Seattle trades RHP SP Jarred Cosart to Oakland for RHP SP Nolan Kingham (drafted in the 5th Round in 2015).
• Milwaukee deals RHP SP Jimmy Nelson to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for RHP SP Kyle Cody (2nd round draft pick in 2015).
• Seattle trades LHP RP Charlie Furbush to Cleveland for LHP SP Sam Hentges and RHP SP Orlando Cedeno
• St. Louis trades CF Magneuris Sierra and CF Jhohan Acevedo to San Diego for RHP RP Craig Kimbrel. Talk about the rich getting richer, Kimbrel saved 38 games for San Diego in 2015.
• Manager Bruce Bochy (San Francisco) started his own microbrewery and brewhouse.
• Colorado deals RHP RP Jorge Rondon to Boston in exchange for C Jon Denney.
• Milwaukee trades RHP SP Jake Odorizzi and $507,500 to the New York Yankees for LF Lisandro Blanco.
• Philadelphia trades C Carlos Ruiz and RHP CL Anderson Nunez to Kansas City for RHP SP Edinson Volquez.
• Detroit deals RF Dayton Dugas and SS Curt Powell to Seattle in exchange for LHP CL Alex Torres.
• Toronto trades RHP RP Drew Hutchison to Arizona for 2B Kevin Newman.
• Kansas City trades LHP SP Buddy Baumann to Pittsburgh in exchange for LHP SP Ethan Small (2015 7th Round Draft Pick).
• Miami trades 2B Derek Dietrich and RHP SP Jordan Holloway to San Diego for LHP SP Robbie Erlin.
• Oakland deals SS Eduardo Nunez and SS John Cresto to Baltimore for RF Dariel Alvarez.
• GM Terry Ryan refused to offer our 3 arbitration eligible players contracts, making them all free agents: RHP RP Casey Fien, LF Jordan Schafer, and SP Tommy Milone.
• Houston trades RF Chris Chatfield and CF Brandon Hill to Boston in exchange for RHP SP Matt Barnes.


December:

• San Diego trades LHP RP Chris Rearick and $507,500 to Cincinnati for SS Alex Blandino.
• Milwaukee signs LHP SP David Price to a 5 year, $101 million deal.
• Colorado deals 1B Ben Paulsen to Houston in exchange for RF Bryce Denton (2015 6th Round Draft Pick).
• Baltimore signs LF Alex Gordon to a 2 year, $20 million deal.
• San Diego trades RHP RP Stephen Kohlscheen and $507,500 to Arizona for RHP SP Pat Connaughton and C Meibrys Viloria.
• Los Angeles Dodgers sign 2B Ben Zobrist to a 2 year, $21.4 million deal.
• New York Mets trade 3B Eric S. Campbell and RHP SP Darwin Ramos to Kansas City for RHP SP Yohan Pino.
• Chicago White Sox deal LF Matt Tuiasosopo to Milwaukee in exchange for RHP SP Tyler Thornburg.
• Seattle trades RHP RP Yoervis Medina to Houston for 1B A.J. Reed and CF Angel Tejeda.
• Terry Ryan trades SS Eduardo Escobar and SS Nick Gordon to the Los Angeles Dodgers for C Austin Barnes. I don’t know why Ryan feels compelled to give away the farm to stockpile catchers.
• Seattle trades RHP RP Carson Smith to Milwaukee for RHP SP Chase Johnson and 2B Jorge Quiterio.
• Oakland deals CF B.J. Boyd to Toronto in exchange for RF Caleb Gindl.
• Boston trades RHP RP Junichi Tazawa to Pittsburgh for RHP SP Franklyn Kilome and RHP SP Clay Holmes.
• Kansas City signs SS Jimmy Rollins to a 1 year, $1.6 million deal.
• The Chicago Cubs sign LF Justin Upton to a 4 year, $99.8 million deal.
• Kansas City trades SS Christian Colon to Arizona for RHP SP Garrett Fulenchek.
• Milwaukee trades LHP RP Luis Avilian and $880,000 to Kansas City in exchange for C Chase Vallot and LF Terrance Gore.
• The New York Mets deal CF Darrell Ceciliani and RHP RP Joel Romero to the Chicago Cubs for LF Chris Coghlan.
• Seattle trades LHP SP James Paxton to Kansas City for SS Nick Shumpert (2015 1st Round Draft Pick) and RHP SP Garrett Fulenchek (that’s the 2nd time in 2 days he was traded).
• Seattle trades SS Shawn O’Malley to Detroit for 3B Joey Pankake and RF Ismael Salgado.
• The Chicago Cubs trade C Rafael Lopez and CF Charcer Burks to Detroit for RHP SP Shane Greene.
• Colorado deals 2B Rafael Ynoa to Washington for C Jakson Reetz.
• The New York Mets trade RHP RP Vic Black to Baltimore for RHP SP Edwin Rojas.
• Seattle trades LHP RP Mike Montgomery to Milwaukee for RF Samir Lara.
• The Chicago Cubs sign LF Yoenis Cespedes to a 2 year, $10.7 million deal.
• Colorado signs RHP SP Brandon Morrow to a 2 year, $16.6 million deal while he’s out 4 more months with a torn labrum.


