Once again, duty intrudes...Nevertheless, here's a quick bite-sized Scout for the three-gamer at the dome with the Central-leading Twinkies.
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Twins had their five-game winning streak snapped with an 11-0 shellacking at U.S. Cellular field yesterday ... The Twins had lost their three series immediately preceding their last two, which they won ...
* One of the Twins’ early-round catchers is back from injury -- not Joe Mauer, but Matthew LeCroy ... LeCroy is just 4 for 21 (.190) so far in his interrupted season ...
* Tonight’s starter, Brad Radke, has been very effective in each of his last three starts ... Although he’s been hittable, especially by righthanded hitters (.338), he has yet to walk more than two batters in a game ... On the season, his BB/K is an extraordinary 5/29 ... On Wednesday, Radke retired thirteen of fourteen Mariners at one point ... He took a shutout into the ninth inning on before yielding a three-run homer to Edgar Martinez. The Twins hung on to win 4-3 ... Gardenhire regretted allowing Radke to go for the complete-game shutout: “That was my fault...he didn’t deserve to give up any runs tonight” ... Radke nailed Jolbert Cabrera with the Pat Hentgen Memorial Fake To Third, Throw To First Move. It was the first time the veteran had ever pulled it off successfully ...
* Torii Hunter has scored six runs in his last six games ... He’s finally rounding into form with rehabilitating his strained hamstring. The often-spectacular centrefielder has been relegated to DH responsibilities on occasion ... Hunter nailed Scott Spiezio with a no-bounce strike at the plate in the seventh inning on Thursday to preserve the Twins’ 1-0 victory. Spiezio was attempting to score from second on a bloop single ... Hunter: “If I help the team win with my defence...I’ll take an 0-for-4 any day” ... In any event, Hunter went 4-for-4 on Saturday with two homers at Chicago ...
* Tomorrow’s starter, Johan Santana, bounced back from a poor performance against Oakland with a terrific start on Thursday, tossing seven shutout frames against Seattle in the 1-0 win, surrendering only six hits and two walks while striking out five ... Santana credited his stellar outing to throwing more fastballs early in the count, and locating his fastball better ... The ex-reliever has improved his stamina, going seven full innings on three occasions thus far ... On the season, Santana has fanned 40 while walking only 13 ... True, the Jays’ bullpen bailed Santana out of a loss in their April visit to the Metrodome. Still, Johan has not lost a decision since July 23 ...
* Slick-fielding Doug Mientkiewicz has slumped badly in May, going .228/.254/.351 ... Mientkiewicz emerged unscathed from a spectacular crash with a cameraman in a pursuit of a foul ball on Friday night ...
* Jacque Jones has also tailed off this month, as he’s been .229/.315/.375 in May after a torrid April ... Jones is one of those rare lefthanded hitters who pounds lefties -- to the tune of .333, with a .429 on-base percentage ...
* Cristian Guzman, half of the oft-lampooned Twins middle infield, is actually very hot at the plate right now ... He’s hit in eleven of his last twelve games (.370) ... He’s been hitting .362/.387/.466 since his promotion to the two-hole in the batting order ...
* And the other half, Luis Rivas, has also hit well of late ... He’s hit in five of his last six (.364) ...
* The much-heralded Aussie righthander, Grant Balfour, was dreadful in his season debut yesterday, walking three and giving up three hits in two-thirds of an inning ...
* Don’t write off Lew Ford as a fluke just yet ... He’s on another hitting streak, this one a six-gamer (.350) ... The righthanded hitter is pummeling righties with a .394/.436/.577 line ... Ford only added to his growing local legend by driving in the winning run in the eighth on Friday ...
* Lefties are hitting just .211 off 41-year-old Terry Mulholland, who has gracefully made the transition from #2 starter in the ‘93 World Series to spot starter to long man to short reliever ...
* Righties are hitting just .208 off Juan Rincon, who’s been a real pleasant surprise for Minnesota in short relief ...
* J.C. Romero is usually a tough reliever to face, but he’s given up seven earned runs in nine May innings thus far ...
* Andujar nominee Henry Blanco has cooled off, i.e., reverted to hitting like Henry Blanco ... He’s 0 for his last 10 and a horrid 5 for his last 49 (.102) ... Blanco still provides solid defence, though. He caught Aaron Rowand stealing on Friday night for the game’s final out ...
