Game Recap #152: Good Gibsons 8, The Price Is Wrong 4

Two out of three ain't bad.

In fact, it's pretty good, especially against the Tigers.  If you'd told me the Twins were going to give up four runs in the first two innings, I'd have said they were probably going to lose even if things settled down the rest of the way.  But it's a strange game, this baseball.

We've seen the good Kyle Gibson and the bad Kyle Gibson, but this is the first time I remember seeing both of them in the same game.  After giving up a bunch of two-out hits in the first two innings, he came back to retire seven in a row, gave up a couple of singles, then ended by retiring five in a row.

One of the things that shows is how small the difference is between pitching well and not pitching well can be.  You've seen those replays where they first show you where the catcher set the target and then show you where the pitch went.  Usually they show those after a pitch is hit hard to show you how the pitcher missed the target.  The thing is, a lot of times the pitcher only missed the target by a foot or less.  Think about that for a second.  Throwing the ball from sixty feet, six inches away, the pitcher missed the target by a foot or less, but that foot or less was the difference between the pitch being in a good spot and the pitch being in a bad spot.  That's not much margin for error.

And lets give some credit to the Twins offense.  David Price is a darn good pitcher, and the Twins got five runs and eight hits off him in 5.2 innings.  That was fun, and unexpected.  The runs came in bunches, and featured four extra-base hits.  They went on to score three more against the Detroit bullpen, getting two more extra base hits.  Danny Santana led the way, getting a single, a double, and a triple, scoring three times and driving in two.  The top three of the Twins order went 7-for-13 with two doubles, two triples, and two walks.  That's a winning formula in any level of baseball.

And give some credit to the Twins' bullpen, too.  Ryan Pressley pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless ball despite giving up four hits.  Brian Duensing and Michael Tonkin each got out the guy they were supposed to get out, and Jared Burton reminded us that good things can happen in the ninth when you keep the ball in the park.

There was some discussion in the game log about Santana remaining in center field, rather than playing shortstop.  I don't necessarily have a problem with them leaving Santana in center, if that's the decision they ultimately make.  I think the consternation comes from the fact that the Twins, especially Gardy, keep saying they want to play Santana at shortstop, but they don't do it.  They no longer have the excuse of no options in center, because Schafer and Hicks can both play center and are probably better at it right now than Santana is.  They no longer have the excuse that Escobar has earned the right to play short because Escobar is hurt.  The only reason I can think of to leave Santana in center is that they don't think it would be fair to move him at this point in the season.  That kind of makes sense, but they had no problem moving him in May to a position he'd hardly ever played.  I don't see why it should be a problem in September to move him back to his natural position.  It's not that I have a big problem with what they're doing.  I just don't understand the disconnect between what they're doing and what they're saying.

So the Twins get a well-earned day off before hosting Cleveland for three games.  Ten games left, and all we have to do is win eight of them to avoid ninety losses.  No problem, because we're going to win all of them!  We're still on track for 75-87!

7 thoughts on “Game Recap #152: Good Gibsons 8, The Price Is Wrong 4”

  1. Pressley was pretty bad. He kept hanging his breaking ball. He lucked out when Torii had a brain cramp and froze on the bases and Cabrera wasn't paying attention and got caught between 2nd and 3rd for the final out of the 7th. Duensing and Tonkin then bailed him out in the 8th. I wish Gardy would have left Tonkin in, in the 9th with the four-run lead so he could have gotten the save. That would have been cool and would have saved some wear on Burton, who's about the only decent reliever with experience we have left.

    1. Forgot about the Hunter-Cabrera play (I write these things really early in the morning). I thought it was really bad on Cabrera's part that he didn't at least try to get into a rundown and give Hunter a chance to score. It might not have worked, but those plays get messed up more often than they should. There was no downside to trying (other than some exercise for Cabrera), they might've scored a run, and it's even possible the Twins would've failed to get an out and the inning would've still been alive.

  2. David Price Games vs Twins, last 4 seasons:
    9-17-14, L, 5.2 IP, 5 R
    7-19-14, W, 8.0 IP, 0 R
    4-22-14, W, 9.0 IP, 3 R
    9-15-13, ND, 6.1 IP, 2 R
    8-11-12, W, 7.0 IP, 2 R
    7-04-11, L, 6.0 IP, 4 R

  3. I just don't understand the disconnect between what they're doing and what they're saying.

    This. So much this.

    I know I'd say some things I didn't really mean if I had to do a presser every day- but then again, if I did a press conference every day it wouldn't take me long to figure out that I should make sure the things I'm saying make sense.

    1. This stuff doesn't bother me. It could be that Santana has been telling Gardy, "Hey, I kinda like CF -- can I play there again tonight?" That said, you'd think Gardy would pass that along to the media.

      1. That would bother me. The Twins should be figuring out their 2016 roster, not letting the players fill out the lineup.

      2. Oh, it could definitely be something like that, but again, why not just tell us if it is?

        And I don't think it's in any way malicious, it just seems like there's no plan in place to make this team better except wait and hope.

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