2009 Minnesota Twins season


The 2009 Minnesota Twins season was the 49th season for the franchise in Minnesota, and the 109th overall in the American League. It was their final season at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome with their new stadium, Target Field, opening in 2010. They ended the regular season as AL Central champions after defeating the Detroit Tigers in a one game tie-breaker. They were then swept in the American League Division Series by the New York Yankees.

Regular season

On April 17, Jason Kubel hit for the cycle, becoming the ninth Twin to accomplish the feat. Kubel joins just six other American League cycle-hitters that filled the 'HR' slot with a grand slam home run.
On May 22, Michael Cuddyer hit for the cycle, becoming the tenth Twin to accomplish the feat. When he homered twice in the seventh inning on August 23, Cuddy became the only man ever in baseball to accomplish both feats in the same season. Prior to Kubel last month, the eight previous Twins' cycle hitters were Rod Carew, 1970; César Tovar, 1972; Larry Hisle, 1976; Lyman Bostock, 1976; Mike Cubbage, 1978; Gary Ward, 1980; Kirby Puckett, 1986 and Carlos Gómez, 2008.
After 319 consecutive games, Justin Morneau sat out June 21. He hadn't missed a game since June 27, 2007, until manager Ron Gardenhire held him out today. His consecutive-games streak remains the longest for the Twins club.
At the All-Star Game at Busch Stadium, Joe Mauer was the American League's starting catcher, and doubled in three at-bats. Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan entered as reserves. Nathan pitched an inning, walked one, struck out one and gave up one hit, earning a 'hold'.
Joe Mauer won his third American League batting title, with a.365 average. In the forty-nine seasons the Minnesota Twins have existed, a Twin has won the AL batting title fourteen times -- Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Joe Mauer and Kirby Puckett.
Closer Joe Nathan saved 47 games to top Eddie Guardado's previous club record of 45. He was a co-winner of the Rolaids Relief Man Award, only the second Twin to do so. Nathan now leads in Twins career saves with 260.
For the first time ever, four Twins topped 90 RBI: Jason Kubel, Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer.
Along with winning the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, Joe Mauer was named American League MVP, the fifth Twin in history to be so honored. Mauer is the first AL catcher to lead the league in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Game log

Tie-Breaker & Post Season

The Twins ended the 162-game regular season tied with the Detroit Tigers, necessitating a one-game playoff. This made the Twins the first major league team ever to play in a tie-breaker two years in a row. The game took place on Tuesday, October 6 at the Metrodome. The Twins won the game, 6-5, in 12 innings on Alexi Casilla's game-winning hit scoring Carlos Gómez.
The Twins went on to face the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, which they lost in three consecutive games.

Player stats

Batting

Regular season

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBIAVGSB
Luis Ayala
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Scott Baker
2
6
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Nick Blackburn
1
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Brian Buscher
61
136
14
32
3
1
2
12
.235
0
Orlando Cabrera
59
242
42
70
13
3
5
36
.289
2
Alexi Casilla
80
228
25
46
7
3
0
17
.202
11
Jesse Crain
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Joe Crede
90
333
42
75
16
1
15
48
.225
0
Michael Cuddyer
153
588
93
162
34
7
32
94
.276
6
R.A. Dickey
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Carlos Gómez
137
315
51
72
15
5
3
28
.229
14
Matt Guerrier
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Brendan Harris
123
414
44
108
22
1
6
37
.261
0
Sean Henn
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Justin Huber
1
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
.500
0
Bob Keppel
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Jason Kubel
146
514
73
154
35
2
28
103
.300
1
Francisco Liriano
2
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Joe Mauer
138
523
94
191
30
1
28
96
.365
4
José Mijares
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Jose Morales
54
119
14
37
6
0
0
7
.311
0
Justin Morneau
135
508
85
139
31
1
30
100
.274
0
Joe Nathan
8
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Glen Perkins
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Jason Pridie
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
0
Nick Punto
125
359
56
82
15
1
1
38
.228
16
Mike Redmond
45
135
9
32
5
1
0
7
.237
0
Kevin Slowey
2
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Denard Span
145
578
97
180
16
10
8
68
.311
23
Anthony Swarzak
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Matt Tolbert
71
198
28
46
7
1
2
19
.232
6
Delmon Young
108
395
50
112
16
2
12
60
.284
2
Totals
163
5599
817
1539
271
40
172
770
.275
85