January:

• Atlanta signs LHP RP Zach Britton to a 2 year, $3.4 million deal.
• Washington signs LF Steve Pierce to a 2 year, $26.8 million deal.
• Kansas City deals RHP RP Kevin Munson to St. Louis in exchange for RHP SP Ronnie Williams.
• St. Louis signs 1B Mike Napoli to a 2 year, $27.2 million deal.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers sign RHP RP Shawn Kelley to a 2 year, $17.4 million deal.
• Boston signs RHP SP Ian Kennedy to a 3 year, $10.32 million deal.
• San Francisco signs RF Torii Hunter to a 1 year, $3 million deal, crashing fan interest in our team.
• Detroit signs RHP SP Johnny Cueto to a 5 year, $114.4 million deal.
• The Chicago Cubs sign RHP SP Jeff Samardzija to a 6 year, $103.2 million deal.
• Baltimore signs RHP SP Mike Leake to a 7 year, $155.4 million deal.
• Philadelphia signs LHP RP Antonio Bastardo to a 3 year, $20.7 million deal.
• Detroit signs RHP RP Wade Davis to a 1 year, $5.7 million deal.
• The Los Angeles Angels sign 1B Chris Davis to a 3 year, $23.8 million deal.
• Detroit owner Mike Ilitch passed away. His son Mike Ilitch Jr. takes over.
• Boston signs RHP SP Yovani Gallardo to a 3 year, $22.8 million deal.
• Tampa Bay signs LHP RP Sean Marshall to a 1 year, $2.88 million deal.
• Milwaukee trades RHP SP Wily Peralta and $515,000 to the Chicago White Sox for 3B Luis F. Castillo and RHP SP Trent Thornton (2015 8th Round Draft Pick).
• Detroit signs RHP SP Mat Latos to a 7 year, $123.2 million deal.
• The New York Mets trade CF Juan Lagares and $2.5 million to Detroit for RHP SP Josh Staumont (2015 7th Round Draft Pick) and CF Charcer Burks.
• Washington signs RHP RP Tyler Clippard to a 1 year, $3.76 million deal.
• Boston deals CF Matt Den Dekker to Detroit in exchange for CF Austin Schotts.


February:

• Seattle trades LHP SP David Rollins to Houston for RF Jose V. Almonte and LF Marc Wik.
• San Francisco signs LHP SP Cliff Lee to a 1 year, $6.7 million deal.


March/April:

• Washington signs CF Drew Stubbs to a 4 year, $29.7 million deal.
• Kentrail Davis (Los Angeles Angels) out 6 months with a broken kneecap.
• Eric S. Campbell (Kansas City) out 8 months with a ruptured achilles tendon.
• Alex Wood (Atlanta) is out 6 weeks with a quad strain.
• Chris Herrmann (Minnesota) is out 3-4 months with torn ankle ligaments.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers trade 1B Adrian Gonzalez to Oakland in exchange for RHP RP Evan Scribner and RF Nick Oar.
• The New York Yankees trade 2B Daniel Murphy to Washington for 2B Yurendell de Caster.
• Steven Souza (Tampa Bay) is out 6 weeks with a strained anterior cruciate ligament.
• Carlos Gonzalez (Colorado) is out 3 weeks with a strained back muscle.
• Lucas Luetge (Seattle) out 4 months with a sore shoulder.
• The New York Mets deal C Kevin Plawecki to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for 2B Josh Rutledge and RHP SP Joey Gatto.
• Chris Archer (Tampa Bay) is out 4-5 months with bone chips in his elbow.
• Jhonny Peralta (St. Louis) is out 6 weeks with a fractured wrist.
• Eric Young Jr. (Atlanta) out 4 months with a torn labrum.
• Philadelphia trades 3B Juan Francisco and LF Brian Pointer to St. Louis for 1B Matt Adams.

