All posts by cheaptoy

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 135: Twins @ Royals

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Gibson (9-9, 3.84 ERA, 4.06 xFIP) vs. Volquez (12-7, 3.53 ERA, 4.27 xFIP)

Upon brief perusal of stats, this appears to be a matchup of rather similar pitchers. mid to high 3's for ERA, slightly higher xFIP's. They'll strike out a couple guys, but not all of them. Volquez favors the flyball a bit more than Gibson, though, so hopefully the Twins can turn some of those into HR's. It'd be real nice if Sano could break out of this mini-slump and hit some balls hard.

I would also like to see Buxton in there today. (and everyday, but dead horse) I suspect we may not since Hunter's had some hits the past two games, though.

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 125: Twins at Rays

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Santana (2-4, 5.53 ERA, 4.99 xFIP) vs. Karns (7-5, 3.44 ERA, 3.81 xFIP)

Interestingly, Santana's ERA and K/9 are the same. He's also not pitched well since starting his season. It'd be nice of him to reverse that tonight.

The Twins face Karns who's having a pretty good year. Hopefully that means he's not a middling Jeremy who will dominate the lineup. That said, I fully expect Sano to punch a couple holes in the roof at the Trop tonight.

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 106: Twins @ Blue Jays

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Hughes (10-6, 4.11 ERA, 4.19 xFIP) vs. Estrada (8-6, 3.53 ERA, 4.62 xFIP)

With the way the post-ASB has gone, I'm finding myself falling into the depths of ambivalence. It feels like, as in year's past, this is when the team regresses. I keep trying to remind myself that they started the year off pretty terribly as well. But, the recent struggles of Glen Perkins has me concerned that it just isn't gonna happen. That's the guy I never really consider for someone who will have a run of crappiness.

Anywho, there are still games to be played. With Estrada's xFIP being over a full run higher than his ERA, let's hope the offense doesn't Price-ify him like they've been doing. Gotta get those runners in from third! Especially with Hughes having a HR year and the Blue Jays seeming to be fond of the long ball.

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 93: Twins @ AMR’s Favorite Team

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Gibson (8-6, 2.85 ERA, 3.75 xFIP) vs. Shoemaker (4-7, 4.85 ERA, 4.03 xFIP)

The Twins continue their Minnesotans-can't-watch-because-the-games-are-on-too-late road trip to face the Angels. Gibson takes the mound to try to get the team back on track after a heart breaking loss followed by a game that I think we can all just ignore and pretend didn't happen.

I expect Lucroy and Tulowitzki to suit up tonight with David Price getting the start tomorrow. I also expect a lively game log with a 9pm game time.

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 84: Orioles at Twins

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Gausman (1-0, 3.09 ERA, 4.22 xFIP) vs. Gibson (6-6, 3.04 ERA, 3.95 xFIP)

So last night was fun, although it is pretty funny to think about a low scoring game involving five home runs. And since the only one that actually caused any pain was Dozier's, I think that is more than enough proof that solo home runs do not, in fact, hurt.

It'd be great if Gibson could continue what has been a pretty good year so far. He's facing Kevin Gausman who started the year in the bullpen for the O's, now making his third start of 2015. Outside of that, I really don't know much else about him.

I presume Sano is to be an everyday player for the remainder of the year, which makes this season a lot of fun. I know it's a small sample size, but from everything I've heard or read, it sounds like he's plenty capable of handling major league pitchers. I'd love to see that first career HR make its way to the stands tonight, preferably with some other guys in the same uniforms on base.

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 50.1: Twins at Red Sox

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Big Pelf (4-1, 2.77 ERA, 4.50 xFIP) vs. Bucholz (2-6, 4.33 ERA, 3.15 xFIP)

Well this all feels pretty familiar. I feel like I just previewed this pitching match up last Tuesday. That particular contest was shockingly both a pitcher's duel and won by the Pelfster. It'd be pretty great if they Twins could just score a bunch of runs on Bucholz this time and completely avoid having to rely on a 2-1 victory.

Of course, I do see some more rain in the forecast, so who knows if this game will happen or suffer the same fate as Monday's game, the poor bastard.

2015 Twins Game Logs

Game 45: Red Sox at Twins

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Bucholz (2-5, 4.58 ERA, 3.12 xFIP) vs. Big Pelf (3-1, 3.00 ERA, 4.74 xFIP)

The Twins take on the Red Sox tonight holding second place in the AL Central all by themselves. Many articles have been written about how crazy it is, and in the spirit of that craziness, the Twins turn to the Big Pelf himself to keep up his recent resurgence to help once again vanquish the Red Sox, who play in the crappy AL East.

It'd be nice if the Twins can get some early offense AND some late offense. Its nice their getting runs in bunches, but games that start out with six or seven runs just don't feel all that comfortable when they aren't adding any insurance.

Friday Music Day

FMD: New Music

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I didn't see anything queued up for today, so I thought I'd put up my first ever FMD post. Exciting stuff!

I've been using Google Play on a free trial (I use the free version of it to store my songs since you get up to 20 some thousand songs for free and I'll never have that much) for the past two weeks. While I've been pretty impressed with their metal selection. I've been able to find just about whatever I've been looking for (except for Doomsword, which is disappointing). That said, I won't be continuing with a paid subscription when my two months is up. Doing random lists from "genre radio" stations is completely terrible for me. It might work great for others with different tastes, but the "metal" it randomizes is... not good. I pretty much have to know exactly what I want to listen to, then search for it and make my own playlists. I'm quite content buying albums and listening to my own personal collection.

That all said, I have been able to give a listen to some bands that I hadn't before. My favorite that I've discovered so far is Slough Feg. I could see them as having some appeal to some citizens here. They have a dirty, hard-rock sort of groove going while still falling on the heavier side. The vocals are clean, by the way, in case that is a general hang-up for anyone.

01. Metalium - "Rasputin", Hero Nation - Chapter Three
02. Eluveitie - "Thousandfold", Everything Remains as it Never Was
03. Korpiklaani - "Keep on Galloping", Korven Kuningas
04. Bruce Dickinson - "Freak", Accident of Birth
05. Skyclad - "Great Blow for a Day Job", Oui Avant-Garde á Chance
06. Arch Enemy - "Demoniality", Black Earth
07. Hammerfall - "Born to Rule", Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
08. King Diamond - "By, Bye, Missy", Them
09. Control Denied - "What If...?", The Fragile Art of Existence
10. Candlemass - "Solitude", Epicus Dommicus Metallicus