Twins: SP Andrew Albers

 

Alex Presley CF

Darin Mastroianni RF

Brian Dozier 2B

Josh Willingham DH

Trevor Plouffe 3B

Chris Herrmann C

Chris Colabello 1B

Clete Thomas LF

Pedro Florimon SS

 

Astros: SP Paul Clemens

 

Robbie Grossman LF

Jose Altuve 2B

Jason Castro C

Matt Dominguez 3B

Chris Carter 1B

Trevor Crowe RF

Brandon Barnes CF

L.J. Hoes DH

Jonathan Villar SS

 

Things to think about:

 

1. I wonder where Brian is?

Also, why Pinto is not playing today too.

Someone needs to explain why Clete Thomas continues to get at bats. He is not good.

Also, why Pinto is not playing today too.

 

Hermann caught Albers in AAA and they seemed to mesh well together. It's been working up here, too. No sense messing with it- we need to evaluate Hermann as well.

Open ended poll: Labor Day preference, hot dogs versus hamburgers versus brats versus whatever...?

 

We'll be having grilled pork chops, I think.

 

/ leftover chops from the other day - still good when microwaved but lacking some magic

Good point but DH him?

I guess until Mauer returns we'll be seeing a lot of Brian Dozier #3 hitter. Whodathunkit?

Pinto is a catcher, that means he can automatically play the outfield too, right?

Things to think about:

2. Arcia- is his injury so bad that he might be shut down? We keep hearing he's a little ways away. Hopefully he can come back and hurt some baseballs before long.

 

3. Presley- is it time to trade him, when he's at his peak? This year we had too few outfielders, but we are all hoping for a time in the near future when we have too many.

 

4. Kevin Correia- when he's bad, he's very very bad, but he's had some very good starts as well (and not just in April). A couple of his "quality" starts have been cases where a lot of rockets were hit at people, but last night he looked totally in control. I no longer have a complete feeling of dread when he's the starting pitcher. So he's got that going for him, anyway.

Some nuggets from PP Twins guy Beradino: Arcia could be playing as soon as tomorrow. Hicks unlikely to get a recall, while Parmelee likely is coming back when the Red Wings are eliminated.

I just saw that Morneau went 1-for-3 plus a walk yesterday for the Pirates, for an OBP of .500 and a SLG of .333. Thus his lifetime NL OPS is .833, versus his career AL OPS of .832. Further proof that the AL is the tougher league!

Think about Brian so excited by the new twins spending his Labor day waiting for the ticket office at Target field to open so he can buy playoff tickets.

5. Think about Riverbrian... Who was getting around to it.

Not the lineup I was hoping to see today.

Rochesters doing their part to try and make the playoffs. Batting around in the 1st.

Not the lineup I was hoping to see today.

 

At this point, any lineup without Bernier in it is a good one.

Norfork and Durham are tied in the 6th at 0-0. It appears they both had starters making their AAA debuts today (at least for this year).

Escobar now 2-2 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI in the first inning! Jeez...

5. Think about Riverbrian... Who was getting around to it.

 

Rochesters doing their part to try and make the playoffs. Batting around in the 1st.

 

Uh, 9 runs in and they're still batting?

 

Not bad.

Uh, 9 runs in and they're still batting?

 

Not bad.

 

I like Diamond's chance at getting the W...go Rochester!

I like Diamond's chance at getting the W...go Rochester!

 

As a complete gambling n00b, I will ask what may be an obvious question: do sports books offer any interesting/fun propositions in-game when the first inning is like that one?

I like Diamond's chance at getting the W...go Rochester!

 

I guess he's not going to take the easy way -- three singles and the bases loaded with no outs in the third.

A triple play with the bases loaded -- Diamond had it under control the entire time.

Durham & Norfolk 0-0 through 8.

From the ESPN.com pbp:

A Presley fouled out to second

 

Even though I've got a pretty good idea what must have happened, this way of saying it looks funny.

From the ESPN.com pbp:

A Presley fouled out to second

 

Even though I've got a pretty good idea what must have happened, this way of saying it looks funny.

 

The grounds crew was drunk when they drew the lines today.

The 'Stros have 5 guys with BAs over .250.

 

The Twins have one.

Anderson to Albers: "You're getting pounded by the worst team in baseball. Think about that, rook."

Rochesters doing their part to try and make the playoffs. Batting around in the 1st.

 

Same for the Astros it seems.