MotH for July 31...

All around a good game. Good starting pitching, good hitting, good capitalization on the opponents mistakes, and GREAT defense.

Especially the back-up catcher that threw out three stolen base attempts.

So, Mike Redmond, Mr. Naked Batting Practice, you get your third MotH. And pants.

Hammerpants!



Oh, and Tweek? Thanks for the spasms there to start the ninth. Buttface.



At least you got the next three batters in a row and the save.

Sadness...

No more of this man:



Sigh. I really have nothing else to say.

Damn, pt. 2

Another NON wasted dominant performance by a young pitcher. Joe, you so totally rule for the 3 RBI, but this HAS to go to young Scotty, partially because of his other well-pitched games in which youz guyz didn't give him any run support.

Heh. Heh. Support (you bat-girl fans will get the joke).

Anyway, back to Ba(sics)ker: 8 innings, two hits, one run, one batter over the minimum, and NO WALKS! And Tweek Nathan with a one-two-three for the save.

So enjoy the MotH, Scott Baker:

Aye, be careful not to cross him, ye scurvy scallywags!

I mean, of course, Matt GaRRRRza.

The terror of the diamond-shaped green seas, sitting on his earthen mound of a crows nest, shooting his cannon through opponents' scoring averages, leading his team to victory over the heinous Captain CheesebuRRRgeRRR Sabathia.



OK, enough pirate lingo. But DAMN. A 1.38 ERA through 26 1/3 innings?

DAMN.

11 strikeouts today?

DAMN.

And thanks to some ass-battiness and an error, he's only 1 and 2 with a no decision.

Not to throw away the rest of this season, because the Tigers and Indians are strugglin' just at the right time to make a surge - AND WE CAN DO IT - but imagine our starting line-up next year with Johan, Matt (if this impressive streak continues), and the Frisco Kid.

DAMN.

Now THAT'S Twins Baseball.

2 runs (0 runs if it weren't for one pitch) over seven innings by the starter.
2 1-2-3's by the NnN boys.

Small-balling in the winning run on a ground out (by a rookie third baseman in his second MLB game).

Oh, yeah. He (Buscher - ah, a baseball name) woulda been MotH except'n for one little thing.

Hell, Johan woulda been MotH were it not for one little thing (and I don't mean one bad pitch, up but in the zone, that tied the game).

That one little thing?

JASON RENYT TYNER HIT A FRIGGIN' HOME RUN!

So YOU, Mr. FunnyName McLazyParents, Mr. J-Tyne from Jasonville, are the MotH. Savor it like a 352 foot shot to the Twins bullpen. In fact, no funny picture. Just a smile for the ages.

Sigh...

Yet another wasted performance by a young pitcher against the Tigers. One UNEARNED RUN - thank you J-Bart from Jasonville - in seven innings. Down the tubes because the assbats returned. I'm not angry, I'm just sad. Sad, because we're seven back again but should be five and a half back. Sad, because Joe Mauer took a fastball for strike three looking and never once swung during that at bat. Sad, because J-Bart's five game streak is over. Sad, because ObiWan came about ten feet from tying the game. Sad, because we friggin lost a game we coulda/shoulda/woulda normally won.

But we have two more to make up ground. We have Garza who so far has pitched 13 innings with a 0.00 ERA. The bullpen continues to dominate. We have Johan pitching tommorrow.

I'm about 85% sure I'll be in a better mood this time tommorrow. But for now, I'm just sad.

Break out the brooms...

Take that, Athletic Supporters Not Named Nutty!

Four straight...a sweep of those damned A's...good times, good times.

As for the MotH, well, it should be obvious - the guy that drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth with his third hit of the day. Sorry, Nicky and Luis - Triples rule, but game-ending RBI's are overlords. The Palpatine to your Vader. The Higgins to your Magnum PI. The Axel Foley to your Billy Rosewood.

Now, instead of photoshopping the handsome young lad, I'm gonna just post a picture of him. For the ladies. Because they love the strapping young man.



See you all Tuesday!

MotH for July 14, 2007.

Neshek and Nathan FTW! Er, FTS! Awesome. But even better than that?

Two RBI's? Driving in the winning run? Music To My Ears. Which, incidentally, shares two initials with Man of the Hour:



Oh, Carlos - I wish Gardy would have let you get the last out of the seventh, so it would remained a 4-1 game. But you went deep, and you got the win, and retired 15 in a friggin' row. So, yeah. Awesome. Carlos Silvaback FTW!

MotH, July 13th.

3 hits, two RBI's, one run scored, = MotH. Even with Johan being En Fuego.



And once again, different ribby's from different guys, capitalizing on errors, solid starting pitching, solid relief pitching from Neshek and Nathan. Hmm. THe N&N boys? Sounds like the "nnn" boys when spoken, so probably not.

Mmm, that was nice.

A six-to-two win. Five of our gents with RBI's. Cuddy with four hits. Mauer reaching home twice after two walks. Baker gives up five hits and only two earned runs in six full, and our bullpen pitches 3 innings alowing one walk, no hits, and three K's - two of them by our closer in a nine pitch ninth inning.

So, who is the MotH? Part of me wants to give it to Baker to make up for his one run eight inning loss, but let's face it - four-for-four+a homerun short of hitting for the cycle = MotH for our dead friend:



And I leave you, my dead reader(s?), with this promise: A lot more blogging in the second half of the season. Not that it'll be hard, considering my piss-poor attendance in the first half.