Article: Game Thread: Twins @ Orioles, 8/20 @ 6:05pm CT

[Riverbrian]

Everybody is pretty crabby in Minnesota right now. I know this because I can hear them all screaming in Michigan. It's hard to keep things relaxed when the bullpen coughed up two nice sized leads at Yankee stadium. On paper it isn't over yet and Baltimore is the team we face next... and Baltimore is one of the teams that we have to catch. It's kinda funny how the Twins have become major players in the AL East race: the Yankees... the Blue Jays... and now the Orioles. That's the top of the of the division and right now we are helping all of them by nicely getting swept.

The Bullpen has struggled all year... It was nice to add Jepsen but we needed more help; and now Perkins is hurt and we really don't have an 8th inning guy to slide into the 9th inning guy. We got a lot of 4th inning guys and this is why a lot of Twins Fans are little bit crabby.

 

1. Baltimore -- A major city on America's East Coast that lies in very close proximity to Washington DC and Philadelphia and Delaware so nobody knows that it's there. Visit Baltimore, the official tourism department, has been working hard to raise the profile of the forgotten location with clever campaigns. In 2013... "Baltimore: Don't just Drive By" In 2014... "Baltimore: Come see why there are so many Drive By's". This year in 2015, tourism numbers increased from 17 to 36 with the new slogan... "Baltimore: We've got Crabs". Those blue crabs are tasty even if they come with the side effect of severe itching.

2. The Orioles -- Whoever had the idea of putting a sweet cream filling in between two chocolate wafers hit a home run. Everybody loves those Oriole Cookies. On the package it says that a single serving size is two cookies, so I'm just letting everybody know that I have the ability to eat 75 serving sizes in one sitting... provided I have enough milk. Of course the Baseball team was named after the cookie because the pitching staff routinely serves them up to hitters. There is nothing like an Oriole Cookie.

3. The Playoff Chase -- Well, now I've done it... I am publicly mentioning that the Twins are still in the playoff chase. The Twins are and nobody in Minnesota believes it. As a matter of fact... back when the Twins were 5 games ahead for the final wild card spot... nobody in Minnesota actually believed it. Here are some of things Minnesotans have said when told that the Twins are in contention.

Melvin Anderson from Red Wing: "Paul Molitor... are you kidding me? This is all his fault. I can't understand why they hired him in the first place."

Josh Olson from Baxter: "Playoff contention means nothing... This team is last in K/9 and DRS."

Steve Nelson from Bloomington: "The Vikings are starting soon."

Brian Peterson from Proctor: "I know the Gophers wish they were playing Hockey in the NCHC."

Randy Jenson from Moorhead: "Yeah but I don't have a single Twins player on my fantasy team so I don't watch."

Ole Larson from Oslo: "It doesn't matter what I say... Someone is going to twist my words into a joke about my wife and me."

Lena Larson from Oslo: "Ole... Da Turn Signals are Vorking... No Der Not... Yes Day are... no der not... yes day are... no der not... yes... no... yes... no."

Terry Ryan from 1 Twins Way: "Playoff Contention Smatention... Blah Blah Blah... What's the use?"

4. Miguel Sano -- We may be upset with the bullpen... We may be upset with Joe Mauer... We may be upset with Shane Robinson... but... not many are upset with Miquel Sano. Nine home runs now in 137 at bats... that's a home run every 15.22222 at bats for the rookie. To put that in perspective... Sano is out pacing Jonathan Schoop who has 9 home runs in 153 at bats.

5. Catching Crabs -- I went to Baltimore just a few months ago on my epic road trip. To get a true Baltimore experience I decided to do some crabbing. I rented a boat and went out on the Chesapeake Bay and I caught one. Much to my surprise you need a license and I didn't have one. A DNR official floated by and came on to my boat. He asked for my license and was ready to handcuff me when I couldn't produce one. I told him that I wasn't crabbing... I was just boating which caused him to point at my crab and ask, "What's that?" I told him that it was my Pet Crab and to prove it was my pet... I told him that I would put him in the water and he would come back to me. The DNR guy agreed to witness this... So I did and the crab didn't come back. This caused the DNR official to say... "So Where's your Crab?" and I replied, "What Crab?"

