2006 Minnesota Twins season

Last updated

2006  Minnesota Twins
American League Central champions
League American League
Division Central
Ballpark Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
City Minneapolis
Record96–66 (.593)
Divisional place1st
Owners Carl Pohlad
General managers Terry Ryan
Managers Ron Gardenhire
Television WFTC
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden, Jack Morris)
←  2005 Seasons 2007  →

The 2006 Minnesota Twins Season was the Minnesota Twins' 46th season playing in the Twin Cities and their 106th season in the American League. They were managed by Ron Gardenhire and played their home games in the Metrodome.

Contents

The Twins finished first in the American League Central with a 96–66 record. They were swept in three games by the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS. [1]

Offseason

Regular season

The Twins stumbled out of the gate after the death of Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett in late March, accumulating a dismal 25-33 record by June 7. Around that time, the team dropped underperforming veterans like Tony Batista, Juan Castro, and Kyle Lohse, replacing them with talented rookies from the Rochester Red Wings. The Twins went 9-1 in their next ten games, evening their record at 34-34. Interleague play was particularly generous to the team; the Twins had Major League Baseball's best Interleague record at 16 wins and 2 losses. By July 26 the team had won 34 of 42 games, leaving them tied with the White Sox at 59-41, but still 8.5 games behind the division-leading Tigers.

As the season neared its conclusion, the Twins continued to put distance between them and the White Sox, while gaining on the Tigers. A key series starting on September 7 saw the Twins take three out of four from the Tigers. And after a commanding win in Boston on September 19, the Twins found themselves within a half game of the Central-leading Tigers. On September 25, the Twins beat Kansas City 8-1 to secure an American League playoff berth.

A win in a 10-inning game against the Royals on September 28 moved the Twins into a tie with the Tigers atop the AL Central. With that win, the Twins broke a major league record by moving into first place after the team's 159th game. This was the latest in a season that a team moved into first place for the first time all season. (It was a tie for first at this point.)

The Tigers led the season series, so a tie at the end of the season between the Tigers and Twins would have meant the Twins get the wild card. Instead, the Tigers were swept by 100-game-losers Kansas City to end the season, and the Twins took one of three from the White Sox, giving the Twins their fourth AL Central title in five years. It was the first time in major league history that a team clinched on the last day of the season after never having held sole possession of first place.

Season standings

AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9666.593—54‍–‍2742‍–‍39
Detroit Tigers 9567.586146‍–‍3549‍–‍32
Chicago White Sox 9072.556649‍–‍3241‍–‍40
Cleveland Indians 7884.4811844‍–‍3734‍–‍47
Kansas City Royals 62100.3833434‍–‍4728‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

2006 American League record
Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2006
TeamBALBOSCWSCLEDETKCLAAMINNYYOAKSEATBTEXTORNL
Baltimore —3–152–54–23–35–14–63–67–122–44–613–63–68–119–9
Boston 15–3—4–23–43–34–53–31–58–113–74–610–95–47–1216–2
Chicago 5–22–4—8–1112–711–86–39–102–43–35–43–35–55–414–4
Cleveland 2–44–311–8—6–1310–84–58–113–43–64–56–15–44–28–10
Detroit 3–33–37–1213–6—14–43–511–82–55–46–35–35–53–315–3
Kansas City 1–55–48–118–104–14—3–77–122–74–53–51–53–33–410–8
Los Angeles 6–43–33–65–45–37–3—4–26–411–810–97–211–84–67–11
Minnesota 6–35–110–911–88–1112–72–4—3–36–45–36–14–52–516–2
New York 12–711–84–24–35–27–24–63–3—3–63–313–58–210–810–8
Oakland 4–27–33–36–34–55–48–114–66–3—17–26–39–106–48–10
Seattle 6–46–44–55–43–65–39–103–53–32–17—6–38–114–514–4
Tampa Bay 6–139–103–31–63–55–12–71–65–133–63–6—3–66–1211–7
Texas 6–34–55–54–55–53–38–115–42–810–911–86–3—4–27–11
Toronto 11–812–74–52–43–34–36–45–28–104–65–412–62–4—9–9

