2018 Game 6: Seattle Mariners at Minnesota Twins

Home Opener!

Kyle Gibson

vs

James Paxton

 

Paxton had a very good year in 2017. Let's hope he carries his first start over (4.2 IP, 6H, 6R, 6ER), and not his 2.98 ERA, 143 ERA+, 2.61 FIP from last season.

 

Gibson gonna Gibson... did you know he had identical 5.07 ERA's in each of the past two seasons? (83 & 87 ERA+, 4.70 & 4.85 FIP's respectively). He was not efficient in his first start. We'll see what happens.

77 thoughts on “2018 Game 6: Seattle Mariners at Minnesota Twins”

  1. The entire bench is starting today against the lefty.

    Molitor explained that he's going to rotate his lefty hitters against lefty pitchers.

    Kepler still in there I guess because he's swinging better than Rosario, but Rosario has been much better historically against lefties than Kepler. Oh well. Still progress being made in matchups.

  2. I remember attending the season opener (and Aaron Hicks' major league debut) when the temp was hovering right around 34 degrees. I don't envy anyone in attendance.

    1. You should envy us, it’s beautiful here.

      Also, The bald eagle landed on Paxton (warming up in left field) rather than heading to the handler on the mound. It was hilarious.

      1. Okay, I'll cop to being slightly envious.

        I haven't been to Target Field since Newbish was born. Linds and I are starting to get anxious to go again.

        1. I’ll admit that it wasn’t in the plans until eschapp said he had a few extras (h/t to him). Happy to be here, no matter which Gibson we get.

    1. How high do the odds of something need to be in the first place to qualify for plummeting?

  3. Nice sequence by Gibson vs. Cano in the second with 2 strikes. High fastball followed by a low changeup to get the strikeout and leave 2 runners on base. The fastball was a little close to the zone for comfort and was fouled straight back, but it was a good example of Gibson using his 4-seamer and changing the eye level, which has been credited with him having more success since late in last season.

    1. After the horrific way his first 37 major league at bats went, it's got to feel pretty good to be clicking, even if it's only temporary.

        1. I misspoke. I meant more along the lines of "Even if it proves to be only temporary".

          I'm probably the biggest fan of LaMarre on this site.

  4. With the day off tomorrow and the top of the order due up next inning, I think it would be a great idea to let Kinley get his major league debut next inning. Gibson is really getting hit around and is fortunate it is only a 2-0 deficit.

  5. Dozier just swung through a fastball in the middle of the plate from a lefty. I wonder how much the shadows are starting to come into play.

  6. From 2005 through 2017, Joe Mauer has averaged 150 hits per season. To reach 3,000 he would have to match his average and play for another 6 seasons, until he's 41, which is 3 years younger than Ichiro is now.

      1. Hildenberger was our best reliever last year and he hasn't even pitched in this game. Busenitz pitched well last year and didn't even make the team.

        1. It's hard to get used to depth when you've been wading in the shallow end of the pool so long.

    1. I'm sure it's happened to the twins more than any other team, so I consider it fair.

    2. Yep, although the pitcher missed badly on his location (catcher wanted it up out of the zone and the ball was a strike at the knees) and the catcher basically stabbed at it to catch it. On the replay of the HR, it looked like the ball was basically where the catcher wanted it.

  7. I didn't realize Rodney pitched on the truly awful Detroit Tigers teams of the early 2000s, including the 43 win of 2003.

  8. First close win for the Twins, although they still have not one a one-run game thanks to Rosario's insurance HR. I wonder if he kind of took it personally that he was on the bench and Kepler started in a game against a lefty.

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