Ricky b Ricky.
If you choose to look at it that way, Ricky Nolasco did better last night. After all, he pitched into the seventh inning. He struck out six. When he left, he'd only given up three runs. If Caleb Thielbar had done his job, or if Gardy had pulled him after the sixth, Nolasco would've had a quality start. So, Nolasco did better last night. If you choose to look at it that way.
The reason I can't look at it that way is that this is pretty much the story of every single game Nolasco has pitched. That's why I keep referring to them as "almost good" games. Nearly every time, there's been a way you could say, well, he wasn't that bad, really. If this had happened, and if that hadn't happened, and if the other had been different, he'd would've had a good game. But when we look at what he actually did, we see that he pitched 6.2 innings and gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk. That's not a terrible game. It's just not a good game.
The Twins have made some moves recently that start to look toward the future. Barring injuries, they probably won't be calling up anyone else until the minor league seasons are over. At that point, will the Twins call up Alex Meyer? If so, what will they do with him?
If Rochester would go deep into the playoffs, this becomes less of an issue. If the Red Wings are still playing until the middle of September, there'd only be a couple of weeks of the Twins season left anyway. If Rochester misses the playoffs, though, they could have Meyer in Minnesota on September 2. Logically, he should go into the starting rotation at that point. But whose starts does he take? Hughes and Gibson deserve to stay in the rotation. I don't want them to sit May or Milone. That leaves Nolasco. Unfortunately, I can't see them sending Nolasco to the bullpen for the last month of the season. A six-man rotation would be another possibility, but I can't remember Gardy ever doing that and I'm skeptical that he'll want to start now. It'll be an interesting thing to watch.
You'll notice that I haven't said anything about the offense yet. Well, Mom always said, "If you can't say something nice...." The Twins have now gone seventeen consecutive scoreless innings. Dazzle mentioned that during batting practice, the Twins had worked extensively on bunting. Perhaps they should've worked on hitting instead, because they managed only six singles. I suppose we should mention that Brian Dozier stole his twentieth base, giving him a 20-20 season.
Gardy keeps saying that he wants to see Danny Santana at shortstop, which makes me wonder who's filling out the lineup card every day. One of my pet peeves is when the people who are responsible for making decisions act like they're innocent bystanders in the process. Gardy, this is something in your control. If you want to see Santana at shortstop, then you write down "Santana, SS". Or, "Santana, 6" if you use numbers. You can see Santana at shortstop in every one of the thirty-seven games left if you want to. It's your choice. Stop talking as if it's not.
The Twins send Staff Ace Phil Hughes to the mound today to try to avoid a sweep. He'll need to pitch like an ace, too, because Cleveland will send out Corey Kluber, who's been very good this year. The Twins batters will have to be on the beam if they're going to get much done. But we know they will be. Today we start our thirty-seven-game winning streak. We'll just have to settle for 92-70!