Ben Revere @BenRevere9
twitter.com "
I thank GOD everyday for making me a better man a better son a better teammate and a humble person. Through your eyes Lord I hope you see"
Former Twins “Dazzle Man” Dan Gladden, along with Twins players Anthony Swarzak, Trevor Plouffe and Chris Parmelee were in Morris on Thursday as part of the Twins Caravan. "MORRIS, Minn. - Former Twins “Dazzle Man” Dan Gladden, along with Twins players Anthony Swarzak, Trevor Plouffe and Chris Parmelee were in Morris on Thursday as part of the Twins Caravan.
Click the video about to learn how some of these players came to play for the Twins and what the prospects for the team are this year. "
"NEW YORK -- Right-hander Jason Marquis shook off his early struggles, and Justin Morneau hit two homers to power the Twins to a 6-5 win over the Yankees on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
Marquis, making his first start of the season after making two tune-up starts with Double-A New Britain, looked rusty in the early going, as he surrendered three runs in the first inning. Six of the first batters he faced reached base, but he got Eric Chavez to ground into a double play with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Marquis settled down after that frame, allowing only one more run on a Robinson Cano solo homer, and he ended up tossing five innings to pick up the win.
The Twins got out to an early lead against the Yankees for the third straight game, scoring four runs in the first against right-hander Hiroki Kuroda.
Jamey Carroll brought home Denard Span with a double before scoring on a double from Joe Mauer. Morneau then crushed his first homer of the game on a first-pitch fastball from Kuroda to bring home two more runs.
Morneau stayed hot with a single in the third, and later scored on Sean Burroughs' first hit of the season after a double from Chris Parmelee.
And in the fifth, Morneau was at it again, hitting his second homer of the night off Kuroda to chase the right-hander from the game. It marked Morneau's fourth blast of the season and his third of the series.
Relievers Brian Duensing and Jared Burton held the Yankees scoreless, and Matt Capps gave up a solo homer to Derek Jeter in the ninth. "
American League Central
Team W L PCT GB
Detroit 9 3 .750 -
Cleveland 5 4 .556 2.5
Chi White Sox 6 5 .545 2.5
Minnesota 4 8 .333 5.0
Kansas City 3 9 .250 6.0
"MINNEAPOLIS -- Trevor Plouffe is starting to turn heads with the way he's been swinging the bat over the last month.
Dating back to May 16, Plouffe leads the Majors with 13 homers in 22 games. He entered Saturday's game having homered in six of his last seven games, with seven homers over that span.
"It's pretty amazing to tell you the truth," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It seems like every night he hits one. It's a pretty amazing feat. He's a guy who's pretty locked in, and seeing it pretty good."
Even Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said he couldn't believe how much power Plouffe has been supplying, as Plouffe hit two homers off of Yovani Gallardo on Friday.
"I thought OK, if we make our pitches, we'll be fine," Roenicke said. "We didn't make our pitch in the first one. That was right where we weren't supposed to throw the ball -- fastball first pitch, middle-in. But the second at-bat -- he was on every single pitch we threw him. All different pitches. He fouled off a curveball, slider, great fastball down and away. And then we throw him a changeup low, and he hits it in the upper deck. He's locked in. He's to the point where I'm wondering, what do you throw this guy?"
Plouffe, who already has set the club record with eight Interleague homers so far this season, said he can't put into words why he's been on such a tear.
"It's hard to explain," Plouffe said. "I'm just trying to ride the wave as long as possible. I'm trying to help the team win. I'm putting good swings on pitches, laying off pitches, getting myself into better counts."
" Plouffe's game-tying homer
06/15/12
00:48 mlb.mlb.com "
6/15/12: Trevor Plouffe's second solo shot of the game lands in the second deck in left field to tie the game at 3 in the sixth inning
Statistics
"DETROIT -- It took a total team effort, but the Twins were able to hand manager Ron Gardenhire his 900th career victory on Monday night at Comerica Park.
