jpzx
Supporter
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- Joined
- Feb 7, 2008
Friday, April 10th
[table][tr][td] [table][tr][td]
[/td] [td]R.A. Dickey, RHP (0-0, -.--)
Twins (2-2)[/td] [td] @ [/td] [td]
[/td] [td]Jose Contreras, RHP (0-0, -.--)
White Sox (1-2)[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
Scouting Report:
Twins: Considered on the bubble for a roster spot heading into the final week of spring, Dickey earned the No. 5 spot in the rotation after Scott Baker was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The knuckleballer is coming off perhaps his best spring, having posted a 2.04 ERA in 11 appearances. That included striking out 18 batters in his 17 2/3 innings. A key to Dickey's success has been a more consistent knuckleball, which he worked on this past winter with the legendary Phil Niekro. Now the hope of the Twins and Dickey is that he can translate the improved pitch into regular season success.
White Sox: Contreras' comeback from a ruptured left achilles tendon has been impressive. Contreras suffered the injury covering first base during a game against Boston on Aug. 9. Contreras bounced back from a rough 2007 campaign to finish above .500 and lower his ERA from 5.57 to 4.54. He attacks hitters from a couple of different angles to keep them off stride and was able to throw all of his pitches during his Spring Training recovery. Contreras has a 4-3 record with a 4.13 ERA against the Twins and has a lifetime 26-20 mark with a 4.22 ERA at U.S. Cellular Field.
[/td] [/tr][/table]
Saturday, April 11th
[table][tr][td] [table][tr][td]
[/td] [td]Francisco Liriano, LHP (0-1, 5.14)
Twins (2-2)[/td] [td] @ [/td] [td]
[/td] [td]Bartolo Colon, RHP (0-0, -.--)
White Sox (1-2)[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
Scouting Report:
Twins: Liriano didn't walk away with a win in his first career Opening Day outing, but the Twins were pleased with what they saw from the left-hander. He was able to pitch seven innings, allowing four runs on four hits. His trouble was limited to a couple of mistake pitches, including a hanging slider that he left up for Ken Griffey Jr. to hit for a home run. Liriano will face his first road test of the season when he takes on the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The lefty is 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in two contests there.
White Sox: Colon was as durable as any starter on the White Sox staff when he threw nine complete games for the team back in 2003. But after having bone chips removed from his pitching elbow in October, the White Sox don't expect a lot of nine-inning efforts from the burly right-hander. Colon made seven starts for the Red Sox last year but has made just 35 starts over the past three seasons combined. Colon's velocity topped out in the low 90s during his Cactus League starts.
[/td] [/tr][/table]
Sunday, April 12th
[table][tr][td] [table][tr][td]
[/td] [td]Nick Blackburn, RHP (0-0, 7.20)
Twins (2-2)[/td] [td] @ [/td] [td]
[/td] [td]Mark Buehrle, LHP (0-0, 3.60)
White Sox (1-2)[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
Scouting Report:
Twins: It wasn't the prettiest of starts for Blackburn in his first outing of the year against the Mariners. The right-hander had to battle through five innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. The feeling of the Twins staff was that the numbers were a tad worse than Blackburn's actual performance as many of the hits were bloopers or jammed shots. But the pitcher said that he was going to work between starts on keeping his ball down in the zone as some of his pitches were a little high -- although that was perhaps a result of some first-outing jitters. In his next start, Blackburn will return to Chicago, where he delivered a gem of a performance in the club's 1-0 loss to the White Sox in a one-game tiebreaker for the AL Central title last September.
White Sox: It was not a typical start for Buehrle, as he was consistently behind Royals' hitters and had to work his way out of trouble in each of five innings pitched during his seventh Opening Day trip to the mound. By the time Clayton Richard replaced Buehrle, the White Sox ace had walked three, hit two and given up six hits, but yielded just two earned runs. Buehrle threw 97 pitches, with just 58 of them going for strikes. Buehrle blamed his Opening Day woes on being too amped up and overthrowing instead of just trying to hit his spots. He has the most wins in the history of U.S. Cellular Field at 68 and holds a 21-13 career mark against the Twins.
