I used to love to hate the White Sox, but that fiery passion has cooled considerably in the past few years. Now I just like to dislike them. For this I blame Ozzie Guillen, who somehow against all odds and expectations brought a new level of civility and respect to the formerly fierce and nasty rivalry. I blame Ozzie because this is America, and we all know that in America the way a person feels about anything can never, ever, ever be blamed on the person doing the feeling; it must be either God's will or somebody else's fault. Ozzie's outspoken admiration for the Twins' brand of baseball during his Chicago tenure cowed the South Side trash talkers, and for that I don't think I can ever forgive him.
After a disappointing weekend series loss to Baltimore, the Twins will try to right the ship tonight, but based on the last pitching performances of tonight's lefty starters, they'll be sailing into a stiff wind. The Twins send Pedro Hernandez to the mound. In his last turn at the rudder, Pedro gave up six runs on eight hits in just two innings, his worst performance ever in The Show, and saw his ERA balloon to a 5.96 mark. Not horrible, but certainly going in the wrong direction. Hector Santiago takes the ball to the pitching deck for the Albescent Stockings. In his last start he tossed seven shutout innings and struck out eight to stymie the Mets and Matt Harvey, who yielded just one hit in nine innings but failed to notch the win. A guy can cut steel with luck that hard. Advantage: White Sox.
On the other side of the coin, the Twins offense has really come alive in the month of May. Well, the part of the offense where they stand in the batter's box and swing the bat has. That part of the offense where the players on base successfully run to the next base without recording an out has left a little something to be desired. Still, it's been fun watching Joe Mauer smoke the ball all over the field. Morneau is also back on the ball and making much better contact (albeit a bit underpowered), and even Aaron Hicks has managed to elevate his hitting to something near enough the Mendoza line that he can almost spit on it. So we got that going for us, which is nice.
Play ball!
Outs plz.
Out plz.
Well, this is not encouraging.
Free Kyle Gibson.
Is Gibson ready, DeVries? Anybody? I don't how much more Pedro I can take.
I'll take Deduno
He has managed to up his walk rate.
lookit that. A Dunn K. Whoda thunk?
did anyone see that Joe Mauer/Vance Worley commercial? hahahaha
I did. I like it better than the Willinghammer one.
So, Joe Mauer, good at baseball?
not a double
I want my money back
Hey, defense this inning.
One of the few games a year when Dick'n'Bert are the preferable announcing pair
some offense would be nice, now. Even if I'm heading home.
Ok, I lied. Stayed for Joe.
0-2. Right where Joe wants him.
Boooooooooooooooooooo.
I like the stolen base by Dozier, but Mauer walking makes it superfluous.
Josh Willingham is king of the high pop ups this year
Le sigh.
E-6
White Sox baseball!
Wow...what is it about the Twins that seems to bring out the worst in opposing fielders?
Yea, a crooked number!
TWINS BASEBALL!!!
all right Plouffer!
Plouffe! There it is!
Plouffe! There it is!
Doesn't seem right, someone other than AJ with the ChiSox catchers gear on.
Make it hold up, kids. NO GIVEBACK RUNS!
Pedro will make all your wildest dreams come true.
Sweet Baby Mauer, I found a way to watch the game without either announcing crew, just the ambient stadium noise. FIrst you'll need Ubuntu, then install mlbviewer.
It seems mlbviewer is slightly delayed, no more than about 7-10 seconds, but it is
a) a lot less resource intensive and
b) I don't have to listen to either announcing crew
if i remember correctly, the stadium noise audio is an option if you select the home team's feed and then change the audio option.
Nice swing, Kiddo.
HANK AARON HICKS!
Henry Aaron Hicks!
always a bridesmaid.
man oh man, the sound of the crack of the bat on that HR was super sweet
the Maple Leafs doing what they do best, not winning a Stanley Cup
ok, its going to OT, but BigMo is with the Bruins
we got a situation bubbling
Starter hits the wall in the 6th, then Roenicke comes into the game -- I've seen this horror film before.
Not to worry, Hicks will hit the wall too.
Or simply go over it!
didn't exactly stick the landing 😀
Damn, am I glad I woke up before that catch.
Well, Hicks looks like a major league outfielder tonight. Nice catch!
Wowie
Is it just me, or does this new Twins radio station suck? The only place I seem to get reception is in the car. Not one of my radios at home will even pick it up!
You think that's bad, try listening when there's no game on. The music mix is horrid.
🙂
It's just top 40. That's like half of all stations.
Like I said, horrid.
OH MY GOODNESS HICKSIE!!!
what what what! HICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HICKS!
Aaron Hicks is feeling it tonight.
Oh, that is too good.
Wow maybe my mlbtviewer is about a minute behind, judging by the timestamp on free's tweet.
Shit, it's even farther behind than that. I was just getting the catch and y'all are already on to the HR.
AHIVGABB
The ROY campaign starts now!
Hicks!
HICKSELATED
.152 -- he's passed Adam Dunn
I make that +3 HR for Hicks tonight, two by addition, one by subtraction.
So far Hicks has been +4 today.
Yeah, I'm 5 minutes behind. This is crap. Now I gotta dig through the readme.
It appears to be open source, so you could fix it!
I restarted the application, and now I'm ahead of the MLB.tv browser feed by a few seconds. I probably inadvertently messed something up while fiddling with the controls.
Hicks defensive gif
the way it sounded coming off the bat, I thought Dunn hit it 500 feet
the best part is that he didnt show the baseball for about 3 minutes after the catch. what a showoff!
Hicks game tonight has me pondering a 2015 lineup?
Buxton
Mauer
Hicks
Sano
Arcia
Free Agent DH
Chicken Parm
Rosario
Santana/Goodrum
is Mauer playing 3B or 1B in this lineup?
Can't be 3B with Sano there, unless Arcia is forced to the infield.
Lets move Pinto in at 6th and catching, and Mauer can be the DH/1B
Free Agent DH= JI
JIM THOME?
2015 Rotation:
Meyer
Diamond
Berrios
Gibson
May
You forgot Appel/Grey.
Yeah, baby.
donkey flop
That blue tshirt with the StP logo was pretty sweet.
Have you made it over to half baked craf today?
Yeah, I'm thinking about it.
I made sure to offer a Twins player you can root for.
As opposed to Mauer?
One for one!
Arcia making it to second will please Gardy
I bet Hawk Harrelson is silent after that play.
oh my
TWINS BASEBALL™
Arcia boomstick.
I love it when a sac bunt turns into a single
And when a check swing turns into a double play?
Not so much.
the unusual 3-2-4 DP
*rolled eyes* Dozier.
IBB Mauer? PH a lefty for Willingham!
or that works, too
Mountie up!
I hate to see us piling on like this. Aw, heck, I can't say that and keep a straight face!
whoa
Nice win.
Aye. I needed this today.
Also, puppies!
THEY JUST KEEP COMING AND COMING
Puppy stampede! that one needs to be bookmarked as a permanent for wins over the ChiSux.
It's probably also a good bookmark for whenever you're feeling blue. Corgi puppies are adorable.
Pedro Hernandez says "Kyle who?" Hank Aaron Hicks gets it going. Like a half dozen puppies, the Justin Morneau RBIs with the bases loaded just keep coming and coming. We're still on track for 145-17!
Game recap says "Pedro who?"
Hey Pablo!