The penultimate game. Because I don't use the word "penultimate" often enough.
26 thoughts on “Game 161: Twins at White Sox”
Going to the season's last day, there's still a chance that San Francisco and St. Louis will be tied and go to a game 163. There's still a chance for a four-way tie in the American League, which would be awesome.
It looks like the best scenario for the four-way tie would be for Seattle to win and Toronto and Detroit to lose. Seattle winning is a must. The others just make it more likely.
Toronto down 2-0, Detroit up 1-0.
Toronto has tied Boston 2-2. Detroit still leads 1-0.
A baserunner for the Twins!
A hit! Two runs! Polanco!!!!!!
Just tuned in to see the Buxton HR!!
I missed this, but LOL TWINS BASEBALL!!
Phil Miller @MillerStrib
Jorge Polanco squared to bunt on 1st pitch, then hit 2nd pitch over RF fence. Twins' 197th HR of season (3rd-most ever) gives them 2-0 lead.
I missed the Buxton homer. I'd have been willing to miss a lot more games if it had meant the Twins would win them.
Toronto still tied 2-2. Detroit falls behind Atlanta 2-1.
I'm a little surprised, given Santiago's pitch count, that he's starting the seventh. I'm not saying it's wrong, just that I'm a little surprised.
Was perhaps a left-handed batter up first? Looking it up, no. Avisail Garcia led off and he is right-handed. Santiago also faced Carlos Sanchez, a switch-hitter. The next batter, Omar Narvaez does bat left-handed but Boshers was brought in for him. Huh.
I know I've lost this argument, but it makes no sense to me to say that the MVP has to come from a winning team. If you say Player A had a better year than Player B, but we're going to give the MVP to Player B because his team made the playoffs, what you're really saying is we're going to give Player B the Most Valuable Player award because he had better teammates than Player A. What sense does that make?
Furthermore, what about other players from winning teams? If Betts gets a bonus, why not Donaldson?
Even though I hate it, there is a logical argument that is basically, "If the team didn't make the playoffs, nobody on the team was valuable, as there's nothing more valuable than making the playoffs (and they could have lost 90 games without him too)."
I blame the NFL for that mentality.
I agree that it's an argument. I question how logical it is.
Andre Dawson wants to get a word in.
Blue Jays still tied. Tigers trail 3-2. Mariners just getting started.
Byron Buxton is fast.
Toronto takes a 3-2 lead. Tigers trail 5-2. Mariners still tied at zero.
I assume Kintzler is in here simply to try to give him something more positive on which to end the season.
Toronto still leads 3-2 in the eighth. Tigers trail 5-3 in the ninth. Mariners lead 2-0 after two. Tomorrow's a big day, so I'm going to get ready for bed. Go Red Sox, go Braves, and go Mariners. And way to go, Twins!
Anyone else hear the interview with Santiago on the radio? I only caught the end but it seemed to be asking Santiago why he did well in this game. He said the Twins worked with him to throw strikes and cut the walks, very Twins things. Santiago said then he gave up a lot of homers so he opted to take a break and do what he's done for the rest of his career. I'm sure my bias against the front office enters here, but it sounded damning for the Twins coaching.
Pretty much everything is damning for the Twins coaching.
He said it in a very nice way, that he appreciated what they were trying to do and that it was good things to work on. It just didn't seem to be working for him, so he asked if he could just pitch the way he pitches. But it still amounts to pretty much the same thing.
managed some good seats tonight:
Seattle loses, so no four-way tie. We could still have a three-way tie, though. We need Toronto and Baltimore to lose and Detroit to win for that to have a chance.
Going to the season's last day, there's still a chance that San Francisco and St. Louis will be tied and go to a game 163. There's still a chance for a four-way tie in the American League, which would be awesome.
It looks like the best scenario for the four-way tie would be for Seattle to win and Toronto and Detroit to lose. Seattle winning is a must. The others just make it more likely.
Toronto down 2-0, Detroit up 1-0.
Toronto has tied Boston 2-2. Detroit still leads 1-0.
A baserunner for the Twins!
A hit! Two runs! Polanco!!!!!!
Just tuned in to see the Buxton HR!!
I missed this, but LOL TWINS BASEBALL!!
I missed the Buxton homer. I'd have been willing to miss a lot more games if it had meant the Twins would win them.
Toronto still tied 2-2. Detroit falls behind Atlanta 2-1.
I'm a little surprised, given Santiago's pitch count, that he's starting the seventh. I'm not saying it's wrong, just that I'm a little surprised.
Was perhaps a left-handed batter up first? Looking it up, no. Avisail Garcia led off and he is right-handed. Santiago also faced Carlos Sanchez, a switch-hitter. The next batter, Omar Narvaez does bat left-handed but Boshers was brought in for him. Huh.
I know I've lost this argument, but it makes no sense to me to say that the MVP has to come from a winning team. If you say Player A had a better year than Player B, but we're going to give the MVP to Player B because his team made the playoffs, what you're really saying is we're going to give Player B the Most Valuable Player award because he had better teammates than Player A. What sense does that make?
Furthermore, what about other players from winning teams? If Betts gets a bonus, why not Donaldson?
Even though I hate it, there is a logical argument that is basically, "If the team didn't make the playoffs, nobody on the team was valuable, as there's nothing more valuable than making the playoffs (and they could have lost 90 games without him too)."
I blame the NFL for that mentality.
I agree that it's an argument. I question how logical it is.
Andre Dawson wants to get a word in.
Blue Jays still tied. Tigers trail 3-2. Mariners just getting started.
Byron Buxton is fast.
Toronto takes a 3-2 lead. Tigers trail 5-2. Mariners still tied at zero.
I assume Kintzler is in here simply to try to give him something more positive on which to end the season.
Toronto still leads 3-2 in the eighth. Tigers trail 5-3 in the ninth. Mariners lead 2-0 after two. Tomorrow's a big day, so I'm going to get ready for bed. Go Red Sox, go Braves, and go Mariners. And way to go, Twins!
Anyone else hear the interview with Santiago on the radio? I only caught the end but it seemed to be asking Santiago why he did well in this game. He said the Twins worked with him to throw strikes and cut the walks, very Twins things. Santiago said then he gave up a lot of homers so he opted to take a break and do what he's done for the rest of his career. I'm sure my bias against the front office enters here, but it sounded damning for the Twins coaching.
Pretty much everything is damning for the Twins coaching.
He said it in a very nice way, that he appreciated what they were trying to do and that it was good things to work on. It just didn't seem to be working for him, so he asked if he could just pitch the way he pitches. But it still amounts to pretty much the same thing.
managed some good seats tonight:
Seattle loses, so no four-way tie. We could still have a three-way tie, though. We need Toronto and Baltimore to lose and Detroit to win for that to have a chance.