[faithful2thecall]

Due to a lack of feedback, I'm going to stick with my posting schedule from last season with 2 updates per month before September and then weekly as long as I'm in the race.

We’re predicted to go 75-87 to finish 4th in the AL Central.

This year’s owner goals for GM Terry Ryan are:

• Play close to .500 ball.
• Upgrade right field. (Current 28th, was 23rd)
• Extend Torii Hunter. (He’s with San Francisco so that’ll be a bit tough)
• Increase attendance to 26,000/game by 2019.
• Increase profit (End with $18 million) by 2018.
• Build up team to reach the playoffs by 2020.


April 10, 2016

• The Los Angeles Dodgers sign RHP RP Johnathan Papelbon to a 2 year, $16.2 million deal.

Opening Day

Off Day

• The reigning World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals lost 0-5 to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field to start the 2016 MLB season.


April 11, 2016

• The Chicago Cubs sign 1B Corey Hart to a 2 year, $8.64 million deal.
• RHP RP Nick Burdi and RF Max Kepler called up from AAA, while RHP RP J.R. Graham and LF Brock Peterson were sent to AAA.

Minnesota 4 at Cleveland 1

WP: Ervin Santana (1-0), LP: Corey Kluber (0-1), SV: Glen Perkins (1)
HR: MN-Brian Dozier (1), Kennys Vargas (1), Kurt Suzuki (1), Cle-None

There is a lot of nervous anticipation as this season starts. Since we didn’t sign anybody in the offseason, a number of youngsters are starting the season with the big club—including highly hyped prospects Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios, and Max Kepler.

Pitching was in control early as the hitters for both teams seemed to be suffering from opening day jitters. Kluber seemed to have rediscovered his Cy Young winning form, as we were making him look like Nolan Ryan as he struck out 10 in 6 innings of work. We finally opened the scoring in the 5th where after a single and hit batter to open the inning, Buxton dropped a bunt down and Kluber hurried his throw and threw the ball away allowing Danny Santana to score from 2nd. Dozier doubled the lead with a 2-out homer in the 7th. Cleveland finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning as Brandon Moss delivered a 2-out RBI double off of reliever Aaron Thompson. Vargas reinstated the 2 run lead with a 2-out homer in the 8th. Suzuki added the exclamation mark with a 1-out solo homer in the 9th.


April 12, 2016

• Jose Berrios’ stint with the big club didn’t last long as he was sent to AAA for RHP SP Simon Castro. I don’t know why Terry Ryan thinks I’m going to use a 6-man rotation because I’m not.

Off Day


April 13, 2016

Minnesota 0 at Cleveland 3

WP: Carlos Carrasco (1-0), LP: Ricky Nolasco (0-1), SV: Cody Allen (1)
HR: MN-None, Cle-None

Pitching was in control early in this game as well. This time it was Cleveland who got on the board 1st on a RBI single by Jose Ramirez in the 3rd. Yan Gomes added a 2-run single later in the inning off of Ricky Nolasco. Ramirez was injured fielding a grounder in the 6th. Our offense couldn’t get anything going, as Carrasco and 2 relievers scattered 4 hits.


April 14, 2016

• RHP CL Joakim Soria signed a 1 year, $2.8 million deal with Tampa Bay.
• LHP RP Jerry Blevins signs a 1 year, $2.08 million deal with Detroit.

Minnesota 2 at Cleveland 7

WP: Danny Salazar (1-0), LP: Phil Hughes (0-1)
HR: MN-None, Cle-Francisco Lindor (1)

Cleveland didn’t take long to get to Hughes in the series finale, opening the scoring in the 1st on a Kurt Suzuki passed ball and they’d add another run in the inning. I ran myself out of potential scoring chance in the 2nd when Byron Buxton got thrown out trying to steal 2nd with 2 outs after a pitch out. Lindor’s 2-run homer in the 2nd blew the game open. The game didn’t get any prettier for us. To add insult to injury, Trevor Plouffe was injured (strained shoulder, 3 weeks) fielding a grounder in the 7th. We finally got on the board in the 8th on a Joe Mauer triple.


April 15, 2016

• GM Terry Ryan calls up C Austin Barnes and LF Brock Peterson, sending RF Max Kepler down to AAA. He also DFA’s C Kurt Suzuki, who was one of the few players on the team hitting right now. And Ryan’s personnel decisions continue to baffle me. It’s almost like he wants me to lose.
• The New York Yankees sign RHP SP Chad Billingsley to a 1 year, $3.36 million deal.

