Twins top O's on wild pitch

GCL Orioles 6 at GCL Twins 7

W: K. Mota (2-0, 1.21); L: J. Reyes (0-3, 3.32)
HR: None.

The GCL Twins scored in the bottom of the 10th inning to pick up a 7-6 win over the GCL Orioles on Thursday at the Lee County Sportsplex.

The Orioles jumped on Jean Mijares early when Garabez Rosa doubling with one out on the board. Luis Ramirez flew out, but Jerome Hoes and Edinho Meyer both took walks to load the bags. Omar Casamayor doubled to clean them off. Casamayor would try to stretch it for a triple however and was taken out at 3rd on the throw, letting the Twins have a turn at the plate.

Anderson Hidalgo took a walk then stole 2nd base. A throwing error by catcher Janensis Guerrero advanced him to 3rd. Danny Ortiz would take a walk before Mike Gonzalez doubled to plate Hidalgo. Jae-Hyung Jang struck out and Reggie Wiliams popped out to end the inning.

Hyun-wook Choi singled out to right, then stole second. Wang-Wei Lin, newly reactivated off the DL, took a walk. Juan Sanchez singled to fill the bases. Hicks would pop out before Hidalgo sacrificed in Wook to make it 3-2 O's.

The Twins would tie it up in the 3rd with Mike Gonzales singling. J.J. would reach on a force attempt and Williams single again saw three men on. Wook sacrificed Gonzales in this time for the equalizer.

Miguel Achil replaced Donis De La Cruz for the bottom of the 4th, and got Hicks and Hidalgo to ground out before allowing a line drive single to center. Ortiz then stole 2nd, and would be doubled in by Gonzales to put the Twins on top. Jakub Hajtmar would replace Gonzales as a pitch runner, and J.J. singled Hajtmar in. A wild pitch ty Achil moved J.J. to 3rd, but Williams would ground out to end the inning.

Mijares would hit Xavier Avery with a pitch in the top of the 5th. After Rosa flew out and Ramirez popped out, Avery stole 2nd. Hoes then singled to drive Avery in, to put the Orioles down by only one.

Marcus Moore replaced Achil in the bottom of the sixth, and Hicks singled. Hidalgo doubled to drive in Hicks restoring the two run lead.

The top of the eighth saw Ramirez and Hoes hit back-to-back singles. Meyers' sac-bunt moved the pair and a single to Casamayor scored Ramierz. Grolman Gonzalez sacrificed in Hoes to tie up the game.

Kelvin Mota would replace Tonkin for the top of the ninth. Despite allowing singles to Avery and Rosa, he'd manged to keep the O's off the board. Neither could the Twins capitalize on Hidalgo's walk in the bottom half of the stanza, so the game went into extra innings.

Edinho Meyer singled in the top of the 10th, but Mota took Casamayor out on strikes and got Gonzalez and Guerro to ground out to send the Twins to the plate.

Jean Carlos Reyes took over the pitching for the Orioles and allowed a lead off single to Williams. Wook's sac-bunt moved him to 2nd and a wild pitch by Reyes got him to 3rd. Reyes then unleashed a second wild pitch, putting Williams over the plate and handing the Twins the win.

Gonzales finished up 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a run and a pair of RBIs. Williams was 2-for-5 with a run. Wook and Sanchez were both 1-for-3, Wook with a run and a RBI and Sanchez with a walk.

Hidalgo was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, a double, a run and two runs scored. Ortiz was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run and J.J. and Hicks were each 1-for-5, J.J. with a RBI, Hicks with a run.

The Twins face the Reds on Friday at the Lee County Sportsplex for a noon game; they travel to the City of Palms complex on Saturday for a 10:00 AM contest.

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DSL Twins 6 at DSL Diamondbacks/Reds 1

W: A. Salcedo (4-4, 1.42); L: T. Gutierrez (1-8, 4.19)
HR: None.

