Article: Twins vs. Tigers, 07/05/2012, 12:05pm

[sbknudson]

Granted, this game got away from us, but let's look at the larger picture - if someone had told you Monday morning that the Twins would split with Detroit, in Detroit, would you have taken it?

[Westgaard66]

This game hurt to watch.
3 runs lost at the plate
The stupid squeeze play bothers me. Everyone saw it coming.
Why pull diamond?

[GCTF]

you can't pitch your "closer" before the 9th inning, blasphemer.


And why would you want your best relievers facing the top/middle of order when they could face the bottom in the next inning?

moty

[snepp]

moty

MotC

[nokomismod]

This game hurt to watch.
3 runs lost at the plate
The stupid squeeze play bothers me. Everyone saw it coming.
Why pull diamond?

I didn't see the need to Squeeze there either. Dotel is not a dominant pitcher anymore, and Carrol or Span could have made contact.

[snepp]

Dotel is not a dominant pitcher anymore, and Carrol or Span could have made contact.

13 k/9

5 k/bb


Nope, not dominant at all.

[mikeee]

that was a bummer of a loss.

[nokomismod]

13 k/9

5 k/bb


Nope, not dominant at all.

I stand corrected! Just from watching him the past couple of games against the Twins I never would have guessed that. Thank you for pointing that out.

[snepp]

I admit to not realizing how good those figures were until I looked them up.

[mike wants wins]

You can't pitch your "closer" before the 9th inning, blasphemer.


And why would you want your best relievers facing the top/middle of order when they could face the bottom in the next inning?

Gawd I love this post....makes a great point, and is just oozing sarcasm.

[snepp]

Gardy just said in the postgame that Perkins was not available today, fwiw.

[Shane Wahl]

You can't pitch your "closer" before the 9th inning, blasphemer.


And why would you want your best relievers facing the top/middle of order when they could face the bottom in the next inning?

Haha! Ulgh, this also makes me feel a little sick. Gardy was going with his "heart" again.

[glunn]

I think that I will erase this game from my DVR without watching it.

[one_eyed_jack]

I've gotta think it's pretty rare for a team to get 6 hits with RISP and only score 3 runs.

What a frustrating day.

I could be wrong about this, but it sure seems like one of the many problems this team as had this year is the way it consistently squanders chances for big innings that would put them comfortably ahead. Today was another game we had a chance to jump out to a big lead and didn't.

Even in a lot of our wins (and we have more 1-run wins than anyone else in the AL), I feel like there have been a lot of blown chances to bust games open, and they ended up being nail-biters. Maybe the bullpen could have been conserved a bit better had we been up 5 instead of up 1 going into the 9th in some of those games.

Perhaps the Twins stastistically really aren't much worse than anyone else in this area, but I sure feel like I've watched a lot of innings where the Twins walked away with 1 run when they could, and probably should, have had at least 3.

[snepp]

I think that I will erase this game from my DVR without watching it.

You should at least check out the comedic highlights.

[jctwins]

On the bright side, 115 posts for a day game.

[stringer bell]

Well, Gardy wasn't going to use Perkins, so that kinda forced it to be Burnett/Robertson. Perhaps he could have gone with Burton for Miggy/Prince. but I doubt he would want to bring Burton back for the ninth with a lead or tied.

The Twins narrative is now to finger starting pitchers for all of this--fraying the bullpen and limiting the managers options--there is some truth to this but the off field staff has to take the blame for having a dreadful starting rotation.

[snepp]

On the bright side, 115 posts for a day game.

Half of them me being an ass.

[USAFChief]

Worst loss of the year?

Granted, there are a lot to choose from.

I think Gardy's hands were a bit tied regarding the bullpen situation. Not sure why you pull Diamond, but I'll defer judgement on that. More proof that the soft underbelly of a bullpen is going to get exposed over the course of a season. You can't just have 2 or 3 reliable relievers and expect them to take all the high leverage innings.

[stringer bell]

Worst loss of the year?

Granted, there are a lot to choose from.

I think Gardy's hands were a bit tied regarding the bullpen situation. Not sure why you pull Diamond, but I'll defer judgement on that. More proof that the soft underbelly of a bullpen is going to get exposed over the course of a season. You can't just have 2 or 3 reliable relievers and expect them to take all the high leverage innings.

Bullpens don't get easily exposed if you have two or three guys who work 180-200 innings. Gardenhire mentioned the heat in regard to taking Diamond out--don't know if that is excuse making 101.