Game Thread: Twins vs. White Sox 4-16 @ 3:10 PM CT

[Vanimal46]

ANNND Welcome Back! To Minnesota Twins Whine Line on a Sunday. How FUN was that game yesterday?! Erv listened to his favorite band Cake and Went the Distance against those poor White Sox. If you missed it, here's the highlights to catch up:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAKsOScyITw

 

Today we have the final game of this series, WINNER take all, as they say. Before we get into more fun and debauchery, let's talk weather and lineups.

 

It's going to be a beautiful Easter Sunday! Sunny and 65 degrees at first pitch. Pretty breezy! 15 MPH out of the West. Maybe a Sano blast is in our future!

 

Minnesota Twins (7-4):

 

 

P- Hector Santiago (L) - REVENGE game against his former team!

 

Chicago White Sox (5-5):

 

 

P- James Shields ® - Having a bounce back season after struggling last year.

 

As you know, yesterday the Twins won the division title in the wrestling ring... Today we're going to get back to our ROOTS! Here's your HAWT taeks of the day to think about:

 

Erv BEST Pitcher in baseball?: In case if you've been sleeping under a rock, he's been pitching very well so far. 22 IP, 0.41 ERA, only given up 5 hits total! Sure, you may be saying, "But Van, Thor is really good too!" To that I say pfft, dude can't even get his fingernails figured out yet. AND his ERA is DOUBLE to what Erv has. If the Mets called, I'd say NO DEAL and hang up aggressively.

 

Miguel Sano: It's no secret your host has a man crush on him... He hits the ball so F'ing hard, and learned how to take more pitches this year! What's been the biggest change with him? Could it be as simple as his new hairstyle? We seem to think so! The new dreads makes him look even more ATHLETIC, and gives him confidence to crush home runs. Until this trend changes, everyone in the lineup needs to grow dreads!

 

Future trade: A couple of years ago, we debated on this site whether it was smart to trade for Troy Tulowitzki... Maybe we were going after the WRONG Tulowitzki. Check out this video of his kid, 3 year old Taz, at the plate:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6tVmqcj4uc

Pretty sweet swing there! I'm on record that the Twins made a HUGE mistake not trading for Tulo so they could have the rights to him, AND his kid. Let's make up for this mistake by trading Michael Tonkin for the kid straight up.

 

Lawn Games: Spring is finally here! What better way to avoid talking about politics/ with your crazy uncle, or listening to your aunt's exciting water aerobics classes than by playing lawn games?! Best lawn games, ranked:

- Cornhole (AKA Bean bag toss)

- Washers

- Bocce Ball

- Backyard baseball

- Horseshoes

- getting punctured by a metal lawn dart

- Croquet

 

Easter Sunday Menu: Sounds like I'll be eating smoked Pork shoulder, with cheesy potatoes, Mac and cheese, assorted fruits, veggies, and dessert! What's on your menu today?

 

Have a great Easter Sunday, and WIN Twins!!

[USAFChief]

Breakfast brunch with two of my three kids, two of four grandkids...bisquets and gravy, scrambled eggs, home fries, sausage, fresh baked bread for toast, fruit, mimosas, and maybe some afternoon baseball/nap time!

[HitInAPinch]

James Shields is the kind of pitcher that gives young batter fits.  Jump on him early!

[twinssporto]

Santiago is going to throw a gem today.  He has anger issues around his former team.  Will be fun to watch!

 

Firing up the grill today for some Easter lamb and a little ham.

[drock2190]

Shields might have a shiny 1.69 ERA but he is exactly the same pitcher as last year. A .087 BABIP and a 100% LOB combined with a 20% groundball rate is screaming regression.

 

 

[GP830]

It's a revenge game! We're having a revenge game!

[TKGuy]

Driving from Mpls to Austin for Easter with family after watching Erv's gem in person. Get to listen to the game on the drive back to Iowa City. Really encouraged by the team so far. I'm not in playoff mode, but Sano and Kepler are having quality ABs and starting staff holding its own. Would love to see Park or Vargas up here and go back to 12 man staff

[bird]

 

It's a revenge game! We're having a revenge game!

 

 

YEAH!!!

 

Now I just have to decide who I want to get even with on this Easter Sunday and figure out how this game is going to help me do that.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

It's a revenge game! We're having a revenge game!

If so, how come everyone is firing up grills?

 

I have it on good authority revenge is a dish best served cold.

 

Grills are hot.

[Dantes929]

 

YEAH!!!

 

Now I just have to decide who I want to get even with on this Easter Sunday and figure out how this game is going to help me do that.

Getting even with the White Sox for game 163 in 08.   Wonder when i will let go of that one.

[bluechipper]

 

James Shields is the kind of pitcher that gives young batter fits.  Jump on him early!

I'd take a more patient approach. He's at 5.9 BB/9 this year, and had 4.1 BB/9 last year. His stuff isn't as good as it used to be so he relies on over-aggressiveness by pitching out of the zone. This seems like a great matchup with the way the Twins have showed discipline at the plate.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Now I just have to decide who I want to get even with on this Easter Sunday

Pontius Pilate.

[Blake]

 

Breakfast brunch with two of my three kids, two of four grandkids...bisquets and gravy, scrambled eggs, home fries, sausage, fresh baked bread for toast, fruit, mimosas, and maybe some afternoon baseball/nap time!

