July in Review

The Twins played their fifth extra inning game of their July schedule last night, and it ended in a disappointing manner. Despite leading 5-2, the Twins lost to the Angels 11-5 in 11 innings. Bobby Keppel and Jesse Crain were the bullpen culprits, combining to allow the first 8 batters to reach in the final inning. It was an ugly loss, so let's hope the Twins can start August on a better foot.

Record: 12-12
Best record at any point (games above .500): 47-44
Worst record at any point (games below .500): 48-50
Days in first (and biggest lead): 0 (2.0 GB)
Days in last (and furthest out of first): 0 (5.0 GB)
Longest win streak: 4 games
Longest losing streak: 4 games
Runs scored/runs against: 128/140
Most runs scored/most runs allowed: 13/16
Shutouts/times shut out: 0/0
Extra inning games: 5
Longest game: 16 innings


Hitter of the month: Justin Morneau (93 AB, 16 R, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 15 BB:19 K, .280/.380/.559)
Despite hitting worse than he has for the year as a whole, Morneau finally managed to earn hitter of the month honors in 2009. Yet again it was a close contest between he and Jason Kubel, but Morneau's extra playing time was what pushed me in his favor. In the month, Morneau had two 2-homer games and set a career high with 7 RBIs in one game. He didn't end the month well, though, going 0 for his last 12 and striking out 5 times.

Bizarro World hitter of the month: Brendan Harris (75 AB, 8 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB:17 K, .187/.218/.307)
The whole middle infield was pretty awful this July (as with the entire year), so I could have chosen Nick Punto or Alexi Casilla pretty easily. Punto, though, had slightly better numbers than Harris, and Casilla's 7-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 5 stolen bases, combined with his less time in the lineup, made Harris the choice. While many people, myself included, aren't sure how much of an upgrade Orlando Cabrera will be, it's pretty clear from looking at their July stats that a move of some kind was necessary.


Pitcher of the month: Matt Guerrier (2-0, 16.1 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 9 K, 0.49/0.55)
Guerrier was magnificent this month, and only in his final outing did he allow a run--unfortunately it was a game-tying homer from Mike Napoli. But enough with the negative, as Guerrier allowed less than a baserunner every other inning. It's all part of an excellent year for Guerrier, who's quietly accumulated an ERA of 2.09 and a WHIP of 0.79. Jose Mijares and Joe Nathan, who combine with Guerrier to be the only legitimate relief options, also had very good months.

Bizarro World pitcher of the month: R.A. Dickey (0-1, 17 IP, 28 H, 9 BB, 9 K, 7.94/2.18)
While the few good relievers the Twins have were pitching very well, the rest of the bullpen was lobbing batting practice to opposing hitters. Dickey, Jesse Crain, Bobby Keppel, Kevin Mulvey, and Brian Duensing combined to throw 57 innings and give up 76 hits and 44 runs, while also walking 29 batters, the same number they struck out. Dickey was the worst of the bunch, allowing more than 2 baserunners per inning and giving up more than 3 runs on four different occasions.

More Predictions!

As if my last ones weren't bad enough, I'm coming back with my predictions for the Twins pitchers. I've tempered my expectations for Liriano, but still include him as one of the five starters.

Livan Hernandez: 11-15, 5.09, 1.51, 151 K/82 BB
Scott Baker: 12-12, 4.32, 1.29, 173 K/56 BB
Boof Bonser: 14-9, 4.11, 1.30, 189 K/69 BB
Kevin Slowey: 11-10, 4.47, 1.23, 160 K/43 BB
Francisco Liriano: 12-7, 3.41, 1.11, 196 K/47 BB
---------------------------------------------------
Joe Nathan: 2-3, 2.09, 0.97, 85 K/22 BB
Pat Neshek: 7-3, 2.95, 1.04, 91 K/24 BB
Matt Guerrier: 4-5, 3.55, 1.19, 67 K/31 BB
Dennys Reyes: 2-1, 4.18, 1.43, 37 K/20 BB

Twins Win on Walk-off Error

It was a good start to the homestand as the Twins defeated the Rangers 5-4 on a walk-off error. After Joe Nathan gave up a solo home run in the top of the ninth, Michael Cuddyer knotted it at four with a solo shot of his own in the bottom half. A Lew Ford walk, Brian Buscher sacrifice bunt, and Nick Punto strikeout left Ford on second with two outs and Jason Bartlett batting. Ian Kinsler couldn't handle the ball and the Twins had a walk-off win.


My glee, however, was overshadowed, because at that very moment my fantasy football team suffered a loss at the hands (leg?) of David Akers. Coming into the game, he needed 11 points to tie, 12 to win. Each field goal is worth three points, and he already had three at this point, so one more would win it. The conversation that transpired between myself and Twin #2 can be seen at the bottom of this entry.


