Game Thread: Twins @ Dodgers, 7/26 @ 9:10pm CT

[twinsbaby]

Drama!!!

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The 0-2 pitch...

[glunn]

 

You can feel it in Dodger Stadium. This game is theirs.

Are you at the game?

[Danchat]

GG RIP

[mickeymental]

oy.

[h2oface]

Are you at the game?

Yup

[jimbo92107]

It's hard to beat this year's World Series Champions.

 

Dodgers v. Astros. Dodgers win 4 games to 2. 

 

[twinsbaby]

Game over!!! Kintzler does a good job, I love you.

[h2oface]

You know the feeling. You felt it the last two days. It really is remarkable.

[glunn]

I think that if the Twins played the Dodgers 100 time we would be lucky to win 10.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Oh well.

 

I've seen worse.

[glunn]

 

You know the feeling. You felt it the last two days. It really is remarkable.

I am glad that I was not there to feel it in person tonight.

[drock2190]

Twins need one of those strikeout relief pitchers.

 

I know the Yankees have like 7 of them in their bullpen. Spread the wealth!

[Kwak]

 

Twins need one of those strikeout relief pitchers.

 

I know the Yankees have like 7 of them in their bullpen. Spread the wealth!

I'm curious--how did LA end up with so many top players?  And pitchers??

[Danchat]

 

it's hard to beat this year's World Series Champions.

We ended up going 1-8 against the two most likely teams to make the World Series, the Astros and the Dodgers. We also did not end up facing either teams' top two starting pitchers in those games.

[twinsbaby]

Kintzler is an All-star, he is so good. We need more contact pitchers.

[jimbo92107]

 

We ended up going 1-8 against the two most likely teams to make the World Series, the Astros and the Dodgers. We also did not end up facing either teams' top two starting pitchers in those games.

This is useful. The Twins core players need to see the level of play they need to reach if they want to win a championship a couple years from now. The Dodgers are easily the best team in baseball this season. That's how good you need to be, boys. Or better.

[h2oface]

 

If this was little league I would have lectured my first baseman about needing to be there on that play. It seems to me that Granite was entitled to believe that someone would be there.

 

Who is the cut off man then? Respectfully, in little league, there is no leading off, and a play like this would not have developed. This play was to home, and trying to prevent the tying run tagging up. But I bet you will not find many talking about it, including Granite, that think the throw should have gone to first. And I do believe, that you don't throw a ball blindly to a base, ever. Never ever. Granite was a complete idiot. I still don't believe this play happened at the MLB level.

[Puckett34]

 

This is useful. The Twins core players need to see the level of play they need to reach if they want to win a championship a couple years from now. The Dodgers are easily the best team in baseball this season. That's how good you need to be, boys. Or better.

Very true.  And I know that you can't measure wins in could of's and should of's, but the Twins could have and probably should have gone 5-4 or 4-5 against the Dodgers and Astros this year.  How much of a difference would Buxton and Sano being available for the whole Dodger series.  I think Buxton makes the catch on Utley's double and the Twins salvage win last night.  But then Granite's bat is out of the lineup, so who knows.

 

I'm rambling now, probably from the lack of sleep because west coast games suck.  (sorry west coast people on this board)

 

Are the Twins at the level of the Dodgers and Astros?  Absolutely not.  Far from it.  The Twins need to learn from these series and learn how to win and finish games.  They got an advanced course in those Dodger and Astro series'. 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

No

What i thought.

 

Thanks.

 

Granite had the right idea then, we just weren't all on the same page...

 

I like Kepler's hustle double. Only wish we'd gotten him in.

[spinowner]

 

Who is the cut off man then? Respectfully, in little league, there is no leading off, and a play like this would not have developed. This play was to home, and trying to prevent the tying run tagging up. But I bet you will not find many talking about it, including Granite, that think the throw should have gone to first. And I do believe, that you don't throw a ball blindly to a base, ever. Never ever. Granite was a complete idiot. I still don't believe this play happened at the MLB level.

I wasn't watching live but I watched the video. The infield played this correctly. The catcher obviously has to stay at the plate, the pitcher backs up home plate and the first baseman positions near the mound for the cutoff. The only possible players who could have covered first would be the second baseman or the right fielder and neither player would have been able to be at first base anywhere near in time to receive the throw. On a fly ball that shallow the throw goes home. Preventing the run from scoring when your team holds a 1-run lead is top priority. Even if there had been someone covering first it would have been a very close play and the out would have had to occur before the runner from third touched home plate. This is a classic example of a rookie mistake, and it's one Granite will never, ever make again in the rest of his career.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Oryx and Crake is modern masterpiece, but The Handmaid's Tale is also excellent.
I read just the Conan Doyle Sherlock for the most part, but a short story called "A Study in emerald" by Neil Gaimen is exquisite. And speaking of Gaimen, check out American Gods as well.

 

read all gaiman. well, norse mythology is just ok....

[Mike Sixel]

 

Kintzler is an All-star, he is so good. We need more contact pitchers.

 

Kintzler has been good. Regardless of the lack of Ks, he has been good.

[glunn]

 

I wasn't watching live but I watched the video. The infield played this correctly. The catcher obviously has to stay at the plate, the pitcher backs up home plate and the first baseman positions near the mound for the cutoff. The only possible players who could have covered first would be the second baseman or the right fielder and neither player would have been able to be at first base anywhere near in time to receive the throw. On a fly ball that shallow the throw goes home. Preventing the run from scoring when your team holds a 1-run lead is top priority. Even if there had been someone covering first it would have been a very close play and the out would have had to occur before the runner from third touched home plate. This is a classic example of a rookie mistake, and it's one Granite will never, ever make again in the rest of his career.

In little league, my second baseman would have been the cutoff man and my first baseman would have covered first base. My shortstop would have covered second base. Also, my left fielder would have tried to back up third base.

[gil4]

 

I have heard of the Bible, but the others are new to me. Well, i assume it's Tom Clancy? Again i've been spoiled by movies. I have read a bunch of Alistair Maclean a while back.

Local libraries have books on cd available for 3 weeks, which is enough time to take them on a road trip.

I should also take advantage of that soon...

Yes, it's Tom Clancy.  There are a couple of guys who are continuing his Jack Ryan/Jack Jr. series.  (Clancy died a few years ago.)  Clive Cussler writes (mostly ghost-written now) formulaic action-adventure that has interesting historical, nautical, and archaeological tie-ins and ludicrously far-fetched plots.  (The movie Sahara was based on one of his characters; I'm not sure if there was one book it was based on.)  

 

James Patterson is very prolific.  From Wikipedia: "His novels account for one in 17 of all hardcover novels sold in the United States; in recent years his novels have sold more copies than those of Stephen King, John Grisham and Dan Brown combined."  He has  two series' I kind of like (Private, Women's Murder Club) and a couple I don't (Alex Cross is his best-selling series, but I can't get into it.)  The recent movie Alex Cross was based on his work.  There were a couple of earlier Cross movies - Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls.

 

 

[spinowner]

 

In little league, my second baseman would have been the cutoff man and my first baseman would have covered first base. My shortstop would have covered second base. Also, my left fielder would have tried to back up third base.

On an extra base hit the SS or 2B is the cutoff man, positioned about halfway between the outfielder and the base where the anticipated play will occur. The role there is to provide a relay throw. However, on a fly ball with a runner on third and any other base the cutoff man is the 1B or sometimes the 3B depending partly on whether the fly ball is to left or right. The role in this case is to throw out one of the other runners advancing on the throw if it looks unlikely the runner advancing to home will be out.