Hernandez crafts another victory/Liriano called up

Livan Hernandez became the winningest pitcher in the majors improving to 3-0 as he allowed no runs runs through 7 innings Friday night in Kansas City. Hernandez got himself into some sticky situation, but walked away unscathed and confused the Royal batters with offspeed pitches and pinpoint control. I could have been a rich man had I bet people Livan Hernandez would start the season 3-0.

Carlos Gomez had another solid night picking up a double, triple, and knocked in 2 RBIs. Justin Morneau hit his third homerun of the season, a solo shot in the third inning, and two Twin rookies, Denard Span and Matt Tolbert, picked up their first career RBIs. Amazingly, Matt Tolbert who was the last man to make the Twins roster this spring is batting .556 to start the season. After collecting 3 hits tonight, Tolbert is 12-21 and making a good case to be in the lineup everyday. Very fun to watch the kid play. He plays tough, works hard, and adds some energy and electricity to the team.

* BIG NEWS *

Even bigger than the Twins victory was the announcement before the came that Kevin Slowey will be put on the 15-day disabled list, setting the stage for Francisco Liriano to make his first major league start since September of 2006.

I must admit, the move comes as a surprise to me as Liriano has struggled in his two minor league starts this spring posting a 6.75 ERA and allowing 11 hits and 7 runs in 9 1/3 IP. The Twins are not in a situation where they need Liriano and I think he should be brought back from surgery slowly. However, I trust the organization's decision and lets hope that this begins the road back to Liriano circa 2006. As I stated this winter, if Liriano can return to his dominating form the 2008 Twins will be a dangerous team.

Sunday in Kansas City, we will see...

Twins Rout White Sox

A 12-5 victory over the White Sox last night was filled with highlights for the Minnesota Twins.

In the 6th inning Jason Kubel broke a 7-3 lead into an 11-3 rout with a grand slam. Kubel went 2-6 with 6 RBIs in the game. Brendan Harris went 3-4 and scored 3 runs. Scott Baker pitched solid, not great, but he did strike out 7 in 5 innings and gave up 3 runs.

Ron Gardenhire said before the game,
All we're looking for is some more consistent swings throughout the lineup. We've had a guy hot here and there. We haven't really clicked as an offense yet.

Gardy got what he was looking for as the Twins set season highs scoring 12 runs and collecting 13 hits.

Of all the highlights, Carlos Gomez may have stole the show in the first inning. Gomez had a phenomenal diving catch in the center/rightfield gap. The play won himself a Web Gem and a #1 spot on Sportscenter top plays!

Tonight's game in Chicago has already been postponed due to heavy rain, so the team will move onto Kansas City for the weekend and the off day should actually help the rotation out. With Kevin Slowey unable to start Sunday and Francisco Liriano appearing unprepared to be called up, the rotation will get pushed back a day and everything should be fine.

Stay dry!

Linked into the Twins

No game yesterday as the Twins enjoyed their first off day. Still plenty news to report, so I'm going with a linked up blog post today. Read whatever grabs your attention.

* The plan was to have Francisco Liriano return to the majors on Sunday after his second minor league start; however, some things don't always go according to plan as Liriano doesn't appear ready.

* Matt Tolbert continues to impress the Twins. His passion and ability have left an impact on the entire organization.

* Something to chew on: yesterday the Twins announced an eight-year partnership with Sportservice who will provide the food in the new ballpark. Plans are to offer a new, unique, local menu. Lefsa anyone?

* Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune gives his sad, but true observations on the Twins offense after eights games this season. Do the Twins have the worst offense in the American League?

* Twins beat reporter, Kelly Thesier, answers Twins fan mail. She is asked, does Carlos Gomez still have rookie eligibility?

After a minor technical difficulty, the Carlos Gomez stolen base count is now up on the sidebar.

Scott Baker (1-0) takes the mound this evening against Jon Danks (0-0) and the White Sox at 7:11 CST in Chicago. Go Twins!

Off Day Thoughts

One week ago today I wrote about Opening Day and the start of the baseball season. Seven days later the Twins are 3-5 with some questions as well as some answers. All in all, I'd say 3-5 is about expected with opening series against the Angels, Royals, and a game against the White Sox.

QUESTIONS

Is Livan Hernandez for real? The ancient righty is off to a 2-0 start with a 3.86 ERA. He's providing stability and leadership to a young rotation. Hope it continues!

