584 replies to this topic

[twinssporto]

 

Everyone better get ready for World War III!  Last nights game was probably one of the most drama filled regular season games I've seen in years. I will not call it the best regular season game I've seen in years as the Twins lost. However, it was drama filled. I expect the last game of this series tonight will be a lot like the first two. As I mentioned above, better get ready for World War III.  

 

I fully expect the Twins will come out charging hard and playing with something to prove. My take away after watching the entire game last night is that this Minnesota Twins team will not roll over to the Yankees.  They seem to have a confidence I've seen lacking in other Twins teams the last 10-15 years.  We are watching playoff baseball in July. It's great that we have a team that is contending and playing the top-tier teams so well.

 

We know the bullpen needs some support and we only have a handful of days left to find out what our front office will do. It could be Christmas in July for our Minnesota Twins...Please don't blow this deadline Falvey!  We have a really, really good team that's just a few arms away from going the distance in October.  

 

By the way, when I checked this morning, last nights game thread had 1,471 posts and 74 pages. Nice to see that much activity and conversation going on.  Everybody buckle in and enjoy the ride tonight. It's gonna get bumpy! World Wars are usually like that...

 

Go Twins and make some great trades before the deadline!!!! I wanna win another World Series!

 

Lineups:

 

TWINS:

1. J. Polanco SS

2. M. Gonzalez RF

3. Nelson Cruz DH

4. E. Rosario LF

5. Max Kepler CF

6. Miguel Sano 1B

7. Luis Arraez 3B

8. J. Schoop 2B

9. Mitch Garver C

SP: Jake Odorizzi R (11-4) 3.18 ERA

 

YANKEES:

1. DJ LeMahieu 1B

2. Aaron Judge RF

3. Aaron Hicks CF

4. E. Encarnacion DH

5. D. Gregorius SS

6. G. Torres 2B

7. Gio Urshela 3B

8. M. Tauchman LF

9. A. Romine C

SP: J.A. Happ L (8-5) 4.86 ERA

 

Weather: Partly cloudy and a warm 85 degrees

[blindeke]

Good god, I don't think I can take another Yankees game. Who's left in the bullpen with a pulse? Trevor May? 

[Brock Beauchamp]

The one upside here is that Odorizzi is a considerably better pitcher than Happ.

 

We'll see if that matters one bit in just over two hours.

[luckylager]

Parker DFA.

[twinssporto]

 

Good god, I don't think I can take another Yankees game. Who's left in the bullpen with a pulse? Trevor May? 

I know the feeling. All anyone could talk about today at work was last nights game. I had to re-live it all over again and again.

[LVTwinsfan]

At least the Indians lost yesterday, it’s a new day, let’s take the series. Magic number is 60 😊

[Blake]

 

I know the feeling. All anyone could talk about today at work was last nights game. I had to re-live it all over again and again.

[Blake]

 

Good god, I don't think I can take another Yankees game. Who's left in the bullpen with a pulse? Trevor May? 

[Diesel]

Welp, we know the Twins are gonna add bullpen arms at the deadline.... we don’t know the quality yet....

[Reider]

I am thoroughly enjoying this series vs. the Yankees. The Oakland series was great, but this one against the Yankees is dynamite. It definitely feels like playoff baseball in July and hopefully games are this exciting for the rest of the season. As the OP stated, this team is playing with confidence and is not scared of the Yankees. In years past, it seemed like the Twins were mentally defeated before the games even began.They're going toe to toe with the Yankees and they're doing it without a complete or elite pitching staff. The Twins' hitting has been incredible this series and so has the defense. The infield in particular. 

 

However, I have noticed a couple of things. When is the last time the Twins bunted or stole a base? How cool would it be to see a bunt (slap/push etc..) to the open field in a big situation when the Yankees are playing the shift? Easier said than done, but I understand why the Twins might not want to fool around bunting, when their bats have been on fire. It seems like bunting and stealing are not as big of a part of the game as they used to be. When you can hit a home run to left field with an exit velocity of 89.0 mph and a launch angle of 31 degrees, I can see why a team would rather hit than bunt.

 

I think the main thing we need to take from the Twins over the last couple of series (and this year in general) is that this team can compete with any team in the league. It can compete in the playoffs too if the front office significantly improves the pitching staff before the deadline. The Twins can hit with any team in the league, their defense is fairly solid (incredible at times) and if they can add some high end pitchers to the roster, they should be able to compete in the playoffs.

 

On paper, the Twins have the edge at starting pitching tonight, but that doesn't mean anything if Jake Odorizzi doesn't execute. Secondly, if the Yankees are able to come back like they did last night, after being down a lot of runs and take the Twins into deep waters, they might be able to outlast the Twins' bullpen again. But of course, they play the games for a reason (because we don't know what will happen). As for the line up, I'd like to see the batting order arranged a bit differently, but on second thought the Twins have such a deep line up, the batting order may not matter a whole lot.

