Filed under: MLB | Tags: 2008, All-Star Game, Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB, MLB All-Star Game, Rosters, Sports
American League
Starters
C Joe Mauer, MIN
1B Kevin Youkilis, BOS
2B Dustin Pedroia, BOS
SS Derek Jeter, NYY
3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY
OF Josh Hamilton, TEX
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS
OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
DH David Ortiz, BOS
Pitchers
P Justin Duchscherer, OAK
P Roy Halladay, TOR
P Scott Kazmir, TB
P Cliff Lee, CLE
P Joe Nathan, MIN
P Jonathan Papelbon, BOS
P Mariano Rivera, NYY
P Francisco Rodriguez, LAA
P Ervin Santana, LAA
P Joe Saunders, LAA
P George Sherrill, BAL
P Joakim Soria, KC
Reserves
C Dioner Navarro, TB
C Jason Varitek, BOS
1B Justin Morneau, MIN
2B Ian Kinsler, TEX
SS Michael Young, TEX
3B Joe Crede, CWS
3B Carlos Guillen, DET
OF J.D. Drew, BOS
OF Carlos Quentin, CWS
OF Grady Sizemore, CLE
DH Milton Bradley, TEX
National League
Starters
C Geovany Soto, CHC
1B Lance Berkman, HOU
2B Chase Utley, PHI
SS Hanley Ramirez, FLA
3B Chipper Jones, ATL
OF Ryan Braun, MIL
OF Kosuke Fukudome, CHC
OF Alfonso Soriano, CHC
Pitchers
P Aaron Cook, COL
P Ryan Dempster, CHC
P Dan Haren, ARI
P Brad Lidge, PHI
P Tim Lincecum, SF
P Ben Sheets, MIL
P Edinson Volquez, CIN
P Billy Wagner, NYM
P Brandon Webb, ARI
P Brian Wilson, SF
P Kerry Wood, CHC
P Carlos Zambrano, CHC
Reserves
C Russell Martin, LA
C Brian McCann, ATL
1B Adrian Gonzalez, SD
1B Albert Pujols, STL
2B Dan Uggla, FLA
3B Aramis Ramirez, CHC
SS Cristian Guzman, WAS
SS Miguel Tejada, HOU
OF Matt Holliday, COL
OF Ryan Ludwick, STL
OF Nate McLouth, PIT
Filed under: MLB | Tags: A.L. Central, Baseball, Ben Sheets, Interleague Play, Kevin Slowey, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, MLB, Sports
| The team didn’t spend much time on the losing track though, as they bounced back yesterday for a 5-0 victory behind the masterful performance of pitcher Kevin Slowey (W, 5-6). Slowey pitched a complete game, gave up just 3 hits, and struck-out 8 for his first major league shut-out. The Twins dealt Ben Sheets (L, 9-2) his first road loss of the season. Sheets worked 7 innings, gave up 9 hits and 5 runs, all of them earned. Coming in to Sunday’s game with the Twins, Sheets was 6-0 on the road in 10 starts.The Twins 10-game winning streak began back on June 17th with a 3-game home sweep of the Washington Nationals followed by a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They had a quick 3 game road trip and swept the San Diego Padres before returning home to face the Brewers again. The Twins are 13-2 in their last 15 games, dating back to their series in Milwaukee. During that time the Twins beat pitchers Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy (Trevor Hoffman blown save), Greg Maddux, and Ben Sheets. |  |
The Twins were the benefactors of a Cubs sweep over the White Sox last weekend, but they didn’t get any help from them this time around as the Sox swept the Cubs. This puts the Twins 1½ games out of first in the A.L. Central with 13 games to go before the All-Star Break.
The Twins closed out Interleague Play with a major league best 14-4 record against teams from the opposing league. The Twins will look to ride this success all the way to the All-Star break through what appears will be a tough stretch of games. The team opens a 3-game series at home tonight against the Detroit Tigers and they get 3 more against the Cleveland Indians before they hit the road to close out the first-half of the season. The schedule concludes with the Twins taking on the Red Sox for 3 games in Boston and another 4 against the Tigers in Detroit.
It’s tough to call any games in the first-half of the season must-win when you’re sitting just 1½ out in your division, but with the way the White Sox and Tigers are playing and the All-Star Break fast approaching, these next to weeks could be make-or-break for this young Twins squad.
Filed under: MLB | Tags: Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Jason Varitek, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Kevin Youkilis, Minnesota Twins, MLB All-Star Game, Sports
It has taken Mauer three consecutive weeks of strong voting to catch Varitek, despite posting a .331 batting average on the year, second only in the AL to the Texas Rangers DH Milton Bradley and New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who are batting .332 entering the day. In addition to batting a solid .100 better than Boston’s Varitek, Mauer has a .110 edge over him with a .417 OBP. Mauer currenlty leads the race for the American League’s starting catcher spot by a slim margin of 44,775 votes.
In a slightly more balanced All-Star balloting race Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is gaining ground on the Boston Red Sox Kevin Youkilis, who I feel resembles a lumberjack. The latest poll has Youkilis leading Morneau, who I affectionately refer to as ‘Hoser Papi,’ by just under 270,000 votes with just over a week left in the balloting. Morneau is batting .305 on the year, with 11 HRs and 59 RBI, while Youkilis is batting .304, with 13 HRs and 47 RBI.
Here’s hoping Morneau can continue to gain ground and Mauer can hold his, and fend off the feverish voting of Boston fans. The last thing we need to see is another All-Star game in which half of the AL team is composed of Yankees and Red Sox. Lets get some young, talented faces out there, as opposed to say a grizzled veteran that’s batting a paltry .231 on the year.
Vote Here for the 2008 MLB All-Star teams. Vote 25 times a day for the next 8 days if you so desire. Balloting ends at 11:59 PM ET Wednesday, July 2, 2008.