The DSL Twins knocked out six run on 10 hits to down the DSL Diamondbacks/Reds on the road Thursday morning.

Henry Rodriguez tripled in the bottom of the first for the Dia-Reds, and came home one out later on a Angel Logrono single for the only host run.

Randy Pina doubled, then moved to 3rd on a Carlos Vasquez sac-bunt in the top of the 3rd. Danny Santana singled him in, then stole 2nd base. Yorby Martinez would reach on fielding error, plating Santana for the second Twins run.

Vasquez singled in the top of the fifth, then advanced on back-to-back ground outs by Santana and Martinez. Mercedes would single him in, for the insurance run.

Gustavo Delgado would replace Dia-Reds starter Teo Gutierrez for the top of the six. Felix Caro flew out before Yancarlo Franco singled and advanced to 2nd on Delgado's throwing error. Juan Blanco took a walk and Pina would be hit by a pitch to load the bags. Franco would try to steal home but would be caught. He should have stayed where he was as Vasquez was then walked. Mario Lujan was brought in to replace Delgado, and Danny Santana doubled off him to clean off the plates, scoring three.

Blanco and Pina were both 2-for-3, Blanco with a triple and a run and Pina with a double and a pair of runs to lead the attack. Danny Santana was 2-for-5 with a double, a run and 4 RBIs. Vasquez was 1-for-2 with a walk and 2 runs.

Mercedes and Franco finished up 1-for-4 each at the plate, Mercedes with a walk and a RBI, while Franco shared the one his wonder title with Jairo Rodriguez, who ended the game 1-for-5.

Adrian Salcedo picked up his 4th win of the season, allowing 1 earned run on 3 hits and a pair of walks while striking out 8 over 5.2 innings.

The Twins host the DSL Cubs1 on Friday for a 10:30 AM Dominican time game. The two teams are tied at 40-24 each for third place in the DSL B.C. North Division, 2 games behind the division leading DSL Yankees2.

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GCL Twins rally past Orioles on rainy Saturday

GCL Orioles 3 at GCL Twins 5

W: K. Nanney (3-0, 0.82); L: M. Moore (2-1, 0.00); SV: K. Mota (10)
HR: None.

Despite a light rain and threatening thunderstorms in the area, and a brief delay in the game, the GCL Twins managed to rally back in the 8th inning to pick up a win over the GCL Orioles, 5-3 at the Lee County Sportsplex Saturday.

The rain limited the already small crowd - there were only 3 people in the stands when the first pitch was thrown. Martire Gracia got off to a sloppy start and battled with his control through the first four innings.

Garcia walked Xavier Avery to start off the contest, then missed the throw to Henry Sanchez at first on a pick off attempt, sending Avery to 2nd. Jerome Hoes singled out to center, scoring Avery, as Aaron Hicks was not about to go running full out on wet slippery grass. Garcia would get Luis Ramierez on out strikes, but then unleashed a wild pitch that sent Hoes to 2nd. Omar Casamayor would go down on strikes as well, but Garabez Rosa singled out to center again, bringing in Hoes.

Chris Ray made a rehab start for the GCL Pirates, and Danny Ortiz and Andres Diaz would take line drive singles off the major leaguer with two outs on the board. Tyler Ladendorf would go down on strikes however, sending the Orioles up to bat again.

A pair of walks and a single to Larry Rivera loaded the bags up in the second inning, but Garcia was able to take Ramirez out on strikes to send the Orioles back to the dugout without crossing the plate.

Hyun-wook Choi singled and would get to 3rd on Reggie Williams fly ball single one out later, but Hicks flew out to end the inning.

The Twins finally get a man crossed the plate in the bottom of the 3rd. Anderson Hidalgo singled. Following a ground out to Danny Ortiz that advanced the runner, a passed ball by catcher Dashenko Ricardo and a wild pitch by Vito Frabizio pushed Hidalgo over the plate to make it 2-1 Orioles.

