2013 Twins Game Log, 2013 Twins Game Recaps

2013 Game 3: Twins vs. Tigers – Day Game!

228 Comments

Game 2 Recap:
Say, who is this Escobar fellow? Sounds like a name for the future that I should know.

*Looks him up*

Oh. Well then. I guess we should appreciate what happened yesterday.

Today the Twins go for a series win against the defending division champions. This would give them an above .500 record for the first time since September 2010. Has it really been that long?

I became a baseball fan when I was 14. I watched the 2001 playoffs with my cousin and fell in love with the Twins. The next nine years were a good time to be a Twins fan, and I watched 90% of their games. 2011 was a test. I felt like a bad fan for giving up on the team and not watching as many games when they were so far behind, but something SBG said stuck with me. It's okay to not put everything you have behind the team. It's okay to simply enjoy baseball for what it is. And even though we don't think the Twins will be very good this year (JeffA excepted), games like yesterday's will still be fun to watch.

Game 3
12:10PM(CDT) Start Time
Mike Pelfrey vs. Rick Porcello

Lineup:
Hicks CF
Mauer C
Willingham LF
Morneau 1B
Doumit DH
Plouffe 3B
Parmelee RF
Carroll 2B
Florimon SS

The bad news: The Twins haven't hit any home runs.
The good news: The Twins pitchers haven't given up any home runs!

The bad news: The Tigers starters ERA against the Twins is 0.
The good news: The Tigers relievers ERA against the Twins is 6.13!

228 thoughts on “2013 Game 3: Twins vs. Tigers – Day Game!”

        1. And it seems the quick tags plugin doesn't let me update them anymore, so you'll have to insert the Twins Baseball yourself.

  3. the Twins go for a series win against the defending division champions.

    Not just that, but defending League champions! Series win would be a fun way to start the season.

  4. Where's the Aaron Hicks who hit 5 home runs in 10 PAs in spring training? I miss that guy.

  6. Uhhh... Justin Morneau singles on a ground ball to the second baseman? Anyone care to explain that one?

    2. The Tigers guys are affable but bland, with analysis centered mostly around BA and pitcher Wins. I'm enjoying the enormous upgrade.

    3. Does he long for the days of Nick Blackburn or something? He doesn't like wins or strikeouts, so maybe his criteria for a good pitcher is "lets the opposing team hit the ball really, really hard"?

        1. They do, but Blackburn always seems to be higher on the "good player going through a rough patch" talking points list than even the great Livan Hernandez.

          1. Livan got 101 starts after leaving the Twins. Not that I think he was a good pitcher, but he didn't deserve to be lumped in with the likes of Ramon Ortiz.

  9. Your weird baseball thing of the day: Roberto Hernandez is starting for the Rays today, and it's the first time the Rays started a free agent in 1,207 games.

    1. A very, very Rays-like free agent he is.

      Also, I had completely forgotten that Fausto was going as Roberto Hernandez now.

      2. Right, I, too, had no idea who this Roberto Hernandez was. Surely, I was thinking to myself, the Rays could have found a better pitcher than a former overpaid White Sox closer.

  10. It sure would be nice to score a run against a starting pitcher at least once this season.

  11. Afternoon, gents. I hit the Twins pro shop today with $50 in gift cards and picked up one of these bad boys on clearance for half price. Score!

    1. Meh. By late July, it will be warm enough around here that you won't even want to wear it.

  15. Sounds like Leyland couldn't do closer by committee and they signed Valverde after all. One BS by Coke was enough, eh? Why even announce closer by committee as an option if that's all the resolve you have?

    2. Did they sign Valverde for less than what h e was originally asking for? I had assumed that was their play from the beginning.

      1. It's possible. Dombrowski said that it wasn't a response to the bullpen's first two games, but something that had been a possibility for a while. Of course he says that either way, and I assume traditional roles took over.

        1. Have to figure that was the plan, then. Pretty good one, too, if signing mediocre closers to fitting contracts is your thing.

  29. As a former second baseman, a good double play is one of my favorite things. Monday's repeated failures to turn two really got my goat.