Chicago White Sox 10 at Minnesota 4

WP: Dan Jennings (1-0), LP: Kyle Gibson (0-1)
HR: CWS-Jay Bruce (2), MN-Oswaldo Arcia (1)

We got a healthy crowd for the home opener. Bruce opened the scoring with a 2-run homer in the 2nd. We responded in the bottom of the inning with a RBI triple by Danny Santana, who scored to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Austin Barnes. Melky Cabrera put the White Sox back in front with a RBI double in the 3rd. We wasted a golden chance in the 5th when we loaded the bases with 1 out, but Brian Dozier struck out and Joe Mauer grounded out to end the inning. Avisail Garcia provided some insurance with a sacrifice fly in the 6th. It didn’t get any better after that for us.


April 16, 2016

• 3B Luis Mateo was called up from AAA to take the place of the injured Trevor Plouffe.

Chicago White Sox 6 at Minnesota 4

WP: David Webb (1-0), LP: Trevor May (0-1), Zach Putnam (1)
HR: CWS-None, MN-None

The injury to Plouffe, my leading offensive player last season, forced my hand on juggling my lineup a bit to try to awaken my slumping roster. The White Sox scored in the 1st on a ground ball double play by Jose Abreu. We tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a 2-out double by Kennys Vargas. After an unlikely infield single by Brock Peterson extended the inning, Oswaldo Arcia put us in front on a RBI double. The lead didn’t last long as Trevor May was lit up by the Chicago offense, which had been off to a slow start before this series, for 3 runs. My weakened defense didn’t do May any favors as he ended up giving up 6 runs in 3.2 innings. His replacement didn’t last long, as Nick Burdi struck out the only batter he faced before getting injured (stretched elbow ligament, 9-10 months). Chris Sale didn’t have his best game, as he only lasted 3.2 innings as well, giving up 4 runs. My bullpen tried to keep me in it, allowing 1 hit over 5.1 innings, but their bullpen was just as stifling. We tried to get a rally going in the 9th, getting Brian Dozier to the plate as the winning run with 2 outs, but Melky Cabrera made a highlight reel catch against the wall to end the game.

• Madison Bumgarner (San Francisco) threw a 6-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.


April 17, 2016

• Terry Ryan’s tinkering continued as he sent SS Jorge Polanco to AAA and called up 3B Travis Harrison.
• Jose Bautista (Toronto) is out 3-4 weeks with a sprained wrist.
• Philadelphia signs 3B Mike Moustakas to a 2 year, $4.56 million deal.
• The Chicago White Sox sign RHP RP Drew Storen to a 2 year, $8.8 million deal.

Chicago White Sox 7 at Minnesota 8 (13 innings)

WP: Aaron Thompson (1-0), LP: David Robertson (0-2)
HR: CWS-Jose Abreu (1), Neil Walker (2), Salvador Perez (1), MN-Brian Dozier (2), Kennys Vargas (2)

Chicago didn’t take long to get going as Abreu pulled a 2-run homer just inside the left field foul pole in the 1st inning to open the scoring. Dozier responded with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning. Walker answered with a solo homer of his own in the 2nd. Joe Mauer drove in the 1st run of the game on something other than a homer with a 2-out RBI double in the 3rd. A sacrifice fly by Danny Santana in the 4th tied the game. We threatened to take the lead later in the 4th, but Dozier struck out with the bases loaded and 2 outs. Santana’s 2nd sacrifice fly of the game gave us the lead in the 5th, and Luis Mateo followed it up by blooping a RBI single into center. Perez tied the game with a 2-run homer in the 8th off of Michael Tonkin. We had a rally going in the 9th, having runners at the corners with 1 out, but pinch hitter Brock Peterson grounded into an inning-ending double play. Our lack of speed on the bench cost us a run in the 10th when Josh Phegley had to hold up at 3rd on a 2-out double by Byron Buxton and then Dozier struck out again to end the inning. The White Sox finally got a run in the 13th thanks to a 2-out triple by Felix Pie, who had been 0-for-6 on the day, who came in to score on a Melky Cabrera single. With a barren bullpen, Chicago had to send an exhausted Robertson to the mound in the bottom of the inning and with 2-on and 1-out, a slumping Vargas took Robertson to left-center for an opposite field walk-off, 3-run homer.

2-4, .333, 2 GB (5th AL Central), 2 GB (11th AL Wild Card)

After the bats started the season in the deep freeze they’ve finally seemed to warm up a bit the last couple of games. Our pitching is still a real problem spot according to early returns. It doesn’t help that the bullpen has been ravaged by injuries already. Defense is also a liability especially at 3rd and the corner outfield positions.