Garcia finally got going in the fourth, striking out a pair and getting Edwin Cintron to fly out to end the inning. It would end his stay on the mound as well, as he exited, having allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7.

Joe Testa would come in for the top of the 5th and strike out all three batters he faced. The free agent signee has been a great pick up for the Twins his season. Here's hoping he can continue the success that he's had. In any case, that was in it started raining and both teams headed for the shelter of the clubhouse and batting cages. The fans however, do not have too many choices for shelter that do not involve metals, so most fled to their cars.

The shower however was brief and the game resumed. Frabrizio continued on the mound for the O's and Khol Nanney would come in to pitch the next three innings for the Twins.

Jesse Beal replaced Fabrizio in the bottom of the sixth, but the Twins fared no better against him. Marcus Moore would handle the seventh, and would return to the mound for the eighth.

Moore would get Diaz and Ladendorf out on strikes, but issued a walk to Henry Sanchez. Wook reached on a force attempt, and Herbert Lara would come in to replace the lumbering Sanchez. Likewise, the speedy Jon Goncalves would join the game, replacing Wook. A wild pitch by Moore moved he pair, leaving room for catcher Jae-Hyung Jang to talk a walk. All that speed paid off when Reggie Williams doubled bringing in two. With two men left on base, the Orioles would call in Brian Anderson to keep the game close, but Hicks singled to plate the remaining runners, making it 5-2 Twins.

Kelvin Mota would be asked to close out the game but with one out on the board, he'd walk Ricardo. Justin Martin singled to move the O's catcher to 2nd. Larry Rivera would go down on strikes and the O's would put Grolmann Gonzalez in a pinch hitter. Gonzalez got the job done, singling out to center to score Ricardo, but Avery flew out to end the contest giving the Twins the win.

Reggie Williams finished off the game 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, a run and 2 RBIs. Anderson Hidalgo was 3-for-5 with a double and a run. Andres Diaz in the designed hitter role was 2-for-4. Wook and Danny Ortiz (1-for-4) and Hicks (1-for-5) each had singles, Hicks with a RBI as well.

Henry Sanchez finished of 0-for-2 with a pair of walks and 1 strike out.

The Twins are not out of playoff contention yet. Unbeknown to me, the GCL has instituted a wild card slot for 2008 so there will be no more buy for the top ranked team. Instead they will face the wild card team in a one game playoff round. The Pirates are leading the GCL South by only half a game and the Twins 26-16, .619 record puts them solidly in the running for the wild card spot.

Sunday, the Twins travel to Sarasota to take on the Reds, they return home on Monday to face the Red Sox. Both games are scheduled for noon.

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DSL Twins 1 at DSL Orioles 4

W: E. Ramirez (3-2, 2.63); L: L. Vargas (1-3, 3.00); SV: E. Nunez (10)
HR: None.

It was a different story for the Dominican Summer League Twins, who were also playing the Orioles. The O's took an early lead and hung on to win 4-1.

Yancarlo Franco doubled in the top of the six. A wild pitch by Eiri Ramirez moved him to 3rd and Danny Santana would sacrifice him in.

Jairo Perez finished up 2-for-4 at the plate. Wilfy Gil was 1-for-3 with a walk while Yorby Martinez, Jairo Rodriguez and Franco were all 1-for-4. Rodriguez and Franco each had doubles.

Lesmir Vargas suffered his first loss fo the season, giving up 2 unearned runs on five hits while striking out 2 in five innings worth of work. Renzol Reverol worked the next two innings before giving way to Raynard Doran, who gave up 2 runs, earned, on three hits in 1.1 innings while fanning 2.

The DSL Twins rest on Sunday. The face the DSL White Sox on Monday for a 10:30 AM Dominican time game.

The Twins trail the DSL White Sox1 by 2.5 games with 2 weeks (12 games) left in the season.

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Orioles Hangout Community

Hicks has allegedly signed an autograph deal and is no longer "allowed" to sign autographs for fans. I've not had the opportunity to test this out, but I'm sure it will work wonders in alienating his fan base once he gets into a league where they have fans.

