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2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 111 Recap: Angels 7, Twins 1

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ANAHEIM 7, MINNESOTA 1
Record - 51-60 (4th in Central, 1.5 games out of 3rd, 8.0 games out of first)
Highest WPA - N/A
Lowest WPA - Liriano (5.0 IP, 7R, 10H, 2 BB) and the entire lineup (6 for 32, HR)

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Another frustrating game in a season that seems to be an exhaustive collection of frustrating games.  Knowing the kind of year Dan Haren was having, it was difficult to be optimistic about the Twins chances, but Minnesota left no doubt as to the outcome of this one.

The infield of non-infielders (well, 50% non-infielders anyway) had a very difficult time turning balls in play into outs.  Seeing as how this is kind of an important part of playing defense, it's not surprising things turned out poorly.  No errors were awarded, but it sure seemed like the Angels got a lot of extra outs.

F-Bomb was not particularly great.  Some of that was the defense behind him, some of it was his own fault.

In addition to the defense being subpar and the pitching being subpar, the offense was (say it with me) subpar.  While the Angels were building a comfortable lead, the Twins sent 22 hitters to the plate to record the first 21 outs of the game.  Jim Thome's 598th career HR leading off the 8th ruined the shutout, and seemed to open the floodgates as the next three hitters singled.  Those three singles led to no runs, in fact they lead to an out as Danny Valencia slid into Jeff "The Wall" Mathis and still hasn't touched home plate.  Add baserunning to the subpar side of the equation.

Add it all up and the Twins were well under par for the day.  Maybe they should take up golf.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 98 Recap: Tigers 6, Twins 2

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DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 2
Record - 46-52 (4th in Central, 1.0 game out of 3rd, 6.0 games out of first)
Highest WPA - Cuddyer and Mauer (both 2 for 4) were the only positive WPA Twins
Lowest WPA - Jim Thome (0 for 3, BB, 3 SO) - Only one true outcome short of the complete set.
NOTES - Twins are 0-6 against Detroit this year.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap

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Not exactly the start to the series that the Twins were looking for.  Verlander was pretty good, and he dialed it up a bit after Cuddyer's leadoff triple in the second inning.  Strikeouts of Thome and Valencia along with a Delmon groundout to second (BOOM BITCH!) got him off the hook and kept the game scoreless.

Then it was a matter of Pavano trying to keep it close.  After a frightening 4th inning (bases loaded, one out) was defused by a double play, it seemed like a one-run deficit could be overcome.  Then a 2-run Brennan Boesch homer in the 5th extended the Tiger lead.  3 runs against Verlander seemed a tall order, but the Tiger bullpen has been pretty bad and my friend who is a Tiger fan wouldn't admit victory.

The sixth inning saw the Twins score on a string of 2 out hits, but the top of the inning had already yielded two more Tiger runs, so the deficit was only narrowed to four.

Beating Verlander is always a tall order, and it was one the Twins weren't up to last night.  Fortunately, there are three more games in the series, and no more Verlanders in the Tigers' rotation.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 90 Recap: Twins 8, Royals 4

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MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 4
Record - 42-48 (4th in Central, 1.0 game out of 3rd)
Highest WPA - Liriano (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 SO, 2 BB), Plouffe! (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI)
Lowest WPA - Danny V. (1 for 5, RBI) - the flyout double play in the first must have hurt him.
NOTES - 5 Twins had multi-hit games (Delmon, Plouffe, Mauer, Casilla, Nishioka)
Fangraphs
MLB Recap
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And so begins the second half.  Right out of the gate after the All-Star break the Twins have three 4-game series at home against AL Central teams.  With the doubleheader against Cleveland on Monday, the Twins will play 12 games in 11 days.  At the end of next week, when the dust clears, everyone in the Central will have played 100 or 101 games, so a lot of the "games in hand" that the Twins and Indians have had for most of the season will be gone.

I could have all kinds of fun breaking down all the potential outcomes over the next week and a half (and, trust me I have the spreadsheets to show that I have), and tell you what needs to happen to have the Indians, Tigers, White Sox, and Twins all within 0.5 games at the top of the standings next Sunday (it's unlikely).  Instead, let's consider what the Twins need to do to make up ground and whether or not they adhered to those guidelines in last night's victory.