Notable transactions

Roster

2006 Minnesota Twins
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

2006 Game Log
April
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 4@ Blue Jays 6–3 Halladay Santana Ryan 50,4490–1
2April 5@ Blue Jays 13–4 Radke Towers 18,1561–1
3April 6@ Blue Jays 6–3 Chacín Silva Ryan 16,2211–2
4April 7@ Indians 11–6 Byrd Lohse 42,4451–3
5April 8@ Indians 3–0 Johnson Baker Wickman 25,1071–4
6April 9@ Indians 3–2 Westbrook Santana Wickman 23,3111–5
7April 11 Athletics 7–6 Radke Haren Nathan 48,9112–5
8April 12 Athletics 6–5 Silva Loaiza Nathan 22,6033–5
9April 13 Athletics 8–2 Lohse Blanton 13,5204–5
10April 14 Yankees 5–1 Baker Mussina 30,6225–5
11April 15 Yankees 6–5 Rincón Rivera 42,3166–5
12April 16 Yankees 9–3 Wang Radke 22,6276–6
13April 18 Angels 8–2 Escobar Silva Shields 15,7576–7
14April 19 Angels 12–10 Nathan Romero 21,5077–7
15April 20 Angels 6–4 Gregg Crain Rodríguez 12,9907–8
16April 21@ White Sox 7–1 Buehrle Santana 31,2877–9
17April 22@ White Sox 9–2 García Radke 38,9557–10
18April 23@ White Sox 7–3 Contreras Silva 38,1027–11
19April 25@ Royals 2–1 Liriano Hudson Nathan 12,9118–11
20April 26@ Royals 3–1 Hernández Baker Burgos 9,1888–12
21April 27@ Royals 7–3 Santana Redman 11,3919–12
22April 28@ Tigers 9–0 Robertson Radke 23,2639–13
23April 29@ Tigers 18–1 Verlander Silva 24,2589–14
24April 30@ Tigers 6–0 Rogers Lohse 24,3239–15
May
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
25May 1 Mariners 8–2 Piñeiro Baker 11,7969–16
26May 2 Mariners 5–1 Santana Washburn 14,51310–16
27May 3 Royals 6–1 Radke Mays 15,99611–16
28May 4 Royals 1–0 Affeldt Silva Burgos 11,80311–17
29May 5 Tigers 9–6 Rogers Lohse Jones 23,89211–18
30May 6 Tigers 7–6 Rincón Jones 20,90712–18
31May 7 Tigers 4–2 Santana Maroth Nathan 20,54813–18
32May 8@ Rangers 6–4 Koronka Radke Otsuka 18,60913–19
33May 9@ Rangers 15–5 Silva Millwood 19,31614–19
34May 10@ Rangers 4–3 Loshe Padilla Nathan 23,00815–19
35May 12 White Sox 10–1 Santana Garland 30,47316–19
36May 13 White Sox 8–4 Radke Vázquez 33,02117–19
37May 14 White Sox 9–7 Buehrle Silva Jenks 21,79617–20
38May 15 White Sox 7–3 García Baker 19,41317–21
39May 16@ Tigers 7–4 Robertson Lohse Jones 18,11517–22
40May 17@ Tigers 2–0 Verlander Santana Jones 16,66917–23
41May 18@ Tigers 5–3 Rogers Radke Jones 26,73217–24
42May 19@ Brewers 7–1 Liriano Davis 28,46218–24
43May 20@ Brewers 16–10 Baker Hendrickson 43,42219–24
44May 21@ Brewers 5–3 Capuano Crain Turnbow 35,18019–25
45May 23 Indians 6–5 Nathan Mota 19,33420–25
46May 24 Indians 11–0 Sabathia Radke 22,78920–26
47May 26 Mariners 3–1 Liriano Hernández Nathan 28,08221–26
48May 27 Mariners 9–5 Bonser Moyer Rincón 25,30522–26
49May 28 Matiners 4–3 Nathan Guardado 24,38823–26
50May 29@ Angels 4–3 Shields Crain 40,00723–27
51May 30@ Angels 6–3 Weaver Baker Rodríguez 37,29923–28
52May 31@ Angels 7–1 Liriano Santana 40,00124–28
June
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
53June 1@ Athletics 4–0 Zito Bonser 12,02524–29
54June 2@ Athletics 2–1 Santana Saarloos Nathan 16,13825–29