--------------------
Game-time forecast: 82 deg F, humid, 69% chance of precipitation (thunderstorms), winds from the SSE at 8mph. Hmm, I see a doubleheader in our future perhaps.

Lineups:

TWINS
Buxton CF
Dozier 2B
Mauer 1B
Sano DH
Plouffe 3B
Rosario LF
Hunter RF
Suzuki C
Escobar SS

Duffey P

ORIOLES
Machado 3B
Parra RF
Jones CF
Davis 1B
Wieters C
Schoop 2B
Clevenger DH
Hardy SS
Urretia LF

Gonzalez P

Play ball! Go Twins!

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[Jerr]

Still in the playoff chase? This series will answer that question, GO GET THEM TWINS!!!!!

[Platoon]

I think it's tricky how they let you drive into those tunnels in Baltimore, and then when you get out on the other end, they tell you that you have to pay! If I had known that I would have used the bridge instead!

[twinsnorth49]

Here hoping!!

 

I put my pitchfork back in the garage and extinguished my torch, just want to see some good baseball. Is that too much to ask?

 

Go Sano!

Go Twins!

[Craig Arko]

My question is; can Buxton catch Rosario for the lead in triples (I think 9, at the moment) by the end of the season?

[Brock Beauchamp]

While it's exciting to see Buxton play again, the Twins aren't a better team than they were yesterday and are probably a bit worse.

 

Hicks, at the very least, is as good as Buxton will be in the short-term. Probably better.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

 

My question is; can Buxton catch Rosario for the lead in triples (I think 9, at the moment) by the end of the season?

If it's a matter of speed, I wouldn't bet against Buxton - he just has to find a way to make contact!

[Platoon]

While it's exciting to see Buxton play again, the Twins aren't a better team than they were yesterday and are probably a bit worse.

 

Hicks, at the very least, is as good as Buxton will be in the short-term. Probably better.

Which in a nutshell is what the Twins choice was this year. They could lose with veterans, or they could lose while giving acclimation time to rookies. The month of May seems to have caused them to be somewhere in between!

[twinsnorth49]

As excited as I am to see Buxton again, I'm sorry to see Hicks out, I was really enjoying watching him play the last while.

[Blackjack]

Good one Riverbain!!!

[David HK]

OMG, those crabs---  My long time sweetheart was a Baltimore gal, and those are some of my fave times- Nick's at Cross Street Market, bucket of crabs laid out on newspaper, plastic buckets of local brew, oh.... heaven.  

 

Then she met the jagoff with the yacht, and I moved to China.  Oh, well.  

 

So, I used to kind of like the O's, and back then, Camden Yards was still a showplace. Now---  I just wanna the see boys beat the living hell out of them Birds. 

[gocgo]

I've put away the hopes of playoffs.  To quote Jim Mora - "Playoffs!  Playoffs!?".  Here is my goal.  Finish above the White Sox.  Above Detroit would be gravy.  Please, please, please don't finish in last place.  That's it.  No more mention of wildcards or anything silly like that.  

 

I really don't see the bullpen being fixed anytime soon.  There are other problems too with the rotation.  The numbers are not good for 32+ year old pitchers and we've got plenty of them that are there or about to be there.  Signing these guys to 4 year contracts is insane.  So, I don't see much contribution coming up from Santana, Nolasco, Pelfrey (will we resign him?), or anyone else on the pitching staff that has hit the magic age when the skills take a sharp turn downward.

 

As much as I like Sano, I really like watching Rosario play.  He's got some fire.  Bummed about Hicks injury.  He is a physical specimen.  The dude is big and can run really fast.  I thought from the first time I saw him in spring training that he was the real deal and was really surprised how he struggled.  Glad to see him finally realize his talent.  Think about an outfield of Rosario, Buxton, and Hicks.  All 3 with speed and great arms.  Should be fun down the road.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

 

My question is; can Buxton catch Rosario for the lead in triples (I think 9, at the moment) by the end of the season?

