Javier Vasquez Topic Page

A quality start from Boof Bonser wasn't enough to overcome the continued offensive struggles of the Twins. Through seven games their offense is averaging only 2.7 runs per game and they've been limited to 1 or less run in 3 games.

A quick note that I've got an article over at Ballhype discussing many of the free agent signings of last off season, so please check it out and hype it up, if you deem it worthy. It is the first of what I expect to become regular baseball columns at Ballhype. It gives me a good opportunity to expand my focus beyond the Twins once every week or so.

The Twins and White Sox had their first meeting in early April shortened to two games because the White Sox bullpen was tired of cold weather. The two teams ended up splitting the low scoring series. Both teams have lost five of their last seven, but the White Sox have just ended a five game losing streak with 2 wins over the LA Angels. They sit next to each other in the standings, each a growing distance (now about 4 games) from the hot Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers.

The Twins lost their first game of the season as they just couldn't get their bats going in the cold weather. A lot of Twins fans will point to Carlos Silva's start as an indication of good things to come, but I'm still a bit skeptical. Hitters don't like cold weather and when you look at the fact that Javier Vasquez held the Twins to just 1 hit in 6 2/3 innings, it's probably more likely that the hitters were just struggling in the cold. The cold can only do so much, so we still have to give Silva credit for an effective outing.

The series has been cut short due to cold weather and wind on Friday, but it appears that the next two games will go on as scheduled. Sidney Ponson will be shuffled to Monday leaving Carlos Silva to get the start on Saturday afternoon and Johan Santana to pitch on Sunday. The White Sox will stick with their original rotation plan by having Javier Vasquez pushed back to Saturday and left handed rookie John Danks face off against Santana on Sunday.

Friday night's series opener between the Twins and the White Sox was the game that the White Sox were supposed to win. Boof Bonser hadn't shown much all season long and the way of the offense has struggled over the past week and a half, it appeared the Twins would need good pitching to win games. However, Boof pitched just well enough to keep the Twins in the game and the bullpen shut down the White Sox, allowing just one hit—a weak infield chopper— in the final 3 2/3 innings of the game.

The Twins got off to a slow start on Monday night in Chicago. Despite having baserunners in scoring position in the 3rd and 4th innings, Javier Vasquez managed to hold the Twins scoreless through five innings. In the meantime Brad Radke had given up a homerun in each of the 4th and 5th innings. However, they were both solo homers, so the damage was minimal. The Twins matched the White Sox in power on Monday night; the difference was the Twins had more baserunners on when the balls left the park.

Through the first 4 1/2 innings of Saturday night's game Brad Radke worked the Twins into a 0-4 deficit and the bats remained largely silent against Javier Vasquez. Radke pitched a quick 1st inning but allowed 1 run in each the 2nd and 3rd innings. Radke gave up 2 more runs in the 5th making the expected outcome of the game look pretty bleak.

The Angels gave the Twins every opportunity to win this game, yet it still took 10 innings for the Twins to finally squeeze out a victory in the high scoring affair. Mistakes by the Angels included 2 errors, a balk and 7 walks by Angel pitching.

In Baseball, you'd rather be playing well in the month of September than in April, so you have some momentum going into the playoffs. However, when it comes to making the playoffs, April games count just as much as those in September. The first few weeks of the Twins' season could prove to be pretty important when it comes to how the season is going to turn out. Let's take a look at the tough matchups they'll be facing right away.