55June 3@ Athletics 2–1 Halsey Radke Street 23,19425–30
56June 4@ Athletics 5–1 Halsey Silva 25,24725–31
57June 6@ Mariners 4–2 Hernández Liriano Putz 21,02825–32
58June 7@ Mariners 10–9 Mateo Crain 24,78525–33
59June 8@ Mariners 7–3 Santana Piñeiro 27,34126–33
60June 9 Orioles 7–5 Nathan Chen 22,89427–33
61June 10 Orioles 9–7 Cabrera Silva 24,47827–34
62June 11 Orioles 4–0 Liriano Bédard 25,43828–34
63June 13 Red Sox 5–2 Reyes Tavárez 25,53129–34
64June 14 Red Sox 8–1 Radke Clement 26,49230–34
65June 15 Red Sox 5–3 Silva Wakefield Nathan 21,19131–34
66June 16@ Pirates 4–2 Liriano Snell Nathan 33,02532–34
67June 17@ Pirates 5–3 Crain Marte Nathan 34,08533–34
68June 18@ Pirates 8–2 Santana Pérez 25,10434–34
69June 20@ Astros 6–5 Nathan Miller 32,71335–34
70June 21@ Astros 5–3 Wheeler Lohse Lidge 33,24335–35
71June 22@ Astros 4–2 Liriano Clemens Nathan 43,76936–35
72June 23 Cubs 7–2 Santana Mármol 34,36137–35
73June 24 Cubs 3–0 Bonser Prior Nathan 42,30438–35
74June 25 Cubs 8–1 Radke Marshall 35,12839–35
75June 26 Dodgers 8–2 Silva Billingsley 22,25840–35
76June 27 Dodgers 9–2 Liriano Lowe 30,68141–35
77June 28 Dodgers 6–3 Santana Pérez Nathan 34,15742–35
78June 30 Brewers 8–2 Radke Villanueva 28,41243–35
July
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
79July 1 Brewers 10–7 Rincón Turnbow Nathan 35,05644–35
80July 2 Brewers 8–0 Liriano Jackson 35,46645–35
81July 3@ Royals 6–5 Crain Sisco Nathan 28,40146–35
82July 4@ Royals 7–2 Gobble Bonser Dessens 23,99646–36
83July 5@ Royals 6–3 Affeldt Crain Burgos 12,08546–37
84July 7@ Rangers 9–4 Wasdin Silva 30,20746–38
85July 8@ Rangers 4–0 Liriano Rheinecker 36,03547–38
86July 9@ Rangers 5–2 Bauer Santana Otsuka 23,26847–39
87July 13 Indians 6–4 Lee Liriano Wickman 21,08547–40
88July 14 Indians 3–2 Nathan Mujica 21,27948–40
89July 15 Indians 6–2 Santana Sabathia 33,90449–40
90July 16 Indians 5–2 Silva Sowers Nathan 31,83850–40
91July 17 Devil Rays 6–3 Baker Corcoran Nathan 17,07151–40
92July 18 Devil Rays 8–1 Liriano Kazmir 22,80852–40
93July 19 Devil Rays 7–2 Radke Seo 25,86653–40
94July 20 Devil Rays 6–4 Santana Shields Nathan 25,10454–40
95July 21@ Indians 14–6 Reyes Sabathia 29,69555–40
96July 22@ Indians 11–0 Sowers Baker 26,89555–41
97July 23@ Indians 3–1 Liriano Westbrook Nathan 25,88956–41
98July 24@ White Sox 7–4 Radke Vázquez 39,75057–41
99July 25@ White Sox 4–3 Santana Contreras Nathan 36,98458–41
100July 26@ White Sox 7–4 Silva Buehrle Nathan 39,38759–41
101July 28 Tigers 3–2 Rodney Rincon Jones 45,47859–42
102July 29 Tigers 8–6 Robertson Radke Jones 45,49659–43
103July 30 Tigers 6–4 Neshek Bonderman Nathan 43,20460–43
104July 31 Rangers 15–2 Silva Rheinecker 19,53261–43
August
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
105August 1 Rangers 9–0 Eaton Baker 25,96961–44
106August 2 Rangers 10–2 Wells Bonser 26,49261–45
107August 3@ Royals 8–2 Radke de la Rosa 12,02262–45
108August 4@ Royals 8–5 Reyes Dohmann Nathan 19,39463–45
109August 5@ Royals 14–3 Silva Hernández 25,13164–45
110August 6@ Royals 11–5 Reyes Wellemeyer 14,06465–45
