Sometimes with late season baseball you struggle for reasons to watch. That will not be the case tonight as there is a pitching matchup for the ages in Bruce Chen against Carl Pavano. It doesn't get any better than this, you guys.
Tag Archives: Kansas City Royals
Game #93: Twins 4, Royals 3
Twins record: 44-49
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap
Truth be told, I spent most of this game busy drawing hearts around the name "Alex Morgan" which I had written in my notebook...but it looked pretty good on Gameday, especially the part that said "J. Thome homered to deep center, B. Revere and J. Mauer scored". So, three out of four from the Royals to kick off The Most Important Homestand Ever? So far, so good.
Hitter of the Week: I kind of want to pick Jim Thome for this every time he gets closer to 600 from now on.
Pitcher of the Week: I think I'll go with Joe Nathan here, I'm feeling nostalgic.
2011 Game 91 Recap: Royals 2, Twins 1
Weather: 74 degrees, overcast
Wind: 9 mph, R to L
Time: 2:37
Attendance: 39,177
This game was all about pitching. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Nick Blackburn pitched a good game. Luke Hochevar pitched a good game. Both went seven innings. Blackburn gave up no runs on four hits and two walks, Hochevar gave up one on three hits and three walks.
Coming out of the bullpen in the eighth, Joe Nathan and Tim Collins were good, neither giving up a hit and only Collins allowing a base runner on one walk.
2011 Game 91: Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins
Luke Hochevar vs Nick Blackburn
This has to be a perfect way to start the second half for the Twins. First, a warm-up against the Royals. Four games, more than enough to find the mojo and remind everyone about owning the AL Central. Then, taking on the first place Indians with another four game series. After that, yet another four game series against the other first place team, the Tigers.
I had some stuff written about the four consecutive series against AL Central, breaking down some possibilities. Someone decided to steal it for the game recap though. Instead, I'll close with Win Twins!
Game 90 Recap: Twins 8, Royals 4
MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 4
Record - 42-48 (4th in Central, 1.0 game out of 3rd)
Highest WPA - Liriano (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 SO, 2 BB), Plouffe! (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI)
Lowest WPA - Danny V. (1 for 5, RBI) - the flyout double play in the first must have hurt him.
NOTES - 5 Twins had multi-hit games (Delmon, Plouffe, Mauer, Casilla, Nishioka)
Fangraphs
MLB Recap
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And so begins the second half. Right out of the gate after the All-Star break the Twins have three 4-game series at home against AL Central teams. With the doubleheader against Cleveland on Monday, the Twins will play 12 games in 11 days. At the end of next week, when the dust clears, everyone in the Central will have played 100 or 101 games, so a lot of the "games in hand" that the Twins and Indians have had for most of the season will be gone.
I could have all kinds of fun breaking down all the potential outcomes over the next week and a half (and, trust me I have the spreadsheets to show that I have), and tell you what needs to happen to have the Indians, Tigers, White Sox, and Twins all within 0.5 games at the top of the standings next Sunday (it's unlikely). Instead, let's consider what the Twins need to do to make up ground and whether or not they adhered to those guidelines in last night's victory.
Game #58: Twins 6, Royals 0
Twins record: 21-37
Fangraphs
Whoops, I forgot I had to do one of these, so I'm going to get in, get out, and go to bed. The Twins won, we swept the Royals in KC, baseball is fun again, Duensing was on top of his game, there's some cool pictures from the WGOM get-together in the CoC, I can't think of as many things to say when the Twins win as when they lose. That's all I've got.
Hitter of the Week: I suppose I ought to give one of these to Alexi Casilla before he turns back into Alexi Casilla.
Pitcher of the Week: Carl Pavano
2011 Game 56: Twins at Royals
Pavano seems to be repeating his 2009. Unfortunately, the Twins are the recipients of the poor performance.
Duffy decided to return to baseball in 2010 and racked up some frequent flyer miles proving himself. Seven games with the Rafters (which B-R doesn't even list and I can't corroborate), two games with a rookie team (Arizona), two more with another rookie team (Idaho), three games at A+ (Delaware), and finally seven games at AA (Arkansas).
He averaged more than a strikeout per inning in the minors while walking three per nine innings. The strikeouts followed him, but the control lagged some. The number of free passes issued has monotonically decreased. I don't expect the Twins to change that.
Game 55 Recap: Twins 8, Royals 2
MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 2
Record - 18-37 (Last in the Central)
Highest WPA - Swarzak (6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 SO), and Rivera (1 for 3, BB, R, RBI)
Lowest WPA - Every single Twin who appeared in this game had a positive WPA.
Fangraphs
MLB Recap
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Here's your stupid stat of the day:
The Twins scored runs in 3 different innings last night, I was wondering how often that had happened this season, and so I generated the following results.
- When the Twins score in 0 innings of a game, they are 0-5.
- When the Twins score in 1 inning, they are 4-8.
- When the Twins score in 2 innings, they are 4-13.
- When the Twins score in 3 innings, they are 7-4.
- When the Twins score in 4 innings, they are 2-7.
- When the Twins score in 5 innings, they are 1-0.
So, by bringing in Soria and setting the final 6 Twins hitters down in order, KC was playing right into our hands. It's obvious what would have happened if the Twins had scored runs in one of those innings.
Game #Whatever: Royals a lot, Twins blah blah
Twins record: bad
I don't really know what to say about this. The Twins are just a very bad team right now. I don't think I'm going to do Players of the Week this time, either.
Let's talk about food instead. What's everyone eating this weekend? I think I'm going to have some chili tonight. What are everyone's thoughts on chili? Best kind of meat to use, and best way to cut that meat up? Lots of chunky tomatoes, or just a rich broth? Beans or no beans (and what kinds)? What's your optimal combination of seasonings to use? Should it be really spicy, or really really spicy? Am I forgetting some crucial aspect of chili for which I should be harshly disciplined? Let's talk about that.
2011 Game 25 Recap: Twins 3, Royals 4
Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind: 17 mph, right to left
Time: 2:53
Attendance: 31,407
The Crisis
These are the times that try men's souls. The summer and the sunshine will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their team. The Royals are not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as winning should not be highly rated.
Okay, so I took a little liberty with the words of Thomas Paine. And I'm not sure you can call this a crisis just yet. It probably is too early to panic. The sky probably isn't falling. Being eight games under .500 is worrisome in August, sure, but not so much to spark heartburn about at the end of April. Did I mention that it's probably too early to panic?