Twins and Blue Jays in game two of a 4 game tilt at Target Field. Blue Jays put up Aaron Sanchez who is 1-1 and pitched decently early in the season but still hasn't gotten out of the 6th inning. Speaking of short starts... Twins have Kyle Gibson who is 0-0 but an ERA of 7.71 and hasn't gotten out of the 5th inning yet. As usual, Gibby has looked good for a while then has one bad inning. Twins could use a good outing tonight as cracks in the bullpen starting to show up.
Game time 6:40. Beautiful night for baseball, hopefully more people show up tonight. First pitch at 6:40p.
I’m curious about the decision to start 6’1” Gonzalez at 3b & 5’9” Astudillo at 1b instead of the opposite. Toronto has only three pure right-handed batters in its lineup tonight, so it’s not likely to be a judgment about defense or mobility. I think Astudillo has the better arm, too.
He needs to get out of his slump, though
That's a pretty pooptacular bottom of the lineup tonight.
SEND HIM!!
Nope.
Jorge'd!!
Polancouttahere!
Now I'm mad at Kepler for going up they're hacking.
He has to learn to take some pitches and give a runner like Buxton a chance to move up 90 feet.
To bad Kepler didn’t leave a baserunner for Polanco, but one run is better than none.
Not according to that old idiom about solo home runs.
You may have misspelled idiot there.
Heh heh - "too"
Slugbunt!
Well, best fifth inning for Gibson this year.
Nibbly Gibby’s just running late tonight.
So frustrating to watch.
Same 5th inning wall
This is why I’m fine with not extending Gibson.
The e coli excuse has expired
Apparently the nibbles is contagious though.
Sigh
Innings like this are so frustrating.
Innings like this, on the other hand.
ROSARIO!
(I spookied that one.)
I did, too
Rosie in the clutch. *yawn*
EDDIE!!!
Legit great call by Dazzle there.
Good thing we got an Eddie
Strike one to Astudillo was ball four.
Why is anyone swinging first pitch??
We were coming home from a DQ run and I totally spooky’d Eddie’s Earl Weaver special.
And I see now I was not alone.
Seriously, May’s glove’s gotta be a training glove. It’s tiny.
What is it about Grichuk that twins pitchers seem to be so intent to not challenge him?
Ugh. Finish this.
FFS.
Finally getting to watch now. Are we nervous yet? Guys?
If by nervous you mean frustrated as hell, then yes.
I did.
I bring this up often, but I’m pretty sure the Twins blow against the Jays the majority of the time. Regardless of which team is better that year.
I've been thinking the same thing. It's one of those annoying baseball mysteries.
It used to be the Orioles, especially during the Ripken years. It was no surprise that it was the O's that ended the Twins' 15-game win streak in '91.
It's been the Blue Jays since the 70's
DECADE: W-L Win % RS RA
2010's: 22-40 35.5 4.3 5.4
2000's: 33-39 45.8 4.2 4.8
1990's: 42-73 36.5 4.1 5.0
1980's: 50-64 43.9 4.0 4.7
1970's: 26-6 81.3 5.7 3.5
Orioles may have ended the Twins' 15-game win streak (actually, Aguilera ended it), but the Twins beat the Orioles in games 19, 20, and 21 of their 21-game losing streak to start the 1988 season.
If this is the price to be paid for defeating them in the ‘91 ALCS, so be it.
Hildenberger kept his ERA at 0.00!
A JC Romero special!
This again? Great.
My earlier bullpen optimism is waning pretty hard.
I blame Jack. This doesn’t happen when Morneau’s in the booth.
I feel good about this Buxton at bat
It seems like he's had a bit of a run of bad luck lately.
Probably Jack's fault.
Catchers are fielders, too!
Did you block out the Lecroy years?
I got to see a live Lecroy homer and also a live Lecroy getting beaned in the head. The full experience.
While I haven't seen those, I have seen Lecroy having a smoke with Kent hrbek in the tunnel at the dome before a game. (actually, I can't really remember if Lecroy was smoking or not.)
They had just watched Troy McClure’s video “Smoke Yourself Thin.”
Heh
They were definitely watching that during the "no smoking in the metrodome" announcement.
I wonder what Hrbie’s brand was.
It was something like ten or eleven years ago, so that is a detail I definitely don't remember.
I know Hrby could handle a heater. Less sure about Lecroy.
There’s nothing difficult about pronouncing “Tortuga,” Dick.
Fellas ... I’m beginning to lean into the idea that non-longball offense would be a nice thing to see.
We're gonna see it in the bottom of the ninth of Baldelli doesn't make any changes, and it ain't gonna be pretty...
Well yeah ... but at any point during innings 1-7 it woulda been alright.
WHY DO YOU KEEP WALKING FUCKING RANDAL GRICHUK?
Grichuk has walked three times in a game, or more, only once before. Takes some serious effort to get the .298 career OBP guy on three times in a game.
Repeat as necessary!
Can I haz my ignorant comments back plz?
Well that was unexpected.
Huh. I was not expecting that.
I just can’t wrap my head around Schoop being pronounced Scope.
That’s why you don’t Machado those.
SEND HIM!!!!
Don’t send him.
Ack!
Oh Fer dumb
Both of these games.
Dido.
That’s one of the harder ways to lose.
Just ... why Tony? Rocco has defended the send aggressiveness at least twice when it hasn’t worked out, but I’m beginning to feel a bit ‘Ullgered’ about it all.
To be faaaiiirrrr, it was a perfect relay and a close play at the plate.
With two outs, the threshold for sending a player changes. The next batter is Kepler. If you figure he has a 27% chance of getting a hit, and if you add wild pitches, at best a 30% chance of the Twins tying the game during Kepler's at bat. So if you think Cron can score more than 30% of the time on that play, you send him. It took two perfect throws to get him. I'm fine with the decision.
I'm more annoyed by Gibson and May's Gibson-ing to allow six runs by walking Grichuk three damn times.
Yup. Asking the offense to surmount two three run deficits late(r) in the game isn’t reasonable. Watching a pitcher flailing around, trying to get the third out of an inning to preserve a tie is aggravating for everyone.
A hit by Kepler wouldn't have tied the game. It would have won the game.
I believe he's saying that by virtue of a wild pitch, the chance of tie is around 30%. The chance of winning, which would require a hit, is less than that, around 27%.
All of these comments are on point. It did take two perfect throws to get him, and watching it back, the play was even closer than it initially appeared. It wouldn't have been an issue had Gibson & May taken care of business. I guess I'm fine with the decision.
My thinking (in the moment) was that, CJ Cron is not fast ... he's not. Yes, it did take two perfect throws to get him, but only because he's not all that fast. Also, I hate to see the final out happen on a play at the plate where even if successful, the run would only have tied the game (different in my mind if they'd been trying to walk it off), especially with the top of your order up and two runners in scoring position.
Provided they got something of value, it's early enough in the season where these types of games are frustrating to the fans (and team I'm sure) but probably useful in terms of learning from the experiences.