111August 7@ Tigers 9–3 Miner Liriano 34,87065–46
112August 8@ Tigers 4–2 Radke Robertson Nathan 35,62466–46
113August 9@ Tigers 4–3 Santana Zumaya Nathan 36,33967–46
114August 10 Blue Jays 5–0 Lilly Silva 30,11867–47
115August 11 Blue Jays 7–1 Burnett Garza 31,81467–48
116August 12 Blue Jays 4–0 Downs Bonser 36,26167–49
117August 13 Blue Jays 5–0 Radke Marcum 32,81168–49
118August 15 Indians 4–1 Santana Westbrook 34,85469–49
119August 16 Indians 7–2 Neshek Carmona 42,32870–49
120August 17 Indians 3–2 Byrd Garza 27,66470–50
121August 18 White Sox 7–3 Neshek García 43,20471–50
122August 19 White Sox 4–1 Garland Radke Jenks 46,21571–51
123August 20 White Sox 7–3 Santana Vázquez 42,53772–51
124August 22@ Orioles 6–3 Loewen Silva Ray 19,75672–52
125August 23@ Orioles 4–1 Garza López Nathan 19,25873–52
126August 24@ Orioles 11–2 Bonser Benson 24,84874–52
127August 25@ White Sox 5–4 Crain MacDougal Nathan 35,93175–52
128August 26@ White Sox 8–7 Eyre Thornton 38,63676–52
129August 27@ White Sox 6–1 Buehrle Silva 35,19376–53
130August 29 Royals 2–0 Redman Garza 24,90476–54
131August 30 Royals 4–3 Hudson Bonser Nelson 28,66876–55
132August 31 Royals 3–1 Santana de la Rosa Nathan 21,28777–55
September/October
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
133September 1@ Yankees 8–1 Lidle Silva 54,31177–56
134September 2@ Yankees 6–1 Baker Karstens Crain 53,22078–56
135September 3@ Yankees 10–1 Rasner Garza 55,15578–57
136September 4@ Devil Rays 2–1 Bonser Corcoran Nathan 15,91079–57
137September 5@ Devil Rays 8–0 Santana Seo 8,25680–57
138September 6@ Devil Rays 4–2 Shawn Camp Neshek McClung 8,49280–58
139September 7 Tigers 7–2 Verlander Baker 21,22980–59
140September 8 Tigers 9–5 Neshek Ledezma 29,04281–59
141September 9 Tigers 2–1 Bonser Robertson Nathan 39,16082–59
142September 10 Tigers 12–1 Santana Bonderman 40,15883–59
143September 11 Athletics 9–4 Silva Blanton Nathan 15,72884–59
144September 12 Athletics 7–5 Reyes Kennedy Nathan 20,99185–59
145September 13 Athletics 1–0 Haren Garza Street 18,90285–60
146September 14@ Indians 9–4 Crain Davis 21,42486–60
147September 15@ Indians 5–4 Cabrera Neshek 32,47386–61
148September 16@ Indians 4–1 Silva Sabathia Nathan 26,75787–61
149September 17@ Indians 6–1 Baker Byrd Guerrier 20,32488–61
150September 19@ Red Sox 7–3 Garza Wakefield 36,24289–61
151September 20@ Red Sox 8–2 Bonser Hansen 36,48490–61
152September 21@ Red Sox 6–0 Beckett Santana 36,43490–62
153September 22@ Orioles 7–3 Cabrera Silva 21,05190–63
154September 23@ Orioles 8–5 Guerrier Bédard Nathan 21,98091–63
155September 24@ Orioles 6–3 Garza Loewen Nathan 23,00592–63
156September 25 Royals 8–1 Bonser de la Rosa 18,10893–63
157September 26 Royals 3–2 Santana Peralta Nathan 24,81994–63
158September 27 Royals 6–4 Redman Silva Nelson 28,54094–64
159September 28 Royals 2–1 Nathan Dohmann 26,25495–64
160September 29 White Sox 4–3 Freddy García Bonser Jenks 45,43995–65
161September 30 White Sox 6–3 Garland Garza 46,21995–66
162October 1 White Sox 5–1 Silva Vázquez 45,18296–66

