2020 Twins Game Logs

2020 Wild Card Game 2: So Much Baseball

259 Comments

Another crushing postseason game. Drown your sorrows with seven other games.

Lance McCullers Jr.
vs
José Berríos

Lineup:
1. Luis Arraez, 2B
2. Max Kapler, CF
3. Nelson Cruz, DH
4. Eddie Rosario, LF
5. Miguel Sanó, 1B
6. Alex Kirilloff, RF
7. Jorge Polanco, SS
8. Marwin Gonzalez, 3B
9. Ryan Jeffers, C

259 thoughts on “2020 Wild Card Game 2: So Much Baseball”

  1. No Buxton.

    1. I hate anything shorter than a 7-game series for postseason baseball, except maybe wild card play-in games.

  3. I hope José’s curveball’s falling off the table and his sinker’s darting.
    I hope Jorge is extra motivated.
    I hope Jeffers gets all four (or more) at-bats.
    I hope Kirilloff is able to contribute to a Twins win.
    I hope the boom sticks show and the assbats go.

    2. I give them a pass on this -- it's crazy, it's a national broadcast, they pretty much have to lead with it.

    1. Karl Ravech is not a good play-by-play guy, in my opinion, but this is inexcusable. Berrios has been in the big leagues five years and made two all-star teams. A professional broadcaster, even a not-very-good one, should at least know how to pronounce his name.

  6. A full 6 innings of this ding dong saying "BERRY Ose" is going to drive me nuts. Especially with Perez subtly pronouncing it right every chance he gets.

    1. I've never heard it said out loud, but judging from the accent I'm guessing it's closer to /buh-REE-ohs/

  7. Jeffers needs to catch the full game. He's the best hitting catcher at the moment (sorry, Sauce :(), and his framing ability is miles beyond Garver and Avila.

  16. So great - load the bases and a "great story" of a player who has no business playing in the postseason comes up to bat and leave everyone on base to end the inning. Awesome Twins baseball.

    1. If the Twins had this thought in the back of their minds, why didn't they bring up Kirilloff instead of Wade two weeks ago? Just to get the jitters out of the way.

      1. That's not a bad idea, but I assume the Twins were hoping Wade would mostly be sitting on the bench and that Cave might heat up in September and AK wouldn't be necessary for this situation. Cave's power came around in September, but 20:3 SO:BB and just a .308 OBP.

    2. Cave's been pretty abysmal hitting this season and the team struggled to score runs yesterday. I'm not that against that lineup decision.

      1. I would hate to see the season end on a pathetic diving attempt by Jake Cave and the Bad D. That storyline was already used in 2006.

    2. Probably trying to avoid a quick inning by taking a pitch or two. Leadoff man Polanco did him no favors by chasing pitch for a first-pitch out.

    2. At least Ravech seems like he wants to be there. Kurkijan has been so cranky, it's been super annoying.

    1. That's been every game Ravech has broadcast this year. It's like he wants to use the game as a backdrop for a talk show rather than do actual play-by-play of the game.

        1. That may be--I would have no way to know--but it seems to happen a lot more in Ravech's games than it does in other broadcasters' games.

          1. It's a reasonable assumption that the play-by-play announcer is not the director of the broadcast and he has to take instructions from his management just like most of us do.

            1. Again, I not arguing with you. I'm just saying it happens more in Ravech's games. Maybe they feel interviews are his strength and are trying to play to it or something.

  27. If only Houston had to call up a rookie to make his MLB debut to bat with 2 outs and RISP instead of a guy in the top 10 for RBI this season.

    2. It really is the absolute dearth of runs in the postseason that is so disheartening. Do the Twins change their approach somehow? Are they just all pressing so much? I don't understand it.

      1. I thought it was the pinstripes the Yankees wear. Now it’s clear that it’s just the futility of being Minnesotan.

      4. You have to wonder about it, but in this series at least, the Twins improved on their K rate and BB rate from the regular season. So many pop-ups, though.

  32. Tim Kirkjian doesn't even realize he shouldn't be giggling about Doucheira walk-off playoff homeruns today.

  33. Cubs-Marlins on the networks right now. I can't decide which team I hate less. As much as I dislike Jetes, the Ricketts family is just plain evil.

  35. Watching the body language of these players in reacting to bad plays - I am convinced they feel the weight of this losing streak and its affecting their play.