Seven of the nine Twins starters combined for 13 hits -- all singles -- as they roughed up Tigers right-hander Doug Fister, and the bullpen tossed five scoreless innings to secure a 6-4 win over Detroit that extended Minnesota's win streak to four games.
Gardenhire became just the second manager in franchise history to reach the 900-win plateau, joining Tom Kelly, who holds the team record with 1,140 managerial victories. Gardenhire is now one of nine skippers in the Majors with at least 900 wins, a list that includes Tigers skipper Jim Leyland.
"First, you have to have the opportunity to be here," said Gardenhire, who deflected the credit back to ownership, the front office, his coaching staff and the players. "This is 900 wins for our organization, and I just happen to be the manager and I'm proud of that. I'm proud of this organization, proud to be a part of it."
Minnesota was held hitless through the first 3 1/3 innings, but it broke out with a four-run fourth. Ben Revere, Joe Mauer and Josh Willingham provided three consecutive singles to bring home the first run before Trevor Plouffe laced a two-run single and Ryan Doumit brought home a run with a single of his own.
"I really just didn't execute there in the fourth inning," Fister said. "I felt good the first three, and then the ball got up on me a little bit and they capitalized on it."
The Twins tacked on two more runs in the fifth, when Denard Span drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a single by Mauer after Revere singled. Mauer's single knocked Fister out of the game in favor of reliever Luis Marte. Justin Morneau came through with a hit to plate Revere, with the run being charged to Fister, who gave up six runs on eight hits over four-plus innings.
Right-hander Liam Hendriks appeared in line for his first career victory, as he took a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth, but it wasn't to be.
The first four batters Hendriks faced in the top of the fifth reached base. He gave up a two-run double to Miguel Cabrera and then left the game after walking Prince Fielder. Anthony Swarzak relieved Hendriks but allowed only a Delmon Young sac fly.
"It's too bad we couldn't leave him out there to get a win, but we've got to win a ballgame," Gardenhire said of Hendriks. "We're too many games behind right now to take too many chances."
As a result, Hendriks, who surrendered four runs on six hits over four-plus innings, was saddled with a no-decision to stay winless in 12 career starts.
"It's definitely nothing I think about on game day," Hendriks said of his winless streak. "It gets frustrating when it's not my day to pitch and stuff like this, but I try not to think about it too much. It's going to come. Tonight, the guys did a real good job of putting runs on the board, and I wasn't able to follow through."
Swarzak (2-4) picked up the victory by tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Hendriks. He left the game in the seventh with two runners on and two out, but Alex Burnett was able to strike out Brennan Boesch to get out of the jam. Burnett tossed a scoreless eighth before handing it off to Glen Perkins, who picked up his third save.
The bullpen's strong performance helped Gardenhire reach his milestone, and Swarzak said he was proud to be a part of it.
"It's great," Swarzak said. "He's had some pretty good players come through here in the past to get those 900 wins. He's a wonderful manager. He's fun to play for. So we'll see where it goes, and hopefully, he has a few more in him."
Rhett Bollinger is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Bollinger Beat, and follow him on Twitter @RhettBollinger. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs
"
American League Central
Team
W
L
PCT
GB
Chi White Sox
42
37
.532
-
Cleveland
40
39
.506
2.0
Detroit
39
41
.488
3.5
Kansas City
36
42
.462
5.5
Minnesota
34
45
.430
8.0
"..Morneau and Trevor Plouffe both extended their hit streaks to 14 games. Morneau finished 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs, and is two games shy of tying his career-best hit streak.
"It's been a while since I've had one of those," Morneau said of his four-hit night. "Hopefully it's just the start of the second half starting to turn around for everybody. I've been putting in the work and it's nice to see those results. Obviously those nights are few and far between but that's what you hope for as a hitter, is a good day like that." ..
Games I attended
JULY
1st: 10-8 Win (vs. Royals)
Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals Pre Game2012
