4/16/05: Twins/Indians

[Timberwolf]

After a great game last night, both teams resume this series with an afternoon game today. I expect today to be as good as yesterday.

Dave Gassner will make his first start for the Twins today. He is filling in for Carlos Silva as Carlos is on the DL for 15-days with a torn cartliege. This is a big start for him. I hear lot of good things about him so I like to see what he does. You know the saying about how you should make the most out of your opportunity. Well Dave has an opportunity to do some good things and stay with the club. With the uncertainity of how Kyle and Joe Mays are going to do, Dave can somehow cement his way to the starting rotation if he can pitch pretty well when he has that opportunity. This is huge for sure. I really hope he does well. It will only put pressure on Kyle and Joe to get it done.

Dave is known as a "throw-in" as part of the Shannon Stewart-Bobby Kelty deal that was made in July during the All-Star break couple of years ago.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/5351426.html

For more info on Dave, check out this article that Patrick Reusse did on him and his family today.

Gassner vs. Milwood

[Durango53]

Gassner to make Major League debut
Minnesota (7-3) at Cleveland (4-6), 12:05 p.m. CT

The Twins and Indians have a quick turnaround when they meet in the second game of their series Saturday afternoon at Jacobs Field.

Left-hander Dave Gassner will be making his Major League debut for Minnesota against Cleveland's Kevin Millwood.

Gassner, called up from Class AAA to take the rotation's fifth spot, was 16-8 with a 3.41 ERA last season at Rochester. In his only start for the Red Wings this season, he allowed one run on five hits over six innings.

Minnesota is riding a five-game winning streak.

[Durango53]

MIN: LHP Dave Gassnerhttp://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/434559.jpg
• Major League debut

CLE RHP Kevin Millwoodhttp://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/119154.jpg
• 0-1, 1.38 ERA in 2005
• 0-1, 6.00 ERA in 2004 vs. MIN

[Durango53]

Players to watch
Shannon Stewart is 3-for-5 lifetime with two doubles in his career vs. Millwood.

[Durango53]

Quotable
"Take it in and enjoy it. Throw the ball over the plate and let the boys play. I bet he'll handle himself fine." -- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire on Gassner's big league debut

[Durango53]

Quick hits
Joe Mauer has hit safely in each of his last three games. ... Terry Tiffee has five RBIs in his first two games since his recall from Class AAA Wednesday. ... the Twins scored first Friday for the first time in 10 games this season.

[Durango53]

On television
• MIN: FSN North
• CLE: FSN Ohio

On radio
• MIN: WCCO 830-AM
• CLE: WTAM 1100-AM

[curt4074]

didn't gassner get a start or 2 last year?

[Timberwolf]

Nope, Curt. That was J.D. Durbin

Gassner looked good in the first. Got a big strikeout.

[Timberwolf]

2-0 bad guys

Jose Hernandez hit a two-run HR off Gassner at left field.

Stupid Punto. He should have caught that ball.

I gotta say that our infielders has had a rough go at it with catching the ball and throwing the ball so far. It's something we have to live with for awhile

[Timberwolf]

Great job by the Twins this afternoon as they beat the Cleveland Indians 6-4. This is the second straight win against them in the three-game series.

It was a great game today. Indians had a 2-0 lead till Lew Ford hit a big three-run HR to give the good guys the lead and then Torii broke it open with a three-run HR of his own to give the Twins a big lead. It was good to see the offense come through and it was good to get that big two-out hit. The Twins have done a very good job all week getting that big hit with runners in scoring position.

Torii has had a good series against the Indians. It's good to see him get it going. I have a good feeling that he will have a huge year with his offense and he is showing you that this week,

Lew has been fantastic this week too. It's good to see him do well.

There was some good defense in this game as Juan Castro made some good throws in preventing the Indians in a hit and Jacques Jones made a huge play to rob Johnny Peralta of a extra-base hit. That play by Jacques may have been the turning point of this game.

The story of this game was Dave Gassner. He was fantastic out there today. I loved his composure. He was huge when he was in jams. He got better as the innings went out. I wanted six good innings out of him and he did just that. I am very proud of him. This performance was a huge pick-me-up for sure. I hope Dave can keep this up for several more starts because that would put lot of pressure on Kyle and Joe Mays to really step it up or risk losing their jobs. You know the saying about how competition can be a good thing.

Gassner's counterpart, Kevin Milwood did a darn good job too. Unfortuantely for him, he gave a pitch that was a easy to hit for Lew. He was done in the eighth when he gave up that three-run HR to Torii. I was suprised that Eric Wedge would leave him out there.

Terry Mullholland has been fantastic. Yeah he gave up a two-run HR in the ninth, but he was fantastic in the seventh and eigth. He saved Juan Rincon, J.C., and Jesse Crain from pitching in the game. You don't want to overuse your relievers so I am glad Terry tried to finish this game. It would have been nice to see him finish the ninth, but I am glady Gardy went with the Nathanator (nickname for Joe Nathan) to finish the game with 1 out. This is a game the Twins needed to win so I was glad Joe was there to finish it. You don't want to blow an opportunity to win this game.

Good win today. I am ready for the sweep. I want this sweep especially with the gangsta on the mound tommorow not to mention She-ca-go just keep winning.