Twins Fan From Afar

Thanks! No problem. I figured that morning baseball might appeal to a few people.

Lester Oliveros in to pitch the 8th.

Nate Hanson GIDP after an Evan Bigley walk. Hicks K. He's 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. The outs were a flyout and this K.

Pitching is not keeping NB in the game at this point.

Lanigan gives up a 3 run triple, after allowing 2 singles, a walk and a hit batter. Earlier, another run scored on a groundout. 8-4 bad guys in the middle of the 7th.

Rock Cats go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 6th. Mastroianni and Florimon both strike out.

He sandwiches a Chris Rahl double between three outs, and gets out unscathed. Knotted at 4s in the middle of the 6th inning.

Bobby Lanigan pitching now for NB.

Romero having a good game at the plate.

After a single by Estarlin de los Santos a sac bunt by Mastroianni, a Pedro Florimon walk Evan Bigley lineout Nate Hanson singles to score de los Santos Hicks walks to load the bases -- pitching change -- Romero singles in Florimon Dolenc walks in Hanson, but Lehmann pops out to end the inning. 3 runs for NB to tie things up.

Then, after a Josh Johnson run scoring single, Albers gets a sacrifice bunt out, and 2 groundball outs, to end a long inning. 4-1 bad guys in the middle of the 5th inning.

Things got interesting: Tim Pahuta doubles Destin Hood doubles, Tim Pahuta scores. Chris Rahl singles, Destin Hood to 3rd. Jose Lozada singles, Destin Hood scores. Chris Rahl to 2nd. Chris Rahl steals 3rd base. Jeff Howell reaches on fielding error by third baseman Deibinson Romero. Chris Rahl scores. Jose Lozada to 2nd.

Romero looked good at the plate a few nights ago when I was there -- 3 hits including a double. Fielding wasn't spectacular, though.

Hicks scores on Deibinson Romero single. 1-0 NB. Dolence sacrifice bunts Romero (who had advanced to second on the throw) to third base. Danny Lehmann flies into double play, Romero out at home.

Aaron Hicks leads off the 4th with a double to right field. If I'm doing my counting right, that's 3 extra base hits in his last 3 games. And 5 total hits.

1-2-3 4th inning for Albers. 1 hit and no walks thus far.

NB fails to capitalize after Pedro Florimon and Evan Bigley 2-out walks. No score after 3.

Yea, shane, they do a few of these early starts here. Probably tough to get up for!

After giving up a leadoff single, Albers gets out of trouble with a K, a pickoff and a ground out. No damage done.

Hicks flies out. Mark Dolence with an infield single, but stranded after stealing second when Danny Lehmann grounds out. No score.

2 ground outs and a fly out for Andrew Albers in the top of the second. No score.

Pedro Florimon grounds out. Evan Bigley flies out. Nathan Hanson grounds out. Mastroianni stranded.

I'll be updating when scoring or other notable plays take place, if anyone is interested. Hopefully Hicks continues his hot streak! Right now it's 0-0 in the bottom of the first inning, and Darin Mastroianni walked and promptly stole second base (4th steal of season for him).

