2016 Game #118: Royals at Twins

First Pitch 1:10 p.m.

Edinson Volquez (8-10, 5.03 ERA, 104 K, 1.479 WHIP)
Hector Santiago (10-6, 4.47 ERA, 115 K, 1.452 WHIP)

The Twins snapped a four-game losing streak yesterday with a nice win over the Royals. You have to go back to June 17 to find another losing streak that long. And all it took to win was seven solid innings from the starter and a few power swings at the plate. That's a formula that's worked out real well for the Twins this year, although not nearly often enough.

Play ball!

11 thoughts on “2016 Game #118: Royals at Twins”

  1. I just got here. Looks like the Twins will spend the rest of the day trying to overcome the fourth inning.

  2. It seems to me we sometimes need to leave a pitcher out there even when he's struggling a little, just to soak up some outs. I know you hate to give up on a game, but it's 9-4 in the sixth. Yes, the Twins could come back, but the odds are very much against it. We're now on our third relief pitcher and will probably burn through at least two more before the game's over. Tomorrow's an off day, and that'll help, but still, Molitor's always complaining about how he's short in the bullpen because they're overworked. Yes, it be better if we got longer starts, but he also doesn't have to pull a relief pitcher every time he gives up a run, especially when the game's a blowout.

    1. That was about the only thing I liked about Ozzie Guillen. If his team fell behind big early, he'd leave the starting pitcher out there till he had used up his allotment of pitches, or until it was obvious he wasn't going to get any more outs. I remember the Twins one time scored 7 runs in the first inning on Mark Buehrle, but Guillen left him out there and he ended up getting the win. The White Sox had actually scored 3 in the top of the first, so the deficit was only 4 runs. I don't think Buehrle gave up any more runs after the first. But yes, most of the time you would think your starting pitcher is probably going to keep you in the game about as well as a long reliever so why not keep him in the game at least until he shows that he's not getting any outs at all.

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