Results tagged ‘ AJ Pierzynski ’
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Joe Nathan coming home, indeed. For the Twins’ 2011 Target Field opener, they pretty much sleepwlked through seven innings at the plate. Luckily, Carl Pavano was dominating, setting down Oakland A after Oakland A. Then, in the eighth, Danny Valencia’s infield single was followed by hits from three lefties (Kubel, Span, Mauer) to scratch two runs across.
As this was occuring on the field, Joe Nathan was quickly warming in the pen, anticipating his first Target Field save situation. When those gates opened and “Stand up and Shout” played over the loudspeakers, it was clear that Mr. Nathan was “Home” at last.
For whatever reason, Joe Nathan is a favorite Twin of mine (just look at the name of this blog). He’s easily the greatest closer the team has ever had, and there’s just something about a save situation that gets me pumped. Besides Cuddy gunning a runner, Span slapping a triple, or Thome blasting off, there isn’t anything that will get me on my feet faster than a closer coming into a game to get those final three outs.
I also admire Nathan’s grit and determination. He started off as a struggling SS with the Giants, then came over here with Liriano and Boof Bonser in the A.J. Pierzynski trade (thanks again, A.J.!) as a so-so reliever. We gave him Eddie G’s closing role, and he never missed a beat.
If the weather holds out, I may be attending the game either today or Sunday, and I would like nothing more than to see Nathan return to domination in person!
Preview (3-4, T-4, 2.0 GB CLE): Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 1.29) vs. Nick Blackburn (1-0, 1.50).
More Bailouts Than Obama (aka Don’t Mess Around With Jim)
Tonight’s Twins-White Sox game featured more bailouts of Twins’ pitchers than the Obama Administration:
First, Scott Baker stunk it up once again, giving up a bevy of hard-hit balls, including a moonshot from Paul Konerko in the early innings:
However, the Twins also got dingers of their own from Delmon Young and Orlando Hudson, as well as a big triple from Jason Kubel, to stay in the game.
With the Twins leading 5-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, Matt Capps was brought in for the save situation. The first batter, Alexei Ramirez, homered to tie the game, but Capps was bailed out by a huge, bases-loaded double play to end the inning.
In the tenth, Jon Rauch took the mound and, with one out, gave up three straight singles to once again allow the White Sox to score a run, giving them a 6-5 lead. Rauch, for the second time in as many games, couldn’t even finish off his inning and had to be replaced:
At this point, though, is when Big Jim took matters onto his own, rather broad shoulders:
In the bottom of the tenth, Delmon Young sent a rocket right through the crotch (almost literally) of Matt Thorton. Up stepped Jim Thome, and three things happened in rather short fashion:
1. The ball rocketed towards the right field pavilion;
2. The ball landed, giving Thome career homer #581, and the first walk-off jack at Target Field;
3. A shaving cream-filled towel quickly homed in on Thome’s face, courtesy of one Nick Punto.
Every win against the Sox is a good win at this point, but it’s so much sweeter when Thome does it to his former mates! Next to Delmon Young choosing to punch AJ Pierzynski in the face instead of sliding into home plate, Thome’s blast is easily the highlight of the season-series with these two clubs so far. Can we drop them even further back tomorrow?!
Preview (69-50, 1st, 4.0 GA CWS): Gavin Floyd (8-9, 3.70) vs. Francisco Liriano (11-7, 3.26).
Doing The Laundry At A New Place
In the film “Field of Dreams”, Terrance Mann tells Ray Kinsella that “the one constant through all the years…has been baseball”. Well, to amend that statement, the one constant through the last decade of Twins baseball has been the ability to defeat the Chicago White Sox on our home turf.
Starting in 2002, when at the end of the season Bobby Kielty blasted back-to-back game-winning homers against the White Sox that buried them in the standings, the Twins embarked on a streak of home domination against the Pale Hose.
In 2003 and 2004, the Twins fended off late-season pushes by the South Siders with sweeps under the Teflon roof. Heck, the last time Twins fans probably remember seeing young Michael Ryan (noteworthy considering he just resurfaced in the majors with the Angels) is when he had the series of his life against the Sox in late September of ’03.
After an off year in ’05 that saw the Chisox win the whole thing, the Twins didn’t despair, quickly getting under Chicago manager/nutcase Ozzie Guillen’s skin so much in 2006 with their pesky hitting that Guillen termed them the “piranhas”, a description that is now part of Twins lore.
Then, in 2008, before one coin flip gave them The Cell, it was the Sox we swept at the Dome in remarkable fashion to even have a shot at the postseason.
Thus, when the White Sox enter town tonight, it will be interesting to see how the new digs treat them. Was it only the lime-green turf and white roof that turned them into quivering jelly? Or, perhaps, it was something more…like an entire packed stadium on their feet when Cisco has two strikes on Pierzynski.
I, for one, am hoping for the latter.
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