Game Thread: Twins @ Brewers, July 28 @ 1:10pm CT

[Squirrel]

I'll start with the weather, since that's my thing. Game-time forecast: 76 deg F, partly cloudy, 20% chance of rain, winds from the SSE at 9mph. I don't know if the roof will be open or closed for that 20% chance.

Lineups:

TWINS
Dozier 2B
Rosario CF
Mauer 1B
Plouffe 3B
Hunter RF
Suzuki C
Escobar LF
Milone P
Santana SS

BREWERS
Seguar SS
Lucroy C
Braun RF
Gomez CF
Lind 1B
Ramirez 3B
Perez 2B
Peterson LF
Fiers P

----------------
Game thoughts:

1. We need to win this game to break even with the Brewers. Mike Fiers is pitching for the Brewers. He's done well against us (SSS) even though he took the loss at our last meeting. He only gave up 2 runs but big Pelf turned in a masterful 8, scoreless innings that game, and Perkins slammed the door shut. I look at that as Pelf beating the Brewers and not Fiers beating the Twins. Either we'll have to get to Fiers, or Milone will have to channel that game of Pelf's.

2. Milone. He's done a good job since returning, only giving up 1 or 2 runs a start. That's a pretty darn good job for a no. 5 starting pitcher and more than keeps us in it. But he will have to keep it up and we will have to score runs to win, which is always the case for any game. And the bullpen needs to stay in it, too. Against Texas, Milone only gave up 2, but the bp gave up more. Against the White Sox, Milone again gave up 2, but we gave him lots and lots and lots of run support that game. And, against the Cards, Milone gave up only 1, and the bp held it, so we won only having scored 3 runs. So, just keep doing what you're doing, Tommy Milone, and hopefully the other parts of the team will help out, too.

3. Carlos Gomez. I will disagree with RiverBrian on this one. I liked that trade. I don't still wish Gomez were on our team. Yeah, CF has been a mess in recent years, but that wasn't because of that trade. (And we won't delve into why that's been a mess at this writing or in this thread.) But the Gomez for Hardy trade, at that time, under those circumstances, I'd do again in a heartbeat. Yes, he's developed nicely after he left us, even though the Mets almost ruined him before we got him, but I liked that trade. Gomez is a hothead and just is not that baseball bright. Yeah, his tools manage to compensate, but he does cost his team outs in stupid moves, according to my cousin, a huge Brewers fan (and also not a fan of that trade). So, leave Gomez in Milwaukee. I'm fine with that.

4. DanSan is back at short. I've never been a huge fan of his and the errors are still mounting. I noticed Molitor having a chat with him after that throw. Yeah, we know which throw I mean. A routine play to first, it should have been, and his throw went sailing into the stands. I wonder exactly what Molitor said in his chat. Maybe that you don't need to try and 'rocket-arm' it on a routine play? Oy. I hope he settles in and starts hitting or I'll be fine with Esco at short for the rest of the season. While I know we need to be patient with DanSan, as we played him out of position all last year, but just how patient do we need to be? Where's the line here?

5. I'm officially on vacation, as of last night at 10pm. I don't have to be back to work until 9:30am, Tuesday, July 7th. Instead of being able to sleep in (and 'sleep in' for me is noonish) I'm up writing a game thread start and waiting for lineups to be posted. Hope it was worth it to all of you. It'll only be worth it for me if the Twins win. I might still be in my pajamas then, too; because it's vacation and I have absolutely nothing to do today, an intentional plan of scheduling. It's my chill day after a long season of my own. Tomorrow I'll shake off the slug and accomplish something, but today is chill day. All day.

Let's play ball! Win Twins!

[stringer bell]

Great job Chi-Town! I, too, am on vay-cay so I slept in until 7:30. That's what sleeping in is when you are ancient. Regarding Tommy Milone, I want to see him hit. He homered in his first at-bat as a National. Secondly, Milone has a small margin for error (so it seems for all the Twins starters), but when he's sharp, he can be very effective. I think the Twins will have better swings against Fiers than they did earlier this month. I am hoping Rosario breaks out with a multi-hit game, he is in a little snag. Let's hope the Twins win this series and on to Cincinnati.

[Craig Arko]

Thanks, that was a good introduction.

 

I'm having the opposite of vacation; training to move to a new group while continuing to work with the old one. Looking forward to next weekend for sure.

 

Hoping Hicks does well in Rochester and returns soon. A good by Milone today makes it more likely he sticks in the rotation when E. Santana comes back in a week.

