Category Archives: 2015 Twins Game Recaps

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 12: Twins 7, Indians 2

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This time we'll play Good News, Bad News.

Good News: The Twins won consecutive series to give them  a 4-2 homestand.

Bad News: It was the first time the Twins won consecutive series since July 7-13, 2014 (at SEA and at COL) , and their first winning homestand of at least two series since May 13-18, 2014 (BOS & SEA). That Red Sox series was the one where the Twins pwned Andrew Miller with two walkoff hits (Parmelee HR, Hicks 1B).

Good News: The Twins got 8 IP of one-run ball from Trevor May (6) and Aaron Thompson (2).

Bad News: Neither pitcher would have been on the roster if it weren't for Santana's suspension and Nolasco's injury, meaning the decision-makers demoted them in favor of Nolasco, Pelfrey, Stauffer and Boyer.

Good News: Torii Hunter hit a three-run homer.

Bad News: Torii Hunter hit a three-run homer. (Anything ii does this year is going to be a good news/bad news sort of thing. I had an Angels fan friend today tell me Torii Hunter is going into the Hall of Fame. I laughed in his face).

Good News: The Twins won a game without using Fien or Perkins.

Bad News: Perkins still had to warm up while J.R. Graham wobbled through the ninth with a 6-run lead. The HR wasn't as big a deal as the walk, which led to Perkins getting up in the bullpen. Fortunately, he got through it, but the more he struggles, the more will see of Boyer and Stauffer in critical situations prior to the 8th inning (or in the 8th when Fien needs a day off).

Good News: Trevor Plouffe and Shane Robinson each had three hits. Plouffe consistently went to the opposite field, which was impressive considering his walk-off homer to left field the other day. Robinson got hits to all three fields and is now hitting .368. With Schafer batting .143, Robinson needs to start more against righties until Schafer at least shows he can make more consistent contact.

Bad News: Eduardo Escobar struck out two more times and is batting just .160. With Danny Santana also struggling to make contact, that could mean seeing some of Eduardo Nunez at shortstop.

Good News: The Twins will now play the Royals, who the Twins just won 2 out of 3 from.

Bad News: The Royals are 8-1 in their other 10 games and the game will be in Kansas City. The Twins are 1-5 on the road so far and were 3-6 at Kansas City last year.

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 10 recap: Twins 3 Cleveland 2 (11 innings)

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This game started with the current Cy Young Award winner pitching like  one and ended with Blaine Boyer getting more outs than base runners allowed and a Trevor Plouffe HR to win the game. Baseball is fun!

Mike Pelfrey.  He was a pretty poor sport about being sent to the bullpen during Spring Training. But, he just can't get past 5 innings. Does he not realize this? I know Im not breakingHe pitched OK today (5 innings, 1 run) but seemed to peter out by the 4th inning.

Corey Kluber had perfect game material. By the end of the 3rd inning, I thought it was going to happen. He got through the first 15 batter before Arcia got a solid single. Then TWINS BASEBALL happened. Wild pitch, then a single with a throwing error scoring Arcia, then a fielders choice, then a sac bunt (with Herrmann breaking for home, then going back to third when he realized he was going to be out Santana was safe at 1st) , then a wild pitch on strike 3 scores a run, then a IBB, then a double play to end the inning.

Things were pretty quiet after that, with a couple of situations arising but fires put out.

This game seemed destined to go about 15 innings and Chris Herrmann pitching his second inning and Torii Hunter catching but Trevor Plouffe ended it with a mammoth HR to left field and the locals win 3-2.

 

NOTES

-According to b-r HR Tracker, this is Plouffe's first walk of HR.

- Plouffe has 9 career HR's against Cleveland. Only Kansas City (11) has given up more

-Plouffe has 37 career HRs at Target Field. That is the most. Shockingly, Jose Bautista does not have 52

-Joe Mauer was intentionally walked twice tonight. That gives him 117 for his career,  which is 8th most active and tied for 86th all time (Larry Walker and Ron Cey)

-Blaine Boyer got a win today, his first as a Twin. Other notable Twins pitcher with 1 win include Vance Worley, Kyle Waldrop, Luis Ayala, RA Dickey, Jim Hoey, and a host of others.