Sanchez seemed to think he wasn't going to play as "it's muddy and they don't want to me to reinjure my knee." He played. Sort of.

A reminder to the boys - if you have not picked up your pictures yet, you need to do so. I'm tired of hunting you all down. Just because you are anti-social (Mr. Ortiz) does not mean I don't have pictures for you.

Twins drop two to Orioles

The GCL Orioles haven't won too many games this season, but two of those wins came when they captured both halves a double header at the Lee County Sportsplex on Friday.

GCL Orioles 3 at GCL Twins 1

W: M. Moore (2-0, 0.00); L: M. Munoz (3-2, 3.30)
HR: None.

In game one, Xavier Avery greeted Twins starter Miguel Munoz with a double. A wild pitch by Munoz sent Avery to 3rd. After Garbez Rosa struck out, Jerome Hoes would ground out to plate Avery.

The Twins answered back though in the bottom half of the first, with Danny Ortiz tripling, then coming home on Johnny Woodard's follow up single.

The game would stay tied up until the top of the 5th, when Rosa singled with two outs on the board. Hoes' line drive moved Rosa to 3rd and a Omar Casamayor ground ball single put him over the plate.

Avery doubled in the top of the 7th moved to 3rd one out later on a Hoes single and was scored by a Casamayor ground ball to right.

Justin Moore and Marcus Moore would scatter seven Twins hits over the seven inning contest.

Their best scoring chance came in the bottom of the 3rd when Aaron Hicks singled, stole 2nd and moved to 3rd on Johnny Woodard's force out. Henry Sanchez would then walk to load the bases, but Tyler Ladendorf flew out to strand the runners.

Munoz would surrender 2 runs on eight hits while fanning 8 over five innings. Kohl Nanney worked the last two, giving up one run on 4 hits while striking out one.

Ortiz and Choi were 2-for-3 a the plate, Ortiz with a double, a triple and a run. Woodard and Ladendorf were 1-for-3, Woodard with a RBI, Ladendorf with a double. Hicks finish up 1-for-4.

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GCL Orioles 8 at GCL Twins 5

W: J. Almanzar (1-2, 8.16); L: J. Mijares (0-2, 5.56); SV: J. Reyes (2)
HR: None.

Andrei Lobanov, Jean Mijares and Kelvin Mota all got a bit of shelling in the second game, although the GCL Twins almost got as many as they gave up. Still the GCL Orioles went on to a 8-5 win to finish off the afternoon.

In the top of the third inning, Francsico Mejia singled and Xavier Avery doubled off the Twins Russian starter. A sac-fly by Javier Santana allowed Mejia to score. Jerome Hoes would follow that up with a triple that drove in Avery. Omar Casamayor then singled in Hoes to give the Birds a 3 run lead.

Javier Brown walked in the bottom half of the stanza and moved to 2nd on Herbert Lara's single one out later. Anderson Hidalgo singled to drive in Brown to make it 3-1 O's.

Jean Mijares would take over in to top of the fourth for Lovanov, who left the game after surrendering 3 runs on six hits in three innings. Edwin Cintron reached on a fielding error by Mike Gonzales with one out on the board. Mejia's ground out moved him to second and an Avery single plated him.

Tyler Ladendorf would reach on a fielding error by Javier Santana, then move to 2nd on wild pitch by the O's Sam Taveras. After Danny Rohlfing went down on strikes, another wild pitch moved Ladendorf to 3rd. Reggie Williams ground out served to score him before Brown ground out to end the inning.

Jon Goncalves walked in the bottom of the 5th off reliever Jorge Almanzar. Lara ground out, moving Goncalves to 2nd and Hidalgo doubled him in. Danny Ortiz followed up with is own double to plate Hidalgo. Ortiz would move to 3rd on a Gonzales ground out. Almanzar would then let go of a wild pitch that allowed Ortiz to cross the plate, to make it 5-4 Twins.