[JB_Iowa]

 

Great job Chi-Town! I, too, am on vay-cay so I slept in until 7:30. That's what sleeping in is when you are ancient. 

 

Or when you have a dog that wants to get up at 3:30 a.m. EVERY night.

 

Good job, Chi.  Nice PJ's.

[ScrapTheNickname]

RE the Gomez trade. If we had kept JJ, the trade would have been a good one for us. Instead, coming off '10, Gardenhire wanted more "speed," and so they got rid of slow-footed Hardy. A damn foolhardy move if you ask me.

[Danchat]

It's nice to see Rosario in CF - Terry Ryan mentioned on an interview last week that Rosario profiles as a CF, not a corner outfielder - so it'll be interesting to see where Rosario ends up sticking.

 

Also, why does Escobar have to keep playing in LF? I wonder how the defensive metrics rate him there... 

[Squirrel]

 

RE the Gomez trade. If we had kept JJ, the trade would have been a good one for us. Instead, coming off '10, Gardenhire wanted more "speed," and so they got rid of slow-footed Hardy. A damn foolhardy move if you ask me.

Personally, I can't judge a trade by what was done after that. And I said, at the time of that trade, under those circumstances, I thought it was a good trade. Yes, I don't think getting rid of Hardy after that was good, hated that, but I still think Gomez for Hardy was good. And I still don't want Gomez back.

[mickeymental]

also and in retrospect, the much-reviled johan santana trade was actually pretty good ...

[Jerr]

I don't care about who's on vacation or who has to work....IT'S SUNDAY AND THERE'S A BALLGAME

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken on the grill and beer soon in me

 

 

 

 

[Halsey Hall]

Good intro, Chi, but vacation or not it's still June.  Don't wish the summer away that fast.  Now on to scoring in bunches and giving Malone a big lead. 

[twinsnorth49]

Sitting under the awning of my RV by a lake in Northwestern Ontario , sun's out, beer cooling in my fridge and enough reception to get MLB at bat. Life is good.

 

 

Btw if anyone is lucky enough to get their hands on some Muskoka Breweries Twice as Mad Tom IPA, I highly recommend it. At the moment it might just be the best IPA I've ever had.

[JB_Iowa]

Steak, corn on the cob, watermelon ....

 

Summer at its best.

[Squirrel]

Good intro, Chi, but vacation or not it's still June.  Don't wish the summer away that fast.  Now on to scoring in bunches and giving Malone a big lead.

 

Who's wishing summer away? I wish it would actually get here and stay awhile. Been too damned cold for my liking!

[Circus Boy]

 

Sitting under the awning of my RV by a lake in Northwestern Ontario , sun's out, beer cooling in my fridge and enough reception to get MLB at bat. Life is good.


Btw if anyone is lucky enough to get their hands on some Muskoka Breweries Twice as Mad Tom IPA, I highly recommend it. At the moment it might just be the best IPA I've ever had.

 

Has the snow melted yet?

[twinsnorth49]

Has the snow melted yet?

No, why?

[USAFChief]

No, why?

Getting in a little late June ice fishing?

[USAFChief]

Steak, corn on the cob, watermelon ....

 

Summer at its best.

That's our lunch plans today as well, along with a baked potato 'n some brussel sprouts. Youngest boy joining us for eats and Twins on TV.

 

Hotter than hades in Tucson.

[Blake]

ChiTown, glad I'm not the only one who has a problem with Gomez. I was cool with the trade, though I thought Gomez would develop. However, since then, there is something about Gomez that just rubs me the wrong way. 

[Jerr]

Great reports on the foods cooking and Summer has aloooong ways to go...or should I dare say...... the TWINS SEASON? 

[twinsnorth49]

Getting in a little late June ice fishing?

If the mood strikes, either that or test my hypothermia limits with a swim.

[Circus Boy]

 

No, why?

 

Holy carp! I was just making a cheap joke about the northern clime.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Game almost here...

 

Too lazy to sort out what i think of the Gomez Hardy trade...

 

Too lazy to prepare real foods of the type listed here (though sorely tempted not to be quite that lazy)

 

But not too lazy to turn on the game! (Nor to contribute a wee bit to the game thread)

[JB_Iowa]

 

Holy carp! I was just making a cheap joke about the northern clime.

 

 

Carp are holy?  Who knew?

 

 

[twinsnorth49]

Holy carp! I was just making a cheap joke about the northern clime.

So was I.

 

 

Not many Carp around here though.

