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Sunday, April 14, 2013

Twins struggles continue as Mets leave town after 2 game sweep

The Twins on Sunday got a much needed day off in the form of a cancellation of game 3 of the series against the New York Mets.

The Twins sit in last place with a 4-7 record and 5 losses in a row. The encouraging number to look at is no one in the Twins division has taken off. All team above are hovering around the .500 mark with Detroit at 6-5 leading the way. I always try to take a positive outlook and there it is.

Friday’s game was batting practice for the New York Mets in the first 2 innings alone knocking out Twins starter Vance Worley in what he is credited with one inning giving up 9 runs.

The first 3 batters get hits in the first inning and in the 2^nd inning 3 hits, a walk and then a grand slam by Mets catcher, John Buck.

The score after 2 innings was 10-2 Mets. It was so bad that even my favorite pitcher on the staff, Glen Perkins even gave up in one inning 2 hits and 2 runs.

It just what the Twins night, as the two teams played baseball in football weather and even totaled 3 touchdowns and 3 extra points between the 2 teams with the Mets winning 16-5.

Saturday the Twins faced flame thrower Matt Harvey who had no hit the Twins through 6 innings. I was getting worried as it seemed the Twins hitters could not catch up with the heater.

Twins starter, Scott Diamond finally back on the mound for the first time this season I thought looked sharp through the first 4 innings only allowing 2 hits and 0 runs.

This Mets team was a hitting machine this weekend as in the top of the 5^th the hit parade began for the Mets. It is so unreal to have four innings of two hit ball and then have 7 straight hits to start an inning and score 4 runs.

It was nice to see Justin Morneau get his first homer of the year on a positive note.

The two games the big difference besides hitting was the Mets tracking every fly ball and making every play they did in the infield. The hits I thought the Twins had for sure the Mets made the plays. Plouffe made 2 huge errors during the series.

One nice Twins memory from the past was get to see ex-Twin Tim Teuffel back in Minnesota. I really enjoyed watching him when he was in a Twins uniform.

The Los Angeles Angels now come to town as one of baseball big disappointments to date coming into Sunday’s actions with a 3-8 record.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Wild can't solve Borbosvsky

The Minnesota Wild having such a dominating record all year until this week losing 2 games both via shutouts had one more chance to get a win. The Columbus Blue Jackets came in to the X Saturday night on the first game of their 6 game road trip.

Let’s start these guys out their trip with a loss and get some separation from them in the division standings. Minnesota had a chance to sweep the season series for the first time. It is a must win.

I had such a good feeling about the team getting a win. The team must have had the same feeling the way the first period went for the Wild.

The way the first few seconds started in the game with Charlie Coyle taking a match penalty I thought would really get the team sparked maybe from anger in losing a player who was going to be key.

I had been so excited to see Coyle reunited with Koivu and Parise. I liked the move of Jason Ponville with his second line mates. I really thought the lines would produce more. The speculation ended up pointless after Coyle left.

The shots on goal, the scoring chances was crazy to see by the Wild and finally after being held scoreless in the home stand for 135 minutes and 59 seconds Pierre –Marc Bouchard finally lights the lamp. Here we go Wild I thought finally and now we want more.

I am not by any means a huge hockey mind but after watching Jason Zucker perform Saturday I wonder why he does not stay up. The guy is lightning on skates and his shots are very accurate.

I am obviously not a coach just a fan but as a fan I do have hopes and dreams. I want the Wild in the playoffs so bad and the energy this young man has needs to be on the ice.

I love the physical play of Devin Setoguchi and Cal Clutterbuck with all the bone crushing hits on the wall.

The shots on goal continued to pile and the scoring chances had me coming out of my seat in hopes.

I don’t know about you but have we seen a goalie play better against the Wild then Blue Jacket’s goalie Sergei Bobrovsky?

The guy won the game for them. I did not like the chances of the Wild in a shootout the way he played all game.

It was just not 39 shots on goal with many of them quality chances to be a goal.

This had to be the best game the Wild have played in some time yet results as a loss. It is such a shame to have that effort yet a guy play out of his minds in net.

The team is struggling to score; Koivu does not have a point in the month of April. What is it going to take to get this team going?

We have seen the Wild go 7-1 not too long ago. I have talked with many who believe Matt Cullen was bigger than people gave him credit along with Dany Heatley.

Cullen is expected back soon and Heatley out for the year. It will be interesting to see what line combos Coach Yeo comes up with.

Please keep Zucker up whatever you do.

I will close by saying Wild defensemen Clayton Stoner I have a hard time watching. He made the bad pass in the Chicago game and now Saturday I do not know if I have seen a Wild player got beat so bad in a fight.

