What a tough way to close out the 2008 season as the Minnesota Twins fell to the Chicago White Sox 1-0 on Tuesday night as the two teams played a one game playoff to see who would advance to the ALDS. Nick Blackburn gave up a solo home run to Jim Thome in the seventh inning and the Twins had no answer as they only had two hits in the game.

You can’t blame Blackburn for this loss as he pitched very well. He lasted 6 1/3 innings and only gave up four hits and the one run which was the solo shot off the bat of Thome. The offense should have been able to score atleast one or two runs off of Danks but they were only able to get two hits as they struggled during the blackout in Chicago.

The one shot that the Twins had to score came in the fifth inning. Michael Cuddyer attempted to tag from third base on a short fly ball to center field but he was tagged out by A.J. Pierzynski to end the inning. Cuddyer tried to knock the ball loose as he rolled through Pierzynski but he held onto the ball to record the out.

It just wasn’t meant to be for the Twins in 2008 I guess. Now we will have a long off season that is for sure.

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Ugh, we just can’t seem to win in Yankee Stadium or against the Yankees for that matter. In Ron Gardenhire at the helm, the Twins have lost 18 out of 21 games. If the Twins make it to the playoffs, lets hope the Yankees aren’t also in it. In this game it was the same story as last game. One mistake by the Twins and the Yankees jump all over it and make them pay. It just seems to open up the floodgates. It also doesnt hurt that any of their players are capable of hitting the long ball at any point.

This game the floodgates opened in the 6th. Kevin Slowey was putting the Yankees away. Stakes to a 2-1 lead, he gave up a 2 run homer to Bobby Abreau and thats when it all started. After giving up 4ER, he was done for the night. He took the loss since the Twins could only muster a couple runs off Yankee starter Rasner.

A change in the lineup if anyone noticed, was Denard Span leading off while Carlos Gomez batted ninth. Since Gomez is in a mini funk, Gardenhire thought it was best and it did help a bit. Gomez put the Twins on the board with a double and scoring later on, while Span had 2 hits and reached base 3 times. It will probably be the same way until Michael Cuddyer comes back, then the Twins have some decisions to make.

Well thats it for me tonight, after a long day of work and a not so good outing by the Twins, I need a break, at least until tomorrow afternoon when they play again. Lets hope we can salvage a game out of this series, I’ll take whatever we can get. Till then, good night Twins fans!

What a way to start off my first blog! The Twins shut out the Ranger 6-0 to start off the second half and continue their hot streak. Thats now 21 out of the last 28 games that they’ve won. Once again, the story tonight has been the starting rotation. As I mentioned, Glen Perkins got the call tonight and he was virtually untouchable. He pitched 6 strong scoreless innings, gave up 3 hits, 3 BBs, and recorded a strikeout. Better yet, he lowered his overall ERA to less than 4, its now down to 3.84. Three relievers combined to pitch the last 3 innings giving up no hits.

The offense wasn’t that bad either. Delmon Young had a great game, going 4-4 with an RBI and a stolen base. He started the offense in the 4th, getting an infield single to drive home Justin Morneau. Others that did well today, Brian Buscher and Jason Kubel each went 2-4 with 2 RBIs. Alexi Casilla pounded out 3 hits and 1 run scored.

Carlos Gomez continued to struggle at the plate, he went 0-5 today with a K. The Twins let him off a couple games before the All Star brek, hoping he’d break out of his funk. Tonight though he didn’t give them much confidence. I like the guy, don’t get me wrong but just witnessing his swings, one has to wonder if he needs to go back to AAA. Once Michael Cuddyer is healthy again, what will happen? Denard Span has been swinging a hot bat as of late so perhaps there will be some changes. Who knows. I just think that all pitchers have this guy figured out. Heres the sequence: low and away, low and away, low and away and hes gone. He needs to be more selective at the plate and not just swing at anything in, or out of the zone. But hey, we won, and keep pace with the White Sox. They need to start losing!

Thats it for me tonight, hope you enjoyed the recap and what you heard. And hey, feel free to send me some comments on the board. I’d love to know what i can improve on! Good night everyone, GO TWINS!

Now that is an exciting victory for the Minnesota Twins as they hit to two solo home runs in the ninth inning and defeated the San Diego Padres 3-1 to open up their three game series.  Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher went back to back off of Padres closer Trevor Hoffman to get the win for the Twins.

The Twins first run of the game in the first inning when Michael Cuddyer singled to right field and Alexi Casilla scored.  It was then eight more innings before the Twins scored again with the two home runs. They were lucky to come away with the win as they really need to figure out a way to score in the middle innnings of the game.

Dennys Reyes ended up picking up the win and is now 2-0 on the season.  Joe Nathan recorded his 20th save of the season in the ninth inning.  Twins starting pitcher Kevin Slowey pitched six innings and only gave up four hits while striking out seven Padres.  Jesse Crain gave up one run in the seventh inning on a groundout.  Other then that the Twins pitching straff did a pretty good job.

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The Minnesota Twins completed a three game sweep of the Washington Nationals with a 9-3 victory on Thursday night.  The game was never really in doubt for the Twins as they took the lead in the third inning and never looked back.  Great series for the Twins!

Michael Cuddyer and Brian Buscher both had two rbi in the game to lead the Twins at the plate.  Alexi Casilla, Joe Mauer, and Jason Kubel all helped out with one rbi as well.  It was great to see the Twins have such good production as they scored nine runs without hitting one home run in the game.  That is how you manufacture runs!

