stringer bell

And as the clock strikes midnight.............Happy Birthday Torii.

50-40 after 90 games. That would project to 90-72 in 162. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

Good at-bats by all the hitters. Another homer on a pitch above the zone and this one was worth four runs.

Second, both by Plouffe.

Just a thought. Pitching fly ball pitchers for night games might be a good idea. As I write this, the Twins get their first assist on a 1-3 putout, Santana to Mauer.

Fly Ball Phil has an air out partner. Santana has no walks or strikeouts and only one ground ball through four innings. Twins 1-0 after four. CBU.

A little dicey in the bottom of the third, but Santana pitches around a Dozier error and two scratch hits. 1-0 after 3. CBU.

There's the official #20!

The Truth is out there.

Rod Carew was MVP when he hit .388, even though the Twins finished fourth in the Division (IIRC). It seems the MVP has evolved a bit more towards players in the playoffs, but a good stat year on a bad team isn't going to get much notoriety. A great year like Carew's 1977 will win awards.

I confess I got a little misty-eyed. He's a player I like, I have spoken to him and he seems very genuine and down-to-earth and he really, really deserved the honor. Combined with the very real possibility that he won't be selected to another All-Star game, it is and was pretty special. It certainly made his walk-offs all the more special, too.

Hate to quibble, but just because there are more caught stealings doesn't mean the team is running the bases poorly. Base stealing is only part of base running. Just because the results were poor doesn't necessarily mean the instruction was poor.

I'm jumping the gun by a day, but the Twins are approaching the All-Star break and they certainly qualify as contenders. After beating Detroit today, they are tied for the second best record in the league at eight games over .500. One can't help but be a little optimistic about the Twins chances for the last 74 games. Today was a high point, not only hammering Detroit's starting pitcher, but also the mid-game announcement that Brian Dozier would indeed make the 2015 All-Star team, all on the heels of the startling comeback the earned the Twins a near miraculous victory on Friday night. However, there are obvious flaws on the team. The leading percentage hitter currently is Joe Mauer, hitting in the mid-.270s and until this home stand the Twins had struggled to score runs for the better part of six weeks. We've seen a bullpen that is far from dominant and still have unsettled and unproductive positions (catcher and shortstop). The starting staff continues to allow far fewer runs than their peripherals would suggest. Since the Twins outstanding month of May, analysis has focused on how the club is winning and also if they can sustain that performance. Most analysts still think the club is suspect. A good example is Baseball Prospectus, which provides a Postseason Probability for each team. They currently peg the Twins at 21.6%, lower than the Tigers (2.5 games behind the Twins) and the Indians (4.5 behind Minnesota). This is supposedly scientific analysis. The team is far different that the one that opened the season in Detroit. Eddie Rosario has claimed an outfield spot, Aaron Hicks appears to be here to stay this year, and several members have changed in the bullpen. The rotation has added Ervin Santana to the rotation. I think more changes are in the offing. Either by trade or promotion, I think the bullpen will continue to be redone. Byron Buxton figures to return to Minnesota after a rehab and perhaps an option to AAA, Oswaldo Arcia has begun to pound the ball at Triple A, I am still not convinced the Twins are a playoff team, but it looks like they could easily be in it for the two and a half months. I'm predicting a couple of moves that will fortify the bullpen (perhaps trading for a lefty reliever and promoting a hard thrower) and also perhaps a trade for a catcher, who could help this year and beyond. I would expect improvement from the offense, combined with a bit of regression from the rotation. I have predicted 85 wins for the club since they broke camp in Florida. I hope that number is reached although I'm not sure if it will be enough to gain admission to the post season.

Isn't this usually how it goes? Every year, players drop out and replacements are named. I was upset that Dozier didn't get named for the first vacancy (Gordon) and with his continuing strong performance, I was pretty sure he would get named for the next vacancy, no matter what position the drop-out played. That said, if Dozier didn't make the club, I wasn't going to watch the All-Star game. Now I will. It is a small deal, but now Baseball Reference will list him as an All-Star in his bio, richly deserved for both a fine player and a class act. I'd love to see him make a difference in the game.

My first look at O'Rourke. I don't even remember him pitching in Spring Training.

Apparently Ausmus doesn't have any faith in his bullpen.

Unfortunately, today the best second baseman has been Ian Kinsler.

Make it four earned.

Molitor needs help in the bullpen. (I know--Captain Obvious).

Nuñez' defensive problems at short do not include his arm.

Good 7th for Big Pelf. Does he go out for the eighth?

All in all, not bad. I was fearing a Crooked number. An aside: The c in crooked was capitalized because I used the voice feature on my Kindle. I also learned how to add tildes and accents. It's fun to learn new stuff.

So much for the lead.

Wide zone for both pitchers, with the exception of the 0-2 pitch to Sano.

Earn my votes, Dozier!