Bailey Ober
vs
Justus Sheffield
Supposedly there's a game happening tonight for the Twins. That appears to be news for the Twins too unfortunately. I will get to find out tomorrow whether they showed up and actually scored.
Lineup:
Polanco - 2B
Donaldson - 3B
Cruz - DH
Kirilloff - RF
Jeffers - C
Sanó - 1B
Arraez - LF
Simmons - SS
Celestino - CF
Gerrit Cole
vs
Randy Dobnak
Donaldson and Cole get to settle(?) their sticky beef today.
Lineup
Polanco - 2B
Donaldson - 3B
Larnach - LF
Cruz - DH
Jeffers - C
Kirilloff - RF
Sanó - 1B
Simmons - SS
Celestino - CF
Randy Dobnak
vs
Matt Harvey
Twins now 33% done with the season. At the 25% mark I did some simple projections on record and run scoring for the team. Let's do it again.
Record: 66 - 96 (+9 wins since last time)
Runs scored: 750 (+5 runs)
Runs allowed: 822 (-49 runs)
Pythag prediction: 75 - 87 (+6 wins)
FanGraphs still projects the team at 79 wins, unchanged from two weeks ago. I think I still take the under for that number but the 75 - 79 win mark feels about right.
Lineup
Polanco - SS
Donaldson - 3B
Kirilloff - LF
Cruz - DH
Larnach - RF
Astudillo - 1B
Gordon - 2B
Jeffers - C
Celestino - CF
Jorge López
vs
Michael Pineda
I can scarcely believe it. A sweep, of the other team, is actually possible today.
The wins and losses each are prepared to roll over to the next tens. Will the day end with 20 wins or 30 losses?
Lineup
Kepler - RF
Polanco - 2B
Cruz - DH
Kirilloff - 1B
Sanó - 3B
Larnach - LF
Astudillo - C
Refsnyder - CF
Simmons - SS
Wins are good. Maybe the Twins can get another today?
Lucas Giolito
vs
Matt Shoemaker
Well, can't lose tomorrow at least.
The Twins are 25% done with the season. FanGraphs has the Twins at 79 wins now, down nine wins from the preseason. I suspect the gap will increase by the All-Star break.
Crudely projecting out existing stats to 162 games gives us:
Record: 57 - 105
Runs scored: 745
Runs allowed: 871
Pythag prediction: 69 - 93
Lineup:
Arraez - 2B
Polanco - SS
Cruz - DH
Kepler - CF
Sanó - 1B
Larnach - LF
Astudillo - 3B
Garlick - RF
Rortvedt - C
J.A. Happ
vs
Dallas Keuchel
The Twins have a palindromic record in a bad way after yesterday's game. Today we get to hope they break the palindrome in a hopeful way and not to get closer to losing two-thirds of their games.
Yang
vs
Thorpe
Praying for a real game today. The Twins are good at those.
Lineup:
Buxton - CF
Donaldson - 3B
Cruz - DH
Garlick - LF
Garver - C
Polanco - 2B
Kepler - RF
Sanó - 1B
Simmons - SS
J.A. Happ
vs
Logan Allen
Lineup:
Buxton - CF
Donaldson - 3B
Cruz - DH
Polanco - 2B
Garver - C
Rooker - RF
Astudillo - 1B
Simmons - SS
Kirilloff - LF
Kenta Maeda
vs
Frankie Montas
The Twins last scored a run on Friday of last week. A few games weren't played over that time but more than zero were played. Berríos did his part yesterday. I'm hoping Maeda can do the same today with the assbats sacrificed in a glorious bonfire before the game.
Lineup:
Arraez - 2B
Donaldson - 3B
Cruz - DH
Buxton - CF
Polanco - SS
Astudillo - 1B
Cave - LF
Rooker - RF
Jeffers - C
Game 1:
Nathan Eovaldi
vs
Kenta Maeda
Lineup:
Arraez - 3B
Polanco - 2B
Cruz - DH
Kepler - RF
Astudillo - 1B
Kirilloff - LF
Cave - CF
Jeffers - C
Riddle - SS
Game 2:
Eduardo Rodriguez
vs
José Berríos
Two seven-inning games. Still not a fan of those post-2020.
Twins have dropped the last three and risk falling below .500 since Game 2. Maeda and Berríos are the two starters you'd want pitching to end that streak. I hope the bullpen takes the day off because really, they aren't helping.