[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ifeAwJ8PVqc/T4V9F9DdRaI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/gRSid00-1as/s320/NB2.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]Thus far, good things are coming out of New Britain [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] A few unrelated items this morning. First, if you missed it, yesterday I wrote about Alex Wimmers' first AA Rock Cats start that took place Monday night, and Aaron Hicks' monster game that helped give the Rock Cats a big victory. This morning, the good news coming out of New Britain, despite a 7-2 loss to the Harrisburg Senators last night, was that top prospect Aaron Hicks was 2-for-4 with another home run. That's two home runs in two days, and the latest came batting lefty, which is the weaker side for Hicks. A batting average that was a laughable .077 just a couple days ago is now .250, and Hicks is 4 for his last 8, with 5 RBIs in just two games. Clearly, when he's "on," his bat can lead a team. We're all looking for consistency from Hicks, so hopefully these past couple games are a sign of things to come. Whether the Twins decide to keep him as part of the projected 2014-2015 "new look outfield" that's easy to imagine being fantastic (with Joe Benson, too), or whether the organization eventually tries to package him in a trade for some kind of power starting pitching, it's an incredibly important season for Hicks in terms of development and career trajectory. The final Rock Cats note for this morning concerns middle infield depth. Pedro Florimon is off to a fast start for New Britain, with a .400/.429/.450 slash line in his first 20 at-bats, and has looked solid in the field from what I have seen. I don't expect too much from him in terms of what he could do for the Twins, but it's nice to see him start off hot. Second, how about those Minnesota Twins? I've barely been discussing them lately. Between the pathetic offense (except Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham) and the fact that Scott Baker is already out indefinitely, I feel like we're in for a long season. Yes, I know that 4 games is nothing, and tonight the Twins could easily start a 4-game winning streak. That's just how baseball works. But the pitching has me worried for the long-term, and that hasn't even been the weak point for this team thus far. A lot of fans are concerned with the depth of the Twins' minor league system, and rightfully so. Here's a question for you: What if the Twins stink again this season? I don't mean winning 78 or 80 games, but more like winning 65 or 68. What if they can secure a top 3 pick in the 2013 draft? Between this year's #2 overall pick and a top selection next season, the Twins could have a rare opportunity to add top-shelf draft talent, which would complement some of the exciting players, like Miguel Sano, that are coming up through the organization. In other words, if you agree with me that this is not a playoff team in 2012, even with a healthy Scott Baker and Joe Mauer, would you rather watch an 81-81 season, or would you prefer to see a bad season in which the team unloaded some players before they hit free agency, and was able to secure a top pick next year? It's an interesting discussion, anyway. Finally, I was thrilled to be a guest on Seth Stohs' SethSpeaks Weekly Twins Podcast. I talked Rock Cats baseball for 10 minutes or so, and was happy for the opportunity to do so. Seth had me on right after Brian Dozier finished up. A tough act to follow! Dozier sounds like a great guy, and I believe he's ready to take over at shortstop right about now. If you didn't listen to the podcast live, you can listen any time by clicking here.

[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ifeAwJ8PVqc/T4V9F9DdRaI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/gRSid00-1as/s320/NB2.bmp [TD=class: tr-caption]Thus far, good things are coming out of New Britain [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] A few unrelated items this morning. First, if you missed it, yesterday I wrote about Alex Wimmers' first AA Rock Cats start that took place Monday night, and Aaron Hicks' monster game that helped give the Rock Cats a big victory. This morning, the good news coming out of New Britain, despite a 7-2 loss to the Harrisburg Senators last night, was that top prospect Aaron Hicks was 2-for-4 with another home run. That's two home runs in two days, and the latest came batting lefty, which is the weaker side for Hicks. A batting average that was a laughable .077 just a couple days ago is now .250, and Hicks is 4 for his last 8, with 5 RBIs in just two games. Clearly, when he's "on," his bat can lead a team. We're all looking for consistency from Hicks, so hopefully these past couple games are a sign of things to come. Whether the Twins decide to keep him as part of the projected 2014-2015 "new look outfield" that's easy to imagine being fantastic (with Joe Benson, too), or whether the organization eventually tries to package him in a trade for some kind of power starting pitching, it's an incredibly important season for Hicks in terms of development and career trajectory. The final Rock Cats note for this morning concerns middle infield depth. Pedro Florimon is off to a fast start for New Britain, with a .400/.429/.450 slash line in his first 20 at-bats, and has looked solid in the field from what I have seen. I don't expect too much from him in terms of what he could do for the Twins, but it's nice to see him start off hot. Second, how about those Minnesota Twins? I've barely been discussing them lately. Between the pathetic offense (except Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham) and the fact that Scott Baker is already out indefinitely, I feel like we're in for a long season. Yes, I know that 4 games is nothing, and tonight the Twins could easily start a 4-game winning streak. That's just how baseball works. But the pitching has me worried for the long-term, and that hasn't even been the weak point for this team thus far. A lot of fans are concerned with the depth of the Twins' minor league system, and rightfully so. Here's a question for you: What if the Twins stink again this season? I don't mean winning 78 or 80 games, but more like winning 65 or 68. What if they can secure a top 3 pick in the 2013 draft? Between this year's #2 overall pick and a top selection next season, the Twins could have a rare opportunity to add top-shelf draft talent, which would complement some of the exciting players, like Miguel Sano, that are coming up through the organization. In other words, if you agree with me that this is not a playoff team in 2012, even with a healthy Scott Baker and Joe Mauer, would you rather watch an 81-81 season, or would you prefer to see a bad season in which the team unloaded some players before they hit free agency, and was able to secure a top pick next year? It's an interesting discussion, anyway. Finally, I was thrilled to be a guest on Seth Stohs' SethSpeaks Weekly Twins Podcast. I talked Rock Cats baseball for 10 minutes or so, and was happy for the opportunity to do so. Seth had me on right after Brian Dozier finished up. A tough act to follow! Dozier sounds like a great guy, and I believe he's ready to take over at shortstop right about now. If you didn't listen to the podcast live, you can listen any time by clicking here.