Game 135: royals @ twins

Onelki García against Kyle Gibson

We're headed into the home stretch now. We've all talked about managing expectations this season, but with this soft schedule and the flawed teams in the race, I will be very disappointed if the Twins don't come away with the chance to play the play-in game.

It all starts, as always, with beating teams that you should be able to beat, and the Royals are the epitome of that right  now. If you don't recognize the starter for the blue folks tonight, it's because this will be his first start in the big leagues. Good for him. He's still a low-K pitcher who hasn't really stick as a starter, even in the minors. If the Twins can't beat pitchers like Onelki García, then they really don't have much business in the playoffs.

Luckily the Twins are sending out..... Gibson?

Man, why do I always get the Gibson starts.

104 thoughts on “Game 135: royals @ twins”

  1. On the downside, I'm in the Royals blackout area so no Twins feed, I have to listen to Rex Hudler.

  2. That was a nice first inning for Gibson. It's amazing what not getting cute with two strikes can do for a guy.

      1. If you don't recognize the starter for the blue folks tonight, it's because this will be his first start in the big leagues.

        But not his first appearance. The first five batters he faced came around to score. Poor bastard.

        1. Nothing personal, but there's nothing in his minor league record that shows he has any business being in the major leagues. He hasn't had a good year in the minors since 2013 in AA for the Dodgers. As Twins fans, we've seen plenty of guys like that over the years, though.

          1. I feel bad about the guy. He was set up to fail and he did. That said, he gave up fewer runs than the next guy. A tiny bit bad.

  3. I know Joe does his best damage to opposite field, but it's so aesthetically pleasing when he pulls one.

  4. These are the Royals we know and love!

    Seriously, I kind of feel sorry for their fans. We've seen plenty of ballplaying like this in recent years, and it's not much fun to watch.

  5. Elizabethton's playoff game scheduled for tonight has been rained out. Looks like the schedule simply gets pushed back a day, and that the first game of the series will be tomorrow.

    1. Fort Myers leads Jupiter 3-1 after seven innings. A win clinches the division for the Miracle.

      Rochester and Pawtucket are tied 3-3 after six. Lehigh Valley was rained out, but a Red Wings win clinches a tie for the wild card.

  6. Dang. I really wanted Dozier to take a walk there so he could have more walks than innings played.

  7. The Royals' pitching well must be getting dry. Andres Machado hadn't pitched above rookie ball until this season (he missed 2014 due to injury). He was having a poor year in high-A, made one appearance in AA, made seven starts in AAA (which were adequate, but no more) and here he is pitching in the majors. Good luck to him and all, but again, there's no real reason to think he belongs in the majors right now.

  8. I'm not predicting it, but if Mauer could hit .300 for a couple more years, and win a gold glove at first besides, his Hall of Fame case would look pretty good again.

  9. The latest in the season Mauer has had a .300 batting average after 2013 is May 15 in 2014. He had a .300 average in May in 2015 and 2016 too but not quite as late.

  10. And the Red Wings go down in order in the bottom of the ninth. The magic number remains two with two days left in the season.

      1. And of course, dick ranting like a madman against run differential. "it doesn't tell you anything!"

        Just let us have something nice, Bremer!

    1. None of the 17+ run games have held the opposing team scoreless. Only one time, out of 15, with the Twins scoring 16 was a shutout.

  11. Brian Dozier will probably not reach 100 runs scored, but he is making a mad dash. Currently at 82. Scored 32 runs since August 1.

  12. Joey Gallo advances to third on an error and the Angels challenge saying his foot popped off the bag for 14 milliseconds. MLB replay agrees and he's out. I hate miniscule deviations are scrutinized to get the out.

    1. Me too.
      Seems like it happened to the Twins once a week for the first two months of this season.

    2. Agreed. And because of that, they last a good chance for an Insurance run. So of course the angels tied it up just now.

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