DAMON ftw! 3 straight walk off victories.

that tex play was as big as hitting a 2 run homerun...

Posted by djsunyc:

btw, our pen has been great the past 3 games:

friday: 4 ip, 1 run
saturday: 5 ip, 2 runs
sunday: 3.1 ip, 0 runs

those stats are a bit misleading... the pen was great today... not so hot yesterday, they gave up a 3-2 lead that Joba left the game with late in the game & if not for A-Rod's heroics we're talking about how the bullpen failed to do its job again... the day before if not for a late 3 inning comeback in the bottom of the 9th we're talking about how Hughes was inconsistent & the bullpen didn't help matters by giving up another late game run... u can't look at bullpen stats in a vacuum, u have to consider the situation... if they come in with a 5 run lead & they give up 2 over 5, that's a good job... if they come in w/a 1-2 run lead or tie game & they give up 2 over 5, that's called failing to do your job... for holding the tie games in extra innings the bullpen deserves credit, but overall u can still see some big inconsistencies w/their performance & huge issues that still need to be ironed out.

[Edited by - TMS on 05-17-2009 3:08 PM]

our starters have been barely able to finish 6 innings until recently. our bullpen has been overused.

Posted by Allanfan20:

We desperately need Bruney, and relying on Bruney isn't the best thing. He can't stay healthy. He never has.

This team fights though and is showing grit. That's a good thing.

Joe Mauer is f'in awesome.

Another tremendous win today. Very happy for the boys. 3 straight against a red hot team coming in. I was out at the Star Trek movie this afternoon (good movie - go see it) so I didn't see the end of the game live. Just got done watching the highlights. First off, love the Gardner play. That's why he's in there man - I want him trying to make things happen with his wheels. Probably not the right play but strangely I didn't have a problem with that play, but again I wasn't watching it live. Who was on deck there? Burnett looked pretty solid - if only we can get him some more runs.

Just read that Wang pitched 7 scoreless innings today for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and threw 12 groundouts. Hit 92 on the gun. Brian Cashman, looking on, said "he didn't have the slider like he did last time but performance-wise, he did terrific. This is a much better hitting club, but his stuff was better last time although he performed great today." Bruney gave up a run on 2 hits but hit 94 on the gun. Cashman: "He appears healthy. Unlike Wang, he's coming off an elbow injury. You want to see health, and I saw health." Also read in the paper yesterday that Xavier Nady feels "85, 90%" and should resume hitting soon. It'd really be something to get all three guys back 100% ready to go. We gotta see how these guys feel tomorrow but some good signs here...

First off, love the Gardner play. That's why he's in there man - I want him trying to make things happen with his wheels. Probably not the right play but strangely I didn't have a problem with that play, but again I wasn't watching it live. Who was on deck there? Burnett looked pretty solid - if only we can get him some more runs.

i liked the play too... i want this team to be aggressive & Gardner brings that element to the table... always put pressure on the other team to make plays & Mauer did that... just gotta tip ur hat to him... w/1 out & man on 1st & 3rd a DP ends the inning... yeah, u can argue that a sac fly wins the game too, but that was a damn close play & heads up running by Gardner, he almost got in there... i'm fine w/Gardner running in that situation... btw, Cano was on deck.

they should wait for Wang's velocity to reach 94 at least before he gets called back... 92 isn't gonna cut it w/his stuff... 2 mph makes a difference... Bruney's rehab seems to be going well... i don't think this team needs Nady other than to have as a pinch hitting bat off the bench at this point... Melky's playing great baseball, Swisher's our 2nd leading productive hitter on the team & Damon's our best hitter right now... who does he replace? unless u wanna DH Damon but then what do u do w/Matsui? Nady, take ur time.

Posted by VDesai:

Cone was talking about it during the game, but when Wang comes back, why not give Hughes a shot in the pen for a bit? He was very good in the playoffs a few years ago and it will allow him to have an opportunity to build some more confidence on the major league level. What more does he have to game in AAA, and what do we have to lose with giving him a shot here?

it's not Hughes' confidence that needs work, it's his location & control... he walks way too many batters & doesn't locate where he wants to locate... that's not a good mix for a relief pitcher to have... either u keep him in the #5 starter's role & let him iron out his issues, or u put him back in AAA & let him fine tune his control.

They've gotten to 3 over .500 before. I'm really hoping they can keep building this time. The starting pitching 1 through 4 seems to have settled in a lot better, which gives me more optimism. AJ's been a little disappointing but I think he's pitched better than his ERA suggests. He's gone relatively deep into a lot of games which has helped our bullpen.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 05-18-2009 07:54 AM]

The starting pitching 1 through 4

I still haven't lost faith in Hughes. There were a lot of things I didn't like, but I thought he played some gritty ball on Friday night and the fact that he didn't have his control yet was still able to keep his team in the game by only allowing 3 runs says something.

Hopefully he gets one more chance.