[/td] [/tr][/table]
[table][tr][td] [table][tr][td]
[/td] [td]R.A. Dickey, RHP (0-0, -.--) Twins (2-2)[/td] [td] @ [/td] [td]
[/td] [td]Jose Contreras, RHP (0-0, -.--) White Sox (1-2)[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]
Scouting Report:
Twins: Considered on the bubble for a roster spot heading into the final week of spring, Dickey earned the No. 5 spot in the rotation after Scott Baker was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The knuckleballer is coming off perhaps his best spring, having posted a 2.04 ERA in 11 appearances. That included striking out 18 batters in his 17 2/3 innings. A key to Dickey's success has been a more consistent knuckleball, which he worked on this past winter with the legendary Phil Niekro. Now the hope of the Twins and Dickey is that he can translate the improved pitch into regular season success.
White Sox: Contreras' comeback from a ruptured left achilles tendon has been impressive. Contreras suffered the injury covering first base during a game against Boston on Aug. 9. Contreras bounced back from a rough 2007 campaign to finish above .500 and lower his ERA from 5.57 to 4.54. He attacks hitters from a couple of different angles to keep them off stride and was able to throw all of his pitches during his Spring Training recovery. Contreras has a 4-3 record with a 4.13 ERA against the Twins and has a lifetime 26-20 mark with a 4.22 ERA at U.S. Cellular Field.
[/td] [/tr][/table]
Saturday, April 11th
[table][tr][td] [table][tr][td]
[/td] [td]Francisco Liriano, LHP (0-1, 5.14) Twins (2-2)[/td] [td] @ [/td] [td]
[/td] [td]Bartolo Colon, RHP (0-0, -.--) White Sox (1-2)[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]
Scouting Report:
Twins: Liriano didn't walk away with a win in his first career Opening Day outing, but the Twins were pleased with what they saw from the left-hander. He was able to pitch seven innings, allowing four runs on four hits. His trouble was limited to a couple of mistake pitches, including a hanging slider that he left up for Ken Griffey Jr. to hit for a home run. Liriano will face his first road test of the season when he takes on the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The lefty is 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in two contests there.
White Sox: Colon was as durable as any starter on the White Sox staff when he threw nine complete games for the team back in 2003. But after having bone chips removed from his pitching elbow in October, the White Sox don't expect a lot of nine-inning efforts from the burly right-hander. Colon made seven starts for the Red Sox last year but has made just 35 starts over the past three seasons combined. Colon's velocity topped out in the low 90s during his Cactus League starts.
[/td] [/tr][/table]
Sunday, April 12th
[table][tr][td] [table][tr][td]
[/td] [td]Nick Blackburn, RHP (0-0, 7.20) Twins (2-2)[/td] [td] @ [/td] [td]
[/td] [td]Mark Buehrle, LHP (0-0, 3.60) White Sox (1-2)[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]
Scouting Report:
Twins: It wasn't the prettiest of starts for Blackburn in his first outing of the year against the Mariners. The right-hander had to battle through five innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. The feeling of the Twins staff was that the numbers were a tad worse than Blackburn's actual performance as many of the hits were bloopers or jammed shots. But the pitcher said that he was going to work between starts on keeping his ball down in the zone as some of his pitches were a little high -- although that was perhaps a result of some first-outing jitters. In his next start, Blackburn will return to Chicago, where he delivered a gem of a performance in the club's 1-0 loss to the White Sox in a one-game tiebreaker for the AL Central title last September.
White Sox: It was not a typical start for Buehrle, as he was consistently behind Royals' hitters and had to work his way out of trouble in each of five innings pitched during his seventh Opening Day trip to the mound. By the time Clayton Richard replaced Buehrle, the White Sox ace had walked three, hit two and given up six hits, but yielded just two earned runs. Buehrle threw 97 pitches, with just 58 of them going for strikes. Buehrle blamed his Opening Day woes on being too amped up and overthrowing instead of just trying to hit his spots. He has the most wins in the history of U.S. Cellular Field at 68 and holds a 21-13 career mark against the Twins.
[/td] [/tr][/table]