When will Jason Kubel become full time? Kubel's batting .221 and slugging .409, not great, but he's younger, has more potential, is a better hitter, and Craig Monroe is batting .091 and slugging .182.

How will the Twins replace Michael Cuddyer? Denard Span was called up when Cuddy went on the DL. A surprise move in my opinion. Span slides into the #2 spot in the lineup which makes a lefty/lefty duo of Mauer and Morneau batting 3rd and 4th. I think the Twins lineup will have even more trouble scoring runs now and I think Delmon Young should be batting between the M&M boys. At least this may give Kubel more at bats.

Will Francisco Liriano make an impact in the rotation? I sure hope so. He struggled in his first minor league start and will make his AAA start today with Rochester. Word has it that he make return to the big leagues on Sunday.

ANSWERS

Joe Nathan is a stud. The Twins signing of Nathan was a sign of commitment to winning and it kept a shutdown closer in the bullpen. At least we know that if we're winning going into the 9th inning, we'll get the win. Nathan's current line: 3 SV, 3 SV opportunities, 3 IP, and 3 SO.

Nick Blackburn is for real. In 2 starts and 12 IP, Blackburn has a 2.25 ERA with 12 SO and only 3 BB. He owns an 0-1 record due to poor run support, but this kid will be very important this season and may never lose his rotation spot that he won this spring.

The American League is deep. Baltimore is in first place, Oakland is not just rebuilding, Kansas City is so much better, and this leaves Boston, Seattle, and Detroit in last place. These three teams will not be in last place for long, but it doesn't matter who the Twins play because the American League is good.

Carlos Gomez is really fast. The kid has stolen 5 bases already which has prompted the MVB to start a Carlos Gomez stolen base count in the sidebar. But he's not just fast, Gomez is batting .333 and has scored 5 runs in 8 games. If he can continue to get on base, Mauer, Morneau, and Young will be very happy.

We'll see what questions and answers emerge in week 2 of the season...

YOUR OPINION: What questions do you see so far concerning the Twins?

Angels Recap/Royals Preview

So the first series is in the bag. After the adrenaline and excitement cooled from Opening Day, the Twins lost three games in a row against a strong Angels club. Other than Nick Blackburn's outstanding start pitching was inconsistent and hitting has been awful. Justin Morneau is still hitless in 2008, but Joe Mauer had a good game yesterday, Jason Kubel hit the Twins first homerun of the season, Carlos Gomez is still using his electrifying speed, and most importantly the Angels will not visit the Metrodome again this year and we won't have to watch any more of this...

Now we move on to the Royals, arguably the hottest team in baseball. With a quick glimpse at the AL Central, Cleveland, Chicago, and Minnesota in 2nd/3rd/4th respectively makes sense, but I don't think anyone would have predicted an undefeated, first place Kansas City club and a winless Detroit team in the cellar. That's why they play the game!

Kansas City got two great starts from their young pitchers Brian Bannister and Zack Greinke, and there young hitters Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, and Mark Teahen have been swinging strong bats. However, tonight Scott Baker takes the mound in his first 2008 start. Last year, Baker killed the Royals going 3-0 against KC and came within 2 outs of a no-hitter against this club. I'm looking for the Twins bats to wake up and the Twins to take 2 out of 3 at home in the dome.

As a part of the preview for the Twins/Royals series, Royals blogger Jeff Parker and the MVB teamed up and asked each other a few questions. Here are Parker's thoughts on his Royals club...

1) What's the biggest difference between this year's Royals and last years club?
Two things really; 1. Addition by subtraction. Odalis Perez, Jorge de la Rosa, Scott Elarton, Jason Larue, and Emil Brown are all gone. Last year Perez started the second game of the year and this season Brian Bannister did, big difference. 2. The young guys are all a year older and they seem locked in. Somebody forgot to tell them that they are supposed to lose 100 games. They (and new manager Trey Hillman) seem unaware of the culture of losing that has defined Royals baseball the last 15 years.

2) What one player from the Twins would you want to play for the Royals?
I figure most people would say Mauer but he is a little too injury prone for my liking so I'd take former MVP Justin Morneau. He would provide a power hitter at a position where KC usually have been playing slap hitters (Ken Harvey, Doug Mientkiewicz, Ross Gload). Stick him after Gordon and Butler in KC's lineup and they would score some runs.

