The next 3 games

[DaveW]

I don't like to make too big of a deal (lol jk) out of a small slate of games in the regular season (especially this early) but I think these next three games are going to show us a TON of what the Twins are ultimately made of, and if they are contenders, or pretenders.

Basically the Twins have lost 3 games in a row, the first two were absolute heart-breakers that should have been wins, and the third was a loss with their young ace Berrios on the mound. All three of those are confidence shattering losses for young teams....potentially.

That's why these next 3 games are key:

The Twins burned their best two pitchers in back to back losses and the bullpen...well we all know what they have done recently. The Twins need to show some resiliency starting tonight, Santiago who has been solid needs to give them 7 strong and they need to salvage this series with the Stros. Then with Mejia and Gibson (Gulp) on the mound they need to win one of those two vs the Angels to get themselves a bit back on track.

If they end up losing the next 3, that drops them to .500, and likely at least a game or two back of the Indians, and if that's the case I am afraid that will be the last we see of the Twins in first place.

 

Hopefully this team is young enough to literally not worry about what has happened the past 72 hours, and can go out and get a win tonight to switch the momentum back around a bit.

[drjim]

I fear that Monday, 8th inning might be the high water mark, but it does help to play the Angels without Trout. Can make any team healthy.

[gunnarthor]

These last three games have been stomach punches but I don't think this team has the quit that, say, the 2013 team had. They need to get healthy but if Buxton doesn't get a freak cut on his hand, we win the first Houston game. If Dozier doesn't try to score from 1st, we probably win the TB game.

[wsnydes]

I have the same feeling.  I've mostly enjoyed the ride thus far, but my expectations have remained tempered.  There's still a lot of baseball to be played, for better or for worse and baseball is a funny game.  It giveth and often taketh away.  I'm interested to see how the younger core players respond and I think that'll go a long ways to showing what this team could be made of going forward - not just the remainder of this season, but future seasons as well.

[yarnivek1972]

Santiago has gone 7 IP exactly once as a Twin. Expecting him to do so is setting yourself up for disappointment.

[Mike Sixel]

LAA is terrible w/o Trout. No excuse not to win 2.

 

As for today? Well, Houston did a great job of rebuilding. they are clearly a better team.

[ashbury]

I'm less interested in psychological explanations, and more persuaded the team doesn't have the horses yet to contend over a long season. Probably that puts us in the same place where it comes to their ability to hang in at the top any longer.

[DaveW]

Lol this team is toast

[mikelink45]

I believe that a good relief pitcher would spur the team.  It is at this point the GM needs to find some medicine to help an ailing team get well - quick.  Just lucky for us that Trout is down and we get to face two former MN pitchers. 

[yarnivek1972]

I believe that a good relief pitcher would spur the team. It is at this point the GM needs to find some medicine to help an ailing team get well - quick. Just lucky for us that Trout is down and we get to face two former MN pitchers.

Who would probably like nothing more than to rub their former team's nose in it.

[notoriousgod71]

There is just no legitimate way any team can contend with one and a half pitchers. Each year I think this is the worst bullpen ever assembled and each year I get a new barometer for awfulness.

[glunn]

 

Lol this team is toast

I was at the game tonight and saw a young team with a lot of energy. I saw Mejia hold on by a thread and Sano start a amazing double play. I saw a team that went down by a run then came back and won by two in the 9th inning based on clutch hitting by the bottom of the batting order (and whether or not Molitor heard me screaming to pinch hit for Buxton, he made the right call there).. I saw Kintzler pray behind the mound and I prayed with him.

 

If this team is toast, then maybe that is the beginning of the best BLT that we ever eat.

 

On the other hand, I think that it helped a lot that Trout is on the DL and that Pujols really wants to get to #600, and swung at some bad pitches. Also, the Angels have lot of fast players, but Pujols runs like Babe Ruth did at the end of his career and clogged the bases when we needed them clogged.

[drjim]

I was at the game tonight and saw a young team with a lot of energy. I saw Mejia hold on by a thread and Sano start a amazing double play. I saw a team that went down by a run then came back and won by two in the 9th inning based on clutch hitting by the bottom of the batting order (and whether or not Molitor heard me screaming to pinch hit for Buxton, he made the right call there).. I saw Kintzler pray behind the mound and I prayed with him.