The O's answered back in the of the sixth though with Justin Martin singling with one out on the board. Grolmann Gonazlez would replace Martin as a pinch runner. Edwin Cintron walked and a wild pitch by Mijares put Gonzalez at 3rd. Kevin Mota would come in to replace Jean Mijares. Dennis Perez, pinch hitting for Mejia, took a walk off Mota and Avery singled to drive in Gonzalez. Following a pop out by Santana, Hoes singled to bring in Citron and Perez, making it 7-5 Orioles.

Edinho Mayer doubled off Mota on the top of the 7th, moved to 3rd on Michael Gioioso's bunt single and scored on wild pitch by Mota to give the O's 8.

Hidalgo was 2-for-4 for the Twins with a run and 2 RBIs. Ortis was 1-for-2 with a walk a run and a run scored. Lara (1-for-4) and Rohlfing (1-for-3) each had a single. Brown and Goncalves were both 0-for-2 with a walk and a run each, Ladendorf was 0-for-3 with a run and Williams was 0-for-3 with a run scored.

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DSL Cubs1 at DSL Twins 2

W: H. Mayora (3-2, 1.62); L: P. Guerra (5-2, 2.20); SV: A. Florentino (6)
HR: None.

Pedro Guerra has pitched well for the DSL Twins this season, but he'd take the loss Friday against the DSL Cubs1, who took 3 runs off of him, only 1 earned, on 7 hits over 7 innings, he'd fan 9.

Carlos Carrillo surrendered 2 more hits, both earned on 3 hits and a pair of walks in the last two innings.

The Twins got off to a good start with Danny Santana singling then stealing 2nd. Jhonatan Arias and Manuel Soliman would then go down on strikes before Oswaldo Arcia reach on a fielding error by Cubs shortstop Robert Bautista that also scored Santana.

In the bottom of the second, Eliel Sierra doubled, then came home, two outs later, on Santana's triple.

But they could not solve Hector Mayor after that. The Twins would get 10 hits, but were unable to string together a successful attack.

Juan Perez was 3-for-4 but did not factor into the scoring. Arias and Sierra were both 2-for-4, Sierra with a double and a run. Santana was 2-for-5 with a triple, a run and RBI while Felix Caro was 1-for-4, the one hit wonder of the contest.

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Mejia's double lifts O's over Twins

GCL Twins 4 at GCL Orioles 5

W: M. Moore (1-0, 0.00); L: A. Lobanov (2-1, 3.65); SV: J. Reyes (1)
HR: None.

The GCL Orioles rallied past the GCL Twins at Twin Lakes Park to pick up a 5-4 win Sunday afternoon. The double header scheduled for Sunday was rescheduled to the July 25, 2008 to prevent the Twins from playing back-to-back double headers on Sunday and Monday.

The Twins got on the board first with Aaron Hicks taking a walk, then stealing 2nd. He'd advance to 3rd on a throwing error by O's catcher Dashenko Ricardo. Danny Ortiz hit into a ground out that plated Hicks.

Miguel Munoz took the start for the Twins and would not give up a hit until the 3rd inning, when he allowed a single to Francisco Mejia.

The top of the fifth saw Danny Rohlfing double and Anderson Hidalgo walk. Jakub Hajtmar ground out, advancing the pair. Herbert Lara's single to right brought them in, helped in part by a fielding error charged to Justin Martin.

Ricardo would take a single of Munoz in the bottom of the stanza then move to 2nd on Jose Kianes ground out. Following a fly out to Martin, Michael Gioioso doubled to plate Ricardo and a second double, to Mejia would bring in Gioioso before Javier Santana flew out to end the inning.

Andres Diaz doubled with one out on the board in the top of the sixth. Rohlfing singled to advance him to 3rd and a Hidalgo line drive plated him for the Twins' fourth run.

Munoz would finish up allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while fanning 4 over six innings worth of work. Andrei Lovanov would replace him in the 7th.