Team overview

Offense: Power and the Piranhas

For the first time since 1987, the Twins had legitimate power hitters in Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, and Michael Cuddyer. On August 9, Morneau became the first Twin to hit 30 or more home runs since 1987, when Tom Brunansky, Gary Gaetti, and Kent Hrbek did it. The Twins led the Major Leagues in batting average with a team average of .287. [6]

During the same span:

Morneau finished the season with 34 home runs, 130 runs batted in, and a .321 average and was named American League MVP.

Both Morneau and Joe Mauer won their first Silver Slugger Awards.

Hunter enjoyed a late season surge to also reach the 30 home run mark. On September 25, he homered off Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke in the bottom of the 7th inning and became the second Twin to hit 30 home runs in 2006. He finished the season with 31 home runs and 98 runs batted in.

Michael Cuddyer also had a breakout season as the Twins' cleanup hitter. He did not start the season as a regular player, but eventually replaced the ineffective opening day right fielder, Jason Kubel. By June, he was hitting fourth in the lineup, and he finished the season with 24 home runs, 109 runs batted in, scored 102 runs, and hit for a .284 average.

Morneau and catcher Joe Mauer may have finally earned the nickname "the M&M Boys", that had been prematurely applied to them early in the 2005 season. (This was the nickname applied to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in the early 1960s.) Not only did Mauer win the American League batting title, but he led the major leagues with a .347 average, finishing ahead of National League champion Freddy Sanchez. Mauer was the first catcher to lead either the American League or the majors in hitting. Two catchers did win the National League batting title. Bubbles Hargrave of the Cincinnati Reds did it in 1926. Ernie Lombardi led the National League twice: once for the Reds in 1938 and once for the Boston Braves in 1942. However, neither catcher won the major league title.

These strong hitters were complemented by the top and bottom of the Twins' order, where the players gave the hitters plenty of opportunities to drive in runs. Midway through the season, the Twins opted for a lineup that included Jason Tyner batting eighth, Jason Bartlett ninth, Luis Castillo first, and Nick Punto second. Manager Ron Gardenhire said that these players were like four leadoff hitters: all were fast and hit for average but not power. All four hit between .290 (Punto) and .312 (Tyner), but hit a combined six home runs. [8]

Players like this caused Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén to dub the team "the piranhas." [9] [10] Said Guillen:

"All those little piranhas -- blooper here, blooper here, beat out a ground ball, hit a home run, they're up by four. They get up by four with that bullpen? See you at the national anthem tomorrow. When I sit down and look at the lineup, give me the New York Yankees. Give me those guys because they've got holes. You can pitch around them, you can pitch to them. These little guys? Castillo and all of them? People worry about the catcher, what's his name, Mauer? Fine, yeah, a good hitter, but worry about the little [guys], they're on base all the time." [11]

Despite the fact that the term came from a rival manager, it was quickly embraced by both the players and the fans, as well as media outlets such as ESPN. [12] After running a popular "Twins Territory" commercial in 2007 featuring Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto at the Mall of America's Underwater World as "Piranhas" [13] the Minnesota Twins organization marketed official T-shirts, hats, signs, the team even had a "Little Piranha Night" in which piranha finger puppets were given to fans attending the game that evening. [14]

The four finished their MLB careers hitting a combined .274 and just 79 HRs in 14,262 at-bats. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Team Leaders
Statistic PlayerQuantity
HR Justin Morneau 34
RBI Justin Morneau 130
BA Joe Mauer .347*
SB Luis Castillo 25
Runs Michael Cuddyer 102
*Major League Leader

Pitching

For much of the season, the Twins' starting rotation was its most apparent weakness. This is surprising, because the 2005 Minnesota Twins had one of the strongest rotations in baseball. The team started the season with a rotation of Johan Santana, Brad Radke, Carlos Silva, Kyle Lohse, and Scott Baker. By September, only Santana could be counted on for a full, effective start.

Baker was not effective and was quickly demoted to the minors, though he came back a couple times and had a couple competent starts. Lohse was ineffective, surly, and traded to the Cincinnati Reds midway through the season. Radke started slowly but seemed to find his form, providing some consistency to the number two spot before being sidelined with a torn labrum and a stress fracture in his right shoulder. Silva was unable to find his 2005 form, finishing the season with an ERA of 5.94. He did make a few strong starts in September before regressing.

On May 19, talented rookie Francisco Liriano entered the starting rotation. He pitched well enough to earn an All-Star berth, finishing with a 12-3 record and a minuscule ERA of 2.16. Unfortunately, he was sidelined after the All-Star break with elbow problems. He did not pitch at all in 2007, as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Boof Bonser had an up-and-down season, but finished strong with a 7-6 record and 4.22 ERA. This earned him a spot in the postseason rotation. Matt Garza was the team's top pitching prospect, but was inconsistent during his first partial year in the majors.

The Twins had one of baseball's best bullpens. Dennys Reyes, signed to a minor-league deal during the offseason, provided a pleasant surprise with an excellent season as the Twins' sole left-handed reliever. Right-handers Jesse Crain and Juan Rincón set the stage throughout the season for closer Joe Nathan, with homegrown rookie Pat Neshek contributing some solid innings after being recalled from the minor leagues in July. Pitchers like Willie Eyre and Matt Guerrier ate up innings when the starters faltered.

In the May 27 game against Seattle, Jesse Crain – with a lead – loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth. Juan Rincón replaced Crain, and promptly ended the threat – with just one pitch – by inducing Mariner Kenji Johjima to hit into a triple play. Rincon threw 26 more pitches in the ninth for the save.

Team Leaders
Statistic PlayerQuantity
Wins Johan Santana 19*
Saves Joe Nathan 36
IP Johan Santana 233+2⁄31
ERA Johan Santana 2.771
Strikeouts Johan Santana 2451
*Tied for league lead
1Led league

Defense

The Twins finished tied for second place in the American League with a .986 fielding percentage. [19] The team's defense was noticeably stronger when the left side of the infield was revamped in June, when the team traded shortstop Juan Castro to Cincinnati and released third baseman Tony Batista. Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto stepped into those roles, providing an immediate upgrade.