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 7 Recap: Kansas City Royals 12, Minnesota Twins 3 (Opening Day Edition)

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(from the game log)

"Zero wins first series, one win second series. I predict two wins this series! Sorry Jeff, I don't think the Twins are going to reach 157-5 and we'll have to settle for 156-6."
-sean

"Reminds me of the time Gardy trotted out a _elmon, Cuddy, Kubel outfield during interleague play. Except now it's three statues every day!"
-Zack

"You know it's bad when the KC guys are throwing sympathy bones, considering how bad they had it for so long."
-brianS

"On the plus side, Trevor May pitched well for five innings, and his line would still look good if he'd had some defense and a bullpen to back him up. Turns out sean was right. We'll just have to settle for 156-6!"
-Jeff A

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 6: Bad Guys 6, Good Guys 2

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It's time for another Good Idea, Bad Idea:

Good Idea: Getting Oswaldo Arcia out of the lineup vs. Chris Sale.

Bad Idea: Replacing him in LF with Eduardo Escobar with a flyball pitcher like Phil Hughes starting.

Good Idea: Keeping Phil Hughes on his regular schedule so he can get as many starts as possible.

Bad Idea: Even considering starting Mike Pelfrey ahead of Trevor May, Alex Meyer, Jose Berrios or Taylor Rogers.

Good Idea: Switching to a RH reliever when Avisail Garcia, Alexei Ramirez and Gordan Beckham are due up in the eighth inning of a one-run game.

Bad Idea: Using Blaine Boyer when J.R. Graham is available to pitch.

Good Idea: Not using Tim Stauffer in a critical situation.

Bad Idea: Signing Stauffer to a guaranteed deal in the first place and then using that deal as an excuse to guarantee him a spot in the bullpen despite a horrible spring training, which then forced manager Paul Molitor to choose between a guy that was originally signed to a minor league deal and a Rule 5 draft pick in a critical situation after just one pitcher developed a stiff shoulder.

Good Idea: Throwing out stupid base runners to prevent runs.

Bad Idea: Losing a game when the other team looked like it was actually trying to lose it with their stupidity.

Good Idea: Assuming that the rest of the season can't possibly be as bad as the first week.

Bad Idea: Believing that the run of lost baseball seasons will be over soon without some major changes to the current roster, especially the bullpen.

2015 Twins Game Recaps

Game 4 recap : Twins 6 Bad Guys 0.

2 Comments

Its always nice to get a win. To me, its always better when that win comes against the Southsiders. The sun shines brighter, the birds sing happier, the Twins Twittersphere has less angst.

The Twins wasted no time to get on the scoreboard as Joe Mauer knocked in Eddie Escobar and the score was 1-0 after a half inning. That is all Tommy Milone needed. Milone allowed only 2 hits and walked 2 in 7.2 of work, the longest a Twins starter has pitched this season. At one point, Milone had retired 16 straight White Sox batters. Its weird seeing a Twins pitcher be that stingy with base runners. Lets hope its a trend and not a mirage.

Back to the offense, The Twins walked 9 times today (3 IBB's), got a few extra base hits, and its resulted in 6 runs. I am not expecting 6 every night, but loved seeing the batting order churn over and over.

Get your rest, the Twins next game is in a few hours. 1pm central.

NOTES

-Paul Molitor notched his first win as manager. He needs 34 more to pass Johnny Goryl
-Brian Duensing got a save. He came in the 8th inning after Milone gave up a double to Tyler Flowers. Then the Twins erupted for 3 runs in the 9th. Molitor decided to keep Duensing in, even though Perkins was warming in the pen during the 9th. Its Brian's 2nd career save.
- WGOM.org's favorite player Torii Hunter stole a base in the 9th. Its his 127th as a Twin. There are only 4 players who have stolen more bases as Twin than Hunter: Kirby (134), Cesar Tovar (186), Rod Carew (271), and Chuck Knobluach (276)
- The Twins shut out opponents 7 times last year, with the earliest being April 17 against Toronto