Justin Morneau

uns didn’t support him.  Jason Kubel hit his 13th homer which keeps his 3rd place behind Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.  Watching Jason Kubel hit home runs is like watching Lumberjack days.  He just cuts down trees to blast balls covering the fans with his white rocket.  

Continue reading "Jason Kubel's White Rocket"

han 10 runs.  I wish I could except that every night.  If the team hit like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau I could expect it but unfortunately we have 7 other batters in the line up.  

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as Liriano did Sunday against the Rays.

But then you look past the usual suspects, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Oh, Morneau had an RBI to raise his league-leading total to 129.

Think a minute. Many teams don't want to give Morneau anything to hit. He and Mauer both get tons of walks.

Continue reading "Baker cooks up fine start, win for Twins"

a welcome change from the Toronto Blue Jays, who have been beating everybody.

In the first game, Justin Morneau went four for five with two runs and two RBIs; Denard Span was two for five with four RBIs and two runs; Carlos Gomez was two for four with four RBIs and a run; and Scott Baker had a solid outing, allowing just one run in six innings.

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Now the gap is only a game.

The heroes included Justin Morneau, who hit his 23rd homer and knocked in two to up his RBI total to 119; Denard Span, who went three for five with two runs and an RBI; Brian Buscher, who went three for four with a run and an RBI; and starter Nick Blackburn, who allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings.

Continue reading "Twins back in the race"

ffense Wednesday were backup catcher Mike Redmond -- Joe Mauer got the day off -- with two RBIs and Justin Morneau with another run batted in. Morneau upped his total to 98, which is very good. If the Twins wind up winning the division, Morneau should get some consideration for MVP.

Continue reading "Twins beat A's, win series"

But it was the way they did it that's so hopeful for the Twinkies.

Minnesota was down 4-0 before Justin Morneau stepped to the plate in the fifth. Morneau, who's been on a tear, smacked a home run. Joe Mauer's hit tied the game in the seventh with Jason Kubel up. Yup, he followed in Morneau's footsteps with a three-run jack of his own. The Twins scored a few more in the eighth and that was that.

Continue reading "Twins come back, take three of four from Sox"

t's one or two familiar figures and a couple of guys not very well-known outside the Twin Cities.

Justin Morneau is staking his claim to being a legitimate contender for the MVP. (Or if he isn't, I am making the claim for him.) He got the big hit in the five-run fifth inning, clearing the bases with a double. For the record, he has knocked in 82 runs while hitting 17 homers and batting .320. He is on course to have the kind of year he had two years ago when he was the MVP as the team won the division title on the last day of the season.

Continue reading "Twins come back to knock off Sox"

They easily could've swept both series.

Justin Morneau has been in the middle of many wins, and that was the case Sunday when the Twins scored two in the top of the ninth to defeat Cleveland, 4-2. Alexi Casilla got a hit with one out, and then Mike Redmond struck out. Morneau hit a double to plate Casilla, and Jason Kubel knocked Morneau in with a single.

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>Joe Mauer was on third in the bottom of the ninth after walking and advancing on a wild pitch, but Justin Morneau grounded out to end the game.

Mauer, Brian Buscher and the red-hot Delmon Young had the Twins' only hits. I'm not surprised the Rangers scraped out a win in the series -- they're much improved -- but the 1-0 score is a shock. Both teams had been scoring plenty of runs.

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ot;That just tells you how much he has inside of him." 

Also going deep were Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Brian Buscher.

Mauer went two for three with three runs and three RBIs. Morneau was two for four with two runs and five RBIs. Young, who boosted his average to .299, was two for four with two runs and two RBIs after going four for four Friday.

Continue reading "Twins torment Texas"

4; Brian Buscher went two for four with two RBIs; Brendan Harris went two for four with an RBI; and Justin Morneau was one for three with two runs.

It was won in typical Twins' fashion -- with rallies, not homers. The Twins are last in the American League in homer but first in batting with runners in scoring position -- .311.

Continue reading "Twins gun down Rangers, 6-0"

Would you take Kevin Youlikis at first over Justin Morneau? Perhaps, or perhaps not—but Terry Francona must, because The Fans Said So.

And this is just the AL. The NL is “stuck” with Lance Berkman, who’s having a heck of a year, instead of Albert Pujols, whom NL skipper Clint Hurdle had to hand-pick after fans passed on him. Pujols, for those of you who have been asleep since 2001, has been arguably the best hitter in baseball since then. And Ryan Braun’s a whiz with the bat—when he makes contact—but not such a great defender in left. Might you want to shift Nate McLouth, a reserve who normally plays in center, to right instead, since Nate’s OPS is 16 points higher even than slugger Braun?

Continue reading "Gimme A Break!"

y say the Twins are contenders.

A check of Twins' batting averages shows who's hot and who's not. Justin Morneau has been on a tear lately and is hitting .323, just short of Mauer's .324. Alexi Casilla, who's been featured on ESPN's Web Gems lately, is at .316 after getting a couple of hits Saturday. Brian Buscher's hitting .316 and Delmon Young -- who along with Mauer had two hits -- is up to .286.