The Russian reliever would get Richardo out on strikes before Kianes drew a walk. Martin and Gioioso hit back-to-back singles, scoring Kianes, cutting the Twins lead to one run. Mejia then doubled to plate the two runners, putting the O's on top.

The Twins would load the bases in the top of the 9th before the O's got Jean Carlos Reyes in to stop them. Reyes would get Mike Gonzales out on strikes and Diaz to hit into a fly out to end the game.

Rohlfing and Hidalgo were both 2-for-3, each with a double and a run, Hidalgo with a walk and a RBI as well. Lara was 2-for-4 with a RBI. Diaz, in the designed hitter role, was 1-for-5 with a double and a run while Landedorf was the game's one hit wonder, finishing up 1-for-4 at the plate.

That was one more hit than Hicks got as 0-for-3 at the plate, but he walked twice and also had a run for the Twins.

The Twins return home to Lee County Sportsplex on Monday to take on the GCL Reds in a double header. Game time is 11:00 AM.

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GCL Twins top GCL Orioles, 6-5

GCL Twins 6 at GCL Orioles 5

Current Record: 37 - 19

W: J. Eacott (3-0, 2.28); L: L. Madrigal (2-1, 1.65); SV: L. Martin (1)
HR: None.

The GCL Twins capped off their regular season with another win, defeating the GCL Orioles 6-5 at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota.

The Twins took an early lead in the first when James Beresford and Ben Revere both drew walks off Baltimore's Leonardo Madrigal. A wild pitch moved the pair along. They would be plated by Yangervis Solarte's single to short. A throwing error by Robert Vasquez would give Solarte an extra base. That proved dangerous as Juan Richardson brought him in with a line drive out to right. Richardson would be caught stealing through, and Madrigal found a pair of outs to retire the side with.

The Twins added to their lead in the 3rd, when Revere singled, stole his 21st base of the season and came home on an Angel Morales line drive.

A wild pitch by Winston Marquez, and a walk led to a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd for the O's.

The Twins took advantage of a pitching change in the top of the 7th, when Andrew Conklin hit Danny Rams with a pitch. A pair of singles by Nick Papasan and Beresford, and another plunked batter, this time Revere, lead to 3 more runs with the last coming on Solarte's sac-fly out to left.

A fielding error by Papasan, and pair of wild pitches and a balk by Jose Acosta lead to 2 more runs. Then with Lee Ellis at bat, Acosta let loose three straight wild ones to move Robert Vasquez around the diamond and bring him home. Ellis would end up walking, but Arthur Bonevacia lined out to end the inning.

Richardson was the only player with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 as the Twins used the final game of regular season to give a lot of the players work, with many players rotating out during the game.

Charles Nolte, Rodney Guessman, Dominique Rogers, Jarrad Eacott and Lee Martin each pitched an inning for the Twins.

The Twins travel to Tampa on Tuesday to face the GCL Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. The winner of today's contest will progress to the best-of-three championship series against the GCL Dodgers.

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End of Regular Season

Instructs: Members of this years GCL team that have been invited to instructs are pitchers Danny Berlind and Charles Nolte, catchers Danny Rams and Alexander Soto, infielder James Beresford, Jeanfred Brito, Nick Papasan, Juan Richardson and Jon Waltenbury, and outfielders Angel Morales and Ben Revere. Also included is infielder Reggie Williams who has not played previously this year.

Great Expectations from Goose

I was questioning the wisdom of going to watch a game on Saturday, especially with what was amounting to a super-head cold and voice that was kind of squeaky and sort of came and went.

But I figured, what the heck, the sun would do me good, grabbed a half gallon of orange juice and headed out to the ballpark.

I've had little luck catching the minors players as two weeks ago they moved the game up until 10:00 to allow for travel time to the Trop and last weekend the Reds forgot to show up.

I was told Friday night that the Rookies had won 10-1 over the Pirates, so I was hyped to get to see them on Saturday.

