It's game eighty-one. After this one, the season will be half over. The Twins will be either eleven or nine games under .500, depending on how this one goes. Buxton is in AAA. Sano is in high-A. We have a catcher on our roster who's batting .132. Our big free-agent slugger is batting .192 with nine homers. Of the two starters we acquired, one has an ERA well over five and the other isn't too far under. Tonight, Jorge Polanco comes back. The Twins are acting as if he's some sort of savior, rather than a player with limited defensive skills who nearly lost his job a year ago.
But hey, we've got Willians Astudillo! And each day is a new day. And it's baseball, where even the worst team can beat the best team on a given day. Maybe we'll be given a good day today. It's Kyle Gibson against Brett Suter. Let's do this! Go Twins!
Could we let the pitcher bat and use the DH for Bobby Wilson?
If the second half is like the first, then 71-91.
Quick top of the first.
Didn't take long to get behind.
Clown show out.
Now THAT's a double play! 4-3-7-2!
At least we won't be no-hit.
A-Stud with another hit!
No runs, but at least a couple of hits. Maybe we'll get something started next inning.
They said Wilson lost about 15 pounds catching in the heat. He's listed at 230, so that would take him down to 215. If he loses about eighty more pounds, he might be able to hit his weight.
Gibson gets a hit!
Second and third, no one out, our best batter coming up. Can we score?
Productive out!
Got to love those two out sac flies.
Another hit for A-Stud!
And now he proves he belongs on the Twins.
He's only prepared for the no-look pickoff from the catcher.
Who needs Ohtani? We've got Gibson!
Kyle Gibson increasing his trade value for National League teams!
Gibson keeping his 2.000 OPS for the season alive.
And Dozier with a single; must not me Late and Close
GRAND SALAMI!
GROSSMAN!!!!!!!!!!
The three Twins' batters without a hit so far are the three with the lowest BA
Farm report:
Rochester defeats Pawtucket 6-2. Byron Buxton was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second. He's batting .217.
Chattanooga and Tennessee are tied 1-1 in the sixth. Lewis Thorpe came out after pitching just 2.2 innings for no apparent reason. He threw just 32 pitches.
Fort Myers leads Charlotte 5-1. Miguel Sano was 1-for-2 with a walk and is batting .355, Andro Cutura came out after pitching just three innings, again for no apparent reason. He threw just 36 pitches.
Cedar Rapids trails Wisconsin 6-2 in the fourth. Tyler Watson pitched two shutout innings but then gave up six runs in the third.
Elizabethton was rained out in Princeton.
The GCL Twins defeated the GCL Orioles 12-2. Janigson Villalobos was 2-for-4 with a double and two walks.
The DSL Twins defeated the DSL Angels 5-1. The Twins had five runs on two hits, as the Angels made three errors and gave up nine walks. Anthony Escobar struck out six in five shutout innings.
Apparently Bad Gibby is the one that's able to hit.
At least we still have the lead.
Is batting the pitcher eighth no longer a thing? It doesn't matter a lot to me, but I just don't seem to have heard much about it this year.
That's so "last year" -- this year it's pitchers also playing in the field between starts.
I have a theory that the Brewers crashed that bunt by Bobby Wilson to try to bait him into swinging away.
Solid strategy.
There is the daily baserunning mistake!
Good thing we got the daily PO taken care of earlier.
Oh, great...
Looks like I am just in time to induce a Rosario dinger. (hint hint)
TWINS BASEBALL!!
Well, this has been depressing.
Zack Littell, ERA: 18.00. And about to go up.
Oh, NICELY done, Littell
Seriously. A 4-pitch, Walk-Off Walk?
Seriously skillz.
That was quite a performance, Zack Littell.
OFFS, you guys.