[Craig Arko]

Game almost here...Too lazy to sort out what i think of the Gomez Hardy trade...Too lazy to prepare real foods of the type listed here (though sorely tempted not to be quite that lazy)But not too lazy to turn on the game! (Nor to contribute a wee bit to the game thread)

Laziness is underrated.

[curt1965]

I'll start with the weather, since that's my thing. Game-time forecast: 76 deg F, partly cloudy, 20% chance of rain, winds from the SSE at 9mph. I don't know if the roof will be open or closed for that 20% chance.

Lineups:TWINS

Dozier 2B

Rosario CF

Mauer 1B

Plouffe 3B

Hunter RF

Suzuki C

Escobar LF

Milone P

Santana SSBREWERS

Seguar SS

Lucroy C

Braun RF

Gomez CF

Lind 1B

Ramirez 3B

Perez 2B

Peterson LF

Fiers P

----------------

Game thoughts:

1. We need to win this game to break even with the Brewers. Mike Fiers is pitching for the Brewers. He's done well against us (SSS) even though he took the loss at our last meeting. He only gave up 2 runs but big Pelf turned in a masterful 8, scoreless innings that game, and Perkins slammed the door shut. I look at that as Pelf beating the Brewers and not Fiers beating the Twins. Either we'll have to get to Fiers, or Milone will have to channel that game of Pelf's.

2. Milone. He's done a good job since returning, only giving up 1 or 2 runs a start. That's a pretty darn good job for a no. 5 starting pitcher and more than keeps us in it. But he will have to keep it up and we will have to score runs to win, which is always the case for any game. And the bullpen needs to stay in it, too. Against Texas, Milone only gave up 2, but the bp gave up more. Against the White Sox, Milone again gave up 2, but we gave him lots and lots and lots of run support that game. And, against the Cards, Milone gave up only 1, and the bp held it, so we won only having scored 3 runs. So, just keep doing what you're doing, Tommy Milone, and hopefully the other parts of the team will help out, too.

3. Carlos Gomez. I will disagree with RiverBrian on this one. I liked that trade. I don't still wish Gomez were on our team. Yeah, CF has been a mess in recent years, but that wasn't because of that trade. (And we won't delve into why that's been a mess at this writing or in this thread.) But the Gomez for Hardy trade, at that time, under those circumstances, I'd do again in a heartbeat. Yes, he's developed nicely after he left us, even though the Mets almost ruined him before we got him, but I liked that trade. Gomez is a hothead and just is not that baseball bright. Yeah, his tools manage to compensate, but he does cost his team outs in stupid moves, according to my cousin, a huge Brewers fan (and also not a fan of that trade). So, leave Gomez in Milwaukee. I'm fine with that.

4. DanSan is back at short. I've never been a huge fan of his and the errors are still mounting. I noticed Molitor having a chat with him after that throw. Yeah, we know which throw I mean. A routine play to first, it should have been, and his throw went sailing into the stands. I wonder exactly what Molitor said in his chat. Maybe that you don't need to try and 'rocket-arm' it on a routine play? Oy. I hope he settles in and starts hitting or I'll be fine with Esco at short for the rest of the season. While I know we need to be patient with DanSan, as we played him out of position all last year, but just how patient do we need to be? Where's the line here?

5. I'm officially on vacation, as of last night at 10pm. I don't have to be back to work until 9:30am, Tuesday, July 7th. Instead of being able to sleep in (and 'sleep in' for me is noonish) I'm up writing a game thread start and waiting for lineups to be posted. Hope it was worth it to all of you. It'll only be worth it for me if the Twins win. I might still be in my pajamas then, too; because it's vacation and I have absolutely nothing to do today, an intentional plan of scheduling. It's my chill day after a long season of my own. Tomorrow I'll shake off the slug and accomplish something, but today is chill day. All day.

Let's play ball! Win Twins!

Great job, as usual, Chi! Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but what happened to the Dozier avatar?

[Circus Boy]

Wish I could watch the game with y'all, but I'm at work retailin' my tail off. I'll check in when my biz partner (and wife) is occupied elsewhere.

[Circus Boy]

 

Great job, as usual, Chi! Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but what happened to the Dozier avatar?

 

The Hanson brothers stole her heart.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

So was I.

 

 

Not many Carp around here though.

Well played sir.

 

I hope the Twins do just as good. Er, well, i mean. Wait, no i mean both.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Laziness is underrated.

Some do confuse it with efficiency...

 

Certainly the two are not unrelated.