Continue reading "Twins top Tigers again"

The final: Twins 7, Tigers 6.

Justin Morneau had five hits, two runs -- and the game-winning homer in the 11th. The game was odd statistically. Six Twins players had no hits, yet Nick Punto went three for four with two runs and Denard Span was four for four with two runs and an RBI.

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n and an RBI; Mike Redmond (playing for Joe Mauer at catcher) had two hits, a run and two RBIs; and Justin Morneau, three hits and a run. As manager Ron Gardenhire said, "We left a ton of runs out there."

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Kevin Youkilis holds a slim lead over Minnesota’s Justin Morneau, a worthy one-two punch (pun intended) by any pundit’s estimation. Josh Hamilton is securely entrenched as a starter in the uber-competetive American League outfield. Over in the National League, Lance Berkman, Chase Utley, Chipper Jones and Hanley Ramirez set the pace at their respective positions. On the surface, this would appear to be a banner year for the casual voting fan. But ein minuten bitte!  Miscasts still linger in this 2008 All-star pool. Allow me to dissect and explain three glaring cases:

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Among those with two hits were Carlos Gomez, Alexi Casilla, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and rookie Denard Span. You have to say, though, that if you get 13 hits, you should score more than four runs.

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Alexi Casilla, a keeper at second base, went two for four with an RBI; Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau each had a hit; Jason Kubel, whose average has gone up to .267, had a hit and an RBI; and leadoff man Carlos Gomez had a hit and an RBI.

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You might have been forgiven if you gave up on the Twins on Friday night. They were down 6-3 to a strong Milwaukee team. Twins starter Nick Blackburn wasn't great -- he was chased early.

The Twins had to win in a way they're not used to -- hitting homers. Joe Mauer's power in the eighth inning, only his third of the year, was the decisive blow in the 7-6 Twins win. It was the third Twins' homer of the game -- Alexi Casilla and Jason Kubel went deep as well.

Continue reading "Another day, another comeback win for Twins"

), who held the Padres to three runs in six innings, got his first big-league hit and scored a run; Justin Morneau, who went three for four with a homer and three RBIs; and the bullpen, which held the Padres scoreless over the final three innings.

Continue reading "Twins extend win skein to nine"

scored six runs in the seventh, and it all started with a surprise -- Joe Mauer bunting for a hit. Justin Morneau, Delmon Young, Brian Buscher, Brendan Harris and Alexi Casilla had hits in the inning.

Continue reading "Twins win fifth in row"

uns on a two-run single from Matt Macri, a sacrifice fly from Joe Mauer and an RBI single from Justin Morneau. Monroe capped the outburst with a line drive homer to left-center against Randy Johnson. 

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h good games from starter Kevin Slowey, center fielder Carlos Gomez, and the MM boys, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

The win puts the Twins at .500, 36-36.

Slowey allowed only one run in six innings, and the performance of the Twins' young starters -- Slowey, Glen Perkins and Scott Baker -- gives Minnesota fans cause for hope, especially next year.

Continue reading "Twins swat Nats again"

Against the Sox, the Twins can't pitch, but they can't hit either.  Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are hitless today. And these Twins are a far cry from the 1960s bunch or the team that won a couple of World Series, 1987 and 1991. They can't hit the ball out of the stadium.

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Starbuck relenquished her attack on the President, and was hauled off to a prison cell.

Justin Morneau added a homerun to increase the Twins lead, While Livan Hernandez confused Royals hitters, and dissension broKe out amongst the Cylon elite. Cavil's plan to re-configure and lobotomize the raiders was opposed by D'Anna. A vote ended in a tie, until, the Cylon nicknamed Boomer switched her vote, against her own type, and sided with Cavil.

Continue reading "Battlestar Twins, Part Two"

and offense and in Minnesota he was relieved of that burden the last couple years by Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. I am skeptical that at 32 he is going to be able to sustain the numbers that he put up for the first time last season. On the other hand, if Casey Kotchman and Howie Kendrick (who will both be 25 this season) can develop into the hitters they are expected to be, and Juan Rivera can return to the form he showed before missing nearly all of last season due to an injury, the Angels offense instantly boasts more pop than they demonstrated last year.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: American League West"

gue, who will lead at what category, who will win the awards, and who are the flops.  Enjoy!1B Justin Morneau2B Robinson Cano3B Alex Rodriguez or Miguel CaberaSS Carlos GuillenC Joe MauerOF Tori HunterOF Grady SizemoreOF Magglio OrdonezUTIL David OrtizSP Josh BeckettSP John LackeySP Justin VerlanderCLOSER Jonathon Papelbon

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The Twins gave their fans some good news Friday afternoon when they announced the signings of Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer to long-term deals. Mornea gets $80 million for a six year deal, Cuddyer is getting $23 million for three.

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