Category Archives: 2023 Twins Game Logs

2023 Twins Game Logs

2023 Game 25: New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins

26 Comments

Domingo Germán
vs
Kenta Maeda

Maeda somehow didn't break anything or sustain anything more than a big ouch from stopping the comebacker with his ankle. Bailey Ober is back with the Saints and Maeda is back in the rotation to finish off the Yankees.

Going back through all the Twins-Yankees season results, the last time prior to 2001 the Twins won a season series was 1992 when they went 7-5. They did manage to tie 5-5 in 2000. Go back another year and you will find the last time the Twins swept a three game series with the Yankees. June 11 through June 13 and September 6 through September 8. They finished 10-2 against the hapless 71-91 Yankees. 1993 and 1994 both had two game sweeps if you want to count those too.

2023 Twins Game Logs

2023 Game Log 24: Yanks at Twins (And Wild/Wolves Playoffs)

38 Comments

We can experience something tonight that has not been aacomplished since 2001. With a Twins victory tonight they will take the season series from the Yankees. Twins have Joe Ryan on the mound and he's been quite effective this year with a 4-0 record, 0.89 WHIP and 10.4 k/9 innings. Nestor Cortes for the Yankees and he's been pretty decent this year as well, even though he took the loss against the Twins last week at Yankee Stadium. Should be a nice, if chilly evening for baseball.

In addition we have Wild and Wolves playoffs tonight. Feel free to use this post to comment as well. Game times are actually Midwest friendly with the Wild set to start at 7:00p and the Wolves at 8:00p. Loons also play tonight against Detroit in the USA Open Cup at 6:30p. So depending on your sport, you are covered tonight. If you just like Football, I guess you can take tonight to put the finishing touches on your mock draft board.

First pitch at 6:40.

2023 Twins Game Logs

Game 22: Nationals at Twins

16 Comments

All of a sudden the Twins are flirting with .500 after winning just one of their last seven games.

This Nationals series has been an exercise in frustration thus far.  It doesn't seem like it should be so hard to beat Washington, but here we are. Can we chalk this up to the cold weather? Is it warmer today?  Are there any other straws around that I can grasp?

Bailey Ober gets his first start of the year today, going against Patrick Corbin, who hasn't had a great start to the season. Ober has 4 starts at AAA and has been stingy with hits, walks, and runs allowed.

 

 

2023 Twins Game Logs

Game 21: nationals @ twins

17 Comments

Twenty games in the books. A full 1/8 of the season already done. How do the Twins look?

Well, they mostly look pretty good! The pitching has been excellent, led by a deep rotation and a pretty sharp high leverage bullpen. The Pablo Lopez trade has looked like a win/win, but the extension nudges it into the Twins' favor, I think. I loved the trade from the moment it was announced, and haven't seen anything to make me rethink it.

The hitting has been....less good, to be charitable. Gallo pretty much IS the offense at the moment. Getting Polanco back and sitting the next Denard Span Danny Santana squarely onto the bench will help, but a lot of the other pieces have to get moving. Jose Miranda has been slightly less valuable than Miguel Cabrera, which would be fantastic news....if it was 2012 - quite a bit less so in the year of our lord 2023.

Hosting the second worst team in baseball should help, but the non-Gallo contingent of the lineup is going to have to show up.

Luckily, one run is all they'll really need, because Pablo Lopez is in the mound, and he's going to be slinging zeroes all day. Let's go Twins!

2023 Twins Game Logs

2023 Game 19: Twins at Red Sox

29 Comments

As of today the Twins have a 31.3% chance of making the playoffs and a 1% chance of winning the World Series, but as of today I'd be willing to take that World Series bet at 100-to-1 odds. A modest wager, of course, it's way too early to lose our heads. Still, a 10-7 record that includes a split four game series at Yankee Stadium is the kind of start you dream about when you're blowing the latest eight inches of snow off your driveway in the dark at 5:00 p.m.

About that start. I'd say it's fair to say that our pitching is contributing considerably more to the team's winning record than is the offense. The Twins sit atop the Central division but rank in the bottom third of the AL in most offensive categories with a meager .224 batting average (13th) and a .653 OPS (85 OPS+/12th). The pitching, on the other hand, has been uncharacteristically good, and especially so the starting rotation. As a team the Twins sport a 2.61 ERA (169 ERA+), the best in the American League, 179 strikeouts in 151.2 innings pitched (10.6K/9), and a .996 WHIP.

Today the Twins send Kenta Maeda back to the mound in search of his first victory, at 0-2 he's the only starter without a win this young season. Despite the lack of a W,  Maeda has respectable numbers with a 4.09 ERA (108 ERA+), 1.00 WHIP, and 12 strikeouts in 11 innings over his first two starts. The Beantown nine counter Maeda with Tanner Houck, 2-0 in three starts with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.

Play ball!

2023 Twins Game Logs

2023 Game 18: Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox and other games

20 Comments

First up in Minnesota men's professional sports, the Twins vs Red Sox.

Joe Ryan
vs
Corey Kluber

Kluber stopped being Klubot last year, maybe 2021. His strikeouts are mostly back this year but he's walking a ton and giving up plenty of home runs to a 6.70 FIP. It's a good game to get back to the scoring frequently thing.

At 8:30, possibly after this game ends, the Wild begin their second game against the Stars. The Wolves follow 30 minutes later.

2023 Twins Game Logs

2023 Game Log 17 – Twins at Bosox

45 Comments

It's a rare local one team night as the Twins take on the Red Sox in Boston while the Wolves and Wild get a day off from the playoffs.

Boston seems to be scuffling again this year with a 8-9 record and I'm not really sure what their plan is. It seems like the ownership group has taken their eye off the ball so to speak and are more interested in their other teams they own (Liverpool, FC, Pittsburgh Penguins). Chris Sale on the mound for the Red Sox and it looks like he may be cooked. He's 1-1 for the year but has not looked good as his 11.25 ERA and 2.08 WHIP indicates.

Sonny Gray on the mound for the Twins after coming off a nice weekend split with the Yankees. Gray has been lights out this year and I'd like to see him go deeper into games now that he is apparently over his flu-like illness. Concerns about the bats as Max Kepler seems to be done as a MLB hitter and Byron Buxton has been dreadful since his 2nd base collision last week.

Looks like a pleasant night for a game in Boston and given the 6:10 game start, we can get to bed early to prep for the upcoming late night baseketball and hockey playoffs.

2023 Twins Game Logs

Game 16: Twins at New York

32 Comments

Pablo Lopez!

Through three starts, he's been very very good and there's not a whole lot of things more fun to watch in baseball than a really good pitcher pitching really well for your team.

The Twins will either take three of four on the road in New York or end up with a series split in the most disappointing way by dropping the final two games of the series.

I have to say I like their chances with Pablo on the mound.

The Yankees are pitching some no name starter who probably doesn't even throw that hard (Gerrit Cole), so I'll just assume the Twins have the upper hand here.