Bunting? Seriously?
Category Archives: 2017 Twins Game Logs
2017 Game 41: Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles
Okay, I'm not sure what to type here. My last game log, I went off on an ill-advised bout of pessimism, and since then the Twins have continued playing some fairly decent ball. Obviously there's issues abound (like the starting pitching staff), but it's been nice to watch games and have a reasonable expectation that they might actually win.
Anyway, I still don't know how I should feel about this lteam. As AG noted today, the Twins have been in first place a total of 18 days this year. Between 2011-2016 they were in first place a combined 13 days. So, again, I'm not sure just exactly how I should be taking this team in, but for now I'll stop asking too many questions and just enjoy it.
Back to the game at hand: the Twins open up a 3-game series on Bawlmore before heading back home. Speaking of questionable starting pitching, Kyle Gibson lugs his giant ERA back to the majors as Hughes is put on the shelf with "right arm soreness". Gibby wasn't able to win any games down on the farm either, but it appears he pitched a little better than when he was last up. The O's counter with Ubaldo Jimenez who, while generally struggling over the past few years, has never really had any problems smacking the Twins around (2.49 ERA and 75 strikeouts over 11 appearances).
Oh, and Escobar is DHing again for some reason.
Continue reading 2017 Game 41: Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles
Games 39 & 40: Royals at Twins
Ian Kennedy and TBA vs. Phil Hughes and Adalberto Mejia
The Twins keep making more history this season. Today, it will be the first true doubleheader in Target Field history. Normally, the Twins choose to have a day/night doubleheader so they can charge fans separately for each game (and honor tickets for the rained-out game), but since the Twins have had or will have a total of 3 day/night doubleheaders, the players have to approve any more going on the schedule, so the consensus was to play the second game today 30 minutes after the first one ends.
A straight doubleheader always reminds me of the one I went to. It was a scheduled doubleheader at the Metrodome on Aug. 31, 1985, against the Red Sox. My brother was home from college and took me to the games. This was before I followed the Twins on an everyday basis.
That doubleheader got me started thinking baseball was pretty exciting after all. The Twins rallied with 2 outs in the ninth to win the first game on a Ron Washington RBI single and then held on in the second game despite the better efforts of He Who Shall Not Be Named trying to blow the game.
That day left a lasting impression on me, but that's largely because I smashed my thumb in the heavy first safety door between our garage and our house before leaving for the games. My thumb was bandaged and throbbing for both games, and I dealt with infections and scar tissues for months after. To this day, my damaged left thumb is noticeably longer than my right after being smashed flat.
As for these games, the Twins just need a split today after winning dramatically on Friday. There's no truth to the rumor that the ball Kennys Vargas hit opened a hole in the sky that caused yesterday's rainout.
Phil Hughes and Adalberto Mejia both need a good outing to keep their tenuous hold on their own rotation spots. Hughes' veteran status and contract has helped him remain in the rotation, but it's unclear how patient the new regime will be, especially with the Twins still with a slim lead in the division.
Fortunately for them, the Royals come into the day with the majors' worst offense. It's hard to believe this team won the World Series less than 2 years ago.
Game 36: Rockies at Twins (Day Game)
Marquez v. Santana
Potential for a long day of baseball - fine by me.
26th man for the day will be Drew Rucinski.
Was glad to see Mike Redmond back in the dugout - love that guy.
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DOUBLEHEADER ALERT! I figure one game log can serve both easily enough.
Game 1: German Marquez (1-2, 4.88 ERA, 3.37 FIP) vs. Ervin Santana (6-1, 1.50 ERA, 4.19 FIP)
Game 2: Tyler Chatwood (3-5, 5.25 ERA, 5.31 FIP) vs. Jose Berrios (1-0, 1.17 ERA, 2.78 FIP)
The Twins definitely have the best combination of starters ready to go for today's day-night doubleheader with Santana and Berrios. Despite the crowded bullpen, not all of those guys are very good so having at least one of the starters go deep into their game will be a big help. The Twins also could really use some good starting pitching after getting a couple of craptacular starts in a row. I think we all knew pitching would be a weakness for this squad, and while maybe it isn't totally dire (Duffey, Breslow, Rodgers and Kintzler look to be mostly bright spots in the bullpen while the starters appear to be about 60% competent) we were pretty much correct as the Twins have accumulated -2.3 WAR from the pitchers so far this year, most of which can be attributed to the bullpen.
Fortunately, the new administration looks to be much more willing to make a change when it's needed. Under Terry Ryan 2.0, I would have expected another few starts being given to Gibson before a move was considered. It will be interesting to see what they do with Phil Hughes, who quite frankly looks like he's at the end of his career. He hasn't been good since his first year here and injuries look to have drained his velocity.
As for the games today, Santana rebounded incredibly well in his last outing coming off of his only bad start of the season to date. While I know he'll have bad games here and there the rest of the way, he looks locked in on the mound and gives the team that top of the rotation guy who can come in after a couple losses and give the team a good chance to keep moving forward.
Jose Berrios had a heck of a 2017 dayview that I wish had happened the first week of the season. But, can't change that. Hopefully he can build on that first outing and keep his confidence up on his way to mowing down some Rockies hitters. I haven't seen a ton of him over his young career, but he looks to be one of those guys that is a lot of fun to watch when he's rolling.
First game is at noon and the second is at 7.
Games 36 & 37: Rockies at Twins
DOUBLEHEADER ALERT! I figure one game log can serve both easily enough.
