Date: 6/13/10

Opponent: Atlanta Braves

Home/Away: Home

Starting Pitcher: Slowey

Final Score: L 7-3

Record: 36-27

Recap: That was pretty awful, on all accounts. Obviously this is a very late post, and I don't think we need to rehash that one too much, but what in the hell kind of lineup was that? I get that players need a day off, but combining Mauer's day off, Span's day off, and the continued absence of Hudson and Hardy, we ended up with an unbelievably terrible lineup. Our infielders, with the exceptions of Morneau and possibly Valencia, are really struggling right now. Then with Mauer DHing, Butera had to catch, and we all know that he is not exactly known for his offense. The way Gardy constructed the lineup was rather unfortunate as well. He put Punto in the leadoff spot, Plouffe second (and he has really struggled batting there), while Harris and Butera were 8th and 9th. The end result was 4 easy outs in a row. I'm fairly certain the Braves starting pitcher laughed his ass off when he saw the lineup. The 4 combined to go 0 for 13 with 1 walk. The only good news was that they didn't really leave too many people on base since we had so few baserunners. 

There were only 4 hits in the game and 2 walks. Our big hit was a 3-run home run hit by Skinny Delmon. At least he's really raking right now. Perhaps the lack of offense would have been less of a problem if Slowey hadn't gotten whacked around like a piñata in the 1st inning. A 4-run deficit can be a daunting obstacle. One of the runs was unearned thanks to a throwing error by Punto. Slowey allowed another run in the 2nd, and another in the 5th. He gave up 2 home runs in the game. Mijares also gave up a run on a homer. Hopefully with Span and Mauer back we can put a more productive lineup out for the Rockies series.

Best Moment: Skinny Delmon's homer.

Most Questionable Moment: Practically the whole lineup.

Worst Moment: The 1st inning.

Quotations of the Day:

• "It's not about the lineup. It's about us not pitching today and getting deep in the hole. I don't care who's in your lineup, when you get behind like that, it makes it pretty tough." - Ron Gardenhire
• "I think it comes down to execution, and I didn't execute well enough today." - Kevin Slowey
• "I played against him in high school, and he beat the crap out of us then, and he did the same thing today." - Delmon Young, on Braves starter Kris Medlen.

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Kevin Slowey (4.2 innings pitched, 9 hits, 1 walk, 2 home runs, 6 runs, 5 earned runs, 1 loss)