Continue reading Game 90 Recap: Twins 8, Royals 4 →

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 73 Recap: Giants 2, Twins 1

SAN FRANSISCO 2, MINNESOTA 1
Record - 32-41 (4th in Central, 3.5 games out of 3rd)
Highest WPA - Duensing (6.2 IP, 1 R, 5 SO), Cuddyer (3 for 4, 2 2B, RBI)
Lowest WPA - Delmon and Danny V. (both 0-4)
NOTES - Non-Cuddly Twins went 1 for 26 in this one.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap
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Looks like a pitcher's duel, and, perhaps as expected, Lincecum was just a bit better than Duensing in this one.  Twins hitters (Cuddyer excepted) never figured anything out against the Freak, striking out 12 times, and failing to get the ball past the pitcher's mound a bunch of times as well.  The Twins won't be the last team that Lincecum dominates, so I guess we can all take comfort in that?  At least Duensing held his own, keeping the Twins within striking distance throughout.

When Cuddyer doubled in Casilla in the ninth with no one out, it seemed there might be an outside chance that Minnesota could steal the rubber game of this series.  Instead Delmon, Danny, and Luke failed to advance him even a single base, and the Twins were handed their first series loss in quite a while.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 62 Recap: Twins 5, Rangers 4

MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 4
Record - 24-38 (2.5 games out of 4th place)
Highest WPA - Chuck James (0.2 IP, SO), Casilla (2 for 5, GWRBI) and Cuddyer (2 for 4, HR, 3 RBI)
Lowest WPA - Mijares (2 batters faced, 2 hits), Revere and Morneau (both 0-4)
Fangraphs
MLB Recap

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Alexi Casilla in the last month - .325/.400/.410

Will it continue?

Probably not.

Is it fun while it lasts?

It was tonight.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 55 Recap: Twins 8, Royals 2

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MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 2
Record - 18-37 (Last in the Central)
Highest WPA - Swarzak (6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 SO), and Rivera (1 for 3, BB, R, RBI)
Lowest WPA - Every single Twin who appeared in this game had a positive WPA.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap

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Here's your stupid stat of the day:

The Twins scored runs in 3 different innings last night, I was wondering how often that had happened this season, and so I generated the following results.

  • When the Twins score in 0 innings of a game, they are 0-5.
  • When the Twins score in 1 inning, they are 4-8.
  • When the Twins score in 2 innings, they are 4-13.
  • When the Twins score in 3 innings, they are 7-4.
  • When the Twins score in 4 innings, they are 2-7.
  • When the Twins score in 5 innings, they are 1-0.

So, by bringing in Soria and setting the final 6 Twins hitters down in order, KC was playing right into our hands.  It's obvious what would have happened if the Twins had scored runs in one of those innings.

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game 42 Recap: Twins 11, A’s 1

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MINNESOTA 11, OAKLAND 1
Record - 15-27 (Last in the Central)
Highest WPA - Blackburn (7.0 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 SO) and Morneau (3 for 5, HR, 2 RBI)
Lowest WPA - Plouffe (1 for 5, HR, 3 RBI) - seriously, the guy who hit a 3-R HR ended up with the lowest WPA.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap

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I did not have a chance to see this game as it happened.  Work required my attention this afternoon, but I managed to avoid hearing anything about it and once I got home I turned on the replay.  Unfortunately, I can't recap the actual game, because someone edited in some obviously fake footage right over the top of what I assume to be the standard 2011 Twins effort.

Instead, I got to see Nick Blackburn pitch an effective seven innings, alternatively aided and hindered by his defense.  Meanwhile, the Twins offense put up double digit runs (I know, I know. This was one of the clues that something was up).  All those runs were the result of multiple extra base hits (strike two) including a home-run by Rene Rivera (Oh, come on!).

Prior to this "game" the Twins had won two straight, but this is the first time in a long time that Minnesota won a game that was never really in doubt.

Feels good.  Too bad it was a fabrication.  Anyone care to fill me in on what actually happened?