Article: Game Thread: Twins vs Indians 4/17 7:10PM

[Riverbrian]

The Twins kick off a brand new series with the Indians tonight. Rolling with a two game winning streak... The Twins face a team that smells funny right now. If you've ever been to Cleveland... Smelling funny isn't surprising. It's Pelfrey vs. Kluber and that sounds like Lawyer vs Lawyer to me.

 

Here are some Things to Think About:1. The Indians -- Hey... Things ain't so rosy in Cleveland Ohio either. At least our Twins can say that we have a two game winning streak!!! The Indians are working on a puny little 1 game winning streak so the Twins can claim a doubling in that department. The Indians are 3-5 and the Twins are 3-6... Both teams were swept by the Tigers and both teams managed a win against the White Sox. The Difference is one extra game against the Pale Hose... After that... The Twins won two games against the Royals who participated in the World Series and the Indians won two games against the Astros... Who were extremely not in the World Series last year. So... Get out your scratch paper and do the math... The Twins are in better shape than the Indians are right now. The Twins also are better because they are not based in Cleveland.

 

2. The Cy Young Award -- Apparently they give these things out to just about anybody these days. Corey Kluber is on the mound to face us tonight and he won the Cy Young Award Last year. I'm not saying he didn't deserve it... He had a fantastic 2014... I guess I'm implying that... umm... I'm implying... Well... Who the Hell is Corey Kluber and where did he come from? That's what I'm implying!!!

 

He was drafted by the Padres and traded to the Indians in a 3 team deal in 2010... He was called up to the Indians in September 2011 after he posted a 5.56 ERA in Columbus that year. He comes at you in standard formation with an arsenal that a lot of pitchers have... Low 90's fastball with a cutter... curve and change. If Kluber can win the Cy Young... Anybody can grow up to be President of the United States.

 

3. Losing your Mind Early -- It happens every time in the first two weeks of the season. People lose their mind because everybody is paying attention. People in Atlanta think this is the Braves year because they started well... People in Washington are planning for 2016 because the Nationals have started slow. It's a long season and 162 games has a way of balancing itself out. Bad or good stretches in June and July largely go unnoticed because of a lack of stamina. This early season panic is very similar to almost anything else in life.

 

If your kid gets his driver's license... You are a nervous wreck for the first couple of weeks... A year later... your kid is still a pretty bad driver but you still give them the keys knowing that they trying to do Dukes of Hazzard type jumps with your car.

 

If the Doctor tells you that you have to start eating branches and twigs... You freak out because you know that actual flavor is no longer part of your meals. 6 months later... It's not as big a deal anymore because you've stopped eating branches and twigs after you realize that Moose don't live that long anyway.

 

Early season baseball is just like everything is life.

 

4. The Outfield D -- Ignore thought #3... I'm still worried about the Outfield D. Ignore #2 and #1 if you'd like as well. It's probably smart if you do.

 

5. Wild Fires -- We had a serious of Fires around the Grand Forks Area on Wednesday. Dry conditions and winds gusting around 50 MPH (Just little more than normal) made for a busy day for fire fighters. There were a couple of fires just outside of Grand Forks... A rather large one right next to the town of Manvel (go ahead and check your atlas for location) and several more all the way up to the Canadian border. They had to close down the Interstate for a stretch because of visibility and before they did... a rather large chain reaction accident sent some folks to the hospital. I was near Manvel ND and actually saw the big one with my own eyes... I could feel the heat of it in my car as I drove past. Officials believe the fires may have been started by a semi that was dragging something down the Interstate. Seriously... That's all it takes? A simple Spark? Bruce Springsteen says you can't start a fire without a spark so It must be true but I have a hard time believing it because whenever I try to start a fire... It takes me a full box of matches. I gave up my career as an arsonist because of that. I concluded it was too hard and I decided to try something else.

 

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[Squirrel]

Game-time forecast: Clear and sunny (until sunset at 8pm), 70 deg F, winds in from the NW at 7mph, no chance of precipitation.

 

Lineups:

 

INDIANS:

Bourn CF

Kipnis 2B

Brantley DH

Santana 1B

Moss RF

Murphy LF

Chisenhall 3B

Perez C

Ramirez SS

 

Kluber P

 

TWINS:

Santana SS

Escobar LF *

Mauer 1B

Dozier 2B

Vargas DH

Plouffe 3B

Arcia RF *

Herrmann C

Schafer CF

 

Pelfrey P

 

(*hmmm, this could be ... interesting)

[Jerr]

Gonna be on my deck, brats going, beers going down and radio on...life is good!

Edited April 17, 2015 by Jerr

[Squirrel]

 

Gonna be on my deck, brats going, beers going down and radio on...life is good!

Yay! TD party at Jerr's!

[James]

 

the town of Manvel (go ahead and check your atlas for location) 

Am I to assume that this statement means that you actually own, and use an atlas?

[JB_Iowa]

I love atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias -- there's something about seeing the printed version that is so much more rewarding that on line.

[scottz]

Atlases are very underrated.

