Caleb Moore
Caleb Moore throws funny. It's like a half-side arm thing at about shoulder height. Video is uploading, but...style not withstanding, he was pretty effective for his two innings on the mound has he started of Saturday morning's blanking of the Boston Red Sox in Fall Instructional League play.
Greg Yersich hit a pair of doubles to lead the offense with 1 run and 2 RBIs in rout to the 6-0 victory.
Moore allowed a single to the first batter he faced, but Yersich took the man out when he tried to steal second. Moore then struck out the next batter before hitting the 3rd man he faced. He would then strike out the fourth batter to retire the side. Brian Dinkelman got on base on the single in the bottom of the inning, but Estarlin De Los Santos and Rene Tosoni posted strike outs on either side of him, and Dink was taken down when he tried to steal 2nd with Deibinson Romero at the plate for a quick first inning.
The Red Sox saw three-up and three-down from Moore in the top of the second. Romero struck out to start the bottom of the second, but Joe Benson singled his way onto base. Juan Richardson hit an outfield fly that moved Benz over to 2nd, before Yersich smacked the first of his pair of double to drive Benson in. Greg Olson fouled out to end the inning.
Rob Delaney would take over for the 3rd in the 4th inning. He walked one man in the top of the 3rd, getting the other 3 on a pair of ground outs and a fly out. Designed hitter Danny Lehmann would crack a pop up that would be caught in foul territory before Mark Dolnec singled his way onto base. Dolnec would be left stranded though as De Los Santos lined out and Dinkelman flew out to end the inning.
Delaney felled the next batter he faced, hitting him the side of the helmet. It's a good thing Delaney doesn't throw hard though, as the man was not seriously hurt. I'm sure he'll still have quite a headache tomorrow. Delaney, sans mustache, then induced the following batter to hit into a double play, and struck the last man he faced to redeem himself. The Twins offense followed that up with 3 strike outs.
Blair Erikson was an interesting fellow up on the mound and he worked quickly too, taking out 3 men on damage control, before the Twins offense got another chance. There is video and film of Erikson, it's worth a look in both cases. Richardson singled, and Yersich followed that up with another double. Richardson would then try to come home on a wild pitch with Olson at the plate, but he'd be taken out at home. Olson would strike out, but Lehmann singled his way onto the bags. Dolenc then smacked a nice double that went under the fence and became unplayable. After a brief argument from the visiting bench, the umpire awarded the Twins with an extra base, which put Lehmann over the plate as well. De Los Santos stuck out to end the inning.
Usually I don't have a problem with De Lo, but he wasn't hitting the ball today, and we got into some problems fielding wise in the next two innings. There was high school "Perfect Game" tournament going on and there were a lot of people around as we were on field 4 and they were using field 3. I ran into them yesterday when I went to the game, so today I parked on the side and came in the "Players Only" entrance - no one pays attention to those signs anyway - to avoid the admission booth for the tournment. So there was certainly a lot of possiblity for distraction.
Distracted is what De Lo looked like when a ball just to the left of second surprised him and when into left-center field for a single, the only one that Erikson would allow in the sixth inning. The Twins 10th round pick in the 2007 draft would use a pair of ground outs and a strike out to retire the side without an ill side effects from the single. Dinkelman struck out to the start the bottom of the sixth, but a Rene Tosoni double got the twins rolling. That would be followed up by a Romero single and a Benson triple to tack two more runs onto the Twins lead. That also finished off Hunter Strickland's stint on the mound for the Red Sox. Richardson would take a ground out off the incoming reliever before Rodolfo "Rocky" Palacios, who was inserted into the game for Yersich, smacked a single to bring in Benson. Reggie Williams would replace Olson in the line up, and he would strike out to end the inning.
Danny Berlind took the mound for the 8th. He stuck out the first man he faced, but the second Red Sox batter hit one to left that De Los Santos ran after but couldn't get under, allowing yet another single for the Red Sox. I think Benson, who was playing left field today, could have handled that, but he pulled up with De Lo running hell fire after the thing. In the end, it wouldn't matter as Rocky took the runner out trying to steal second and Berlind ground out the last batter. Dolnec would take a walk in the bottom of the inning and Dinkelman would hit a single, but there would be no additions to the 6 run lead as Lehmann struck out, De Lo flied out and Tosoni ground out to strand the runners.
Berlind's 8th inning would be be three quick fly outs. Romero would single to start off the twins, but Benson struck out, Richadson flew out and Rocky ground out to end the inning.
It would then fall to Alex Burnett to end the game, which he did in short order, striking out 2 and taking the last man down on a ground out.
The boys had an interesting time with the tournament as they found the balls the kids were using to have overly large seams and to be heavier than the Apply League balls the Twins have been using for Fall Instructional League. The tournment kids on the other hand found the Twins camp endless facinating because "That guy throws his off speed stuff harder than my best pitch!"
Fall Instructional League - Schedule - Roster - FAQs - Video
Alumni News: Miracle alumni Luis Rodriguez was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres. Rodriguez was one of four players the Twins the removed from their 40-Man roster on Thursday. Riverdale grad Tommy Walkins along with former Miracle outfielders Lew Ford and Josh Rabe were all outrighted to Rochester, effectively becoming free agents. Watson will likely be invited back to Twins Spring Training as a minor league player in March.
Right-hander Eduardo Morlan was added to the list of players that would be participating in the Arizona Fall League, replacing former Miracle Brian Duensing on the roster. Duensing will be pitching for Team USA in the IBAF World Cup in November instead of going to AzFL. Miracle alumni David Winfree will not be participating in the Arizona Fall League either due to a strained left shoulder. He is being replaced by Matt Macri, who the Twins acquired from the Rockies in exchange for Ramon Ortiz earlier this year.
Former Miracle outfield Eli Tintor was given a 50-game suspension for violating MLB's drug of abuse rule. He is the 3rd Minnesota player and the 2nd former Miracle to be suspended for recreational drug use. Anthony Swarzak was suspended earlier in the season for violating the same policy.
