We're over a third done with the regular season. That seems kind of impossible.
What seems far more impossible is the fact that over 1/3 through the season, the Twins are in first place in their division. Judging by every metric known to man, this should not be. I know we've been saying "it will probably fall apart, but for now, I'm just enjoying the ride", but I still feel like I haven't been enjoying it enough. It's kind of easy to take this run for granted, since a lot of it has appeared to be a mirror propped up with some cinder blocks, with a smoke machine sputtering in the background, but wins are wins, and we've seen some cool stuff.
- Miguel Sanó is turning into a superstar, and has a great chance of being the starting third baseman for the AL all-star team.
- Byron Buxton has decided that Bob Ferguson shouldn't have a monopoly on the "Death to Flying Things" nickname.
- Ervin Santana has (with more than a little help from his outfielders) become a legit ace.
- Joe Mauer has had a resurgence.
- Jose Berrios (today's starter) has shown the brilliance and "next step" that we were hoping for after a very concerning 2016.
None of this might hold up. None of it seems like it will. Still, the team is five games above .500 with 2/3 the season left to go.
Just...uh....let's not break out the hashtag just yet, eh?
#itsmaybehappening*shrugemoji*
splash
PITCHER HIT!!!
Seemed early on in the Interleague days that a Twins pitcher got a hit each series, but that's fallen off. Johan was a good one
Johan's slash line with the Twins: .258/.281/.355/.636 in 32 plate apps.
Buxton catches that ball that Span hit
Yeah, it's very rough to go from "elite" to "below average"
It helps when the starting pitcher has 8 Ks in 5 1/3 innings.
Buxton catches Erv's double last night that Span couldn't, too
Saw that (Span double over Rosario) and said that same exact thing. As in, "oh, it's Rosario today...."
"wiggle wiggle" would be putting it lightly
El Wigglero
KENNYS!!!!! that was a monster blast
According to Statcast, it was the longest home run (471 feet) and highest exit velocity (116 mph) by a Twins player that they've ever recorded (so since at least 2015.)
And third longest this year in the majors
And yet ESPN says it's 457' and 118.3 mph, because they don't play by everyone else's rules
I was going to say "I'm here, the Twins can start scoring now", but Vargas didn't want to wait.
Thanks for stopping by!
BULL DOZED!
DOZIER!!!!
Berrios 2.0 has, for the most part, done an excellent job of minimizing the damage when he gets in trouble.
Did you know: in the 39th round of the 1971 the Twins drafted a SS out of Notre Dame named Joe Theismann. He did not sign.
I wonder what ever happened to him. He doesn't appear to ever have played organized ball, so I guess he must've decided to go into some other line of work.
Twins organization wished him well, told him to go break a leg
No obligatory baserunners - I like it!
winner winner chicken dinner!
Crockpot chicken, too!
Clinched the series win and a winning roadtrip.
This was the Twins' eighth win when scoring 3 runs or less. They had 6 such wins all of last year.
And their 20th road win, which to my memory is twice what they had all of last year.
This was Gimenez' fourth career SB; two of his first three came off of a Mr. J. Castro
Berrios now has a 39-13 K-BB ratio in 38 innings this year. Maybe he's not a bust after all.