7 games left with 4 on the road and 3 at home for the Wild. It isn’t too late but unless the team can get some scoring punch figured out was as fans are going to have to hope the team can make the playoffs.

Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus all look tough going into the playoffs. I just want to say the Wild look tough as well.

Come on Wild please be a Minnesota team that does not let me down. GO WILD!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

My first trip to Target Field, in the Winter?

The Twins returned home after a tough road trip. The question in the last few days was would the Twins and New York Mets be able to get the game in with all the snow and cold weather we have been getting.

The Mets are coming to Target Field for the first time ever. I won tickets at work for the Friday night game so I was hoping no cancellation.

I was so pumped to see a team come to Target Field for the first time in history. I was also anxious to see how long I could make it through a game with the temps to get down in the low 30’s.

It snowed all the way up to the game. We entered gate 29 and to the right of the gate was a station set up with free coffee and hot chocolate for those brave enough to face the weather elements.

I had gone to the Vikings-Packers playoff game in Lambeau on January 5^th and now Friday April 12^th I was at Target Field for a baseball game with the same weather like conditions. We had snow and cold for both games.

I dressed the same for both games the only difference is I had a Twins jacket instead of a Vikings jacket on. I had a facemask on with my Twins hat on top of my facemask.

The way the game started with batting practice for the Mets and a terrible error committed by 3^rd baseman, Trevor Plouffe the fans were colder than the weather to the Twins.

What a disastrous way to start a historical series. I do not believe I have been to a baseball game where a team scored 5 runs in each of the first two innings of a game.

It was so fun to look around and see just how warm people would dress. I saw a few snowmobile suits, and tons of warm weather hats. I even saw a couple young men who sat behind the first base dugout with no shits on. The one guy decided he wanted to keep his face warm so he had a scarf wrapped around his face. That makes a lot of sense.

The 6^th inning the scoreboard was scanning the crowd while playing the Winter Wonderland song. This is wrong to be watching a baseball game in football weather.

As cold as it was and I could not feel my feet after the 5^th inning I am so glad to be part of the crazy crowd.

The announced crowd of 23,000 plus was nice to see the number but the actual people in attendance had to be 12-15,000. I looked at the left field 2^nd level in the first inning and counted 29 fans. I looked in the 5^th inning and counted 7. I did notice 2 fans in the very top which looked so funny since the hundreds of open seats available.

The Twins were getting trounced late when I heard a lot of commotion from across in left field. Here the wave began. We were doing the wave in the 8^th and 9^th inning. It did help warm my feet up.

That’s a wrap on the night I call Winter Baseball. If I had a chance to do something like this again I would do it in a heartbeat. I love the Twins and the beautiful stadium they play in.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

GO TWINS!!!!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Another blown chance at home

The start of a 3 game home stand with so much hope, especially since the Wild have been so dominant at home so far this season.

Tuesday the Wild get out played in losing to the number one team in the west, Chicago Black Hawks. It was not only a loss but a shutout loss.

Thursday, lets’ try this over again and forget the loss to Chicago. St. Louis comes in on a 5 game winning streak and tied with the Wild with 46 points each.

The table has been set for a playoff atmosphere with so much on the line. Can the Wild end the Blues win streak? How long will it take the Wild to get their first goal of the game?

Jason Pominville comes within centimeters of getting the game’s first goal. That would have been huge. The goalie as beat with the shot but as the saying goes the goalies best friend, the goal post saved him.

I thought the first two periods the Wild dominated the Blues and yet still down 1-0. On Tuesday I felt the Black Hawks had the rink tipped downhill in the Minnesota zone most of the night. Thursday I felt the rink was dipped downhill towards the St. Louis end. The Wild just could not get the break they needed. Minnesota handled the puck well, passed well yet no score.

Third Period I really thought St. Louis dominated not so much the shots on goal rather would not let the Wild get anything going.

It is hard to believe two home games and both result in shut out losses. 120 minutes of game time and the Wild can’t score. On the road I can believe it, but not in front of 19,000 passionate Wild fans.

8 games left with the next one home Saturday vs. Columbus. If there was a must win game Saturday is it. The team after Saturday goes on the road for 3 next week.

I just want this team just to get one goal and I feel the confidence will come back and more will come. There is just too much talent on this team to not score.

The last 4 games the Wild have been in shutout games. They have been shut out by 3 teams in this stretch (Los Angeles, Chicago, and now St. Louis) and had their own shut out blanking Columbus.

