Monthly Archives: May 2019

2019 Twins Game Recaps

2019 Recap: Game Thirty

NEW YORK 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Friday, May 3.

Batting stars:  Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-4.  Nelson Cruz was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, his sixth, and a walk.

Pitching star:  Fernando Romero pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Gary Sanchez was 3-for-4 with two home runs, his ninth and tenth.  James Paxton pitched three innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and three walks and striking out one.  Jonathan Holder struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  An error and a walk put men on first and third with none out in the first for the Yankees, and Gleyber Torres hit a one-out single to put New York up 1-0.  The Twins got two singles and a walk in the second to load the bases with one out, but Ehire Adrianza hit into a double play to end the inning.  In the bottom of the inning a walk, a hit batsman, and a Luke Voit RBI single made it 2-0.  Two walks and an error loaded the bases for the Twins again with one out again in the third and C. J. Cron's sacrifice fly brought home one, but that was all the Twins could do, leaving the score 2-1 Yankees.

That was as good as it got for them.  In the fourth New York played small ball--an error and a Cameron Maybin single put men on first and second with none out, a bunt advanced them to second and third, a wild pitch scored one, and a ground out scored another, making the score 4-1.  Sanchez homered leading off the fifth to make it 5-1 and he homered again with two out in the seventh to make it 6-1.

To the Twins credit, they didn't give up.  With two out in the eighth Jorge Polanco walked and Cruz hit a two-run homer to make it 6-3.  Gonzalez got as far as third base with one out in the ninth, but he was still there when the game ended.

WP:  Holder (2-0).  LP:  Kyle Gibson (2-1).  S:  Aroldis Chapman (6).

Notes:  Eddie Rosario was out of the lineup, with Gonzalez playing left field and Adrianza at third base.

Polanco was 0-for-3 with a walk and is batting .327.  Mitch Garver was 0-for-4 and is batting .308.  Cruz is batting .303.

I question the decision to sit Rosario down in this game.  I understand the reasoning--you're facing a tough lefty and he's been slumping.  But he hit a couple of balls hard in the last game, even though they went for outs.  I think sitting him down just gives him reasons to question himself and to think Rocco is losing confidence in him.  I'm not saying it was an obviously stupid move or anything.  I just wouldn't have done it.

The game log seems to be divided between criticism of Gibson, criticism of the defense, and criticism of the plate umpire.  I was not around for the game, so it's hard for me to say.  Gibson gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks and threw 100 pitches in just five innings, which doesn't sound good.  On the other had, three of the runs were unearned, and when you make your pitcher get four outs per inning he's going to have to throw more pitches and is probably going to allow more runs.  And Gibson is not a pitcher who can throw the ball over the center of the plate and get away with it, so if he's not getting the corners he's going to be in trouble.  Perhaps there was plenty of blame to go around, I don't know.

I think there were some positives that came out of this game, though.  The Twins never gave up any big innings, despite the errors.  In other words, they didn't collapse just because things went against them.  They had chances to score early on.  They got a couple of late runs to kind of get back into the game.  They were able to get three innings out of the tail end of the bullpen (and in fact both Mike Morin and Romero pitched pretty well), leaving the front end rested and ready for today.  This just has the feel of an ordinary baseball loss, and nothing more.

I realize that's not going to be the popular take.  The popular take is going to be "Here we go again.  Same old Twins.  The Yankees are in their heads.  They're intimidated.  The Yankees own them."  Blah, blah, blah.  And of course, people are going to keep saying that, and writing it, until the Twins do something about it.  Maybe today is the day they start doing something about it.  If they're going to win a game in this series, today looks like their best chance.

Record:  The Twins are 19-11, first in the American League Central, two games ahead of Clevelnd.

Projected record:  We'll just have to settle for 151-11!

2019 Twins Game Logs

2019 Game Logs: Game 30 – Good @ Evil

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Here we are. The Yankees. The Twins have looked good so far, but looking good is what the Yankees start doing well before they even step on the field. Most teams in baseball struggle to sustain success. The Yankees, with all their resources, find it hard to avoid. I suppose they struggle to sustain failure - they're gonna end up good, without even trying.

Yes, the Yankees have had injuries. No, this isn't the absolute best lineup or pitching staff that NY could have fielded. But it's still darn scary. And it's especially scary because there's a, let's say, "excruciatingly painful", history of when the Twins and Yankees play in May.

But maybe this iteration of the Twins will be something different. Maybe Nelson Cruz and whoever is playing catcher tonight will each hit 3 bombs, because that's what they seem to do. Maybe we'll get Good Gibson showing up to embarrass James Paxton. Maybe Aaron Boone will be dared by his bench coach into having every player only sacrifice bunt, no matter the circumstance. And maybe he'll actually take that dare. I sure hope so.

Or maybe it'll just be some good baseball, either way. I sure hope for that too.

The Nation Has An Appetite

The Nation Has An Appetite – On The Grill

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First, let me disappoint you: I've no recipes or photos or any such to share. There, now that that's out of the way...

I spent a lot of time last night cleaning my grill. I've got a 3 burner gas grill that's about 8 years old. I've used it an absolute ton, but for the past 2.5 years it was in storage. And, apparently, it was put into storage without my having done a deep clean first (we were moving, and, if I remember correctly, it was one of those "well, we've got room for it in this truck, so it's going now, even if you're not ready for it" situations). I usually do a good clean at the start of the summer and another sometime in the fall, but grills are... well, they're tough.

