Twins Take Two From Cubbies

Well, two out of three isn’t so bad. The Twins couldn’t finish the sweep of the lowly Cubs yesterday, dropping an 8-2 game that was much closer than the final score indicates.

Through the first 6 innings, Francisco Liriano and Cubs ace Ryan Dempster were locked in a pitching battle. Each starter was keeping runners off of the bases – Dempster had given up only 4 hits through 5 innings and Liriano had yielded only 3. The only difference on the scoreboard was the one run the Cubs managed to push across on an Alfonso Soriano double in the 1^st inning.

The Twins certainly had chances to score, but Dempster managed to hold them in check until the wheels fell off for Liriano. In the top of the 6^th, Liriano walked Reed Johnson, gave up a double to Starlin Castro and induced a groundout from David DeJesus (scoring Johnson).

Liriano then intentionally walked Alfonso Soriano (a smart move as Soriano had been beating up the Twins all series long, and with his bad leg – he’s likely to get thrown out in any double play attempt). Liriano struck out Jeff Baker and looked to be walking out of this inning with minimal damage. While facing Joe Mather, Liriano uncorked a slider that went wide of Drew Butera, scoring Castro from third and moving Soriano up to 2^nd. Mather then drilled a double down the left field line to bring the score to 4-0 and end Liriano’s day.

With Dempster on the mound, there simply wasn’t any opportunity for the Twins to overcome the deficit. Jared Burton and Anthony Swarzak each allowed two more runs out of the pen (Brian Duensing also pitched but yielded no runs in his one and a third innings of work) and the Cubs pulled out to an 8-0 lead. The Twins tacked on two meaningless runs in the bottom of the ninth, but not even the Cubs bullpen could blow an 8 run lead in one inning.

In the end, the Twins won their 4^th straight series and are 9-3 since May 28^th – which is the best record in the majors. This team certainly has a different look and feel about them now. They’re healthy, hitting well and have found some semblance of reliable pitching. Twins fans have been cautiously optimistic, hoping this winning streak was for real but not wanting to get too involved in case in wasn’t, but I think we can start to say this Twins team is the real 2012 Twins.

The Return of Good Frankie

While his final stat line from Sunday (5.2 IP, 4 hits, 4 earned runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts) isn’t all that impressive on the surface – those that watched the game know that Liriano was absolutely in control of this game for all but one inning. He was starting batters with strikes and frequently worked ahead in the count. While he did have one bad inning, he had managed to hold the score to 2-0 before a wild pitch got by Drew Butera and allowed the third run to score – this may have rattled him as the next pitch was drilled down the line, allowing the fourth run to score on a double.

It wasn’t Lirinao’s best outing, but it was also a long, long way from his worst of the season. Over his past three starts, Liriano has allowed 5 earned runs (4 in Sunday’s game), 11 hits and has struck out 23 all in 17.2 innings of work. His 1-7 W/L record and 6.45 ERA would indicate a pitcher who is struggling, but his past three starts seem to indicate a turnaround in whatever was ailing him at the beginning of the season.

Despite this nice string of wins, most Twins fans don’t realistically expect the Twins to be in serious competition for a playoff spot this season. While we can certainly argue that this team is capable of playing winning baseball for the rest of the season, the pitching staff is simply not equipped to take on the Rays, Rangers, Angels, Yankees and Tigers in the American League.

That means that an “improved” Francisco Liriano means one thing and one thing only to Twins fans – trade bait. Teams like the Yankees, Indians and the Angels in the American League could use pitching – but I would wager the Twins would want to move Liriano outside of the AL. In the National League, the Nationals, Dodgers, Pirates (if they hang around), Reds, Giants and Braves are all in tight races and could be looking for a strikeout pitcher to boost their playoff push.

Liriano’s contract is expiring and it doesn’t seem like the Twins see him as part of their long term plans to fix the pitching staff. Moving him at the deadline for a AAA starter (high end) or a couple of near major league ready relievers (low end) would be ideal.

Hendriks on His Way Back

After making the starting staff out of spring training, Liam Hendriks looked to be the next Twins home grown starter. Hendriks looked strong in his first start, pitching a solid 6 innings and holding the Rangers to one earned run, but he ran into problems with his fastball location and control in his next three starts, resulting in a 9.00 ERA and a 0-2 record.

As a result, the Twins demoted Hendriks on May 6^th, telling him to work on his fastball control and mechanics. It was a disappointing blow for the young starter. As the Twins pitching staff imploded and the team promoted from AAA, Hendriks was left to play in the minors while PJ Walters, Scott Diamond and Cole De Vries all had cracks at the starting rotation.

Hendriks responded well, posting a 5-0 record and a 1.94 ERA in 7 starts at Rochester. His effort looks like it’s being rewarded with a promotion for next Saturday’s game against the Brewers.

Hendriks has a good repertoire of pitches and has shown flashes of being a very solid starter. He’s likely to be on the Twins’ staff next season, but if his minor league success is an indicator, he may become a part of the staff yet this season.

Twins Close To Signing Buxton

Reports out of Minnesota indicate that the Twins could likely sign first round pick Byron Buxton to a contract as early as Tuesday. The speedy outfielder out of Georgia is billed as a potential five tool player who has the potential to hit for great power if he adds on muscle. While it’s too early to tell if Buxton will pan out, (I used the word ‘potential’ twice in describing him – that’s all he is right now) the simple fact that the Twins are going to sign Buxton makes him a better pick that the 2^nd overall pick the Twins had in 1996 in Travis Lee, who they failed to sign. The Twins had failed to sign top 5 picks twice in their history, so the signing of Buxton is already an improvement from past drafts.

Looking Ahead

The Twins have an off day on Monday, followed by a 3 game series with the struggling Phillies. The Twins have been lucky to face a few weak offensive teams over the past few series (Oakland, Kansas City, Chicago) which has made for some fantastic starts from the Twins rotation. While Philadelphia is not currently a fearsome offensives club, they have bats in their lineup that teams need to be concerned about. This series will be a great test for the Twins pitching staff (Blackburn, Walters & Diamond). The offense will face Kendrick (2-4, 4.44 ERA), Hamels (8-3, 2.93 ERA) and Blanton (5-6, 5.40 ERA). Hamels will be a tough test, but games 1 and 3 of this series are very winnable for the Twins.

State of Affairs

The Twins are currently 24-35, and 8.5 games back of the division leading White Sox. They currently sit a half game behind Kansas City and have the chance to climb out of the central cellar with a strong series against the Phillies. While this current winning streak is nice, the team may have dug themselves too big of a hole at the beginning of the season to overcome.

Then again, no one thought the Cardinals had a chance to win the division, let alone make the playoffs last season and look what happened with them…

Just putting that out there.