A much needed win last night. FanGraphs still has them at 94.9% chance to make the postseason but now as a wildcard instead of the division winner. There are a lot more needed wins over Chicago and Cleveland if they want to win the division.
Josh Donaldson should be activated for tonight's game too. Time for him to start hitting.
Time for Berríos to continue his success from the last game and continue how well the starters have pitched in this series. The Twins meanwhile scored four against Clevinger to close out July. He pitched well, if wild, against Cincinnati earlier this month and has been out since.
The Twins are 4-2 against Cleveland so far. One more win clinches at least .500 against them this year. Let's make this a 4-2 game to turn the season series to 5-2.
Pretty good game for Maeda last night. Hopefully some of it rubbed off onto Berríos for tomorrow. Today we get Hill back on the mound. He's pitched once this season, on July 29. Also hopefully they don't have to wait until September for appearance number three.
I don't know how much 40-year-old Hill can provide. 40-year-old Cruz remains ageless while cast-off Bailey did just fine yesterday. Hill started 13 games last year with otherwise excellent numbers. If he starts 13 games this year, it will mean very different things from last year.
Every morning I let the two-year-old pick out his shirt. He had already picked out one shirt when I showed him "the baseball" shirt while I put away the laundry. Immediately, the current choice was cast aside and he demanded the baseball shirt. I get it little guy, I too want to enjoy this season while it lasts.
Inspired by The Athletic's all-decade teams for all of baseball, let's see what the Citizens here think of it. Here is Gleeman's article about his all-decade Twins team. I have reproduced it below in spoilered form for reference. Bonus discussion if you post the least-favorite or Bizzaro World team
Here's a template for you to use:
Catcher:
First base:
Second base:
Third base:
Shortstop:
Left field:
Center field:
Right field:
Designated Hitter:
Starter 1:
Starter 2:
Starter 3:
Starter 4:
Starter 5:
Closer:
Bullpen:
Bullpen:
Bullpen:
Bullpen:
Bullpen:
Catcher: Joe Mauer
First base: Justin Morneau
Second base: Brian Dozier
Third base: Miguel Sanó
Shortstop: Jorge Polanco
Left field: Eddie Rosario
Center field: Denard Span
Right field: Michael Cuddyer
Designated Hitter: Nelson Cruz
Starter 1: Ervin Santana
Starter 2: José Berríos
Starter 3: Jake Odorizzi
Starter 4: Francisco Liriano
Starter 5: Kyle Gibson
Closer: Glen Perkins
Bullpen: Taylor Rogers
Bullpen: Brandon Kintzler
Bullpen: Ryan Pressly
Bullpen: Trevor May
Bullpen: Casey Fien
This is it, the final MLB game of the season. Extract the maximum amount of baseball enjoyment you can because you have only the winter leagues and a stove of indeterminate heat until spring training. Or, you know, there's some other sport happening now too. Finally, there's a bracket that someone will win tonight.