Saturday, August 02, 2003
I'm going to lead with reporting that Shannon Stewart got picked off with the "pitcher fakes to third with runners on the corners then checks first" routine. Ouch.
The Twins just had their 16-game winning streak against the Tigers snapped. Johan Santana goes tomorrow. I think Detroit is the kind of team that he will just overpower, but we'll see about that -- my predictions about the Twins haven't gone so well this year.
At any rate, I've seen Santana go twice, once against Brandon Webb and once against Barry Zito, and he looked like the second coming of Steve Carlton: 14.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 14 K. He beat Webb 3-1 while filling in for Rick Reed before the All-Star break, and left with a 1-0 lead against Zito in his first start at the Metrodome since replacing Joe Mays in the rotation with one out in the 8th, but LaTroy Hawkins gave up a game-tying hit before the Twins touched Zito for two runs in the bottom of the 8th. Santana got a well-earned standing O for his effort against the A's. The first three hits he gave up were infield hits, and Zito had only given up one hit at that point -- a soft liner over a drawn-in infield that would have been caught if Chavez would have been playing at normal depth. That's how close it was to being a double no-no through seven innings in that game. The blossom has fallen a bit from Santana's rose but I don't think the Tigers will give him too much trouble (if I may step out on a limb with that prediction).
I look forward to checking in from time to time, probably mostly about the Twins, or whatever catches my eye in the stats section at SI.com.
Tom
posted by Tom Renbarger 7:59 PM
