Monday, July 18, 2005

It Never Ends

I feel alot like my associate tonight, writing the same post we have for a while now. The Twins can't score but they can pitch. They can't get big hits win they need them. Well tonight then even got a big hit when they needed to, but they could never break the game open and instead allowed another pitching gem to be wasted. They should win so many more games with such wonderful pitching perfomances and now the excuses are being laid out. The hitters have done extra, the team says. They are taking extra batting practice, Morneau is hitting off the tee to all fields. But practice isn't what they need. No they just need to figure out a few basic things and that means once again that Scotty Ulger needs to pack his bags. Sometimes its unfortunate, but Ulger needs to take the fall. Basically, its clear that the Twins hitters aren't doing any better with what he's tried or for that matter what he hasn't. They may need to hear the same advice but from a fresh face.

They cannot afford to lose when their pitching is this good. Silva threw nine innings and like Mays yesterday, really only made one mistake that resulted in a two-run home run, this time off the bat of aging slugger Sammy Sosa. He threw only 85 pitches in shutting down the potent Baltimore line-up and could have gone on longer. You can't blame Juan Rincon for the lost two much because for one, he gave up the the game-winning homer to MVP candidate Miguel Tejeda, and two, the offense didn't get things done with a good chance in the 10th. With Mauer on second and Morneau on first (why was he walked again? After ending a rally with a double play in the 8th, he didn't seem that dangerous to me), Hunter came up and struck out to end the rally. Of course, it was Torii's double and hustle that scored the tying run in the 9th when B.J. Ryan made a bad fielding play. And they looked more pathetic in the 11th against Jorge Julio, as they swung away and failed to make anything happen again.

The Twins look like they desperately need to do a few moves now. Fire Ulger, send some of the struggling players to the minors and if not that, makes some trades. Yes, Lohse is fair game, but the Twins should consider some of the other players as well. The Twins can't trade Morneau unless they get a first baseman in return, but Cuddyer should be considered. He still has upside, but his struggles are certainly not helping the Twins now. Regardless, enough has been said. We need to make some moves and quick if we have any hopes of making the postseason at all.

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