 

If this team is toast, then maybe that is the beginning of the best BLT that we ever eat.

 

On the other hand, I think that it helped a lot that the fish guy is on the DL and that Pujols really wants to get to #600, and swung at some bad pitches. Also, the Angels have lot of fast players, but Pujols runs like Babe Ruth did at the end of his career and clogged the bases when we needed them clogged.

Good report. Cooked teams don't often rally in the 9th.

[DaveW]

I said they needed to take 3 of 4 from LAA, mission accomplished!

[The Wise One]

 

Lol this team is toast

 

 

I said they needed to take 3 of 4 from LAA, mission accomplished!

Covering something like Hicks covering territory in the outfield.  Good one

[Doomtints]

The Astros are unstoppable at the moment, and they were pretty damn good before this 10-game winning streak too. 

 

It's a good thing we kept our composure and didn't panic. Imagine how embarrassed we would feel if we overreacted to one bad series.

[Oldgoat_MN]

Houston is on fire right now.

If we get to the playoffs we will all hope they peaked early.

[beckmt]

Still feel why anything could happen during the playoffs, the Twins are not as good as Houston, so would not mind selling if they slip a little and get an overpay for some of their over 30 players.

[DaveW]

The Twins aren't as good as Houston, but were a decent bullpen away from winning one game.

[h2oface]

 

I was at the game tonight and saw a young team with a lot of energy. I saw Mejia hold on by a thread and Sano start a amazing double play. I saw a team that went down by a run then came back and won by two in the 9th inning based on clutch hitting by the bottom of the batting order (and whether or not Molitor heard me screaming to pinch hit for Buxton, he made the right call there).. I saw Kintzler pray behind the mound and I prayed with him.

 

If this team is toast, then maybe that is the beginning of the best BLT that we ever eat.

 

On the other hand, I think that it helped a lot that Trout is on the DL and that Pujols really wants to get to #600, and swung at some bad pitches. Also, the Angels have lot of fast players, but Pujols runs like Babe Ruth did at the end of his career and clogged the bases when we needed them clogged.

 

I only made it to one game. I figured that Saturday (Santana) or Sunday (Berrios) were the pitchers I wanted to see. So I watched Thursday and Friday on the Angels channel, happy as a clam. Amazing how many runs this team scores when Gibson pitches. I just had that feeling that Pujols would hit 600 on Saturday. I tried to get my Dodger fan friends to go, pitching hard on the chance to see something only 8 players in the history of the game had done, and the American League ERA leader on the mound for the Twins, and Sano etc..... and my usual game buddy, my son, had scheduled a DJ'ing event for the weekend at a festival, so the best I got was I will let you know in the morning how my day is shaping up. Undaunted, after they had all officially dropped out of consideration by 11AM, I got myself a ticket on Stubhub in the left field stands above the cutout of the tunnel there. I will go alone. I figured if Pujols did hit 600, best chance was to left field. I took my Harmon Killebrew (and Bert and Torii) signed glove with me, just in case.

 

Needless to say, the Twins didn't look so good that night. The first inning was promising, and I figured the best that could happen was for Santana to giveup a solo shot to Pujols, and set the Angels down the rest of the way (he is an ace, right? harumph). Kepler hit a dinger, made a great diving catch, but Santana didn't look good at all, at least, for what I could see out there, and the rest of the bats sucked, with 10 Ks. The atmosphere in the stands was amazing. I have never enjoyed a Twins loss more than this game. For Pujols to hit 600 and it be a grand slam........ you had to be there. As that ball came flying toward the stands, so high and towering and drifting toward the fair pole, it seemed to take minutes. Will it stay fair? It was sooooooo fine. The only annoying part was everyone (except me) trying to get a video that would be horrible anyway with their cell phones. I was living in a bit of history.

 

I watched the Sunday game on the tube and listened to Angel announcers mispronounce Berrios all game. 3-1 series win. I didn't even mind I saw the only loss.

I will be at all 3 games at Dodger Stadium at the end of July, a stadium, like Angel Stadium, that hasn't lost its name to a corporation.