The Minnesota Twins are a very happy bunch of players right now, as are their coaches, staff and their fans, as Francisco Liriano returned to form in an astonishing display of dominance on the field. Although he missed a second no-hitter of the season by a mere six outs, due to a long delay in the seventh inning he proved himself, and the Twins community are thankful to have such a powerhouse back on form.

“Everything was working for me,” stated Liriano. Clearly, he also feels that things are certainly going the right way, and after spending a twenty to thirty minutes in the dug-out, waiting for his chance to stun the Rangers into submission. Clearly, something was working; “I felt better today. Way better.”

A thrilling game to watch whether you’re a hardcore baseball and Twins fan or someone who had the game on while playing online poker, it was certainly one that needed to be highlighted given how Liriano had recently not been playing as well as he could do.

The Rangers were certainly reeling from his performance, but this could have also been due to the injury of their starter, Matt Harrison, and to some degree this was certainly a boost to the Twins’ chances, though they appeared not to need the extra luck given the prowess of Liriano from the moment he stepped up onto the mound.

It’ll be interesting to see how he performs when he’s given his next opportunity to step up, especially as it’ll be the moment in which Twins fans can see if it was a one off, or if Liriano really is back to his old self. The Twins perform admirably regardless, but having someone like him firing balls across the field the way he does certainly can’t help. Matching an earlier season high when he struck out nine in eight innings, he’s definitely going to put the fear of Liriano in anyone he faces in the near future if he can keep this up.

Before each of the last five Minnesota Twins’ seasons, I have made a $20 bet with my eldest brother:  I would bet on the Twins winning the American League Central Division, he would bet not.  I could never understand why he would continually bet against the team he’d been rooting for his entire life.  And worst of all, he did it with a smirk.  It almost seemed like he was rooting against them.  His pessimism was the principle reason I would make this annual wager.

But I am now beginning to understand it.  This brother of mine is nearing 42 years of age.  He bared witness to two World Series Championships, ’87 and ’91, arguably two of the greatest World Series in the history of the game.  But he also struggled through the miserable abyss that defined the Minnesota Twins for nearly a decade after.  And that struggle seems to have overtaken any “half-glass full” optimism he may have had left.  

I have already placed my 2009 Central Division wager with my brother.  And with the roster that looks to take the Metrodome field on April 6th, I have never been more confident.

Joe Crede makes his Spring Training debut tomorrow.  Brian Buscher is taking that time to set the benchmark for the new third baseman’s production.

Buscher started at first base against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, perhaps giving him another avenue to make the roster.  At the plate, he went 2-for-2 with a two-run homerun.  He’s gone without a hit in only one plate appearance so far this spring.  With so much talk about pitchers being far ahead of hitters this time of year, Buscher seems locked in.  His replacement, AAA Rochester first baseman Brock Peterson, didn’t do too bad either with a grand slam in the eight inning.

I read reports when players were first arriving at camp that Buscher looked like he had hit the weight room hard during the offseason.  Early on, it seems like he has taken that motivation to a new level.  It’s understandable, considering he went from a platoon-but-promising role at third to quite possibly a full time starter at Rochester.  And let’s keep in mind, just as I’m sure Buscher has:  Rochester, New York can be just as cold as Minnesota during the early parts of spring.  And they don’t have a dome.  

For me, this just adds to the quality of the Crede signing.  The bench gets deeper and a determination to stay on that bench follows.

Go Twins!

And so it begins…

The Minnesota Twins kick off Spring Training tonight at 6:00 CDT and to the satisfaction of many, including myself, it will also be televised on the MLB network.  Glen Perkins will be on the mound and here’s a look at the good guys’ lineup:

1. Alexi Casilla, 2B  2. Nick Punto, SS  3. Justin Morneau, 1B  4. Michael Cuddyer, RF  5. Jason Kubel, DH  6. Delmon Young, LF  7. Brian Buscher, 3B  8. Mike Redmond, C  9. Jason Pridie, CF

They’ll have the pleasure of facing knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in their first game.  Not the best way to get your timing down as a hitter.

Aside from Perkins, we should see Joe Nathan, Jesse Crain, Ben Julienal, and Bobby Keppel pitch as well.