 

This has been my Circus Boy Opinion Update.

[JB_Iowa]

Rhett Bollinger ‏@RhettBollinger  · 3m3 minutes ago 
Duensing placed on DL with right intercostal strain, Caleb Thielbar recalled from Triple-A Rochester

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

hrm. I wonder if they thought about bringing up a righty - they still have Aaron Thompson in the pen...

[Squirrel]

 

Atlases are very underrated.

 

This has been my Circus Boy Opinion Update.

I don't own a world atlas, but I do buy a new road atlas every few years. I like having one in the car.

[Mill1634]

 

Gonna be on my deck, brats going, beers going down and radio on...life is good!

This guy knows what's up!

[70charger]

you still give them the keys knowing that they trying to do Dukes of Hazzard type jumps with your car.

Nooooo!

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

Game-time forecast: Clear and sunny (until sunset at 8pm), 70 deg F, winds in from the NW at 7mph, no chance of precipitation.

 

Lineups:

 

INDIANS:

Bourn CF

Kipnis 2B

Brantley DH

Santana 1B

Moss RF

Murphy LF

Chisenhall 3B

Perez C

Ramirez SS

 

Kluber P

 

TWINS:

Santana SS

Escobar LF *

Mauer 1B

Dozier 2B

Vargas DH

Plouffe 3B

Arcia RF *

Herrmann C

Schafer CF

 

Pelfrey P

 

(*hmmm, this could be ... interesting)

 

Banishing Hunter from the lineup is a good start.   Now how do we do the same with Schafer (without replacing him with Robinson)?   Also, I'd like to order the Josmil Pinto for my starter at catcher please.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Cap'n Piranha

[Mill1634]

Robinson has actually impressed me so far. Not sure why Escobar is playing in the outfield....

[jokin]

 

Robinson has actually impressed me so far. Not sure why Escobar is playing in the outfield....

 

Because he's been officially dubbed by the manager as the Twins' Tony Phillips?

[Squirrel]

 

Banishing Hunter from the lineup is a good start.   Now how do we do the same with Schafer (without replacing him with Robinson)?   Also, I'd like to order the Josmil Pinto for my starter at catcher please.

Good questions. Why I said 'hmm ... this could be ... interesting' We'll all just have to wait and see!

[jokin]

 

Banishing Hunter from the lineup is a good start.   Now how do we do the same with Schafer (without replacing him with Robinson)?   Also, I'd like to order the Josmil Pinto for my starter at catcher please.

 

"Banishing?"  This is a one-day deal, and already the locals are complaining on social media about him missing a home game.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

"Banishing?"  This is a one-day deal, and already the locals are complaining REJOICING on social media TWINS DAILY about him missing a home game.

 

fixed!

 

[MileHighTwinsFan]

Guys in the lineup have pretty good splits against Kluber - looks like Molitor is working matchups tonight against the reigning Cy Young winner. 

[Hrbowski]

I wish Hunter was in the lineup.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

Guys in the lineup have pretty good splits against Kluber - looks like Molitor is working matchups tonight against the reigning Cy Young winner. 

Good observation. It might not hurt to play for some offense tonight. 

[jokin]

 

"Banishing?"  This is a one-day deal, and already the locals are complaining REJOICING on social media TWINS DAILY about him missing a home game.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        fixed!

 

I wish Hunter was in the lineup.

 

The exception to the rule?

[jokin]

 

Guys in the lineup have pretty good splits against Kluber - looks like Molitor is working matchups tonight against the reigning Cy Young winner. 

 

 

Halsey's gonna love this split:

 

Plouffe v. Kluber:   9 hits in 25 ABs.  .360/.360/.640/(1.000)   w/ 2 HRs

[Hrbowski]

Pelfrey has a new personal catcher.

[Halsey Hall]

 

Halsey's gonna love this split:

 

Plouffe v. Kluber:   9 hits in 25 ABs.  .360/.360/.640/(1.000)   w/ 2 HRs

He owes Kluber a lot of money then, doesn't he.  Maybe he can hit tonight and get back near .200.

[Halsey Hall]

What a shame, the Whities lost.  And now post a 3-6 record. 

[stringer bell]

A victory and the Twins will be in third place!

 

Very interesting that Arcia gets moved to right when Hunter is out of the lineup and apprentice OF Escobar replaces him.  It tells me that when Hunter's time is up as a Twin, the new right fielder for the Twins will be Oswaldo Arcia.

[Mill1634]

Milldaddys prediction - Twins 4, Indians 2

Player of the game - Brian Dozier, 2-3, 3 Run homerun, and a SB, BB

Edited April 17, 2015 by milldaddy35

[Bark's Lounge]

The Twins won yesterday without any assistance - that is a good thing.

 

I will not be able to participate in tonight's festivities and I want to pledge my allegiance to the Twins and raise the flag of the "Rally Roger".

 

Let us pillage and destroy Cleveland's baseball team tonight and the days ahead!

 

[Bark's Lounge]

This is for River Brian...