2012 Twins Game Log

2012 Game 4: Angels at Twins

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First Pitch - 3:10 p.m. CDT
Televison - FSN, MLBN
Game Notes
Lineups
Scorecard

I guess I let my spring-fever induced optimism get the better of me. I should have tempered expectations a little more. I thought that after six months of patiently waiting and what appeared to be a pretty good spring training performance, I might actually witness real competence from the Twins over the weekend. On the bright side, the pre-season focus on defense seems to be paying off, with the possible exception of Danny Valencia. But the pitching was only middlin' and the offense sorely disappointed, to say the least.

But... it's early. Getting up to go duck hunting early. First person to work early. There are still 159 games to play, and there are only three ways to be any earlier in the season than that. So, by the power vested in me via small sample size and a very long campaign, I'm going to invoke the reset button on that first series and hope my favorite team doesn't fall flat on its face again for the home opener.

ON THE HILL

Scott Baker was slated a couple of weeks ago to take the mound for today's home opener, but continued elbow soreness from tendonitis landed him on the DL and Nick Blackburn gets the start instead. In 2008 and 2009, Blackburn showed the Twins that he could be a reliable part of their rotation, going 11-11 each year while pitching to respectable ERAs of 4.05 and 4.03, respectively. Back then he was a bargain. Now, pulling down $4.75 million and with an ERA+ the last two years of 75 and 89, he's more liability than asset unless he can return to his 2008/2009 form. Word out of spring training is that may be the case. I'm sure the Twins would love to believe that Blackburn can bounce back to be the pitcher he was in 2008/2009 after a couple off years. Such is the optimism of a clean slate and six full months to write on it. But I'm not sure it's the way to bet if your next meal is on the line.

The Angels, coming off a 1-2 opening series loss to the Royals, counter the pitching force that is Nick Blackburn with the team debut of multi-million dollar man C.J. Wilson. Coming off an All-Star, 16-win season to cap his seven-year tenure with the Rangers, Wilson is expected to be a key part of the Angel's rotation that stacks up to be among the best in baseball. This will be Wilson's first regulation start of a five-year, $77.5 million dollar contract. While the Twins have fared fairly well against Ranger Wilson in previous years, in six starts as an Angel this spring the lefthander tossed to a 1.11 ERA. Ah, what the heck. The Twins always do better as underdogs anyway.

Play ball!

126 thoughts on “2012 Game 4: Angels at Twins”

  1. So I didn't really get a chance to watch the Twins this weekend. When I did flip the TV on they were just replaying the opening day game. Did the next two get rained out or something? That must be it.

          1. (Also, I didn't see the Thome HR when it happened, only on replay. I think it's hard to judge a subjective thing like "most impressive" when it is live vs. on replay.)

    3. NW winds at 15-25 MPH in Minneapolis today, I dont think anyone is going to hit a HR.

      1. Off the top of my head, that's blowing out to right field. Assuming the winds are originating from the north-west.

  3. I'll kinda, sorta be able to follow the first few innings of today's game from class. That's an improvement over the first three games.

  7. Android browser question: is there a way I can get the WGOM to reload to where I was on a thread, rather than always sticking me back at the top of the page?

    1. Might be a theme issue. So, I'm going to say "no" until I have a chance to look at why it doesn't.

  16. After this game, how many times will the opposing pitcher take a no-hitter into the 6th inning? I'm setting the over/under at 157.

  17. Man, I don't know if it's my work's internet connection or what, but gameday sucks at updating. It's sporatic at updating and is often missing several batters in the sequence. Makes it really hard to follow a game

    1. Gameday was doing that to me all spring. It was always at least a batter or two behind.

    2. It's really slow for me, too. But I've got Gameday Audio fired up on the laptop with no noticable lag, so I'm good to go.

    3. anyone have at-bat 12? I'm thinking of gettting that for my Kindle Fire. Does that come with audio?

      2. It does, but if you have a regular Gameday Audio account you can't use it with At Bat 12, you have to pay again, either by the month or the full season. Money grab.

          1. I'm local so I've never used MLB.tv, it might work differently. But I've tried to use my GA account on At Bat and it doesn't work for me.

      3. There's also an ESPN1500 app you can download and get the Twins radio broadcasts. I've downloaded it on the iPhone, but haven't used it yet.

  19. On the bright side, in the current batting roder, at least when we get past the cleanup hitter I feel like there's some hope of getting some offense going.

    1. After three games I don't feel like any point in the order has hopes of getting offense going.

      1. It doesn't seem to make a ton of sense. On paper, the team looks like they should be able to score some runs, but it just feels like absolutely nobody is hitting. I mean, they were facing three Cy Young candidates in Baltimore, and Wilson is pretty decent, but it's not going to get any easier for a while here.

    1. That's what's really frustrating. It seems like not only are they not getting hits, they're not even making solid contact. It's an almost endless succession of dribblers, choppers, and pop-ups.

  23. If nothing else, Carroll knows how to walk. That's an improvement from last year.

  27. I was afraid that Carroll's high walk levels in recent years was just bc he hit 8th in the NL.
    But now, while he's hitting .000, he's walking .214. Get the hits up to Mendoza, and that's a .414 OBP.

    BTW, this is the first attention I've paid to a game while it's been live this season.

    1. Doesn't work quite like that.

      If he's 0-8 with 2 walks, his OBP is .200.
      If he's 2-8 with 2 walks, his BA is .250 but his OBP only goes up .150 to .400.

      1. Math fail from actuary.
        I suck.

        I blame whosever stupid idea it was to have walks not be ABs.

    2. OBP in AL: .350
      OBP in NL: .356

      Much larger sample size in the NL, but walk rates stabilize quickly.

  35. For some reason, a one-run lead feels semi-comfortable. A two-run lead seems insurmountable.

  37. I hope the Twins do something with this, because Blackie's not gonna be able to do this often.

  41. In the park home run? Sigh.

    I really, really hate the Angels.

    Edit: Oh, it was just a two run double. I blame having to listen to Dazzle. I had no idea what was going on.

    1. Oh, okay. Now I know what happened. Dazzle said Carrol "flipped it to Casilla at second" but didn't specify that this did not create an out, so I assumed there was an out made there and a runner on first only. God. He's so bad.

  44. So is this Gameday Scout feature just supposed to be a way to prove that broadcast analysts can be replaced by robots? "Perkins showed faith in Doumit by throwing that slider in the dirt with a runner on third" is both totally a believable analyst comment and 100% scriptable.

    1. I wonder how much they pay the interns to (a) write the Madlibs and (b) fill them in?

      1. Valencia has rocketed worm-burned his way to the top of my dislike list this year.

  46. Valencia is taking over for Cuddyer in the grounded into double play department.

        1. All things considering, we don't want to ask too much of this offense right now.

  53. saw a re-tweet that should make people happy

    literally just heard Budweiser seller say to fellow seller, "This Surly thing is killing." #deathofbadbeer #twins

    1. I read also on twitter that there was never a line of less than 50 at the Surly booth.

  54. Assuming the Twins hold on to lose the game, that'll update my expected wins to 69.2 from 71.8 to start the season.

  60. I am starting to think I may have been too optimistic about this team.

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