Maholm slides to 4-3 with the loss,while Nyjer Morgan (really) smacked his first homer of the season in the defeat.
Ian Snell faces off against Francisco Liriano tonight at 8:05 in the middle game of the series..
Pirate Hooks
1) I watched the game on the Twins network,mainly because I like Bert Blyleven,but the other members of the crew were pretty solid as well.
Play by play man Dick Bremer was very good and showed a sense of humor as well.
James Denton (I hope that's right) of Desperate Housewives was at the game and doing the obligatory "Celeb comes to any town other than New York or Los Angeles interview" with Marney Gellner and before it wrapped up. Bremer jumps in with a "tell Teri Hatcher that Dick says Hi".
Bremer then played a minute or two with faux sincerity on their "friendship".
Good stuff.
Gellner always did a decent job doing similar work with the Minnesota Wild and former Twin Ron Coomer was in/near the dugout with occasional tidbits that weren't silly or overbearing and didn't seem to be constantly trying to get on air....
2) Wish I could say the same for the Metrodome.
My goodness,that place is dull even for a domed stadium.
Andrew McCutchen and Delwyn Young watched a flyball fall right between them as the ball was lost in the all white roof that would hand the Twins a run on a routine pop fly.
The citizens of Minnesota deserve congratulations for getting a new stadium and condolences for suffering through that place for almost 30 years....
3) Can the Pirates please realize that not only does Craig Monroe play badly,but he shows an amazing lack of hustle for a guy that should be playing AAA ball anyway.
Tonight's half-ass Monroe moment goes in the eighth went like this- he strikes out against R A Dickey and then loafs his ass to first in a run/jog/shuffle that brought back memories of Randall Simon.
It takes Joe Mauer's first error of the season for Monroe to be safe and even when Monroe sees that Mauer's toss to Justin Morneau was going to be hard to handle-he still didn't pick up the pace!
Clown.
4) Have to give Nyjer Morgan some credit,his first homer since 2007 was not a cheapo.
Morgan's shot off Glen Perkins was just that-a shot.
Honestly,I didn't think he had it in him!
5) For more house spinning,John Russell attempts to compare the Twins drafting Joe Mauer at the top of the 2001 draft over consensus top pick Mark Prior to the Pirates overdraft of Tony Sanchez at 4 in this years draft.
It is true that Prior was considered the far and away top pick in that draft,but the big difference between the two cases is this-Mauer was considered one of the top five players in the draft,while Sanchez was considered a borderline first rounder albeit the best catcher in a weak year for catchers.
Apples and Oranges,John,but thanks for playing anyway....
Bonus Round
The Pirates signed a few draft picks,five players ranging from the 23rd rounder to their 42nd.
Highly touted righty Quinton Miller was assigned to State College to start with the Spikes.
The Spikes start their New York/Penn league season on Friday night against the Williamsport Crosscutters.
Bullpen Notes
The Hagerstown Suns have Matt Chico on the team on a rehab assignment.
Chico tossed a few innings in Sundays game against the Delmarva Shorebirds.
Chico is still listed on the Suns roster,so maybe he will make one more start for Hagerstown.
The CFL pre-season starts tonight as the lowly Hamilton Tiger-Cats visits Winnipeg for a scrimmage against the Blue Bombers.
The Cats website seems to have two different rosters,so it is hard tell who is who,but the Cats have been down for a long time and here is hoping for a revival in Canada's Steeltown
!I forgot to make my pick for last Saturday's exciting welterweight fight between Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey,but the fight was a good one with Cotto winning a split decision.
I have no problem with Cotto or Clottey winning by a point,it was that close,but I do have problems with the two judges that voted for Cotto by three and five points respectively.
That wasn't the bout that I watched as I scored the fight 114-113 for Cotto,6-6 in rounds,but Cotto getting the edge for a flash knockdown of Clottey in the opening round.
I will say this for the courageous Cotto,he tries hard and gives all he has,but the fighting machine that he was may have been ruined by his knockout loss to Antonio Margarito that now looks so questionable.
Cotto was wincing and moving with every Clottey blow and Clottey is not known for being a huge banger.
Unfortunate for Cotto and his fans that he may have had a career changed by unscrupulous dealings....
Watch over the next few days for a look at the Hagerstown Suns both on the field and thoughts on how things are going off the field as well..
Photo Credits
Bouncing ball:Jim Mone-AP Photo
Cotto-Clottey-Unknown
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