Post by Fish Troll on Apr 2, 2007 23:53:27 GMT -5
Twins' bats spring to life vs. Orioles
Morneau, Hunter drive in four runs; Santana throws six innings
By Kelly Thesier / MLB.com
MINNEAPOLIS -- Throughout the spring, the biggest question surrounding the Twins had been whether the club's offense would be strong enough to carry a pitching staff that's full of questions.
Monday, the club showed it could do that.
Johan Santana certainly wasn't at his best in the Twins' 7-4 victory over the Orioles on Opening Day before a sell-out crowd of 48,711 at the Metrodome. But he didn't need to be.
After many of the Twins hitters delivered career years in '06, there had been concerns on whether those same hitters could provide similar production this season. But facing a tough lefty in the Orioles' Erik Bedard, the Twins offense showed that, at the very least, it has the ability to pack plenty of punch in '07.
"We've got to keep that kind of offense going and if we do, I think we'll be leading the league," Torii Hunter said. "It's just one day, but we'll try to build off this day and keep it going. That's all you can do."
Santana has been known for his notoriously slow starts, and Monday's contest with the Orioles didn't show that this year would be any different. Santana (1-0) allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings, walking two and striking out six.
With a career ERA in April of 4.42 coming into the contest, Santana certainly hasn't had much success at the start of seasons. In 2006, it took Santana all of 24 days to get his first win of the year, so at least this season, he's picking up the pace a little bit.
"It's always good to get the first one out of the way," Santana said. "I was just trying to hit all my spots and command all my pitches. They were pretty aggressive, swinging early in the counts and putting the ball into play. I was just trying to make some adjustments, battle and throw six innings."
"Jo's always going to give us a chance to win a baseball game, and he did tonight," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That's a good lineup over there. If he made a mistake tonight, they hit it. Just when it seems he's out of gas, he reaches back for a little more and finishes off the last inning out there."
More than anything, the first game of the year was another coming out party for first baseman Justin Morneau. Coming off his breakout '06 season in which was named the American League MVP, Morneau entered '07 with plenty of expectations put upon him.
But it took only one at-bat for Morneau to show that he's not done yet.
Leading off the second inning, Morneau belted a 1-0 pitch from Bedard deep to left that gave the Twins an early 1-0 lead. Hunter followed with a first-pitch homer that carried above the right-field baggie. It was the first time in franchise history that back-to-back homers were hit on Opening Day.
Homers at any time of the year are good, but for Morneau, delivering one in his first at-bat of the year helped ease any pressure that he felt to deliver power.
"That's a good feeling, especially off a lefty and off a guy that good," Morneau said. "To come in and get that out of the way, it definitely takes a little pressure off. We still have 161 games left. Just because it's one good game doesn't mean that it's going to be great from now on. I have to keep battling because you know this game can turn around on you. Just as fast as you're good, it can turn around bad just as fast. You can't get too excited over it."
It wasn't always pretty for the club's first baseman, as he had his share of some bloopers as well, mostly on the basepaths.
In the fourth inning, when Morneau delivered his second hit of the game, he advanced to second on a Rondell White walk. But when Jeff Cirillo delivered a hard-hit single to right, Morneau got waved all the way home and got called out at the plate. Morneau then was thrown out at second in the fifth inning when he tried to stretch a single into a double, and then got beat on ground ball to first in the seventh. Stopping just one base short of the running cycle, Morneau joked that he knows one thing hasn't changed.
"At least we know I didn't get any faster over the offseason," Morneau said with a laugh.
Troubles on the basepaths might have been one thing, but it certainly wasn't a difficult night at the plate for most of the Twins lineup. The team strung together a total of 12 hits.
And knowing that Santana was there to hold the lead couldn't have hurt. The ace extended his regular-season winning streak at the Dome to 17 games, as he has not lost since Aug. 1, 2005 (a total of 24 starts).
Still, the offensive support that he received on Monday encouraged Santana about the club's winning possibilities.
"Everyone here knows what their job is and what they need to do," Santana said. "And they always put pressure on the opponents. This team and bullpen is great. When you mix all that together, you have a pretty good chance to win games. And that was a pretty good example tonight of how we play the game and do the little things."