Edited by Reider, 24 July 2019 - 04:57 PM.

[twinssporto]

 

So true. I tried decapitating myself on our laser cutters but kept coming back to an Aaron Hicks catch.  

[twinssporto]

 

I am thoroughly enjoying this series vs. the Yankees. The Oakland series was great, but this one against the Yankees is dynamite. It definitely feels like playoff baseball in July and hopefully games are this exciting for the rest of the season. As the OP stated, this team is playing with confidence and is not scared of the Yankees. In years past, it seemed like the Twins were mentally defeated before the games even began.They're going toe to toe with the Yankees and they're doing it without a complete or elite pitching staff. The Twins' hitting has been incredible this series and so has the defense. The infield in particular. 

 

However, I have noticed a couple of things. When is the last time the Twins bunted or stole a base? How cool would it be to see a bunt (slap/push etc..) to the open field in a big situation when the Yankees are playing the shift? Easier said than done, but I understand why the Twins might not want to fool around bunting, when their bats have been on fire. It seems like bunting and stealing are not as big of a part of the game as they used to be. When you can hit a home run to left field with an exit velocity of 89.0 mph and a launch angle of 31 degrees, I can see why a team would rather hit than bunt.

 

I think the main thing we need to take from the Twins over the last couple of series (and this year in general) is that this team can compete with any team in the league. It can compete in the playoffs too if the front office significantly improves the pitching staff before the deadline. The Twins can hit with any team in the league, their defense is fairly solid (incredible at times) and if they can add some high end pitchers to the roster, they should be able to compete in the playoffs.

 

On paper, the Twins have the edge at starting pitching tonight, but that doesn't mean anything if Jake Odorizzi doesn't execute. Secondly, if the Yankees are able to come back like they did last night, after being down a lot of runs and take the Twins into deep waters, they might be able to outlast the Twins' bullpen again. But of course, they play the games for a reason (because we don't know what will happen). As for the line up, I'd like to see the batting order arranged a bit differently, but on second thought the Twins have such a deep line up, the batting order may not matter a whole lot.

Nice post.  I agree that the Twins are playing with a whole lot of confidence. I was going to say in my opening post another observation I had last night, which was: The Yankees looked generally stunned and on their heels when Sano pounded that pitch in the 8th inning.  The Yankees know this is a very tough team.  

 

My other observation was Chapman looked entirely freaked out to pitch anything over the plate to our lineup. Obviously he couldn't locate a pitch but I think he knew if it got close to the strike zone it could be game over. I think opposing pitchers are intimidated by our lineup.  If they're not they should be...

[LA VIkes Fan]

Interesting Twins lineup. LH hitters batting 4, 5 and 7 against a LH pitcher. I know both Rosario and Kepler have been hitting LH well (not sure about Arraez), but still... interesting....

[spycake]

Updated lineup (Cave instead of Kepler):

1. M Garver (R) C
2. J Polanco (S) SS
3. N Cruz (R) DH
4. E Rosario (L) LF
5. M Sanó (R) 1B
6. M Gonzalez (S) RF
7. L Arraez (L) 3B
8. J Schoop (R) 2B
9. J Cave (L) CF

https://www.mlb.com/...tarting-lineups

Edited by spycake, 24 July 2019 - 05:30 PM.

[Brock Beauchamp]

29 minutes until half of Minnesota starts drinking heavily.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Updated lineup (Cave instead of Kepler):
 

1. M Garver (R) C
2. J Polanco (S) SS
3. N Cruz (R) DH
4. E Rosario (L) LF
5. M Sanó (R) 1B
6. M Gonzalez (S) RF
7. L Arraez (L) 3B
8. J Schoop (R) 2B
9. J Cave (L) CF

https://www.mlb.com/...tarting-lineups

 

Wait. What happened to Kepler?

[ashbury]

29 minutes until half of Minnesota starts drinking heavily.

I'm in the Eastern time zone so I am already 31 minutes in.
 

Wait. What happened to Kepler?

And now I have good reason to.

[Blake]

 

29 minutes until half of Minnesota starts drinking heavily.

I would assume you think the other half already started?

[ashbury]

At least the Indians lost yesterday, it’s a new day, let’s take the series. Magic number is 60

The news is actually better than you think. Because there are 10 games against Cleveland yet to go, all the Twins need to do is win 56 of their remaining 62 - there is no way to do that without beating Cleveland at least 4 times, increasing their loss column while we pad our win column. Yay math!

 

https://s2.smu.edu/~...can_league.html

[spycake]

Wait. What happened to Kepler?

Best as I can tell, it is just rest for Kepler. Perhaps the earlier lineup was erroneous?