But back to the game. Kevin Slowey had a very good start, providing 6 innings of one-run ball and Joe Mauer hit his 6th home run of the year, and his first since July 21st (129 at bats). Juan Rincon unsurprisingly coughed up Slowey's chance for a win in the seventh, but Matt Guerrier did much better by striking out the side in the eighth.


At this point, I want to take a closer look at Guerrier's recent statistics. Over his last five games, he has pitched 4.2 innings and has had 10 strikeouts (19.29 K/9), allowing zero runs in that span. If you ignore one outing where he pitched an inning without a strikeout he has gotten every out but one with a strikeout. In his five outings before that, he pitched 5.2 innings and had 3 strikeouts (4.76 K/9), while allowing one run in each game. I think this just goes to show how streaky and unpredictable relief pitchers can be, but as long as they avoid a blow-up can maintain good stats.


Conversation
Twin #1 (11:22:29 PM): field goal range??JELSFJGSDkga
Twin #1 (11:22:31 PM): fjkgfdhkgjdsjdfgjhksgsHL difuaer yl
Twin #2 (11:22:56 PM): yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Twin #1 (11:22:45 PM): oh, but its 4th down
Twin #2 (11:22:59 PM): twins win
Twin #1 (11:22:47 PM): and theyre going
Twin #1 (11:22:49 PM): yes!!
Twin #2 (11:23:01 PM): walk off
Twin #2 (11:23:18 PM): if they get a td, they'll go for 2 prob
Twin #2 (11:23:25 PM): so then akers wont get anything
Twin #1 (11:23:50 PM): oh darn it went to commercials
Twin #1 (11:23:58 PM): i missed it, i dont know what happened
Twin #1 (11:24:03 PM): did they not make it?
Twin #1 (11:24:12 PM): or did they call a timeout and decide to kick a field goal?
Twin #2 (11:24:29 PM): timeout
Twin #1 (11:24:20 PM): nooooooo
Twin #2 (11:24:36 PM): they won on an error
Twin #2 (11:24:39 PM): lol how twinlike
Twin #1 (11:24:30 PM): please dont make it, pleasssssssssssssssse
Twin #1 (11:24:32 PM): pleassssssssssssssse
Twin #1 (11:24:33 PM): how?
Twin #1 (11:24:39 PM): oh nvm
Twin #1 (11:24:44 PM): i thought you said how UNtwinlike
Twin #1 (11:24:49 PM): but in that case i agree
Twin #1 (11:24:53 PM): time for blog update!!
Twin #1 (11:25:25 PM): ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Twin #1 (11:25:28 PM): noooooooooooooooooasgifsdhuigdafg
Twin #1 (11:25:32 PM): they made it?!?!!!?!?
Twin #2 (11:25:46 PM): they're going for a td
Twin #1 (11:25:37 PM): they better
Twin #1 (11:25:42 PM): if he gets another FG
Twin #1 (11:25:45 PM): ima be mad
Twin #1 (11:26:43 PM): nooooo
Twin #1 (11:26:46 PM): 3rd down
Twin #1 (11:27:02 PM): i need a 2nd opinion on the game ball?
Twin #1 (11:28:45 PM): yes yes yes FIRST DOWN
Twin #1 (11:29:01 PM): freaking throw it in!!!!
Twin #1 (11:29:13 PM): dont let him kick it, dont let him kcik it!!!
Twin #1 (11:30:46 PM): ahhhhhhhhhhharshf;lkjdjlafd jgadiu oiratuioartmfaesjtdoJKLEUFASIGRFHIOAGUIEORFHSGKJAFGFJSGOIRSAGJAOIUROIUTGIFIUOASUIGIUDAF
Twin #1 (11:30:47 PM): I LOST
Twin #1 (11:30:50 PM): NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Twin #1 (11:30:55 PM): GOOOOOOO COME ON GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ijDIGFJAKG
Twin #1 (11:30:57 PM): NOAODSFGOIASGFODU
Twin #1 (11:30:59 PM): AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHI
Twin #1 (11:31:02 PM): STUPID DAVID AKERS
Twin #1 (11:31:06 PM): MISS MISS MISS MISS
Twin #2 (11:31:20 PM): go for it
Twin #2 (11:31:23 PM): go for it
Twin #1 (11:31:15 PM): NDSAIGLHDAFRJGTSRPOGSIJASRGKOLDSFKDLSGKJLFDA;JKGKL;DSFG;KIJL;ERDKF
Twin #1 (11:31:20 PM): DARNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN I LOST
Twin #2 (11:31:42 PM): all right
Twin #2 (11:31:46 PM): thats enough now
Twin #1 (11:31:51 PM): NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO