Category Archives: Gamelog Archive

Archive for game logs from previous seasons.

Game 157: Only Five More To Go After This

Fister (13-9, 3.71 ERA) vs. Diamond (6-11, 5.54 ERA)

I can't tell you how happy I am that Gardy's new favorite player's name is so close to Punto its almost comical. Its a little disappointing his walk-off last night wasn't a dropped third strike in which he slid head first into first to beat the throw (which I presume there would not have been a throw what with the runner from third, in this hypothetical scenario, was coming home), though. Ah well, not everything can be perfect.

So anyway, we're down to the final stretch of another bad season. I had to go to a birthday party for a one year old on Sunday at one of them "adventure" farms. It was not the most pleasant thing to do with my recent surgery, feeling like I was getting kicked lightly in the balls over and over from walking around all day. But, my daughter loved it (goats!), so it was worth the discomfort. The point, however, is that while sitting in the barn where the party was set up, I had no choice but to listen to the Packer game on the radio. (ugh, it was like listening to two Hawk Harrelsons without any of the "cute-ish" catchphrases but all of the awful bitterness and over-seriousness.) It reminded me that I would rather watch the Twins (even though I really can't watch them) during a third straight 90-loss season than ever go back to caring about the Vikings. Blech.

 Anywho, on to another attempt to thwart clinching the division at Target Field.

2013 Game 156 Recap: Twins 4, Tigers 3

The quest to stop other teams from clinching at Target Field began with a pitcher's duel through 4. Pelfrey and Verlander, nearly indistinguishable in anything but appearance and pitching ability battled each other until the Ghost of Twins' teams past bounced a pitch of Pelfrey's over the fence for a double. Tigers 1-0.

The Ghost struck again in the top of the seventh with a double, followed by a single, another single, another double and then a walk. Fien got pulled for Pressly and a double play ended the inning, but the Tigers scored two more. Tigers 3-0.

Double was the theme of the game and Escobar bounced one against the left field wall in the bottom of the 8th with Thomas scampering home to give the Twins a run. A Doumit double scored Escobar and minimized the deficit to 1, but that was all the Twins got in the 8th. Tigers 3-2.

Bottom of the ninth, last chance saloon...DOZIER! A lack of a second Dozier in the lineup meant free baseball. 3-3.

Perkmatic, Swizzlestick threw runless frames and on to the bottom of the 11th. More Dozier! This time it was just a single, but it was a lead off one! Gardy wisely realized that Willingham has never bunted once in his life and let him swing away. The strategy paid off when Hammer struck out on a wild pitch and Dozier advanced to second. Up stepped Pinto-don't call me Punto- who shot a line drive to right field. The Ghost from Twins' teams past picked it up as Dozier was digging around third and threw it with all of his strength home. Strength doesn't equal accuracy though and not all ghosts haunt forever. DOZIER SCORES AND THE TWINS WIN! 4-3.

2013 Game 155: Twins at A’s

Three or four weeks ago, the Quest for 73-89 was somewhat reasonable and two weeks ago it was merely a hard road. Last week it wasn't looking real good and now it's ridiculous, as the Twins suddenly need to go 8-0 (against contending teams) to pull it off. Even so, they're not going to finish last, as the Hosers are still keeping up with the Twins' wretched pace to make the Thome Game 163 seem like a long, long time ago.

Sonny Gray faces Cole DeVries in a potential clincher (one of three today) for Oakland, although if Texas loses to Kansas City, Oakland will have already clinched by the end of the game. I've been wanting to see important baseball rather than Twins baseball lately, and this gets the job done on both ends, so I guess that's something. Other than that, there's not much left to do besides watch the WGOM Predictions spreadsheet and see how much Cleveland is killing us by pulling ahead of Texas for a Wild Card spot. (Quite a bit. Not one of us picked Boston or Cleveland to go to the playoffs).

Game 154: Twins @ A’s

I've been going at this all wrong.

All this time, I thought the Twins hated me, a loyal fan. Lately, though, I've been seeing things differently.

* Crisp fall afternoons are great times for walks and the like, so the Twins made sure that their fans were able to go about their business without having to worry about pesky pennant chases, like that attention starved team from Cleveland.
* The Rays selfishly play an 18 inning game, just so that their playoff hopes remain alive, giving their fans insomnia. The Twins know that their fans' sleep is important, so when they start a game late, they make sure they lose quickly, so as to give their fans a chance at an earlier bedtime.
* Weekend afternoons are to be savored, so when the A's send a perfectly serviceable pitcher like Jarrod Parker to the mound, the Twins send Pedro Hernandez, so you know you probably don't even have to start watching. "You've had a long week", the Twins says, "why don't you go play some video games? I'll be fine." Don't mind if I do, Twins... don't mind if I do.

The Twins really do love us, and they're proving it by letting us go.