Baker sharp as Twins turn back Indians 4-1

Scott Baker improved to 6-0 in the second half of the season and Joe Nathan rebounded from a blown save on Wednesday as the Twins beat the Indians 4-1 at Progressive Field on Saturday afternoon.

[RUKiddingme]

I'm ready anytime you are Morneau.

[WALGAG TOKYO]

GROUND CONTROL to Major Rip Van Morneau.
Dear Justin: That was a great idea sending in the cardboard cutout of yourself while you went into deep hibernation on Aug. 1 somewhere in the far reaches of Outer Space. Unfortunately, the cardboard Morneau hasnt done nearly as well as the genuine Justin. Today for example, the dummy went 0 for 5, grounding into a double play, before flying out with the bases loaded.
Major Morneau, your team hasnt been eliminated from the pennant race yet, but we are not doing well with nothing but a cardboard simulacrum of a real big league hitter creating a black hole in the fourth spot of our batting order. Please wake up and come back to earth soon. We need you.

[hammer]

big deal.....pitching a gem against the AA level players that litter the Cleveland roster means nothing to me .... you can write about how good he is when he shuts down the Yankees , Red Sox , Tampa , Angels ....wait he can't .... or Joe Nathan "rebounding" for a save against these same Indians ... Geez , impressive .... almost as impressive as getting a 3 run win save , which he has many of this year .... and let's not forget those mighty Twinkies' bats ripping the heck out of that Indian staff .... wait , this must be a dream I'm having

[Farm Boy]

Has Justin recovered from his inner ear infection? Is he still on medication? This all seemed to start when he had that problem. Something isn't right with him.

[brachiosaurus]

Gardenhire should move Kubel and Cuddyer up in the batting order and allow Morneau to battle out of his slump in the no. 6 hole. Gardenhire has given Morneau plenty of time. Kubel has been hitting and could man the clean-up spot, or Cuddyer even against left-handed pitching with Kubel no. 5 in that event.

Baker has pitched well. The Twins have gotten good outings from the starters, the best of those against Chicago considering the caliber of the Teams. Cleveland, however, just isn't that good. The Twins need to take this series. Detroit is playing well and Chicago has come on strong since their victory at the dome.

[Mad Dog Gus]

Mired in a late-season swoon, Justin Morneau went 0 for 5. He grounded into an inning-ending double play in the first (one of Minnesota's three in the game and its 21st in 14 games against Cleveland this season), and, with the bases loaded in the seventh, flew out to the warning track to end the inning.
Late season swoon???? Morneau's batting average in August was .220, he's only hit 4 hr's since July, he's only had 14 RBI's since July, and he hasn't had one hit in September. Why is he batting cleanup?
Maybe he's still tired from the 2008 HR Derby!

[TC Florida]

Baker is a good pitcher as his 2nd half reflects. Imagine him as the Twins #2 behind a legit ace. That is the off-season work that Smith needs to get done. Trade, free-agent ... I don't know who is available, but that would turn the franchise from decent to very good next year and entice Mauer to sign long-term with the hometown team!

[hammer]

TC Florida wrote:

Baker is a good pitcher as his 2nd half reflects. Imagine him as the Twins #2 behind a legit ace. That is the off-season work that Smith needs to get done. Trade, free-agent ... I don't know who is available, but that would turn the franchise from decent to very good next year and entice Mauer to sign long-term with the hometown team!

baseball stats are for a full year....you can't just choose which parts of a season you like and say "he's as good as this half reflects" .... no, he's as good as his stats reflect for the full year, which would be just an average pitcher....how could he be a #2 guy ??.... Gardy says he has 5 #1's on his staff .... every starting pitcher is the same "Radke" clone style pitcher....you need a couple guys who can bring the heat a little to change up things a little

[TC Florida]

The staff would be stellar if they could move Baker down to 4 or 5 but I'm talking about the Twins here. Fans would be lucky to get an ace that would put Baker at 2. My point is even that would greatly improve the teams chances of competing. Plus, if you looked at Morneau's stats in the 2nd half you'd be tempted to call him a poor hitter, which would be untrue. So, Baker started off poorly, he is currently the best pitcher the team has and is really quite good

hammer wrote:

<quoted text>baseball stats are for a full year....you can't just choose which parts of a season you like and say "he's as good as this half reflects" .... no, he's as good as his stats reflect for the full year, which would be just an average pitcher....how could he be a #2 guy ??.... Gardy says he has 5 #1's on his staff .... every starting pitcher is the same "Radke" clone style pitcher....you need a couple guys who can bring the heat a little to change up things a little