In center field, Torii Hunter won his sixth Gold Glove Award.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Joe Mauer 140521181.3471384
1B Justin Morneau 157592190.32134130
2B Luis Castillo 142584173.296349
SS Jason Bartlett 99333103.309232
3B Nick Punto 135459133.290145
LF Lew Ford 10423453.226418
CF Torii Hunter 147557155.2783198
RF Michael Cuddyer 150557158.28424109
DH Rondell White 9933783.246738

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Jason Kubel 7322053.241826
Jason Tyner 6221868.312018
Mike Redmond 4717961.341023
Tony Batista 5017842.236521
Shannon Stewart 4417451.293221
Juan Castro 5015636.231114
Luis Rodríguez 5911527.23526
Josh Rabe 244914.28637
Terry Tiffee 204511.24426
Phil Nevin 16428.19014
Rubén Sierra 14285.17904
Alexi Casilla 941.25000
Chris Heintz 210.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Johan Santana 34233.21962.77245
Carlos Silva 36180.111155.9470
Brad Radke 28162.11294.3283
Francisco Liriano 28121.01232.16144
Boof Bonser 18100.1764.2284
Scott Baker 1683.1586.3762
Matt Garza 1050.0365.7638
Mike Smith 13.00012.001

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Kyle Lohse 2263.2257.0746

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Joe Nathan 6470361.5895
Juan Rincón 753112.9165
Jesse Crain 684513.5260
Dennys Reyes 665000.8949
Willie Eyre 421005.3126
Matt Guerrier 391013.3637
Pat Neshek 324202.1953
Glen Perkins 40001.596

Playoffs

After the Twins won the division, the American League playoff matchups were decided as follows: number two seed Minnesota Twins hosting number three seed Oakland Athletics, and number one seed New York Yankees hosting the wild card Detroit Tigers.

The Twins were defeated by Oakland in a three-game sweep, ending their playoff run for 2006. The Twins got great starts from both Johan Santana and Boof Bonser (who made his first post season appearance) at the Metrodome. After losing game 1 by the score of 3-2, the Twins came back to even the score at 2 in game 2. With two outs and a runner on first in the top of the 7th inning, Mark Kotsay hit a line drive to center field that Torii Hunter made a valiant dive for. Unfortunately, the ball sailed past him all the way to the wall, resulting in an inside-the-park home run for Kotsay. This play seemed to take all the momentum away from the Twins. The Twins never led in any game in this series.

Other post-season awards

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Stan Cliburn
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Riccardo Ingram
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Kevin Boles
A Beloit Snappers Midwest League Jeff Smith
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Nelson Prada

[20]

References

  1. ↑ "2006 Minnesota Twins Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Rubén Sierra at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Rob Bowen at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ MLB – Detroit Tigers/Minnesota Twins Recap Friday September 8, 2006 – Yahoo! Sports
  5. ↑ The Official Site of The Minnesota Twins: News: Notes: Ozzie praises Twins 'piranhas' [ dead link ]
  6. ↑ "2006 MLB Team Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  7. ↑ http://www.startribune.com/509/story/605847.html%5B%5D
  8. ↑ Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Minnesota Twins – Stats
  9. ↑ http://www.startribune.com/souhan/story/624549.html%5B%5D
  10. ↑ Helfand, Betsy (September 1, 2019). "As Twins continue home run tear, Guillen upgrades them from piranhas to sharks" . Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  11. ↑ Thesier, Kelly (August 19, 2006). "Notes: Ozzie praises Twins". Twins Baseball News. MLB Advanced media, L.P. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  12. ↑ Thesier, Kelly. "Twins embrace 'little piranhas' moniker". Twins Baseball News. MLB. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  13. ↑ "YouTube – This is Twins Territory – Little Piranhas". YouTube. Archived from the original on June 25, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Homestand highlights for Friday, May 4 – Sunday, May 13". Twins Baseball Official Info. MLB. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Nick Punto". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Luis Castillo". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Jason Bartlett". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Jason Tyner". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  19. ↑ The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Stats: Sortable Team Stats
  20. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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