Tag Archives: Tyler Duffey

2019 Recap: Game Fourteen

TORONTO 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 16.

Batting stars:  Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with a home run.  Jorge Polanco was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk, scoring twice.  Eddie Rosario was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.

Pitching star:  Tyler Duffey struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Eric Sogard was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Justin Smoak was 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs.  Randal Grichuk was 0-for-2 with three walks and two runs.

The game:  The Twins threatened in the second, getting one-out singles from Gonzalez and Jake Cave, but did not score.  They got on the board in the third, however, as Polanco hit a two-out home run that gave the Twins a 1-0 lead.

Twins starter Kyle Gibson sailed through the first five innings, giving up just one hit.  He hit the wall in the sixth, however.  Danny Jansen led off with a single and Sogard doubled.  Freddy Galvis struck out, but a walk to Grichuk loaded the bases and Smoak delivered a two-run single that put the Blue Jays up 2-1.  Ryne Harper came in and got Teoscar Hernandez to fly out, but then gave up RBI singles to Rowdy Tellez and Alen Hanson to make the score 4-1.

The Twins came right back in the bottom of the sixth.  Walks to Max Kepler and Polanco opened the frame, and Rosario followed with a three-run homer to tie the score 4-4.  Unfortunately, the tie was also short-lived.  Trevor May started the inning for the Twins.  A Sogard single and walks to Grichuk and Smoak loaded the bases with two out.  The Twins brought in their designated Bases Loaded Pitcher, Trevor Hildenberger, but this time he could not get it done.  Hernandez singled, scoring two runs and putting Toronto back on top 6-4.

To their credit, the Twins did not roll over.  Gonzalez started the ninth with a home run to cut the lead to 6-5.  Nelson Cruz walked, but a force out and a strikeout left C. J. Cron on first with two out.  Byron Buxton delivered a double to deep left, but Cron was thrown out trying to score from first and the game was over.

Notes:  Polanco is batting .415.  Mitch Garver was 0-for-1 and is batting .407.  Harper gave up a pair of run-scoring singles, but neither run was charged to him, so his ERA is still zero.  Hildenberger and Duffey, who was making his season debut with the Twins, also have ERAs of zero.

Rosario was the DH in this game, with Jake Cave in left and Cruz on the bench.  Willians Astudillo was at first base, with Cron on the bench.  Ehire Adrianza was at second base, with Schoop on the bench.  While this may have been overdoing it a little, I like the fact that Rocco is using his entire roster.  Yes, it lessens your chances of winning that particular game, but it keeps everybody fresher, more rested, more ready to play, and should result in more wins down the line.  That's the theory, anyway.

I don't know if anyone has been able to discern any particular pattern in who catches each game.  I haven't had time to examine it--is he using certain catchers with certain pitchers, going by opposing pitcher matchups, or what?  I think there must be a pattern--I don't believe Rocco's just choosing at random.  I just don't know what it is and haven't had time to try to find out.

I wasn't able to pay attention to last night's game, so I don't know if we had Nibbly Gibson or not.  If we did, it was pretty darned effective nibbling for five innings.  I know the e coli excuse starts to wear thin for people, but it's a pretty severe thing, and some people take longer to recover from illness than others.  Given that he was cruising for five innings and then just suddenly lost it in the sixth, I don't think it's unreasonable to think that fatigue might have been a factor.

On the play at the plate to end the game--well, again, I wasn't watching at the time, and it's pretty easy to second-guess after you know the outcome.  As a general principle, though, I don't have a problem with aggressive baserunning, as long as there's a reasonable chance for success.  Sometimes you have to force the other team to make a play.  When you do, sometimes they'll be able to make it.  And when that happens, you just give them credit and move on.

No team ever went through the whole season without a two-game losing streak, and the Twins won't be the first.  The trick is to keep the losing streaks short.

Record:  The Twins are 8-6, in second place in the American League Central, a half game behind Cleveland.

Projected record:  We'll just have to settle for 156-6!

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.

Game 95: The Last Place Minnesota Twins at The First Place Boston Red Sox

Minnesota has gone 10-6 in July, winning two series' against the West-leading Rangers and three out of four against Oakland. They didn't really get the offense going in their first series back following the All Star Break (against Cleveland), scored no runs on Monday, had one big inning on Tuesday (5 runs) and another crooked number in the 9th yesterday (3 runs) to notch a series win against the 2nd place Tigers.

In Boston to face the Red Sox (1st in the East, 53-39, 8-2 in their past 10) for the next four games, the Twins start the series with a rebounding Tyler Duffey on the mound. Duffey is 3-0 in his last four starts with a 3.10 ERA, and Twins' wins in each of his past five starts.

Squaring off against the Twins for Boston is All Star knuckleballer Steven Wright (11-5, 2.78 ERA, 1.18 WHIP), winner of his past three games (though with an atrocious 6.35 ERA) and looking for continued support from an offense averaging 5.38 runs per game over the past dozen.

Read on if you care to learn more about the huge mistake the Twins made when they released David "Big Papi" Ortiz ... 14 years ago ...

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Game 154: twins @ MUST WIN GAME

We can say that, right? They don't exactly have to win out in order to keep in the race, but damn near. They've committed the cardinal sin of allowing two teams to separate them from that second wild card spot. The Astros might fall apart, but they might not, and the idea of the Scoscias sneaking in there appalls me (okay, the idea of watching a lot of games with Mike Trout where I'm not rooting for him to fail does make me a little happy).

Luckily, that margin is still pretty small. The Twins could do themselves a huge favor by winning tonight. The Astros already won today, so at best, they'll be merely keeping pace, but they could theoretically retake the Scoscias, and that's roughly 1/3 of what matters.

Attempting to defend the Twins' honor tonight will be Tyler Duffey, who's been a very pleasant surprise since joining the major league rotation. There's been debate over whether or not he'll be able keep it up, but hopefully, even if his carriage is a pumpkin, he'll be able to freeze the clock's hands at 11:55 for a little while longer.

Possibly/Probably the Last Twins on Leaderboards of the Season

Games Played - Mauer - 150 (t-10th)
At Bats - Dozier - 595 (5th)
Plate Appearances - Dozier - 668 (3rd)
Runs Scored - Dozier - 99 (3rd)
Doubles - Dozier - 37 (t-5th)
Triples - Rosario - 15 (1st)
Strikeouts - Dozier - 143 (8th)
Extra Base Hits - Dozier - 69 (t-5th)
Sacrifices - Santana - 7 (t-7th)
Intentional Walks - Mauer - 12 (5th)
Double Plays - Plouffe - 27 (1st)
Double Plays - Mauer - 20 (t-8th)
Stolen Base % -Hicks - 80% (6th)
Outs Made - Dozier - 470 (1st)
Power/Speed - Dozier - 15.8 (8th)

BB/9 - Hughes - 0.93 (1st)
Saves - Perkins - 32 (t-6th)
Games Started - Gibson - 31 (t-5th)
Home Runs Allowed - Hughes - 29 (t-1st)
Walks - Gibson - 63 - (9th)
Hits Allowed - Pelfrey - 192 (t-7th)
Strikeouts per Walk - Hughes - 5.875 (2nd)
HR/9 - Pelfrey - 0.607 (2nd)
Losses - GIbson - 11 (t-9th)
Hit By Pitch - Pelfrey - 12 (t-2nd)
Games Finished - Perkins - 45 (9th)