On the mound, Glen Perkins tossed eight inning to pick up the victory and improve his record to 3-2.  Perkins gave up ten hits but only three runs scored off those ten hits.  Craig Breslow was called on to come in and finish off the Nationals in the ninth inning and that was exactly what he did without any problems.

The Twins will now take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three game series over the weekend.

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The Minnesota Twins were able to tie up the three game series with the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night with a 8-5 victory.  It was a one run game heading in to the ninth inning but the Twins were able to score two insurance runs in the ninth and win the game 8-5.

Justin Morneau led the Twins with two doubles and three rbi in the game.  Jason Kubel hit his eighth home run of the season in the game as well as he went deep for a two run homer in the third inning.  Alexi Casilla, Michael Cuddyer, and Mike Lamb all finished the game with one rbi as well.

Nick Blackburn earned the win for the Twins and is now 5-4 on the season.  Blackburn pitched six innings and allowed seven hits and two runs.  Boof Bonser gave up two runs and Dennys Reyes gave up a run in the seventh inning but after that the Twins bullpen settled down and didn’t allow a run the rest of the game.  Jesse Crain got the last out in the seventh inning and then pitched a scoreless eighth inning before turning things over to Joe Nathan who recorded his 17th save of the season in the ninth inning.

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The Minnesota Twins had a 5-2 lead after five innings but were then outscored 5-0 the remaining four innings as they lost to the Chicago White Sox by the score of 7-5.  It was definaly not the way they wanted to finish up their four game series as they were swept by the White Sox.

Starting Twins pitcher Glen Perkins received a no decision as he threw 5 1/3 innings.  Perkins gave up five hits, three runs, and one home run in the game.  Jesse Crain gave up one run while recording the final two outs of the sixth inning and then in the seventh inning, Matt Guerrier gave up four hits and three runs while on recording one out.  Brian Bass pitched the final 1 2/3 innings of the game without giving up a run.  Too bad Crain and Guerrier couldn’t have pitched like Bass.

Michael Cuddyer had a two run double and a rbi single in the game as he led the Twins at the plate with three rbi.  Cuddyer is now up to 29 rbi on the season.  Jason Kubel had the other two runs for the Twins has he had a two run double in the fourth inning.

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The Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers played ten innings on Thursday afternoon and the Twins came up on the wrong side of the winning side.  Josh Hamilton hit a game winning home run off of Brian Bass in the top of the tenth inning as the Twins lost 8-7.

Bass took the loss of course and is now 1-1 on the season.  Twins starter Livan Hernandez only tossed 5 1/3 innings as he gave up ten hits and six runs in the game.  Only five of the six runs were earned but in the end that didn’t really matter.  Matt Guerrier pitched 1 1/3 innings after Hernandez left the game and he gave up another run.  Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan held the Rangers scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings before Bass had troubles in the tenth inning.

It really sucked to see the Twins blow the game especially after they battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning with two runs.  Justin Morneau singled in two runs that tied the game in the eighth and that is what gave the Twins a good chance at winning the game.

Carlos Gomez went 4-5 including a solo home run and three rbi to actually lead the Twins at the plate.  Gomez is now batting .286 with four home runs and 17 rbi.  Morneau had two rbi while Brendan Harris and Michael Cuddyer finished the game with one rbi each.

The Twins will now take on the Detroit Tigers over the weekend.  The Tigers just got done with a three game sweep of the Seattle Mariners so the Twins better come to play all weekend long.

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The Minnesot Twins pounded on the Texas Rangers Tuesday night as the Twins beat the Rangers 11-4.  The Twins had 13 hits but they scored 11 runs with great production up and down the lineup.  Eleven runs were scored and not one of them came via the home run which is even more impressive.

Alexi Casilla, Delmon Young, and Mike Lamb all had two rbi each in the game to lead the way for the Twins.  Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, and Adam Everett all had one rbi in the game.  Now that is what I call production up and down the lineup!

Glen Perkins improved his record to 1-1 on the season as he pitched 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win.  Perkins allowed six hits and three runs (two were earned) in his six plus innings of action.  Brian Bass then came in and tossed 2 2/3 innings while giving up one run.

The Twins are in second place of the Central Division as they are 1.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox.   Let’s see if the Twins can make a nice run at the top position during the rest of the week.  Twins Blog

The Minnesota Twins tried but couldn’t come back against the Toronto Blue Jays after Matt Stairs hit a first inning grand slam for the Blue Jays.  The Twins did make it interesting however as they did score three runs themselves in the bottom of the first inning, but in the end they still lost to the Blue Jays 6-5.

The Twins did get four runs off of Roy Halladay and another run off the Blue Jays bullpen but it wasn’t enough.  Justin Morneau had a two run home run in the first inning to get the Twins on the board.  Jason Kubel then doubled in a run after the Morneau home run in the first inning.  In the third inning, Michael Cuddyer had a rbi groundout.  The Twins didn’t get another run in the game until the eighth inning when Kubel had another rbi double.

Boof Bonser took the loss for the Twins and his record dropped to 2-5 on the season.  Bonser gave up five hits and five runs in six innings of action.  Jesse Crain gave up a unearned in the eighth inning.  Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan both pitched a scoreless inning in the game.

Twins Homeplate is currently seeking a Twins fan that would like to write game recaps for the games.  Recaps can be done right after the game is over or the next morning.  If you are interested be us the contact us link at the top of the site to email us.  Twins Blog