I mostly used soap, water, and lots of elbow grease. Paper towels, sponges, some steel-wool type of thing designed for grills, and cloths all got used. It looks a heck of a lot better, and I'm excited to take it out for a test run this weekend. I need to get a propane tank filled first, so there's a part of me that's still nervous it won't light up, after having been packed away for so long. Let's hope!

Anyway, I thought this was as good a time as any to broach the grilling topic. Summer is upon us... what do you have, what do you wish you had, how do you manipulate what you do have to make it do what you want (I'm thinking about Meat's post (it was Meat, right?) where he converted the old Weber... that was cool)? And what tools do you use? What do you use for cleaning? (I've heard horror stories of bristles coming off and puncturing internal body parts when accidentally consumed... I don't know about the truth of these, but that's the kind of thing that might give you pause) What do you avoid? What other tools do you use for cooking on the grill (I've got a grill tray that I adore, and every time I make anything else I try to throw a bunch of veggies on the tray. Always steps up the meal a notch or two.)?

And, of course, if you've got an recipes or recommendations for grilling... by all means, please do share.

Friday Music Day

FMD: 5/3/19 – New Music

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I feel like there has been a ton of new music coming my way lately. I see DK has even fortuitously selected for today's video one of the recent highlights I've had. I really appreciate this wave, especially since I'm starting my annual attempt at a summer mix.

I know we've talked new music before, but, hey, it's always a fresh topic by its nature, right?

I'm never quite sure what qualifies as "new" music. There's a lot of music that I've missed, so it's new to me. But sometimes lots of people missed it, and that makes it "new" to them too, and so if I'm starting to share it... does it qualify as new? There's also the other end of the spectrum, where you can pick up a song that has been dropped without an album yet. For example, I was listening to several songs from Alice Merton's Mint long before it was released. At this point, those songs are probably still new, but to me, they're starting to get old.

I always love being on the very front end. The flip side, I always feel a little foolish for being a late-comer.

I'm curious your thoughts on new music, how it makes you feel, how you keep up, etc.

And what new music is out there, or coming out, or maybe just "new to you" that you're looking forward to/enjoying/etc.?

2019 Twins Game Recaps

2019 Recap: Game Twenty-nine

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MINNESOTA 8, HOUSTON 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, May 2.

Batting stars:  Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs.  Jorge Polanco was 2-for-3 with a triple and a double.  Jason Castro was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third) and a double, scoring twice and driving in four.  Jonathan Schoop was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Jose Berrios pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out five.  Ryne Harper pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.  Trevor May pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Aledmys Diaz was 2-for-4.  Alex Bregman was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.

The game:  Bregman homered with two out in the first to give the Astros a 1-0 lead.  Each team got a two-out double in the second but did not score.  In the third, singles by Tony Kemp and George Springer put men on first and second with none out, but a strikeout, a fly out, and another strikeout left them there.  Castro led off the bottom of the third with a home run to tie the score at 1-1.

The Twins took control in the fourth.  With one out, C. J. Cron walked and Marwin Gonzalez singled, putting men on first and third.  Schoop delivered an RBI single, Castro had a two-run double, Byron Buxton had a run-scoring triple, Max Kepler hit a sacrifice fly, Polanco doubled, and Nelson Cruz had an RBI double.  In all, six runs scored, putting the Twins up 7-1 and effectively ending the game right there.

They kept playing, of course.  The Twins added a run in the fifth when Gonzalez walked, went to third on a Schoop single, and scored on a fielder's choice.  Polanco hit a one-out triple in the sixth but did not score.  Houston threatened to get back into it in the seventh.  Singles by Yuli Gurriel, Josh Reddick, and Diaz loaded the bases with none out.  A strikeout, a sacrifice fly, and another fly out limited the damage to one run, making the score 8-2, and neither team threatened after that.

WP:  Berrios (5-1).  LP:  Brad Peacock (2-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Polanco raised his average to .336.  Cruz was 1-for-4 with a double and is batting .302.

Even though it was a day game, Rocco did not go with any sort of B lineup.  The regulars played.  The Twins alternate their catchers quite a bit, so that's not really an issue, but there were no substitutes at any other position, either.

Eddie Rosario was 0-for-4 and is now riding an 0-for-24 streak.  He hit two balls hard, though.  I'm not too worried about him.

Berrios pitched a fine game.  It shows the difference expectations can make, though.  If Michael Pineda ever had a game like this, we'd be ecstatic.  When it's Berrios, we just kind of nod our heads.  We expect Berrios to have games like this every time out.  That's a compliment to him, but at the same time, it's something that shouldn't be taken for granted.

Since reaching a low point of .213 on April 17, Schoop has gone 17-for-50 and is now batting .278.

Entering this series, I said the next ten games would tell us a lot about how good the Twins are.  They're off to a good start, winning three of the first four.  Now, of course, we go to New York to play the Big Bad Yankees.  I have a feeling that this year things are going to be different.  I don't have a lot to back that feeling up--the pitching matchups aren't particularly favorable or anything.  But it's a new day, it's a new team, and I just think this is the year things change.  I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Record:  The Twins are 19-10, first in the American League Central, three games ahead of Cleveland.