    1. At a certain point you'd think it'd just be "well, there's nothing left to lose," and the pressure would go away.

      1. I do believe that the floodgates will open once a game is won whether that is today or in a future post season.

    1. He's absolutely correct. The more you go to the bullpen, the more likely you are to find a guy who doesn't have it that day. Berrios also looks really good.

      1. I think 3rd time through the order is the best justification for taking him out, but he has been looking good. Would be nice to just score 20 runs and make it irrelevant.

    1. maybe he has some Twins playoff stench on him just from being on a roster years and years ago and we can score a billion runs.

    1. I feel like the corners have been kind of inconsistent, but partly there have been a lot of close calls so I can't say he's been actively bad.

      1. And Rosario at that. Followed by Sanó. I'm okay with the send. I think we overestimate how likely Arraez would have scored otherwise.

      2. The throw to the relay man was pretty crap, and I think that played a big part in the decision to send him.

    5. I'm on radio, so I don't know. Obviously if he had no chance, it's a bad decision. But given how few big hits the Twins have gotten, I can't blame the third base coach for taking a gamble.

      1. So, from the other comments, sounds like pretty much no chance. Well, at least we won't get shut out!

        2. TV guys are harping on Arraez allegedly not cutting the corner tight enough. Eh.

          20/20 hindsight, but I would have taken my chances with Eddie.

        3. I really disagree with the characterization of no chance at all. When he was being sent home, the throw to the relay man was just about to take a short hop. The relay man both handled the short hop perfectly and made an incredibly quick release to get rid of the ball. It was a reasonable chance to take to get the go-ahead run when runs have been scarce.

            1. And even for pro players, there are a lot of ways to screw up a relay throw to the plate -- two throws that need to be quick enough AND accurate enough, two catches, plus you need to apply the tag.

    6. To me it was close enough that he had a better or roughly even chance to score by getting sent home versus the 20-30% chance that Rosario would drive him home.

      1. Yup, couldn't get too upset about strike three to Jeffers on what should have been ball four because he should have been rung up earlier. Strike three to Kepler, though, was just filthy.

        1. I've been listening more on the radio this year--it can be really challenging to follow that way at times.

  50. I really feel like all it would take is a couple more runs for the Twins to win. I just don't have a lot of confidence in the Twins' ability to get a couple more runs.

  58. ump show
    also assbats

  61. Rosario shouldn't have been thrown out, obviously.

    That being said, the ump was clearly in no mood to be told the truth about his umpiring skills as of the previous pitch. Gotta bite your tongue there.

    1. Most of the Twins players have postseason experience. It just hasn't been a very pleasant experience.

    2. The thing that strikes me about most of these playoff games is how much they are just like normal regular season games, *especially* with no fans.

    1. Not even just the same inning, but back-to-back plays, both called safe instead of out (when IF hits are super rare in general.) Gotta love the human element!

  82. Not excited to bring in Bux. If he's not well enough to play, why PR with him?

    I'd rather lose and have him come back healthy next year.

    2. It would affect the pitcher more if the baserunner is capable of stealing. But, the Twins have to actually do something at the plate.

  85. Buxton's ability to not get picked off first base is AMAZING.

    what a fucking joke this team has been today.

  92. So is this too similar to Carlos Gomez (fastest runner) getting caught off the bases, or is this truly a new storyline?

  93. Kurkijan should just retire if he's so disappointed in the game, some of us still want to enjoy this fer cryin' out loud.

    1. Personally, I think Smoltz is at least insightful at times. Kurkjian has nothing of value to add, frankly.

  95. I think the new storyline is Sano homering to tie the game (with Buxton no longer on base), and then the Twins losing in extras when whomever pinch hits for Buxton comes up with runners on base and fails.

  97. Buxton didn't even bail out Sano from a particularly bad count, but maybe Sano can get ahead in the count early in the 9th. That's about the only silver lining you can take from that.

  100. I think I am most bothered by the fact that despite being in Las Vegas - I had enough belief in this team hosting these games to not fund my Christmas by betting against them like I did last year.

    2. If you want to stretch for a silver lining, at least we won't have the will-they-won't-they regarding a white house visit.

  116. So glad work was too busy for me to watch more than a handful of at bats. Was going to burn the Twins tie I showed on the book of face, but... I got nothing. I am empty inside.

    1. I've come to the conclusion that this is all Manford's fault. I have to say, Baseball is special in that they could find someone worse than Selig as commish.

  118. Every single team that has played at least one playoff game since the Twins last won a playoff game (all Major League teams besides the Mariners) has won at least one playoff game. That includes the Marlins, who have only played one playoff game during that time.

Comments are closed.