My hopes are still up but I am concerned with injuries to key players. I am really pulling for Jason Zucker to get recalled from Houston. When he was up earlier he showed the speed this team seems to lack.

Go Wild; beat the Blue Jackets on Saturday

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Twins swept in KC

The Twins had just come from Baltimore after taking 2 out of 3 from the Orioles. The Twins move onto Kansas City with a chance to stay in first in the division. How will the 2013 Twins fare in KC?

Twins pitcher Kevin Correia had pitched such a good game going into the 7^th inning with a shutout. The Twins offense just did not support him. It is easy to be a manager from the couch as the question has to be asked. Did Correia stay into long? He pitched so well it was just a shame hoe had to lose it. It is still encouraging to see a starter have a game like this.

The next day Twins pitcher on the mound, Mike Pelfrey who went to college at Wichita State University which is about 200 miles from the Royals stadium. It is his first start in this stadium and with friends and relatives to watch the game go south quickly giving up 5 runs in the first inning.

The first 5 Royals got hits and all 5 scored. The last time Kansas City did this was April 2007. I felt so bad for Mike to have people there to watch him and disaster.

I did like the power the Twins had in hitting 3 home runs with Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham and Eduardo Escobar all going deep. The other bright spot was Escobar not only hitting a home run, which was part of a 3 for 4 for the night.

The attendance difference in the two days was quite drastic. The home opener for the Royals a little over 40.000 were in the stands and it was a 3:10 game. The next game was 7:10 start and 11,000 people were there. A difference of 29,000 is crazy or maybe I am wrong to think this way.

Twins first 2 series had lost game one and won game two and three. This time in Kansas City get swept and now return home to face the New York Mets.

The Twins end the series losing by way of a shutout. The first 2 inning alone Twins have bases loaded and could not score. It was later in the game Trevor Plouffe gets a triple and is stranded. The left on base numbers was embarrassing. Thank God the season is early and the team has a chance to keep working on hitting.

The game had to be miserable for the players to play in. The game appeared to be played in the London fog in appearance. The center field camera made it look so cool. The shot of right fielder, Chris Parmalee wearing a face mask and only his eyes were visible. What a sight!!!

I give the fans credit that were at the game. All I have to say is wow, that is some dedication. The Royals seep the Twins in a series that seemed to have a theme of the Twins just not getting the hit they needed.

Home sweet home and the Twins will be fine. Baseball is back and I am thrilled. Win or lose,it is a never ending subject to talk about.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Wild come up short in return to the X

The Wild, coming off a long road trip are back to home sweet home and the opponent at the X, the first place Chicago Black Hawks.

Minnesota goalie, Niklas Backstrom is coming off a game where he recorded a shutout. The last time Backstrom faced the Black Hawks he was pulled after one period giving up 4 goals. The question is how would he do against the fast skating and tremendously talented Black Hawk squad this time? Can he get back to back shutouts?

The answer in my opinion, he was outstanding. The only goal he gave up was the result of a terrible pass coming out of the zone. Marian Hossa intercepts a terrible pass and made the Wild pay. A guy who has been in the league since the late 90’s just is too talented to give him any sniff of the net.

I thought one of Niklas’s biggest saves of the night came against Patrick Kane coming in on Backstrom one on one. It could have been easily 2-0.

The ice Tuesday night seemed so slanted to the Minnesota end. It was hard to watch the Black Hawks dominate like they did. The shots on goal were one sided and the scoring chances as well. If Backstrom did not play an A game the score could have easily been 4 or 5 to 0.

It is only one loss but with 9 games left the Wild just put that much more pressure on them making Thursday’s next game against St. Louis. It is a must win especially at home. The last time Minnesota played St. Louis, the Blues played a hard hitting and physical game.

A loss sometimes is hard to find positives, but Tuesday I felt there needed to be some praise. The play of Backstrom kept the team in the game I mentioned already. The two Wild penalty kills went extremely well. The Black Hawks have so many snipers but did not have any success at least in Tuesday’s game. The hustle the team showed was much needed and as a fan I appreciate the effort.

The line of Koivu, Parise and Pominville I really thought would be more of a factor. The line that gets my headlines in this game was the fourth line of Torrey Mitchell, Zenon Konopka and Mike Rupp. These guys played an A game. Rupp took a bad penalty but other than that their hustle even the commentators made comments.

It is time to look ahead for the Wild. It was hard watching them skate off after the loss looking so down. The team is home and can get rest and more practice time. There can be no excuses if the team cannot get up for the next game. I am confident they will not let us down.

Let’s GO WILD!!!!!!

Thanks for reading

Purplestick