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From tWWL, here are some numbers from our buddy, PJ.
Two things. First, hey espn, get a picture of the guy in the Twins cap, will you? Secondly, more sliders please.
Category Archives: Gamelog Archive
Archive for game logs from previous seasons.
Game 41: Twins 4, Brewers 16
After a very nice start to the roadtrip, I kind of expected the Twins to lay an egg here. I just didn't expect it to be an ostrich egg. Marquis hasn't exactly been a model of success and his mound opponent, Zack Greinke, hadn't lost a home start in Milwaukee (14-0). He wouldn't lose today either. The Twins managed to plate a run in the top of the 1st after a Revere double and Willingham RBI single, but it was all Brewers after that. Hart and Lucroy smashed solo shots in the home half of the 1st and Milwaukee added 6 more in the 2nd. To be honest, I mentally checked out after that, only tuning back in when I heard that Butters would be pitching in the 8th. I enjoyed this years installment of "The High Point of..." even more than last years. He also picked up an RBI today, taking a bases loaded walk in the 9th to push across the Twins' 4th run. Oh, yeah - the singles hitting pussy only managed to go 4-5 today, pushing his average back up to .293.
2012 Game 41: Twins at Brewers
Jason Marquis
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Zack Greinke
[insert nibbish's flawless reasoning from yesterday here]
Game 40: Twins @ Brewers
Well, hey. It looks like we've got ourselves a little winning streak here. Let's do some in-depth analysis and see how the odds look for extending it.
PITCHERS
Carl Pavano (2-3, 4.38 FIP, 4.28 xFIP, 0 k/9)
Yovani Gallardo (2-4, 3.89 FIP, 3.96 xFIP, made up name)
Edge: Initially, it would seem that the Brewers have the edge here, but even though Pavano seems to have taken a sacred vow to never strike anyone out ever, I'm going to go with the Twins here. Unless you're Randy Johnson, pitching is 90% luck, 10% facial hair, and Pavano's rebounded nicely after a tough 2011.
HITTERS
I'd be a fool to bet against a lineup that prominently features a catcher sporting a .350/.381/.450 slash line. Twins, it is.
BALLPARK
Miller Park can't possibly hope to match Target Field, so even though they're not playing at Target Field today, I'm giving the advantage to the Twins.
INTANGIBLES
Morneau's radiant good cheer (that is how he won that MVP in 2006, right?) is worth a hundred of whatever the Brewers might have in this department (beer, maybe? brats? Ryan Braun's contaminated urine?)
Adding all of that up (4-0), I'd say it's pretty much a sure thing. The Twins are going to sweep this series!*
* yes, I might be getting ahead of myself here, but with literally every indicator saying that they'll win this game, why wouldn't they win the next one, too?
Game 39 Recap: Twins 11 – Brewers 3
MINNESOTA 11 -- MILWAUKEE 3
Twins Record: 13 - 26 (5th in the Central, 30th in MLB)
Highest WPA - Mauer (3 for 5, 2 2B, 3 RBI), Span (4 for 5, 3 R, 3 RBI), Bullpen (3.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 SO)
Fangraphs - MLB Recap
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The only thing more surprising than my little brother giving a speech at his high school graduation last night was seeing that the Twins won their third in a row while we celebrated his being named valedictorian.
2012 Game 39: Minnesota Twins at Milwaukee Brewers
Scott Diamond
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Marco Estrada
You heard it here first: Scott Diamond is going to break shatter Hershiser's scoreless inning streak.
Game 38 Recap: A Hot Day in Detroit
The sun was shining, big and bright and unfamiliar. I hadn't been outside before sunset in God knows how long. I never thought I'd come to miss nighttime, when the darkness wraps around you like a cold, wet towel. But there I was, yearning for it. Never saw myself as the yearning type. Not part of the job, generally. I'm a private eye. The name's Walters. P.J. if you buy me a drink first.
I was in Detroit at the behest of some real down-and-outs, a couple of hard-luck Minnesotans with little more than a sob-story to their name. Not that they told me their names. Just call us The Twins, they said when they came calling. Let's keep this anonymous. Somebody took our wins. Bring them back to us. I had half a mind to tell them off, but the other half saw the stack of bills they seemed to be offering. They played at being hard-up, but it turned out they were secretly living large. I wasn't sure what the game was, but the money spoke for itself. And the misery on their faces was as plain as Norwegian cooking. Whatever else, they needed those wins back, badly.
Game 38: Minnesota T_ _ _ s vs. _Etroit TigErs
Fister vs. Walters
Revere 8
Dozier 6
Mauer 3
Willingham 7
Morneau DH
Plouffe 9
Casilla 4
Butera 2
Carroll 5
In which we hope that our Triple A pitchers do not regress to the mean.
Game 37 Recap: Charlie Sheen says the Twins are Winning.
Twins 11, Tigers 7
WP: Burnett (1, 0(he's perfect(!))), LP: Below (2, 1)
Honorary Save: Perkins. He didn't blow anything up, so, he gets a save.
Twins Record: 11-26. Booooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Fangraphs thought this was in the bag after the top of the second.
Snarky comments are the new market inefficiency. Blackburn went 2 innings tonight. Blackburn coughed up 5 runs in the second inning, but finished strong by picking off M.Cab while Del was "batting". The Twins battled back in the top half of the third to tie the game, coughed up the tie again, and took it back by force in the top half of the sixth. The local nine didn't look back after that point. That is to say, Matt Capps didn't have to pitch.
I'd suggest reading the game log, but that would be admitting that it's comments represent a market inefficiency.
Culture club: Well, shoot. I'm all tapped out tonight. I promise an update from the businessman's special at Angles ballpark tomorrow.
Game 37! We all rejoice!
Twins visiting Detroit starting with tonight's game. 610 CDT first pitch.
##Pitchers
MIN: Blackburn (1-4 | 7.18 ERA | 5.83 FIP | 4.49 xFIP | -0.2 fWAR | 4.88 K/9 | 1.55 K/BB)
DET: Porcello (3-3 | 5.18 ERA | 4.54 FIP | 3.91 xFIP | +0.3 fWAR | 5.18 K/9 | 2.67 K/BB)
Hey look another Wednesday game! You know what's fun? Watching baseball. Even this form of Twins baseball is better than the off season. Right?
Count me out of those asking for changes. Well sweeping organizational changes anyway. I don't think most of us thought the 2012 Twins would be a great team. Hell a lot of us thought they wouldn't be any good. Unfortunately, they've managed to pretty much undershoot anyones worst expectations so far. 10-26 is awful. I don't think this team is really that bad. The offense will come back again. The pitching will level out. Twins will not end up with a .277 winning percentage. The Twins still get to play in the AL Central last I checked.
Porcello is a hittable righty. One would hope that the Twins will take advantage; oh and there is that whole Detroit has a hilariously defensive team. At least killing worms might work tonight. He does rely on a sinker, but he's had some trouble getting it to sink lately. No Adjustments!
Blackburn needs a beard. And an eye patch. But at least he's not Marquis. If he can keep it in the park, he should be fine.
Note: The term "Market Inefficiency" is hereby banned from the game thread. They call it the Dismal "Science" for a reason.
##Lineups
###Twins
1. Span 8
2. Dozier 6
3. Mauer DH
4. Willingham 7
5. Morneau 3
6. Doumit 2
7. Plouffe 9
8. Casilla 4
9. Carroll 5
###Tiggers
1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Andy Dirks, LF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B
4. Prince Fielder, 1B
5. Delmon Young, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Ryan Raburn, 2B
8. Brennan Boesch, RF
9. Ramon Santiago, SS