Postseason

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBIAVGSB
Orlando Cabrera
3
13
1
2
0
0
0
0
.154
1
Michael Cuddyer
3
14
0
6
0
0
0
1
.429
0
Carlos Gómez
1
4
1
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Brendan Harris
3
12
1
3
0
1
0
1
.250
0
Jason Kubel
3
14
0
1
0
0
0
0
.071
0
Joe Mauer
3
12
1
5
1
0
0
1
.417
0
Jose Morales
1
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Nick Punto
3
9
0
4
1
0
0
1
.444
0
Denard Span
3
15
1
6
1
0
0
1
.400
1
Matt Tolbert
2
5
0
1
0
0
0
0
.200
0
Delmon Young
3
12
1
1
1
0
0
0
.083
1
Totals
3
113
6
29
4
1
0
5
.257
3

Pitching

Regular season

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPRERBBK
Luis Ayala
1
2
4.18
28
0
0
32.1
18
15
8
21
Scott Baker
15
9
4.37
33
33
0
200.0
99
97
48
162
Nick Blackburn
11
11
4.03
33
33
0
205.2
103
92
41
98
Craig Breslow
1
2
6.28
17
0
0
14.1
11
10
11
11
Jesse Crain
7
4
4.70
56
0
0
51.2
28
27
27
43
R.A. Dickey
1
1
4.62
35
1
0
64.1
34
33
30
42
Brian Duensing
5
2
3.64
24
9
0
84.0
37
34
31
53
Armando Gabino
0
0
17.18
2
1
0
3.2
7
7
5
2
Matt Guerrier
5
1
2.36
79
0
1
76.1
23
20
16
47
Sean Henn
0
3
7.15
14
0
0
11.1
9
9
8
9
Philip Humber
0
0
8.00
8
0
0
9.0
8
8
9
9
Bob Keppel
1
1
4.83
37
0
0
54.0
30
29
21
32
Francisco Liriano
5
13
5.80
29
24
0
136.2
93
88
65
122
Ron Mahay
1
0
2.00
16
0
0
9.0
3
2
3
8
Jeff Manship
1
1
5.68
11
5
0
31.2
21
20
15
21
José Mijares
2
2
2.34
71
0
0
61.2
17
16
23
55
Juan Morillo
0
0
22.50
3
0
0
2.0
5
5
3
1
Kevin Mulvey
0
0
27.00
2
0
0
1.1
4
4
0
0
Joe Nathan
2
2
2.10
70
0
47
68.2
16
16
22
89
Carl Pavano
5
4
4.64
12
12
0
73.2
39
38
16
59
Glen Perkins
6
7
5.89
18
17
0
96.1
64
63
23
45
Jon Rauch
5
1
1.72
17
0
0
15.2
3
3
6
14
Kevin Slowey
10
3
4.86
16
16
0
90.2
50
49
15
75
Anthony Swarzak
3
7
6.25
12
12
0
59.0
43
41
20
34
Totals
87
76
4.50
163
163
48
1453.0
765
726
466
1052

Postseason

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPRERBBK
Nick Blackburn
0
0
1.59
1
1
0
5.2
1
1
2
3
Brian Duensing
0
1
9.64
1
1
0
4.2
5
5
1
3
Matt Guerrier
0
0
0.00
2
0
0
2.0
0
0
0
2
Francisco Liriano
0
0
4.50
1
0
0
2.0
2
1
1
1
Ron Mahay
0
0
5.40
3
0
0
1.2
1
1
1
2
José Mijares
0
1
13.50
2
0
0
0.2
1
1
1
0
Joe Nathan
0
0
9.00
2
0
0
2.0
2
2
1
2
Carl Pavano
0
1
2.57
1
1
0
7.0
2
2
0
9
Jon Rauch
0
0
6.75
3
0
0
1.1
1
1
2
0
Totals
0
3
4.67
3
3
0
27.0
15
14
9
22

Other post-season awards