* Wednesday’s starter, Kyle Lohse, got a solid result on Friday despite poor peripherals ... The White Sox touched him for just two runs in six innings ... In 44 innings, he’s given up seven home runs while walking 25 and striking out only 20 ... Lohse admitted he needs to step up his pitching after his win on Friday night: “Hopefully this will get me going” ...
* Joe Nathan has shown no growing pains in the closer role, as the return for A.J. Pierzynski has frankly been dominant ... He hasn’t allowed a hit, let alone a run, in his last five save situations, each of which requiring a full inning of work -- and four of which featuring a slim one-run lead to protect ... He’s 12-for-13 in save situations overall, as only the A’s have come back on him (as the inherited tying run scored) ... He’s holding righties to a microscopic .114 average ... He’s struck out 12 in 8 2/3 May innings ...
* Old friend Shannon Stewart hasn’t been hitting for power, but he’s done an excellent job of getting on base ... With 24 walks and only 12 strikeouts, his .400 on-base percentage leads the team ...
* Manitoba’s Corey Koskie won’t participate in the Twins’ lone sojourn into Canada ... He’s on the 15-day DL with a strained sternum ...
* The versatile Michael Cuddyer has been pressed into full-time third base duty as a result of Koskie’s injury ... He hasn’t responded: He’s hit just .171/.256/.371 since he started playing every day earlier this month ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
7 Stewart
6 Guzman
3 Mientkiewicz
8 Hunter
DH Offerman/9 Jones
9/DH Ford
5 Cuddyer
2 Blanco/LeCroy
5 Rivas
vs. RH
DH/7 Stewart/Offerman
6 Guzman
3 Mientkiewicz
8 Hunter
9 Jones
7/DH Ford
5 Cuddyer
2 Blanco/LeCroy
4 Rivas
Pitching Probables
Monday: RH Radke vs. Lilly
Tuesday: LH Santana vs. Batista
Wednesday: RH Lohse vs. Miller
Bullpen Usage
Long: Balfour R, Roa R
Short: Mulholland L, Fultz L
Setup: Romero L, Rincon R
Closer: Nathan R
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Twins had their five-game winning streak snapped with an 11-0 shellacking at U.S. Cellular field yesterday ... The Twins had lost their three series immediately preceding their last two, which they won ...
* One of the Twins’ early-round catchers is back from injury -- not Joe Mauer, but Matthew LeCroy ... LeCroy is just 4 for 21 (.190) so far in his interrupted season ...
* Tonight’s starter, Brad Radke, has been very effective in each of his last three starts ... Although he’s been hittable, especially by righthanded hitters (.338), he has yet to walk more than two batters in a game ... On the season, his BB/K is an extraordinary 5/29 ... On Wednesday, Radke retired thirteen of fourteen Mariners at one point ... He took a shutout into the ninth inning on before yielding a three-run homer to Edgar Martinez. The Twins hung on to win 4-3 ... Gardenhire regretted allowing Radke to go for the complete-game shutout: “That was my fault...he didn’t deserve to give up any runs tonight” ... Radke nailed Jolbert Cabrera with the Pat Hentgen Memorial Fake To Third, Throw To First Move. It was the first time the veteran had ever pulled it off successfully ...
* Torii Hunter has scored six runs in his last six games ... He’s finally rounding into form with rehabilitating his strained hamstring. The often-spectacular centrefielder has been relegated to DH responsibilities on occasion ... Hunter nailed Scott Spiezio with a no-bounce strike at the plate in the seventh inning on Thursday to preserve the Twins’ 1-0 victory. Spiezio was attempting to score from second on a bloop single ... Hunter: “If I help the team win with my defence...I’ll take an 0-for-4 any day” ... In any event, Hunter went 4-for-4 on Saturday with two homers at Chicago ...
* Tomorrow’s starter, Johan Santana, bounced back from a poor performance against Oakland with a terrific start on Thursday, tossing seven shutout frames against Seattle in the 1-0 win, surrendering only six hits and two walks while striking out five ... Santana credited his stellar outing to throwing more fastballs early in the count, and locating his fastball better ... The ex-reliever has improved his stamina, going seven full innings on three occasions thus far ... On the season, Santana has fanned 40 while walking only 13 ... True, the Jays’ bullpen bailed Santana out of a loss in their April visit to the Metrodome. Still, Johan has not lost a decision since July 23 ...