Third baseman Joe Crede will make his Spring Training debut on Friday as he eases in.  The much hyped acquisition has said he likes to take as many swings as possible during the spring, so hopefully once he gets started we’ll get to see exactly what we’ve got. 

Stay tuned for more after the matchup.

Go Twins!

If you are thinking about attending the 2009 TwinsFest, we have some great information to pass along to you today. Twins.Com just put up a news release about TwinsFest that will have everyone excited.

TwinsFest will take place Jan. 23-25 at the Metrodome. More then 50 current and former Twins players will be hand so you will have a great chance to talk baseball, get pictures taken, and get autographs. A three-dimensional model of Target Field, the new Twins ballpark, returns to TwinsFest and will be on display throughout the weekend. The 5-by-5-foot model represents the most detailed depiction of what the new 40,000-seat ballpark will look like when it opens in 2010.

Additional events include tours of the Twins’ clubhouse, the Upper Midwest’s largest baseball card-and-collectibles extravaganza, kids-only player question-and-answer sessions, player photo stations, a baseball skills area, youth baseball clinics, as well as live and silent auctions. All paid admissions to TwinsFest will include a buy-one-get-one free coupon for an Upper Club ticket for a 2009 regular-season home game (game restrictions will apply).

So plan on attending the 2009 TwinsFest as it looks like a great time!

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Finally we have a update to post here at TwinsHomePlate.Com! The Minnesota Twins announced on Thursday that they have given mangaer Ron Gardenhire a two year extension that should keep him in a Twins uniform through the 2011 season.

Gardenhire has a 622-512 record as Twins manager and almost managed the team back into the playoffs in 08 despite falling one game short.

Great idea by the management to give Gardenhire the extension, now they just need to make a trade or two so we have some more Twins talk here on the blog!

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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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The MInnesota Twins couldn’t take advantage of a Chicago White Sox loss on Wednesday night as they lost the Cleveland Indains 6-4. It’s really too bad that the Twins couldn’t have taken advantage of the loss to move up in the stadings a little bit.

Scott Baker gave up four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings as he started the game for the Twins. Baker struck out five batters but also gave up two home runs. Matt Guerrier gave up a couple more runs out of the bullpen as he ended up taking the loss for the team.

Justin Morneau led the Twins at the plate with two rbi’s but it wasn’t enough for the victory. Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez both had one rbi each at the plate. Gomez hit his seventh home run of the season in the game.

So now the Twins remain 2.5 games behind the White Sox. Twins Blog

Damnit, what a bad night for a loss. The Twins fell to the Indians 3-1 on Monday night when they could have picked up a full game on the Chicago White Sox in the standings. Instead the Twins are still 1.5 games behind the Sox in the division.

Kevin Slowey fell to 12-10 on the year as he took the loss on Monday night. Slowey threw six innings but gave up seven hits and all three runs that the Indians scored. Slowey gave up two home runs and that counted for all three of the Indians runs. Two bad pitches and that was the game pretty much.

The one run that Twins did get came in the in the ninth inning when Joe Mauer hit a solo home run. It was just the ninth home run for Mauer on the season. The struck out seven times and left 11 runners on base in the game. Now that is a big letdown if there ever was one in my opinion.

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The Minnesota Twins were going for a three game sweep on the Kansas city Royals on Thursday afternoon however the Royals had different thoughts. The Royals avoided the three game sweep as they beat the Twins 3-2 in ten innings of action.

David DeJesus knocked in the winning run in the top of the tenth inning off of Twins relief pitcher Dennys Reyes. Reyes was not charged with the run however as Matt Guerrier was. Guerrier took the loss and is now 6-8 on the season.

Twins starting pitcher Francisco Liriano pitched pretty damn good as he went eight innings and only allowed six hits and two runs. He struck out six Royals and did not walk a batter. A very good quality start for Liriano it was just too bad that the offense couldn’t have scored more runs.

Justin Morneau and Carlos Gomez both had rbi’s for the Twins. Morneau had a rbi double in the first inning while Gomez had a rbi single in the second inning. The Twins were held scoreless the last eight innings of the game as the offense struck out nine times and left 18 runners on base.

The Twins will now hope for a White Sox loss on Thursday night to the Toronto Blue Jays. Currently the Twins are 1.5 games behind the sox in the division.

Twins Blog