    1. Florimon got to a nice one at short in the first game, but other than that has not looked particularly sharp to me.

      1. That backhanded stop deep in the hole with a really strong, accurate cross-body throw to first for the out was a thing of beauty. I'm hoping it wasn't an anomaly.

    1. You can probably tell by now that I'm not real high on Dozier. Taking a look at Fangraphs, neither are ZiPS nor Bill James. So I'll second that emotion.

  39. There was about a month last summer where it seemed like Hammer and Pouffe would hit home runs every game together. More of that, please.

  40. I came home at lunch today to work because my wife isn't feeling good. I picked up twelve of these on the way. I love working from home!

    On the minus side, VPN connection problems plus an incompetent IT department sucks ass (sorry, Dick).

    1. I almost hate to admit this, but I had my first Surly Furious last week. On tap at the Red Stag. I had my second there, too. I'll be getting some for home consumption on my next visit to the local filling station.

      1. Oh Furious, how I love thee. I'm glad there are reasonable alternatives to it down here to make me feel better about not being able to get it very often.

    3. On a related note, just got this Public Service Announcement from my local supplier:

      We wanted to let everyone know that, Founders Red's Rye, one of the best Rye IPAs out there is moving from year-round 6 packs to fall seasonal 4 packs at the same price point. We made sure to stock up on the last shipment of the six packs so we can keep it available for the next month or so, but we thought we'd give everyone a heads up about it.
      It's not all bad though - along with this change Founders is moving Breakfast Stout to 6 packs instead of 4 packs at the same price point starting in October.

      Edit: This isn't on their website so I hope I'm not spreading bad info...

  43. Torii pointlessly bunts for an our? I hope Dick's dry cleaners are ready tomorrow.

    1. There won't be twenty guys in the majors who don't have a three-game hitless streak at some point this season. No point hitting the panic button on Aaron Hicks just yet.

        1. I believe even Albert Pujols went hitless in his first four of five games with the Angels last year. It happens.

      3. Certainly. I'm just curious how long the Twins will stick with him if he continues to struggle.

          1. Gomez led off 90 games in 2008. I'm guessing Hicks will have at least as long a leash.

  50. Another damned work meeting on my day off, and now it seems I'll be missing the last inning or so of this one. I think it's been five or six weeks since I didn't have to go in on at least one of my two days off. Sigh.

    1. My ear would be more sympathetic were it not unemployed. But I certainly get your irritation.

        1. I'm finding some interesting openings, getting some resumes out and working the network. It's just the first week so kind of early for reading the entrails. Last time I was laid off we were in the depths of the last recession, so I'm hopeful that I'll land something within a few months this time around. Time will tell.

  51. Tigers color guy says that after the WBC, he asked Blyleven if he'd accept a pitching coach job in the majors if one was offered. Bert said no chance. Keep pressing that issue, Tigers guy.

    1. Switch from the cushy job that allows him to do anything short of dropping F-bombs to sitting on a hot seat? A nation can dream.

  58. Good pitch, that high fastball to get Martinez to pop up. He was amped to swing at anything over the plate.

  61. These huge bullpens are so ridiculous. Octavio Dotel has now thrown 7 pitches total in three games (and Robertson has thrown 5 pitches), yet both teams have incredibly thin benches (Don Kelly? Wilkin Ramirez? Eduardo Escobar?). Have the Tigers really benefited by having Dotel around just to pitch to Carroll and Parmelee more than they would have benefitted by having a better extra bat on their bench than Tuiasosopo or Kelly?

    1. And now Fien can only throw five pitches before getting yanked for a pitcher who throws with the same arm? Why not just use Burton to get Martinez?

    2. I don't now, is it better to have Jim Thome come in for one plate appearance than it is to have a relief pitcher for one plate appearance?

      1. I would take a hitter any day of the week because it gives you more options. These seven-man bullpens are just absurd.

    3. I don't know, when they sent down Butters so they could have a "better bench bat", and the best they can come up with is Wilkin Ramirez, I'm not sure their biggest problem is having too many bullpen pitchers.