Kelly Thesier is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Morneau, Hunter drive in four runs; Santana throws six innings
By Kelly Thesier / MLB.com
MINNEAPOLIS -- Throughout the spring, the biggest question surrounding the Twins had been whether the club's offense would be strong enough to carry a pitching staff that's full of questions.
Monday, the club showed it could do that.
Johan Santana certainly wasn't at his best in the Twins' 7-4 victory over the Orioles on Opening Day before a sell-out crowd of 48,711 at the Metrodome. But he didn't need to be.
After many of the Twins hitters delivered career years in '06, there had been concerns on whether those same hitters could provide similar production this season. But facing a tough lefty in the Orioles' Erik Bedard, the Twins offense showed that, at the very least, it has the ability to pack plenty of punch in '07.
"We've got to keep that kind of offense going and if we do, I think we'll be leading the league," Torii Hunter said. "It's just one day, but we'll try to build off this day and keep it going. That's all you can do."
Santana has been known for his notoriously slow starts, and Monday's contest with the Orioles didn't show that this year would be any different. Santana (1-0) allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings, walking two and striking out six.
With a career ERA in April of 4.42 coming into the contest, Santana certainly hasn't had much success at the start of seasons. In 2006, it took Santana all of 24 days to get his first win of the year, so at least this season, he's picking up the pace a little bit.
"It's always good to get the first one out of the way," Santana said. "I was just trying to hit all my spots and command all my pitches. They were pretty aggressive, swinging early in the counts and putting the ball into play. I was just trying to make some adjustments, battle and throw six innings."
"Jo's always going to give us a chance to win a baseball game, and he did tonight," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That's a good lineup over there. If he made a mistake tonight, they hit it. Just when it seems he's out of gas, he reaches back for a little more and finishes off the last inning out there."
More than anything, the first game of the year was another coming out party for first baseman Justin Morneau. Coming off his breakout '06 season in which was named the American League MVP, Morneau entered '07 with plenty of expectations put upon him.
But it took only one at-bat for Morneau to show that he's not done yet.
Leading off the second inning, Morneau belted a 1-0 pitch from Bedard deep to left that gave the Twins an early 1-0 lead. Hunter followed with a first-pitch homer that carried above the right-field baggie. It was the first time in franchise history that back-to-back homers were hit on Opening Day.
Homers at any time of the year are good, but for Morneau, delivering one in his first at-bat of the year helped ease any pressure that he felt to deliver power.
"That's a good feeling, especially off a lefty and off a guy that good," Morneau said. "To come in and get that out of the way, it definitely takes a little pressure off. We still have 161 games left. Just because it's one good game doesn't mean that it's going to be great from now on. I have to keep battling because you know this game can turn around on you. Just as fast as you're good, it can turn around bad just as fast. You can't get too excited over it."
It wasn't always pretty for the club's first baseman, as he had his share of some bloopers as well, mostly on the basepaths.
In the fourth inning, when Morneau delivered his second hit of the game, he advanced to second on a Rondell White walk. But when Jeff Cirillo delivered a hard-hit single to right, Morneau got waved all the way home and got called out at the plate. Morneau then was thrown out at second in the fifth inning when he tried to stretch a single into a double, and then got beat on ground ball to first in the seventh. Stopping just one base short of the running cycle, Morneau joked that he knows one thing hasn't changed.
"At least we know I didn't get any faster over the offseason," Morneau said with a laugh.
Troubles on the basepaths might have been one thing, but it certainly wasn't a difficult night at the plate for most of the Twins lineup. The team strung together a total of 12 hits.
And knowing that Santana was there to hold the lead couldn't have hurt. The ace extended his regular-season winning streak at the Dome to 17 games, as he has not lost since Aug. 1, 2005 (a total of 24 starts).
Still, the offensive support that he received on Monday encouraged Santana about the club's winning possibilities.
"Everyone here knows what their job is and what they need to do," Santana said. "And they always put pressure on the opponents. This team and bullpen is great. When you mix all that together, you have a pretty good chance to win games. And that was a pretty good example tonight of how we play the game and do the little things."
Kelly Thesier is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070402&content_id=1875719&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=min