I see you put baseball before nap time. Could it be you've become a Twins believer?

[Blake]

 

Pontius Pilate.

He did wash his hands and declare himself innocent of the blood of Jesus. After all, it was the leaders of the Pharisees and Sadducees who were calling for crucifixion. Pilate wanted no part of their plans but gave in to the demands of the crowd who had been whipped into a frenzy by the leaders.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Easter dinner was yesterday here.  Freshly killed cow, not yet frozen, cheese fries, home made mac and cheese...  Today is an Easter run.  12.7 miles on the agenda, which makes me ready for the Indy mini coming up in a few weeks.

 

Go Twins, and hopefully Van gets another W in the game thread host category, and Brian is not wearing a Twins polo.   

[ashbury]

Pontius Pilate.

I want to get even with General Motors for ever producing this terrible car.

 

He did wash his hands and declare himself innocent of the blood of Jesus. After all, it was the leaders of the Pharisees and Sadducees who were calling for crucifixion. Pilate wanted no part of their plans but gave in to the demands of the crowd who had been whipped into a frenzy by the leaders.

Oops. Never mind. I was thinking of the Sunfire.

[bluechipper]

Dozier

Kepler- DH

Sano

Mauer

Grossman- RF

Castro

Polanco

Rosario

Buxton

 

We'll get to see Robbie Grossman in the field today.

[bluechipper]

The White Sox DH today is Yolmer Sanchez. He has a career .587 OPS in 699 PA. Makes the Twins DH issues look pretty good.

[ashbury]

We'll get to see Robbie Grossman in the field today.

Backing Buxton up on drives to right.

[Squirrel]

And the Sox lineup is:

 

Leury Garcia SS

Tyler Saladino 2B

Jose Abreu 1B

Avisail Garcia RF

Matt Davidson 3B

Willy Garcia LF

Yolmer Sanchez DH

Kevan Smith C

Jacob May CF

[ashbury]

After a slow start, Byron Buxton's OPS has been .523 since April 13. He's had a BABIP of .286 during that time, showing what he can accomplish when the luck is more normal.

 

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/242/631/382.gif

 

 

[bighat]

Since I live outside of the States, no family stuff today.  Relaxing at home and waiting for the Twins game to start.  Would be nice to see more than 5-6 from Santiago today, and a series win wouldn't be too shabby! 

[BoofBonser]

I think we see Buck break out today:

3-4 with a homer, double, single, and 3 RBI's

And yes, I'm being very irrational 

[Blake]

 

Easter dinner was yesterday here.  Freshly killed cow, not yet frozen, cheese fries, home made mac and cheese...  Today is an Easter run.  12.7 miles on the agenda, which makes me ready for the Indy mini coming up in a few weeks.

 

Go Twins, and hopefully Van gets another W in the game thread host category, and Brian is not wearing a Twins polo.   

Ha! RB and I have a 3 game sweep to our credit. If Van get's the W, he'll still not have the perfect record RB and I enjoy!

 

Anyway, I'm doing a chicken for Easter dinner while my wife makes her fabulous green beans and does some carrots on the grill.

[Blake]

 

I think we see Buck break out today:

3-4 with a homer, double, single, and 3 RBI's

And yes, I'm being very irrational 

Pheet! Redundancy cite! Obviously, you're a Twins fan, which automatically puts you in the irrational category.

[Blake]

 

I want to get even with General Motors for ever producing this terrible car.

 

Oops. Never mind. I was thinking of the Sunfire.

You put the Sunfire ahead of the Aztec? Really?

[ashbury]

You put the Sunfire ahead of the Aztec? Really?

The Aztek (sic) was ugly as sin but had some practicality. The Sunfire was basically an FU from GM to the buying public for preferring inexpensive cars from Asia. "You say you want cheap? Ohhhh, we'll show you cheap." It was the Chevy Cavalier, minus the pizzazz.

 

/ edit - BTW, I always loved Bruce McCall's National Lampoon parodies of truly terrible cars and the marketing that sold them. Here is an ad for the 1958 Bulgemobile Firewood model.

[Blake]

 

The Aztek (sic) was ugly as sin but had some practicality. The Sunfire was basically an FU from GM to the buying public for preferring inexpensive cars from Asia. "You say you want cheap? Ohhhh, we'll show you cheap." It was the Chevy Cavalier, minus the pizzazz.

 

/ edit - BTW, I always loved Bruce McCall's National Lampoon parodies of truly terrible cars and the marketing that sold them. Here is an ad for the Bulgemobile Firewood model.

Yeah, well, I'll bet the Sunfire was miles ahead of the Vega. First car I've ever seen that rusted in CA. 

[ashbury]

 

Yeah, well, I'll bet the Sunfire was miles ahead of the Vega. First car I've ever seen that rusted in CA. 

My brother owned a Vega. I think there is still a mark on the pavement in front of the house he was living in, from the pool of molten aluminum that one day in '77 ...

[Blake]

 

My brother owned a Vega. I think there is still a mark on the pavement in front of the house he was living in, from the pool of molten aluminum that one day in '77 ...

By the way, since I'm a curious sort (stop laughing over there) I did some reading on the Vega. The list of engineering mistakes is quite impressive, from the way the car was initially painted to putting a cast iron head on an aluminum block.