* Slick-fielding Doug Mientkiewicz has slumped badly in May, going .228/.254/.351 ... Mientkiewicz emerged unscathed from a spectacular crash with a cameraman in a pursuit of a foul ball on Friday night ...
* Jacque Jones has also tailed off this month, as he’s been .229/.315/.375 in May after a torrid April ... Jones is one of those rare lefthanded hitters who pounds lefties -- to the tune of .333, with a .429 on-base percentage ...
* Cristian Guzman, half of the oft-lampooned Twins middle infield, is actually very hot at the plate right now ... He’s hit in eleven of his last twelve games (.370) ... He’s been hitting .362/.387/.466 since his promotion to the two-hole in the batting order ...
* And the other half, Luis Rivas, has also hit well of late ... He’s hit in five of his last six (.364) ...
* The much-heralded Aussie righthander, Grant Balfour, was dreadful in his season debut yesterday, walking three and giving up three hits in two-thirds of an inning ...
* Don’t write off Lew Ford as a fluke just yet ... He’s on another hitting streak, this one a six-gamer (.350) ... The righthanded hitter is pummeling righties with a .394/.436/.577 line ... Ford only added to his growing local legend by driving in the winning run in the eighth on Friday ...
* Lefties are hitting just .211 off 41-year-old Terry Mulholland, who has gracefully made the transition from #2 starter in the ‘93 World Series to spot starter to long man to short reliever ...
* Righties are hitting just .208 off Juan Rincon, who’s been a real pleasant surprise for Minnesota in short relief ...
* J.C. Romero is usually a tough reliever to face, but he’s given up seven earned runs in nine May innings thus far ...
* Andujar nominee Henry Blanco has cooled off, i.e., reverted to hitting like Henry Blanco ... He’s 0 for his last 10 and a horrid 5 for his last 49 (.102) ... Blanco still provides solid defence, though. He caught Aaron Rowand stealing on Friday night for the game’s final out ...
* Wednesday’s starter, Kyle Lohse, got a solid result on Friday despite poor peripherals ... The White Sox touched him for just two runs in six innings ... In 44 innings, he’s given up seven home runs while walking 25 and striking out only 20 ... Lohse admitted he needs to step up his pitching after his win on Friday night: “Hopefully this will get me going” ...
* Joe Nathan has shown no growing pains in the closer role, as the return for A.J. Pierzynski has frankly been dominant ... He hasn’t allowed a hit, let alone a run, in his last five save situations, each of which requiring a full inning of work -- and four of which featuring a slim one-run lead to protect ... He’s 12-for-13 in save situations overall, as only the A’s have come back on him (as the inherited tying run scored) ... He’s holding righties to a microscopic .114 average ... He’s struck out 12 in 8 2/3 May innings ...
* Old friend Shannon Stewart hasn’t been hitting for power, but he’s done an excellent job of getting on base ... With 24 walks and only 12 strikeouts, his .400 on-base percentage leads the team ...
* Manitoba’s Corey Koskie won’t participate in the Twins’ lone sojourn into Canada ... He’s on the 15-day DL with a strained sternum ...
* The versatile Michael Cuddyer has been pressed into full-time third base duty as a result of Koskie’s injury ... He hasn’t responded: He’s hit just .171/.256/.371 since he started playing every day earlier this month ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
7 Stewart
6 Guzman
3 Mientkiewicz
8 Hunter
DH Offerman/9 Jones
9/DH Ford
5 Cuddyer
2 Blanco/LeCroy
5 Rivas
vs. RH
DH/7 Stewart/Offerman
6 Guzman
3 Mientkiewicz
8 Hunter
9 Jones
7/DH Ford
5 Cuddyer
2 Blanco/LeCroy
4 Rivas
Pitching Probables
Monday: RH Radke vs. Lilly
Tuesday: LH Santana vs. Batista
Wednesday: RH Lohse vs. Miller
Bullpen Usage
Long: Balfour R, Roa R
Short: Mulholland L, Fultz L
Setup: Romero L, Rincon R
Closer: Nathan R