 

My answer is; yes.

 

But rather unlikely, what with Rosario still hitting triples and that big a lead. I wouldn't complain if it turned out to be competitive like Rosario and Sano's homer totals way back when...

 

And thinkin' of Crabs just drives home the need for a Molly/Tommy Milone parody... Throwin' fastballs and Sliders alive, alive oh! (Now you've done it...)

 

At least that'll be a different game this series.

[Craig Arko]

@LaVelleNeal: Buxton, on being in the lineup with Sano "It's just like double-A, but better."

[Ncgo4]

Here hoping!!

 

I put my pitchfork back in the garage and extinguished my torch, just want to see some good baseball. Is that too much to ask?

 

Go Sano!

Go Twins!

Possibly, yes.

[TwinsCD]

I spent my college days in Baltimore at the height of the Orioles playoff runs and when you couldn't get a ticket to Camden Yards without a 30-day notice.  I watched numerous Twins losses in that stadium...in fact, I don't think I ever went to a win there (and given they were 6-8 in that span of time, I had really bad luck).  I then came to dub Camden Yards the Twins House of Horrors.  But they are 8-9 since 2010 there so the name has lost its luster.  Hopefully it won't come back to the spotlight this weekend.  That short porch in left is just BEGGING to catch a few Sano blasts.

[bulldozier14]

 

While it's exciting to see Buxton play again, the Twins aren't a better team than they were yesterday and are probably a bit worse.

 

Hicks, at the very least, is as good as Buxton will be in the short-term. Probably better.

This is more about Buxton's future than fighting for a wildcard spot with no pitching and inconsistent offense. 

[twinsnorth49]

Rain makes me crabby.

[David HK]

 

My answer is; yes.

 

But rather unlikely, what with Rosario still hitting triples and that big a lead. I wouldn't complain if it turned out to be competitive like Rosario and Sano's homer totals way back when...

 

And thinkin' of Crabs just drives home the need for a Molly/Tommy Milone parody... Throwin' fastballs and Sliders alive, alive oh! (Now you've done it...)

 

At least that'll be a different game this series.

Heh...  Usually it's a hateful song that gets stuck in your head.  I don't mind that one- with the original lyrics of course.  The less I think about Milone these daze, the better.

[Squirrel]

 

Rain makes me crabby.

That's when you go out and dance madly in it! Good times!

[USAFChief]

 

Rain makes me crabby.

and blue?

 

blue crabby?

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Rain sounds like good weather to go to the water park, eh?

 

Fewer lines, and all, and if your going to be wet anyways...

 

hmmm... He jumps off the rubber, and scoops up that nubber,

weak contact on sliders alive, alive o! (sorry, a continuation of a thought)

[sampleSizeOfOne]

That's when you go out and dance madly in it! Good times!

"What a glorious feeling, i'm

happy again!"

 

(imagine your own splish splash sound effects...)

[bird]

 

Rain makes me crabby.

 

 

Sorry about the monsoon up there.

 

Kidding. I'm kidding.

[Craig Arko]

[Brock Beauchamp]

Rain makes me crabby.

Rainy days always get me down.

 

(and Mondays)

[Brock Beauchamp]

This is more about Buxton's future than fighting for a wildcard spot with no pitching and inconsistent offense.

True, but I'd like to see the Twins make a showing by staying ahead of Baltimore and Tampa, two equally flawed teams.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

True, but I'd like to see the Twins make a showing by staying ahead of Baltimore and Tampa, two equally flawed teams.

Me too. I'd like them to give 'em all a run for their money, and youngsters get used to the fact that, yes, you can make a difference in the outcome of each and every game, and subsequently, the season.

 

"Never give up! Never Surrender!"

 

(I think i once heard someone name that as the best star trek movie, and i find it hard to disagree, even based on a technicality)

[glunn]

 

Rain makes me more crabby.

 

FTFY

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Any word on the delay?

 

Or do i have to do my own research...