Alpha and Omega.
That was kind of an odd way to lose. The first two batters of the game hit home runs, and the Twins don't score again until two outs in the ninth. The 2-0 lead lasts all of a half inning, because Toronto scores three in the bottom of the first. The Twins tie the game after it really should have been over by getting a couple of bloopers, only to see Toronto bloop a couple right back in the bottom of the ninth.
Once again we can say that the Twins starting pitcher did well except. Except I'm not going to say it. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about how the Twins starting pitchers aren't that far away, how they've just made a few bad pitches or just had one bad inning. It's June 10th, the season's more than a third over, and the Twins are sitting with two starters whose ERAs are over five and three whose WHIP is 1.5 or higher. It's time to raise the bar for what's acceptable from starting pitchers.
Where would better starting pitchers come from? Well, the Rochester Red Wings have five starters with ERAs below 3.50, four of them with WHIPs below 1.3. Would any of them succeed in the majors? I don't know. If the Twins say they need more minor league time, I'm not enough of a scout to argue with them.
What I can say, though, is that you can always find a reason to hold somebody down if that's your goal. Sometimes the only way you can find out whether a guy can play in the majors is to give him a chance. If they appear overmatched, well, you can always send them back down. I certainly hope these guys' egos aren't so fragile that a first-time failure in the big leagues wouldn't scar them for life.
The Twins are currently accepting results from starting pitchers that should not be acceptable. It's time to raise the bar.
Which makes a nice transition to tonight's starting pitcher, Kevin Correia. Last year, he produced results that weren't great, but were acceptable. This year he has not. He goes up against J. A. Happ, whom announcers always seem to refer to as "Jay Happ". I don't understand why separating "J" and "A" is so hard, but apparently it is. Since joining the rotation at the beginning of May, Happ has pretty much alternated good outings and bad ones. If that holds, this is his turn to have a bad one. That will be just what the Twins need to start their season-ending one hundred game winning streak. We'll just have to settle for 129-33!
It's time to raise the bar.
Heh.
It's about time Wings got a little love around here.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRT3V-q_gBI
It should be noted that an average LFer would have caught the ball in the first inning that was the first hit. That would have meant at most that Encarnacion would have had one base runner on when he homered instead of two. Nolasco did some good things and some bad. The good was 6 Ks in 5 2/3 innings. Also, 10 ground balls to 7 fly balls. The bad was 2 walks, but the Twins felt Nolasco was squeezed at least on one of them, which ended up being the one that scored. I also don't think Encarnacion's home run would have left the yard in Minnesota. However, I know Santana's would have not left the yard at Target Field.
I don't doubt anything you say. But that's my point. It seems like every other game we're saying something like, "If only this would've happened, and if only that wouldn't have happened, our starting pitcher would've done okay." At some point, the Twins need to start demanding results, not "if only"s.