2016 Twins Game Logs

Game 85: Twins at Rangers

50 Comments

Just past the halfway point of the season (2nd half started on Monday).

Following the win against Oakland last night, this is the first time all year the Twins have won back-to-back series' and (courtesy of socal) only the second time they've managed to avoid losing multiple games in a row. I'll go out on a limb and say that there is very little chance for this team to climb back into contention, but a couple of bright spots:
-They don't hold the worst record in baseball (ATL is 28-57).
-Over his past 5 starts, Ervin Santana is 2-1, with a 2.76 ERA and 20 K's - 5 BB in 32.2 innings of work (including a complete game, 2-hit shutout last night against Oakland).
-After an atrocious offensive April & May, Brian Dozier has managed to pull himself up to a respectable .252/.336/.456 and leads the team with a 1.8 WAR.
-Over 44 games with the team, Robbie Grossman is batting .281/.420/.473 (and, though short of the req'd AB's, leads the team in OPS and OPS+) ... plus, an outfielder playing in the outfield!!!one111

Tonight, we'll see if young Mr. Duffey can build on his 8-Inning, 2 Hit, 1 Run performance in New York last week, and add another W to his team-leading 4 Wins.

For those interested (and out of market I presume) MLB.TV's free game of the day.

50 thoughts on “Game 85: Twins at Rangers”

    1. I was really confused when the Rangers got Gio Gonzalez. Perhaps not crazy if he's a rental plus he isn't young so less concern.

      It's Chi Chi Gonzalez and he's 24. Totally crazy to leave him in for 124, especially since his last start was also against the Twins and he threw only 38 pitches. His previous high was 116 on June 5 of last year.

      1. My bad, but yeah, the point remains. Not like he was chasing a no-no or anything.

        Then again, I think I heard this is the tenth start in a row where the starter has gone 5 innings or less. Maybe the pen's a little tired.

  7. That was a bit of history right there. That was just the seventh time in his career that Mauer put a 3-0 pitch in play. He's now 2-for-6 with a sac fly and a double on 3-0.

  8. This might be a stupid question, but why don't more batters have the green light on 3-0 counts (unless the pitcher is just all over the place)? So many balls are cookies down the middle. I'd imagine more teams would take advantage of that. Sure, other teams would adjust, but wouldn't the uncertainty make the pitcher a little more skiddish?

    1. With Joe, I'm sure he has a green light all the time but just chooses not to swing. It's hard to tell sometimes with other batters whether they have a green light or not. A lot of batters feel like the pitch you get 3-0 is probably what you're going to get 3-1.

    2. what is the non-intentional walk rate on 3-0? I'd have to guess that the odds of getting on base by taking on 3-0 are higher than the odds of getting on base by swinging on 3-0.

        1. somebody explain this. After 1-0 count, there have been 195 IBBs. After 2-0 and 3-0, only 191 IBBs. How can the number of IBBs go _down_???

          1. Well, I would guess there are a lot more 1-0 counts than 2-0 or 3-0, so I would look at percentages. Secondly, I'm guessing a lot of 1-0 IBBs come after a runner at first either stole second or advanced on a wild pitch/passed ball to free up a base since 1-0 seems like an odd time to just decide to put a guy on base after not doing it 0-0.

            1. There have been more than 19,000 PAs after 1-0 counts and only about 6,000 2-0 counts and 2,000 3-0 counts. So you have the same number of IBBs after 2-0 as 1-0 despite 1-0 having more than 3x as many PAs.

              1. The IBB stat is not tracked in the way you're thinking. These are through-counts so if the PA that goes 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 has the final ball be intentional then each of 1-0, 2-0, and 3-0 has an IBB added to it.

          2. Maybe a strike happened to go 1-1 but the count eventually goes to 3-1 and the IBB is called.

            2. Hrm. Ok. There were 6 IBBs after 0-1, 10 after 1-1, netting 4 after 1-0 and 1-1.

      2. Yes, I think it's pretty much accepted that if the goal is just to reach base, you take 3-0. If the goal is to get a hit and especially an extra-base hit, you look to swing 3-0. It is apparent the normal rule is to take 3-0 because the Blue Jays lead the majors with only 12 ABs on 3-0 which means they have put the ball in play only 12 times (outside of sac flies). The Angels are 0-for-6 on 3-0. The Twins are now 2-for-5.

  15. Every player in the lineup has reached base twice tonight. Dozier and Buxton are the only ones that don't have 2 hits and Dozier has reached base 3 times.

  17. If the Twins keep up the offensive onslaught tonight, they could really beat up on the Rangers' bullpen and help themselves for the rest of the series. Although with the game getting out of hand, I wonder how long until a position player pitches. Wait, didn't one of the Rangers' catchers pitch against the Twins in Minnesota?

  23. “It’s a real shame when you can’t get any of those runs out there,” Kepler said, “but I got a second chance and kind of redemptified myself.”

    Nothing better than redemptification.

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