          1. What is a major league bench bat? You've got guys like Thome who can hit but can't play defense, guys like Butters who can (allegedly) play defense but can't hit, and guys who are mediocre at both. In the case of Thome you burn two bench moves if you want to use him. I suppose that's what they've been doing with Ramirez too, but there just aren't that many good hitters out there that aren't starting somewhere.

            1. Which is why the argument I'm hearing about "too many bullpen pitchers, should have another guy on the bench instead" isn't persuading me that much.

              1. But I didn't argue for Thome specifically. Surely, they could find another guy who can cover first/third in a pinch and maybe a corner outfield spot. The NL is full of guys like that.

                1. My point is, if they could find (or would want to find) a guy like that, why didn't they find him instead of Wilkin Ramirez in the first place?

                  1. Because everyone has to have a twelve-man pitching staff now, duh. Since there was no chance of Gardy ever making room for that type of player on his roster, there was no reason to go out and sign him.

            3. If we're going to judge the bench hitters against good hitters, we ought to judge the back of the bullpen against good pitchers, and they don't stack up well in that comparison. Sure, bench players are flawed, but so are (basically all) relief pitchers.

              Maybe they aren't lying around the majors, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Earl Weaver could find some useful bench players knocking around AAA. My biggest gripe about the short bench isn't so much the lack of strategic options, it's that you wind up playing the position players 20 games in a row with no break, they inevitably wear down and a nagging injury becomes a serious one. And with the short bullpen, pitchers seem to get less rest between appearances than they used to (see: Neshek injury) which doesn't make a lot of sense, but seems to be the case.

        2. Wilkin's b-r bio made me laugh just a bit. Pinch-runner?

          Positions: Pinch Hitter, Pinch Runner and Outfielder
          Bats: Right, Throws: Right
          Height: 6' 2", Weight: 230 lb.

          1. to be fair(er) to him, Ramirez has stolen 171 bases in his minor league career, against 62 CS. But...last year, he was 9 SB and 7 CS. Looks like his running days are behind him.

    4. With the Tiger's regular lineup, do they really need a lot of bats on the bench, though? I tend to think that a good bullpen wins more games in late innings that good bench bats.

  64. Does anyone else think Brayan Villarreal's Gameday mugshot looks like Shane from The Walking Dead?

      2. I thought it was maybe a missed hit-and-run signal, but your explanation makes just as much sense.

  74. Loaded up for Florimon with two outs just doesn't get me up much. I'm starting to come around to the more bench bats camp.

    1. As long as you're on page with the ambushing, take all the time you need on bench firepower.

      1. I think the stats dude needs to read a bunch of old Western novels and start using that terminology to explain his ideas to Gardy. Or maybe he's already doing that?

  75. The Twins load the bases and Clint Dempsey comes on for Spurs. Coincidence? Probably.

  87. That was three more Prudentials than I asked for. I love it with the boys over-deliver.

  93. My Bad News/Good News/Bad News/Good News turned into Good News/Good News/Good News/Good News.

  94. I caught the bottom of the 8th on my drive in to work. Corey Provus was insanely good. His call of Florimon's double was exciting and he describes what's going on so well.

    3. I liked Provus more and more as last year went on. Not to the Herb Carneal level yet, but getting there.

  96. It's a good thing this Jamie Hersch chick is cute, because she's a disaster as a field reporter.

    1. Does she have experience? I'm willing to forgive her if this is her third game. I don't miss Robbie yet.

      1. Some. I'll give her a few series to get comfortable since she's a Minnesota girl and all.

        Hersch returned to the Midwest to join WKOW in Madison, Wis., where she spent time as a news anchor and reporter for one year before making a full-time switch to the sports department. Her work as a weekend sports anchor and sports reporter earned her multiple awards from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, including best specialty programming and sports reporting. She covered the Badger football team three straight Rose Bowls, the Packers in the Super Bowl, the Badger basketball team's Sweet 16 appearances in Boston and New Orleans as well as coverage of Wisconsin's prep tournaments.

          1. Not for a multiple winner of Wisconsin Broadcasters Association awards. Except maybe for red carpet reporter at the Oscars.

            1. I didn't mean for her, I meant for us learning anything useful. It's just a thankless job.

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