The Orioles showed up with a double bus load. I quickly figured out we had Rookie Blue on one field and Rookie Red on the other. Even under the influence of cold medication, I'm quick on the uptake like that. Then I wondered what game I wanted to watch.

Eventually, I saw Joe "Goose" Gault, who is one of my favorite players, and I croaked "Blue" and "Red" pointing the respective fields.

"Oh, I'm closing for team Red," he says.

"I knew someone would come along and eventually tell me where to go," I rasped as I joined him on the walk to Field Two.

"They have me closing mostly now," he says. "I kind of like it."

Goose "kind of likes" everything the Twins give him to do, even if it's collecting foul balls, something I've seen him doing a lot of during extended spring training.

I watched him pitch quite a bit last season in the Gulf Coast League and probably know more about him than any other player down in the minor leagues. But this is not why I like him.

I like him because I've watching him pitch some very good games.

Consider the "Fried Chicken" start last Fourth of July:

"Joe Gault started on the mound for the Twins and issued three straight strike outs to close out his first inning. His counter part on the Reds, Frankie Keller, returned the favor, but used damage control to take out the three first Twins batters. Gault would allow a double to Carlos Sanchez in the second, but was other wise up and down. Keller struck out Dante Blancarte. Christopher Brown would hit a single, but Jilmar Arriata would hit into a double play to end second for the Twins.

"Goose was cooked by the middle of the fifth but had a solid outing allowing only one earned run on four hits while striking out eight."

There were more. His 5.18 ERA was not really indicative of his performance, but of a few bad outings that even Rick Knapp could not explain.

"Sometimes, you're mechanically good," Knapp said, "and they still hit you."

Knapp, by the way, considers him a legitimate prospect.

Gault was drafted in the 24th round of the 2003 draft out of Canyon High School. His high school coach was only one of two coaches that Gault has had problems with in baseball. The other was a little league coach, but after his mom took him back -- kicking and screaming -- the next season, he fell in love with baseball all over again.

Canyon was difficult though as they wanted him to throw twice a week, potentially endangering his arm. He refused, and so when the scouts came around, they had a hard time getting a look at him. He'd be held out from pitching just for spite.

But it would come back to haunt the coach eventually. With crosscheckers present, Gault was allowed to put in a bull pen performance. But suddenly Canyon found themselves without a relief pitcher. Gualt was all warmed up.

He threw 93-miles-per hour that performance.

While his parents considered colleges, the Twins came a knocking at the door. And the majors only knock once.

Gault joined the Gulf Coast League Twins and has been there for the last two season. He is expected to be moved to the Elizabethton team. His slow down?

"Gulf Coast League Syndrome." We know it happens, we just don't know why. Pitchers generally lose 5 MPH off their pitches, be it the heavy air or the exhaustion related to playing under a 90+ degree sun with 100% humidity in the middle of summer.

So Knapp's challenge to Gault has been to get his speed back up, and that is what Goose has been diligently working on.

Now, don't let all of this fool you. With a 6'5" lanky frame, Gualt is well in a position where he can be throwing some mid-to-high 90 MPH heaters once he fills out. He just need to grow into his power. He reminds me of Travis Bowyer quite a bit in that respect.

And yes, there will be a period in which his control will fall off as he adjusts to the increase in speed.

So don't count on him rising fast and furious through the minors. But look for him to make a big splash a couple or three years down the road when everything suddenly comes together for him.
And it will. If there is one thing Goose is not afraid of, it's hard work.

"I kind of like it," he says.

Saturday at the Park

The Twins lost 4-1, but the game wasn't a total waste. For one thing we had a father and son pair show up. For them, it was an unexpected delight. They'd stopped to purchase Miracle tickets for the Saturday night's game and the 7-year-old noticed the baseball players on the back field and wanted to go check it out.