Game 1: German Marquez (1-2, 4.88 ERA, 3.37 FIP) vs. Ervin Santana (6-1, 1.50 ERA, 4.19 FIP)
Game 2: Tyler Chatwood (3-5, 5.25 ERA, 5.31 FIP) vs. Jose Berrios (1-0, 1.17 ERA, 2.78 FIP)
The Twins definitely have the best combination of starters ready to go for today's day-night doubleheader with Santana and Berrios. Despite the crowded bullpen, not all of those guys are very good so having at least one of the starters go deep into their game will be a big help. The Twins also could really use some good starting pitching after getting a couple of craptacular starts in a row. I think we all knew pitching would be a weakness for this squad, and while maybe it isn't totally dire (Duffey, Breslow, Rodgers and Kintzler look to be mostly bright spots in the bullpen while the starters appear to be about 60% competent) we were pretty much correct as the Twins have accumulated -2.3 WAR from the pitchers so far this year, most of which can be attributed to the bullpen.
Fortunately, the new administration looks to be much more willing to make a change when it's needed. Under Terry Ryan 2.0, I would have expected another few starts being given to Gibson before a move was considered. It will be interesting to see what they do with Phil Hughes, who quite frankly looks like he's at the end of his career. He hasn't been good since his first year here and injuries look to have drained his velocity.
As for the games today, Santana rebounded incredibly well in his last outing coming off of his only bad start of the season to date. While I know he'll have bad games here and there the rest of the way, he looks locked in on the mound and gives the team that top of the rotation guy who can come in after a couple losses and give the team a good chance to keep moving forward.
Jose Berrios had a heck of a 2017 dayview that I wish had happened the first week of the season. But, can't change that. Hopefully he can build on that first outing and keep his confidence up on his way to mowing down some Rockies hitters. I haven't seen a ton of him over his young career, but he looks to be one of those guys that is a lot of fun to watch when he's rolling.
First game is at noon and the second is at 7.
Game 35: Rockies at Twins
Raise your hands if you looked at the Twins schedule and thought this week’s tilt against the Rockies would be between two first place clubs. Anyone? The Colorado Rockies are probably one of the surprise teams of the early 2017 season (well besides the Twins) and bring a flashy 24-15 record to Target Field.
Kyle Freeland takes his 2.92 ERA up against Phil Hughes and his 4-1 record. Some forecast for storms tonight and all week but given this is the only Rockies trip to Target Field in like 6 years, I have a feeling everyone will work hard to get this game and the next two in. May have to be prepared for some long nights.
Programming Note: I will need someone to take next Tuesday's game log as I will be here next Tuesday with no wi-fi.
Game 34: Twins at Cleveland
Hector Santiago vs. Trevor Bauer, 12:10 p.m.
Happy Mother's Day! Everyone, think pink!
The Twins are roughly 1/5 of the way through their season and they have already booted 3 pitchers from their rotation, DFA-ed Michael Tonkin, came close to demoting a struggling Byron Buxton (again) and have a losing record at home.
So, of course, the Twins are 5 games over .500 and are ensured of leaving Cleveland today in first place.
How have they done it? Well, it must be the new additions made by the new front office, right. Well, not really. At least, not on the surface. Despite a hot start by new catchers Jason Castro and Chris Gimenez, Twins catchers have combined for a .627 OPS. And Matt Belisle, the only other addition, has an ERA over 8.00.
So how have they done it? One big difference is defense. The Twins were 28th in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved last year and were 3rd coming into Saturday's game. Development of young players has helped as Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario have shown improved plate discipline, Kennys Vargas and Jorge Polanco are giving more consistent quality at-bats and even Buxton is showing signs of getting back to the exciting player he was in September last year.
Perhaps the biggest difference is the Twins now finally have 2 quality starting pitchers and perhaps even 3 with the addition of Jose Berrios. Ervin Santana has been outstanding, allowing 1 run or less in 7 of his first 8 starts. His great start has somewhat overshadowed Santiago, who rather quietly has a 2.76 ERA, which is a 144 ERA+.
So far, Santana and Santiago have given the Twins their best 1-2 starting pitcher punch since rookie Francisco Liriano was outpitching the eventual Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana, which was 11 years ago. If Berrios continues to pitch like he did Saturday, that would give the Twins a trio of outstanding starters, all from the Caribbean. There's got to be a nickname in there somewhere.
Game 33: twins @ spiders
So, another Saturday, another minor leaguer trying to break through, this is getting a little played out......wait, Jose Berrios??
All is saved.
Game 32 Twins at Cleveland
This is a big series. Cleveland and Minnesota are tied for first place,w ith the Twins having two games in hand, a sweep could make some room at the top. The Twins have the perfect pitcher to continue a long win streak with Ervin Santana. Josh Tomlin starts for the C's. He is coming off his best start of the season (7ip 1r)
Fun fact! With his next run scored, Joe Mauer will reach 900 for his career. He is 5th on the all time Twins list, and only 4 behind Kent Hrbek. If Mauer is helathy and plays all of next year he might be able to catch Kirby (1071) and Harmon (1076 in his Twins years)
Game 31: Minnesota Twins @ Chicago White Sox
Phil Hughes (4-1, 4.32 ERA, 93 ERA+, 4.33 FIP, 1.38 WHIP, 6:21 BB:SO, 33.1 IP)
-v-
Derek Holland (3-2, 2.02 ERA, 192 ERA+, 3.68 FIP, 1.04 WHIP, 12:30 BB:SO, 35.2 IP)
I can't touch free's open from last night, so I won't even try.
Also ... "Guaranteed Rate Field" ... I know, I know, this is just the logical result of "Fenway Park" and "Wrigley Field*" (but seriously)?
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