Tag Archives: Trevor Bauer

Game 91: twins @ cleveland

Well, that was fun! Let's do it again.

I think Gibson is a decent pitcher, but he is prone to the type of game he had last night, where he just doesn't have it. Rocco realizing that in the fourth inning and taking him out probably saved the ballgame. That's the type of good decision making that adds up over a season and becomes magnified in the postseason.

It also turned "I don't have a good feeling about this series" to "hey, this could work..."

Trying to keep the good vibes going today is Jake Odorizzi. He's taken a bit of a tumble lately, bit I'm thinking that his true self is somewhere between the truly great April and May that he had and the significantly less good June where he lost his hold on the All Star Game start and, eventually, a couple of layers of skin on one of his fingers.

We all know this series is big. A win or (dare I even a think it) a sweep puts Cleveland back in their places and (hopefully) gives them a seller's mentality here in the next few weeks.

Cleveland counters with Trevor Bauer. He's been up and down lately after his strong start. The Twins got to him last time. Hopefully, they do it again.

I've got Kepler today, btw. Go Twins!

Game 15: Cleveland at Minnesota

After a 5-1 start, the Twins have now dropped 6 of 8, are 3-7 over their past 10 and are 7-7 (.500) overall. This record is tied with Cleveland for 3rd in the Central Division and 1.5 games behind first place Detroit.  They're also a cool .500 at home and on the road, 4-4 and 3-3 respectively.

Today's Focus: Pitching

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Young lefty, Adalberto Mejia (0-1, 4.05 ERA, 1.65 WHIP) takes the mound for the Twins this evening, having shown significant improvement in his second start last week against Chicago, giving up 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 4 (and walking 3).

Cleveland sends former 1st rounder (3rd overall) Trevor Bauer (0-2, 8.44 ERA, 1.59 WHIP) against the Twins who, after an unspectacular first outing against Arizona (5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER -- he did strikeout 7) followed with an even worse performance in Detroit on Friday (5.0, 8, 6, 6 w/ 6 SO).

Cleveland starters are last in MLB in ERA (5.86), 27th in WHIP (1.39) and tied for 2nd in Hits allowed (85). As a team, they're 28th in ERA (4.94), 23rd in WHIP (1.37) and 2nd in Hits allowed (131) ... so ... let's WAKE UP THE BATS!!!

Twins starters are 2nd in ERA (3.18) in MLB and 2nd in WHIP (1.06), and as a team, lead the majors in WHIP (1.04), sit in 2nd in the AL in ERA (2.98) and 3rd place overall. They're 29th in Hits allowed (95) but are tied for 27th in SO (93) ... so ... yay for good defense?

Also ... I have little hope that the Wild will win even 1 game, let alone their series against St. Louis. However, I hope they take heart and abide:

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Game 15: Clevelanders vs. Twins (DAY GAME ALERT!)

Trevor Bauer (0-2, 8.44 ERA) vs. Ervin Santana (3-0, 0.41 ERA)

As I was going to mention in my redundant game 13 game log that never got posted, it seems the off-season meeting between the Cleveland brass and the commissioner accomplished completely nothing as Cleveland is still wearing the logo on their jersey that makes me root against them.

Trevor Bauer takes the hill against the Twins ace and his magical chinstrap, Ervin Santana. So far, they are having basically opposite seasons statistically. Bauer is off to a rought start, although holes a 2.53 xFIP and a 4.00 BABIP, so luck may very well be what's preventing him from his usual mediocrity. I cynically expect the Twins offense to help with that.

Santana, on the other hand, is either benefiting from some luck with  a ridiculous .074 BABIP and an xFIP of 3.75, which is right around his career average. Its either luck or the Twins deciding to go with an actual major league caliber defensive outfield is paying off. Probably a little of column A/B.

It'd be nice if the Twins could remember to not grab their ass-bats for this game. They could really use a win after this recent stretch of not beating the White Sox or Cleveland.

2016 Game 107: Twins at Cleveland

So, tomorrow is the two-thirds point of the season...I'm feeling a tad regretful over how little I've watched, in that case. On the other hand, I assume I was having fun doing whatever the hell I was doing in place of watching this team.

All the same, they've been at least decent lately, and could pull off an unlikely sweep if somehow Tyler Duffey can pitch better than Trevor Bauer, which is not the ideal matchup to complete a sweep, but I guess that's what we've got. I might catch the beginning of this, but I'll be meeting freealonzo at US Bank Stadium to see the Blues take on AC Milan, and as much as I wouldn't hate seeing this game, I would always regret missing Chelsea when they were just a handful of miles away.

Go Twins! Maybe we'll check in late in the game when the match is starting.

2016 Game #36: Minnesota Targets (9-26) at Cleveland Progressives (17-16)

First pitch: 12:10 CDT

Beat the drum and hold the phone
The sun came out today
We're born again
There's new grass on the field

I've always tried to be optimistic, but my choice of rooting interests often makes that incompatible with reality. For the first time in their last 9 attempts, the Twins won a game of baseball yesterday. And we need to celebrate that. The Buddha tells us the root of suffering is desire. The Twins losing so frequently drives me crazy because I want them to win. It's the wanting that causes the suffering, not the losing. So I've swapped my optimism for appreciation. I live in a major league city and get to watch a major league team try to play baseball almost every day. I can attend a home game anytime I have the hankering. That's way more than I had growing up. So maybe we're looking at 100 losses this season. You can't say the boys aren't finding interesting ways to lose.

Tyler Duffy and Trevor Bauer on the mound today.

Play ball!

Game 144: The Minnesotas at The Clevelands

May (1-4, 9.38 ERA) vs. Bauer (5-7, 4.10 ERA)

Trevor May has not pitched very well since coming up. Let's hope this isn't another game reminiscent of the header image, because the Twins annual September give-up period (4th anniversary!) is underway and pretty depressing in a baseball sense. If it weren't for the Kennys Vargases, Danny Santanas (what happened to him, is he injured or something? Never did see any news on why he was pulled the other day), and Arcias (and, of course, Mauers) of the world, it would be dire. I'm trying to remain optimistic about the future because the future offense does sound like a lot of fun. It would just be really nice to see the pitching come along with that.

Anyway, I'm planning on getting started with deck framing this weekend. Any citizens in the area are more than welcome to come by and help. I'm snake-method smoking ribs on Sunday.