3) If you were Royals GM, what's the first move you would make?
I would find another shortstop. Tony Pena Jr is a great defender but he just does not get on base enough to justify being a starter. If the Royals had an offense like the Yankees or Red Sox then they could live with a no hit all glove SS but they don't so they need at least league average production from that position.

Thanks to Jeff for his insight, and to read my comments from Jeff's questions just check out Royally Speaking right here.

Guest Blogging, Boof, and Blackburn

An exciting Twins MVB first: I was asked by Kansas City Royals Blogger, Jeff Parker, to be a guest blogger and do a team preview for the 2008 season on his blog. To read my thoughts on 2008 Royals and a very good blog check out the link. Parker's Royally Speaking can also be found in the MVB sidebar.

So after a thrilling opening day things for the Twins have come back to reality. Tuesday night Boof Bonser got hit hard and looked confused at times. The Twins managed just six hits against the Angels Jon Garland and suffered a 9-1 defeat.

Wednesday night, pitcher Nick Blackburn made his first Major League start and definitely rose to the occasion. The rookie allowed 1 run on 5 hits over 7 innings. However, the Angels Joe Saunders did just a little bit more allowing no runs on just 4 hits through his 8 innings as the Twins fell 1-0. The pro was seeing a great performance from the young Blackburn who won the final rotation spot with a good spring and was called a "sleeper pick" for rookie of the year by ESPN expert Peter Gammons. The con was the slow offensive start this season. Justin Morneau is still looking for his first hit and the bottom half of the order is not delivering. I'm not in panic mode yet about Morneau's hitless start of year, but just slightly concerned. This young Twins team needs to have a strong April to have a good season, and to have a strong April they need their MVP to deliver.

Kevin Slowey takes the mound today for the Twins in their afternoon game. Let's hope for the bats to catch fire and the Twins to end the series at 2-2 against a very good Angels ballclub.

Play Ball!

Opening Day, the start of the Major League Baseball season and a sign of spring right? Well, on this opening day in 2008, large snow flakes were pelting the Metrodome roof and snow was blowing across the Minneapolis streets. Although it was cold and depressing outside the dome, things were warm and enjoyable inside the dome.

A 3-2 Twins victory saw a little bit of everything: great pitching, smooth defense, incredible baserunning, and timely hitting.

KEY STORYLINES

* Torii Hunter makes his return to the Metrodome with his new team. The veteran outfielder appeared choked up on the jumbo-tron as he was greeted with a warm welcome and video tribute from the Twins fans. Only a handful of boos were heard.

* Opening Day starter Livan Hernandez surprised everyone calmly cruising through seven innings allowing only two earned runs and picking up the victory while never throwing a pitch above 85 mph.

* Rookie Carlos Gomez greets Torii Hunter (the man he replaces in centerfield) and uses the Opening Day stage to prove to Twins fans why he was #1 prospect acquired in the trade for Johan Santana.

* In a surprise managerial move, Ron Gardenhire starts the righthanded Craig Monroe at DH over the lefthanded and favorable Jason Kubel upsetting many Twins fans across the blogosphere. Monroe went 0-3 while Kubel had a pinch hit double late in the game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Carlos Gomez was the star of the evening scoring 2 runs, stealing 2 bases, and going 2-3 with a double, a bunt single, and a walk. Gomez also made some great plays in centerfield certainly reminding Twins fans of the old #48. It was great to see such a solid debut from Gomez after such scrutiny of the package the Twins received from the Mets in the Santana deal. Now I'm not ready to crown Gomez as the Rookie of Year, but the performance was encouraging. There will be many 0-4 days with 2 strikeouts and an error for the young 22-year old, but hopefully there will be more days like last night.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

For proof of Gomez's electric speed and athleticism, check out this video I caught of him stealing 2nd on Angels catcher Mike Napoli. This was Gomez's second steal of the evening.



HIGHLIGHT

Although we all greeted Hunter with a warm welcome home, the highlight of the game would have to be when Joe Nathan came in for the save in the 9th inning and blew three pitches by Torii making the former teammate look silly. Every fan in the ballpark loved to see a little jab in Torii's side. Hunter went 0-4.

RECAP

All in all, a great opening day. Newcomers Delmon Young and Brendan Harris picked up two hits, Livan pitched a great game, Gomez stole the show (literally), Nathan got a save, my dome dog tasted delicious, and the Twins are on pace to go 162-0. What's our magic number?