They never realized that was all back there. The kid started out by running down foul balls. The first one he brought back and gave to a player and they gave him a drink of Gatorade in return. Before you know it he was trading foul balls for Gatorade and when he wasn't chasing balls, the players were teach him drills. They took a real shine to him. Had him in the dugout, tried to let him swing a "real" bat, and loaned him gloves.

It was fun to watch them and it showed a side to players I rarely see. But perhaps he was one of their own. "He's been baseball crazy since the day he was born," the boy's father said. "If he's not outside playing baseball, he's inside playing baseball on the Play Station 2." And for seven, the boy was very well versed in the game and actually knew what he was watching.

As for the father, well, it's always fun sharing my passion with a newbie. Danny Vais' family joined us in the stands and there was actually a good turn out on both fields.

on the game side of things, Jeff Schoenbachler took the start allowing (by my count) one run on seven hits, while fanning three. He issued no walks. I'm reasonable sure that the run would be unearned though as the players advanced on a throwing error by the 2nd baseman during the inning.

Vais pitched a scoreless inning in the sixth, while Jose Castillo allowed a run in the seventh. The problem was the eighth inning, a performance by a player I only know as "Willey". And yes, I walked over to the office and looked for a new roster but there were none available.

Eddie Ovalle had the RBI in the first and Jilmar Arratia hit for a double in the seventh. That was probably our best chance to score again, but Arratia was taken out at third as Joe Arabella reached on a fielders choice, Larry Jones struck out and Rodalfo Palacios flew out to end the inning.

Jones turned in an excellent performance in the field however, with four put outs in the first three innings. He tried for a fifth, running full tilt into the fence which caused a moment of concern for players and spectators alike. But Jones played football and was quick to get up, dust himself off and throw the ball back in.

This is the second week I've seen a very good effort out of Jones. Two weeks ago when I was watching he turned in a phenomenal performance on the basepaths. I don't think this defense or his baserunning are holding him back, only his batting. He was 1-for-3 with two strike outs Saturday.

Odannys Valdez was 2-for-3 in the game, and was walked once. Patrick Ortiz has the lone run for Fort Myers.

I'm sure they would have played harder if I could have yelled louder, but as it was my voice was sparse and coming in patches.

We also saw some very good pitching out of the O's kids, so I won't hold the game too much against the boys. I know they were trying their best.

Another Crawford in the System

Australian righty Nathan Crawford as reported to camp. Nathan is the younger brother of Miracle reliever Tristan Crawford.

I've not had the pleasure of seeing him pitch yet.

Crawford, who is 6'5" and 18 years old appealed to the Twins for both his height and the smooth action he has with his arm. He has however had some medical problems in the past, including bone chips in his right elbow and bicep tendonitis. The Twins believe he has recovered fully from both, but they will certainly be keeping an eye on his health.

He is expected to spend the summer with the Gulf Coast League Twins, so I will have a bit more to say once I've seen him throw.

Fox back in Action

1st Rounder Matt Fox is back to throwing duties although I've not caught him yet either. Perhaps this is a good thing. He's been off for nine months and while he said his arm felt fine, the rest of him did not.

It will take a bit for him to work back into shape after the layoff, but he did say it was nice to throw without pain for once. And that yes, he said it was really nice to get back out on the mound.

In other news, Beloit pitcher Billy Mauer retired this week following another flair up of tendonitis. "He's going to move on." said minor league director Jim Rantz in a recent article in the Star Tribune. Fellow Snapper Angel Gracia is expected to miss two weeks with an impingement in his right shoulder.

In AA Rochester, Jake Mauer has been activated off the DL, as has pitcher Kevin Cameron. Southpaw Jan Granado was added to the disabled list.

The Twins released infielder Jesus Merchan, placed pitcher Peter Tautor on the disabled list and reassigned him to extended spring training, and activated outfielder Justin Arneson (not to be confused with FSL broadcaster of the year Sean Aronson).

More Miracle news coming soon, including word on the 2005 Miracle card sets. Three first rounders! How can you resist?!